![]() ![]() Produced with The New Heritage Theatre Group (New York's oldest non-profit Black theater), The Savoy King: Chick Webb And The Music That Changed America weaves together newly filmed stories from remarkable people who knew Chick Webb at every phase of his life, with quotes from some of the greatest figures in Jazz history. Kaufman's description: Chick's brief, inspiring life illuminates the society-changing power of music, the life-lifting effect of mentoring, a hard-fought breakthrough in racial understanding that reverberates today in many ways, and the ability of everyone (with or without disabilities) to reach beyond their apparent limits. The best way to present the project is to use Mr. Because of a personal tragedy I am only now starting to write again. The movie also features Ella Fitzgerald and other notables from that era who were connected with the Savoy and Chick. I am cross posting this from my Music for Drummers blog because I think that the audience for Snare Drum Addict will appreciate the information as much as the audience for that blog.Ī few months ago I received an email from a producer named Jeff Kaufman, who informed me about a movie about the great Chick Webb and the Savoy Ballroom. If you play brushes or are interested in mastering them I highly recommend visiting and bookmarking the site. The other article on this page shows how to cross stick with brushes.īased on the content already on this new site I anticipate more well researched and/or thought out articles and tips from Mr. The device looks like this:įull instructions for making your own are provided in Making a Canbell. Paton has designed a Canbell that has the sensivity for brush playing that is difficult to achieve with a cow bell. The Tips and Tricks page is devoted to more practical aspects of brushes: playing them and novel devices to break through the limitations of percussion instruments. Paton's impeccable research and excellent writing add significantly to the history and body of knowledge. If you are interested in the history of brushes and brush playing, Mr. That device's history is contained in the second article in the articles page titled, What Swat: a guide to early wire brushes. The design of the original brushes - indeed, the brush itself - was a fly swatter circa 1895. In addition to the roots of brush playing, this article also traces back the development of the brush itself. The irony is the pioneering New Orleans drummers, such as Louis Cottrell, Sr and Baby Dodds eschewed brushes. ![]() In the latter it appears that Louisiana was particularly important. He also traces the development and evolution of suitcase drumming in which brushes were used, as well as the importance of barbershops as musical centers of gravity and where some of the whisk broom rhythms were born and evolved. He backs this up with copious citations within the article. Paton cites a deeper source: shoe shine boys who employed their individual rhythms in brushing down their customers with whisk brooms after they shined the shoes. Also, on his instructional DVD, Brushworks - The DVD, Clayton Cameron devotes a segment to the same relationship. In the book that accompanies The Art of Playing Brushes, Mark Griffith wrote a chapter titled A History of the Brushes in which he delves into the relationship between tap dancing and brushes. Paton's view of the roots of brush playing departs from conventional thought, which is tap dancing. What makes this article particularly valuable is Mr. The most engrossing document is from the Articles page titled, Never Swat a Fly! (the origins of brush playing in jazz). Tips and Tricks that contain two (for now) articles on making brush-friendly instruments and playing techniques. ![]() Articles containing one of the best researched pieces on early brushes and how they were played, and one on the history and evolution of the original brushes.I recently came across a new site, Brush Beat, that contains some remarkable content written by Gerry Paton.Īlthough the site is new, he has two sections that are well worth reading: I have written a few articles and reviews on the subject, including On Playing Brushes Part 1: The Vocabulary, On Playing Brushes Part 2: Creative Writing, and On Playing Brushes Part 3: The Thesaurus. Brush playing is one of my personal joys.
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