The Breakdown: Swing Beat w/ Johnathan Blake

Watch the West Coast premiere of Johnathan Blake's newest project My Life Matters in our Joe Henderson Lab in February 2024 with saxophonist Dayna Stephens, vibraphonist Jalen Baker, pianist Fabian Almazan, and bassist Dezron Douglas on-demand here: www.sfjazz.org/athome/on-dema...
THE BREAKDOWN
World-class musicians break down musical concepts at various levels of difficulty, from beginner to advanced.
JOHNATHAN BLAKE
Drummer and composer Johnathan Blake takes a deep dive into the swing beat - the heartbeat of modern jazz - citing inspirational examples, the mnemonic device he uses to keep the feel in his head, building the rhythm from the all-important ride cymbal beat, creating a dialog among all four limbs, and playing at various tempos.
Known worldwide for his 15-year membership in Kenny Barron’s working trio and sideman duty with Pharoah Sanders, Chris Potter, Bill Frisell, and Tom Harrell, among others, Blake is one of the most accomplished drummers in modern jazz.
The son of the late jazz violin legend John Blake Jr., Blake carries on the proud and fiery lineage of Philadelphia jazz drumming that includes Philly Joe Jones, Joe Chambers, Mickey Roker, Sunny Murray, and Donald Bailey.
From his early club experiences with organ great Shirley Scott to the present day, Blake has amassed a staggering résumé, has appeared on over 80 albums to date, and released four acclaimed recordings as a leader.
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***SFJAZZ is a non-profit organization that presents year round jazz concerts, festivals and educational programs at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, CA.

[@themitchellama]

Right on JB is one of my all time favorites. The Kenny Baron stuff alone is enough. Then throw in his Albums as a leader and the couple ECMs with Oded Tzur. Good Lord. Always feels great and with tasteful Chops. I saw him in Norfolk Va with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. Very inspiring stuff. Just killing it with arrangements that would make Gill Evans sweet. Right on Mr. Blake

[@sfjazz]

Thanks for watching! Johnathan Blake is def carrying that torch into the future of jazz!

[@spanqueluv9er]

@@sfjazz PS It’s ^*Beats (plural), not Beat’s (belonging to someone named Beat?) you ignoramus. Proofread BEFORE you post.🙄🤦‍♂️🤡

[@markgriskey3055]

A bass player I worked with shared this tip that he learned from his teacher regarding swing... Sing "bucket of beans" when you play those triplet fills .... "spang spang a-lange spang a-lange spang a-lange bucket of beans" etc. the "bucket of beans" riff is jest 3 triplets into the down beat (or anywhere else in the phrase - it's all about singing it ;)

[@emmanuelgauthier2470]

Jonathan is a real great great human being also not only an amazing drummer ! I had the opportunity to watch him at Smalls and sit next to him while he was playing ! Really had a blast 😊❤

[@jimbass123]

What a great teacher; relaxed but concise!

[@deusvolt2146]

Wow, I saw Jonathan with Dr. Lonnie Smith and his effortless speed and control was mind blowing...definitely one of my favorite drummers after that show...I was lucky to sit right next to him, he is an amazing drummer !

[@TheDrumhead54]

So Cool!

[@ritabrooks9059]

That was great! Blake is a beast !!

[@ChoBee333]

Best explanation of Swing I’ve heard thus far. I’m taking a class at Berklee n really couldn’t understand swing rhythm. This makes so much more sense! Thank u!

[@sfjazz]

Glad it helped! Stay tuned for more from The Breakdown

[@johnfousek8991]

Excellent lesson from a young master! Thank you!! Relaxation and conversation. Both come through in Mr Blake’s playing. I love the way he puts them at the center here.

[@SidLaw500]

Very cool.

[@GiancaSitar]

Great swing,great relax,great sound...great musician!!!!!

[@carlosnovaes6993]

Thank you for this great class of Mr Johnathan Blake! Great, Great, Great!! Long Live to The Channel!

[@ciscoortiz8114]

It’s all about walking the dog! Good break down , thank you!

[@hayrigoksinozkoray6427]

Fabulous drummer, great artist. Johnathan always makes everyone around him sound better

[@johndunne7900]

Love his style of drumming, a true genius.

