FOUR ON THE FLOOR: Brazil

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Brazil

I was rather fortunate recently to work with Calgary's premier contemporary Jazz dance company, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, for their latest production "Ziriguidum" for the month of April and beginning of May. This very creative show featured a live Jazz trio consisting of myself on drums with Rubim De Toledo on bass and Chris Andrew on piano accompanying a cast of very talented dancers. The original score was all composed by Rubim and the show choreographed by Kimberley Cooper. These artists never cease to amaze me.

The second half of the show featured an amazing Brazilian dance group called Cia Vata, under the direction of Valeria Pinheiro. This group hails from the North East of Brazil and mixed folkloric rhythms with movement and dance, even interpreting many of these rhythms with a very unique form of "tap" dancing. It was quite enthralling to hear them perform night after night and hear this music performed so authentically, with the right feel.

This whole experience has really prompted me to revisit those rhythms and get deeper into this music. Definitely no lack of things to practice and learn from!

A few resources I'll be diving into real soon:

- Ed Uribe's great book "The Essence of Brazilian Percussion and Drumset"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Essence-Brazilian-Percussion-Drum/dp/076922024X/ref=pd_sim_14_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=1HM87XNE04BVWTC9HJ21

- Duduka Da Fonseca's "Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset"

http://www.amazon.com/Brazilian-Rhythms-Drumset-Manhattan-Publications/dp/0769209874

- Todd Bishop's very helpful guide, "Playing Samba and Bossa Nova: A Field Guide for Drummers"

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QZJ4GX2

Incidentally, Todd just posted a great clip of Brazilian drummer Milton Banana over at his blog today:

http://www.cruiseshipdrummer.com/2015/05/milton-banana.html

And of course, LISTENING to this music extensively is the way to go. Otherwise all the rhythms you might learn from a book will be meaningless unless you spend time also trying to capture the sound and feel.

So in the meantime, check out these examples of this great Brazilian Batucada ensemble:

No comments:

Post a Comment

A Bit About Me...

Jonathan McCaslin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. Jonathan began playing the drums at the age of nine. He progressed through the Regina Lions Junior Band and the music program at his high school, Campbell Collegiate, soon developing a passion for playing the drums and jazz. Ultimately, Jon's interest in music led him to enroll in the Jazz Studies program at McGill University, graduating with distinction in 1999.

While at McGill Jon had the opportunity to study with some of the finest jazz educators in the country including Gordon Foote, Kevin Dean, Jan Jarcyzk, Chris McCann, Andre White, Michel Lambert and Dave Laing. He also attended the prestigious summer jazz workshop presented by the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1997, where he performed with Canadian jazz greats Hugh Fraser, Don Thompson and Kenny Wheeler.

Jon has also been fortunate to have performed with many of Canada's jazz elite including Charlie Biddle, Brian Hurley, Louise Rose, Alaister Kay, Mart Kinny, Gary Guthman, Mike Rud, Hadley Caliman, Greg Clayton, Chase Sanborn, Andre White, Tilden Webb, John LaBelle, Kevin Dean, Dave Turner, Ralph Bowen, Don Thompson, Dionne Taylor, Jim Vivian, Kelly Jefferson, Ian McDougall, Brad Turner, Jim Brenan, The McGill Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Johnston, Lorraine Desmerais, Steve Amirault, Hugh Fraser, Chucho Valdes, Kieran Overs, The Altsys Jazz Orchestra, Pat LaBarbera, The Regina Symphony Orchestra and The Montreal Jazz Big Band.

In the spring of 2002 McCaslin completed his Master's in Jazz Studies at McGill University where he studied jazz drumming, improvisation and composition.

In January 2003 Jon released his debut CD, “McCallum’s Island”. Featuring his quintet, the CD contains an exciting collection of McCaslin’s original compositions, featuring himself and his band. The release of this CD was followed by a twenty-day tour of Western Canada, performing to enthusiastic, capacity audiences. During March of 2003 Jonathan was the recipient of a fellowship from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and attended the “Betty Carter Jazz Ahead” residency in Washington, D.C. Along with twenty other distinguished young jazz artists, McCaslin was featured with such jazz icons as Terence Blanchard, Carmen Lundy, Winard Harper, Curtis Fuller and John Clayton.

McCaslin’s quintet performed at the 2003 edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival and was nominated for the General Motors Grand Prix du Festival (awarded to the most outstanding Canadian group). From 2004 until 2006, Jon toured North America, Asia and Europe with the high-energy, critically acclaimed music production troupe “Barrage”. Featuring a cast of seven world-class fiddlers and a four-piece band, this dynamic show featured high-energy music and fiddle traditions from around the world set to upbeat choreography and movement.

In 2015, Dr. McCaslin received his Doctorate through the University of Toronto and completed his dissertation on the conceptualization of contemporary melodic jazz drumming. He is currently based in Calgary, Alberta where he maintains a busy performing and teaching schedule across Canada.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Brazil

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe for New Blog Posts

JAZZ DRUM HANG

Jochen Rueckert's Instructional Videos

Jazz Heaven.com

Jazz Drummer's Resource

Follow us on YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Facebook

Jon McCaslin - Sunalta

On drums...

Blog Archive

A Bit About Me...