The Breakdown: Swing Beat w/ Johnathan Blake

[@sfjazz]

Watch Johnathan Blake perform at the SFJAZZ Center: www.sfjazz.org/athome/on-demand/johnathan-blake/

[@euglossine_tristanwhitehill]

Vibes love listening to him talk about the golden oldies

[@diment0857]

Johnathan Blake is a groove machine, caught him live with Kenny Barron recently and he tore the house down with his killer chops.

[@fabioceresani4837]

Thanks indeed

[@g-man3093]

Loved it! Loved it! A retiree and aspiring jazz drummer. Oh it got to swing or I move on! Thanks for the lesson. KZbins allow you to pick and choose the best.

[@spilltheteawithshe1904]

Love It!!!❤

[@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.🙄🤦‍♂️🤡

[@HPHSGermany2010]

Just recently heard about singing walk the dog and that is really helping. I was interested in your intro to comping with the one and the and of two. I had learned to start with back bear and build from that. I would love it if you could go into more about how you build comping vocabulary. Could you do a video on that? Loved this!

[@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

[@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 ;)

[@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 !

[@ritabrooks9059]

That was great! Blake is a beast !!

[@jimbass123]

What a great teacher; relaxed but concise!

[@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 😊❤

[@ShaneIrwin7]

Love this video my man. Mission accomplished. I think the video came out with the right vibe, and the teaching is excellent. Great personality. I’m learning more drums now, after years of being a keyboardist mainly.

[@hayrigoksinozkoray6427]

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

[@GiancaSitar]

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

[@johndunne7900]

Love his style of drumming, a true genius.

[@sfjazz]

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

[@chrisvarga8]

Beautiful lecture. Thank you! ❤️‍🔥

[@carlosnovaes6993]

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

[@micheletripaldi1966]

Great drummer! Good Channel this one!

[@dmco123]

Thank you, from Denmark.

[@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.

[@freetidjane]

Thank you so much. Best explanation ever of the swing ❤

[@TheDrumhead54]

So Cool!

[@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!

[@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

[@markgriskey3055]

Great brother!

[@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

[@ziwrenanldino6896]

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

[@geeush]

Wow! Thanks a lot!

[@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. ❤

[@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!

[@txsphere]

What a beautiful lesson.

[@sergiocerditoloureiro6810]

Thanks a lot !!!

[@TheHerbert1971]

What a lovely human.

[@PedroSegundoofficial]

Yes indeed! thank you for sharing

[@BrianKlobyGuitar]

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

[@sfjazz]

Thanks for listening!

[@angelestebanfonseca4316]

Admiro a JB uno de los grandes drumers que he conocido poseé una técnica y destreza fantásticas.

[@brocksamson8634]

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

[@borissalgado2434]

Brilliant but yet simple!

[@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.

[@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.

[@rtuckersr]

Nice!🥁😁👍🏽💯

[@myroncohen7619]

Wonderful!!!

[@JulianFernandez]

so good. thanks for sharing these.

[@ciskokidd1313]

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

[@josestalinalmonte5531]

la mejor clase que he podido ver sobre el jazz

[@SidLaw500]

Very cool.

[@edwardborne3927]

Excellent advice thank you. Subscribed

[@alejandrobustos2268]

Máster, congratulation from Argentina.

[@billstrohler]

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

[@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

[@chrismorel2183]

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

[@wstks-fmworldwide5390]

Not a drummer, but I love this!

[@ColleenDrums87]

Killing!

[@Wizzgigging]

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

[@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!

[@elmorreon]

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

[@sfjazz]

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

[@JunkerOnDrums]

Love this drummer!

[@sfjazz]

One of our favorites!

[@davidfriedlaender4130]

What a great lesson thank you (from Oakland)

[@williamkjwilliamkj1815]

That was awesome

[@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

[@messiahblackgod]

Nice

[@PaoloZucchetti]

yesssss

[@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!

[@pauledwards9867]

Hey Jonathan. How is Barbara. I havent seen you guys since 1995

[@markgriskey3055]

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

[@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.

[@imparatore9377]

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

[@MarioCalzadaMusic]

Instant classic

[@sfjazz]

Thanks for watching!

[@allancolding991]

From one drummer to another, just great! 👍🏿

[@sfjazz]

Thank you for watching!

[@drecool6976]

Is he related to the jazz string player John Blake?

[@jabr0nicus]

he's so fucking cool dude

[@orenico96]

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

[@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.

[@robertosion6099]

💯❤👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@Bassplayerfromearth]

👑💎🙏🏿

[@geoffknot]

great share. walk the dog!

[@sfjazz]

Thank you very much!

[@larrytemple86]

THIS DUDE LOOKS LIKE CARL ALLEN ❓️👍👀

[@Mesrine-er7ei]

😂

[@sjouanny]

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

[@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

[@tapeexperiments]

Fantastic!