[@sfjazz]

We love his sound as well! Thank you for watching!

[@chrismorel2183]

Thanks…..guitar player learning how to communicate with my drummer!

[@myroncohen7619]

Wonderful!!!

[@ColleenDrums87]

Killing!

[@PedroSegundoofficial]

Yes indeed! thank you for sharing

[@fortedrummer3026]

Thank you, SFJAZZ, for this drum lesson from the great Johnathan Blake! I love learning from the greats. I'm glad that he took the time to teach. The Breakdown is very well presented and edited, and the video sounds beautiful. I hope that SFJAZZ will continue to create "Breakdown" videos.

[@sfjazz]

We are going to be releasing more The Breakdown videos every month covering all kinds of topics within jazz & beyond!

[@JulianFernandez]

so good. thanks for sharing these.

[@tapeexperiments]

Fantastic!

[@geeush]

Wow! Thanks a lot!

[@txsphere]

What a beautiful lesson.

[@sergiocerditoloureiro6810]

Thanks a lot !!!

[@brocksamson8634]

Awesome, saw him live last year, fun show and great player.

[@Jophiel95]

Great help, this simplified it so much for me. I like the emphasis on relaxing, as I often have the bad habit of tensing up

[@borissalgado2434]

Brilliant but yet simple!

[@markgriskey3055]

Great brother!

[@ikeruriarte8669]

Well done JB!! What a lesson!! I remember him playing with the Mingus Big Band with a broken cymbal, but that swing was maybe the most danceable in the world. I remember him as well that he came to Music School of our country in Donosti with Ed Simon's trio and he could play that complex arrangements with the mastery of a swing master. ❤

[@billstrohler]

Great explanation. Fun and informative. Had a chance to see him play this year and meet him. Very friendly and down to earth.

[@davidfriedlaender4130]

What a great lesson thank you (from Oakland)

[@rtuckersr]

Nice!🥁😁👍🏽💯

[@williamkjwilliamkj1815]

That was awesome

[@Wizzgigging]

JB is a monster player. He's been a favorite of mine for a while.

[@AlVelasquezDrums]

Such a beautiful tone and swinging feel. So much can be learned in this short video. I loved it. 🙏🏽🎼

[@sfjazz]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@edwardborne3927]

Excellent advice thank you. Subscribed

[@alejandrobustos2268]

Máster, congratulation from Argentina.

[@FacePaster]

One of my favorite drummers! I’ve been lucky to see him play a number of times, and I can never take my eye off of him, Great to see him break it down like this!

[@sfjazz]

Here is a great cut from our SFJAZZ Singles series with music Johnathan Blake's project 'My Life Matters': kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zoq2k6CdfdV6hq8si=EmBOE--FhcRW_6sk

[@josestalinalmonte5531]

la mejor clase que he podido ver sobre el jazz

[@ziwrenanldino6896]

Love this class..my man.remind me the David Brubak.. Take Five..

[@PaoloZucchetti]

yesssss

[@dmco123]

Thank you, from Denmark.

[@JunkerOnDrums]

Love this drummer!

[@sfjazz]

One of our favorites!

[@petertrotman7708]

Thank U Jonathan. I was praying that you'd mention the Joe Henderson albums. Nobody talks enough about these incredible albums. 🔥🔥🔥 Ahmed Jamal's Trio At The Pershing is another underrated album.

[@BrianKlobyGuitar]

Awesome breakdown of this beat... thank you ☕🎸

[@sfjazz]

Thanks for listening!

[@EuphoricImpact]

I enjoyed viewing this video as a trombone \ euphonium. It is important to know how your fellow musicians experience. Listening to a drummer speak about these things even after 40 plus years into the game is didactic. It is so true that various forms of communication is layered based on fundamental movement and feel. It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing! I think I will listen to some: Monk, Clark Terry, Joe Henderson, J J Johnson and Kenny Burrell.

[@sfjazz]

We love how the cymbal beat interacts with all elements on the bandstand. We had to tap in with the master himself (Johnathan Blake) to get a deep dive!

[@messiahblackgod]

Nice

[@elmorreon]

Super cool and killing. Keep up the great content! 🙏

[@sfjazz]

Thank you for watching! Subscribe for more weekly videos from the SFJAZZ Center!

