Sunday, January 24, 2010

Drum Roll!

A while back, I linked Professor Carol's web site, Music After 50, which is going to post a series of pieces on preserving our western cultural heritage.

The proprietor of Arts & Ammo, which is where I found the link, emailed me today to let me know that Professor Carol has a video featuring Roland Muzquiz, the principal percussionist of the Dallas Wind Symphony. In this video, Muzquiz gives a mini-seminar on percussion styles of the swing era. Highly instructive and a pleasure to listen to.

4 comments:

Yojimbo said...

I only know two things about drums.

1) You can find them along the Mohawk and
2) Sandy Nelson couldn't be wrong.

Boy, do I date myself with those!

Minicapt said...

1. Leading or trailing shoes?
2. British Grenadiers.

Cheers

Gibbo said...

Brilliant stuff Paco, thanks. As a drummer who grew up on rock and moved to swing & jazz later in life I can testify how hard it is to get that authentic swing feel. I'm still only a dabbler but I love it.

Cheers, Gibbo

Fitzroy said...

I had a friend years ago (well, okay, years and years ago) who sported a bumper sticker saying "Big Bands Are Back." It should never have left. The sheer thrill of this music should earn it a place on everyone's playlist, but it seems to have fallen victim to its own complexity and virtuosity.

As for Muzquiz, I have it on good authority that he will be back explaining the finer points of playing other percussion instruments, i.e. triangle, tamborine, and gong. It's not as simple as it looks.

By the way, who remembers the gong playing of actor James Coburn?