[@imparatore9377]

I Remember him 20 years ago when he player with some cats here in Slovenia.

[@slotrane8853]

Greg Hutchinson teaches same way with walk the dog. Love Jonathan’s ride placement. Don’t know why more drummer don’t have it that way

[@MarioCalzadaMusic]

Instant classic

[@sfjazz]

Thanks for watching!

[@LA-hx9tx]

If I may, you can learn a LOT about swing form this album that doens't have a drummer: Duke Ellington and Ray Brown: "This One's For Blanton". One of the hardest swinging recordings I've ever heard, and it's just the two of them.

[@Bassplayerfromearth]

👑💎🙏🏿

[@allancolding991]

From one drummer to another, just great! 👍🏿

[@sfjazz]

Thank you for watching!

[@markgriskey3055]

One of my teachers Freddie Grubar would sing the ride pattern as "Spang Spang alange spang alang... etc"

[@joenlivingston7050]

The drums have different voices and the way he separated the snare from the hi hat made It easy for me to understand and ultimately put it all together

[@sfjazz]

This 'breakdown' brings some much clarity to the swing beat. Thanks for watching!

[@robertosion6099]

💯❤👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@timothyslaughter476]

In band in the 70s high school version, we had about 8 guys in the percussion section and we'd play zeppelin and rush and acdc but this one dude had all the Ted Reed moeler chapin books and studied really hard and would listen to coltrane and miles and Tony and Elvis and we were like wtf.....kid went in to have a 35 year career in the biz playing some real high profile stuff on marimba and vibes and tymps.....a real pros pro. Watch out for the studious types for sure.

[@akoolstik]

great share. walk the dog!

[@sfjazz]

Thank you very much!

[@user-wd4uf2sm5d]

What kind of effects cymbal is that on the right? Thank you, I know this is going to be good.

[@orenico96]

I also met a drummer who swing like crazy and used to say: "SIDE A BEEF, SIDE A BEEF."

[@drecool6976]

Is he related to the jazz string player John Blake?

[@aholder4471]

Forgive me, I can't not make this comparison, but just think if BIG was a drummer, he would have been a lot like this dude. I try to hip people to the fact that his flow has a lot of swing in it and makes it as awesome as it is. His sense of rythym was second to none because of this to me at least.

[@lucacartner7247]

Nobody is talking about the incorrectly written rhythm at 4:35. Great lesson though!

[@Oscaraha]

Yeah, they choose to notate everything with 16th feel. Great lesson anyway.

[@SAHBfan]

I have quite a few really old drum books and written courses and they always used to write the swing pattern this way. Later on it became normal to write it as 8th notes and put ‘swing’ at the start of the score, or something indicating that the quavers are played as triplets. Other times it is written as triplets. I’m not sure any of them are strictly ‘correct’ as we are trying to notate a triplet feel in a system which divides everything by twos - and it is a feel thing. The fact he is using a vocal phrase to get the feel rather than counting it means it might not be strictly exact triplets either - and would vary slightly from drummer to drummer.

[@davealaya]

True, although jazz players don't even know which subdivision (16ths, triplets) they're using half the time. Modern cats have been throwing in 5 and 7 subdivisions (per quarter note) for an extra feel as well.

[@sjouanny]

There is no need for that apostrophe in 'Beats'. Remove it.

[@dikbeats2720]

Brilliant stuff.. great playing

[@dikbeats2720]

It's amazing the amount of modern drummers that don't pay attention to bebop. I didn't until about 5 years ago. I've been playing for 25 years and been listening to jazz on and off since so I should of known better than to not walk the dog, ffs! But getting harder into jazz about 6 years ago naturally made me go more in that direction, and it's really cool when u strip it back to the funk/hiphop.. it's ready ti be slick. Nice tutorial, man

[@josephgiarraffa6379]

I did like this it was head on about everything you said I love and play jazz and it’s not easy You must feel it first !! If not it’s not gonna work I also like the set up which makes it possible to play jazz It’s low tite setup allows you play with less effort and is something I didn’t always have since my set up is made up of many drums I appreciated this video thanks

[@sfjazz]

Thank you for watching The Breakdown!

[@dakotablack2003]

Sticks are jumpin off the drums