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PART II RHYTHM AND WRITING IN THE WORLD OF DANIEL GLASS As an author and clinician, Daniel Glass explores the possibilities of musical education as not being a strictly staid, academic affair. Where passion and sound collide with the backbeat of enterprise in the context of history as a hip quotient, Glass lays down the foundation for a global culture of rhythm and harmony in the construct of life; a focused vision where verisimilitude meets the power that goes hand in hand with the eradication of ignorance via heavy characters loaded with soul, conviction, and the intentions of their own artistry as relevant tools for the benefit of future generations. Click the above graphic link to visit www.danielglass.com --------------------------------- September 2006 --------------------------------- Q: Let’s talk about your different facets. For one, you’re an accomplished author and clinician. I’m putting those two together because you do have what might constitute educational books. Do the two endeavors tie into one another? DG: They absolutely do. As an author, my goal is primarily to teach people about what I’ve learned in the last 12 or 13 years of playing with Royal Crown Revue. What I found when I first joined the band was that the kind of music in which they were involved was very different than what I, or most of the people I was around, knew of. I had studied Jazz and straight ahead Be-Bop that mostly had come out of the 1940s and all the music that came after it. When I thought about Jazz, that’s what came to mind. That’s what most people think about. They think about Wynton Marsalis or Coltrane or whatever. With Royal Crown Revue, I realized that there was a whole lot of other music of which I was not very aware, but that was just as important if not more important in the actual development of pop culture that we have today. This music was the predecessor to Rock music, Funk, Soul, and Hip-Hop. It could be presented like Rock ‘n Roll, with the same punch, the same pop, the same commercial value. That’s what Royal Crown Revue was tapping into; so I learned about all these different styles. I also realized along the way that there was no instructional material or information for drummers out there that could teach them, or shed light, or introduce them to these eras. By these eras, I’ve broken them down into three categories. Q: Introduce whom to those eras? DG: Drummers of today. Contemporary musicians. There’s all this music out there that is really the true pathway from The Beatles back to the swing era of the 1930s. It really demonstrates how pop music has developed, even though the pop music that I talk about has a swing beat as opposed to a straight 1/8th beat. No one really knew anything about it. I’ve made my mission in the last seven years to be about this tradition of American music. It’s wonderful and exciting in the sense that it’s so new to most people when they discover it. They realize that it is essentially the ancestor, the forerunner to Rock or Pop music. It has a heavy backbeat; a strong groove. The groove is what’s behind it. It’s not ethereal nor abstract as Jazz is or as we think about Jazz. It’s the kind of music you can get up and dance to that kicks you in the ass. It takes a little tweaking of the ears to understand how that music can have an effect on you. As an author and clinician, I’ve endeavored to create a bunch of different works that look at it from the same perspective. The first book that I wrote was taking the music of Royal Crown Revue, basically 25 RCR songs, and showing people through that music with which our fans were already familiar, introducing them to these previous styles. It’s from a drumming perspective; but also, non-drummers have bought this book as have fans of the band because they’re familiar with the music. It’s saying, ‘O.K. This song actually comes from a Raymond Scott thing from the 1930s. This is who Raymond Scott was and this is the kind of music that he made.’ Raymond Scott was, essentially, the Frank Zappa of the 1930s and ‘40s. He was the guy who was part of the swing era; but he was a really creative writer who wrote some of the most outrageous, kooky music of that time period. A lot of the music you can hear in the Looney Toons/Merrie Melodies cartoons, the Warner Bros. cartoons; and a lot of that crazy, offbeat music came out of the mind of this guy, Raymond Scott. Through listening to Royal Crown Revue songs and reading this book, people are able to understand a little bit more about the history, and understand why I came up with the drum parts that I did. That was the idea with the Royal Crown Revue transcription book: To introduce fans of the band to the older styles of drumming, using our songs as the vehicle because they’re familiar with our music. The second book I wrote is The Ultimate History Of Rock ‘n Roll Drumming. It started off as an entry for the encyclopedia of percussion. I was approached by a guy named John Beck who’s the head of the percussion department at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, which is a very prestigious institution. He’s the editor of the encyclopedia; and he wanted me to write something about Rock ‘n Roll. Once I got into it, I realized that I wasn’t going to stop until I had gone back to the beginning; and I didn’t want to end until I brought it up to modern times. So, I took the book from 1948 all the way through 2000. The idea was to give a larger overview of the development of drumming. It starts in the Rhythm & Blues era, which is one of the eras in which I’ve come to specialize in as a drummer, and traces the evolution, not only of drumming, but of Rock music as a whole, showing what was going on with the music and what was going on in the times. The 1950s; the McCarthy era and what that meant. The 1960s; The Beatles; the British Invasion; the hippie movement and what that meant. Everything that I write about is an attempt to introduce people to a particular era and show why the records sounded the way that they did, why the music was reflective of that sound, what was happening. I talk about racial issues in music, the development of independent record labels, and all these sociological factors that impacted the development of the music itself. Finally, I bring people in and show them how those aspects are reflected in the drumming of the period. My goal as an educator and a writer is not just to say, “Here’s how you play this type of beat,” but to say “Here’s why this type of beat exists; and here’s how it came about.” Suddenly, there’s a lot more there than just the technicality of “Here’s how to play beat x.” There’s a framework for people so that they understand something in a much larger context. Q: What do you think is necessary to engender an interest in musical education on a national level? Is it a moot point or is there hope? DG: No, there’s tons of hope. You just have to be willing to put in the hard work. A lot of my time is spent dealing with the drum magazines, the people who put on drum festivals, writers such as yourself, other drummers that are into education, and owners of drum shops. I’m predicting that within another five or ten years, I will be out there doing these kinds of educational stints to several hundred people at a shot, many times a year. I don’t make that claim to be egotistical; but I saw that there was a market with nobody filling it. You have to bring a horse to water for it to drink. Over the last few years, the more that these products come out and the more that I get write-ups, the more that I’m seen. I just did the Chicago Custom & Vintage Drum Show. I just received an invitation to be on the Hollywood Vintage Drum Show next year. The more that I’m seen doing these things, the more that people will accept that there is a need for all of it. One day, you push that tipping point over, and everyone takes it for granted. I think that’s how anything has come about. It’s not easy. The other half of the equation is saying, “How do you get through to people?” The way I found that Royal Crown Revue was able to get through to people is: You hit people in a way that they understand. When I do a clinic, I don’t sit up there with a slide projector and show slides of old school drummers while talking in academic terms about this stuff. I get up there and I’m full of enthusiasm. The first words out of my mouth are, “This music rocks just as hard as Rock music.” I proceed to demonstrate that fact. Just ‘cause it’s an older style of music doesn’t mean you can’t attack it with the youth, vitality, and intensity of Rock. That’s the lesson that I learned. I grew up playing Rock ‘n Roll. Once I saw how you could hear, play, and understand this music as Rock which, essentially, it was in its day, then it became clear to me that I could go through a conversion and become a fan of it. It’s not outside of anyone else’s grasp or capability at all. Q: That’s all fine and good for the people who already have an interest and are going to show up to your clinic. America, as a generality, doesn’t have as much of an interest in the arts. So, again, how do you engender an interest in musical education on a mass level? DG: I make it my business to do so wherever I go. For example, I’m about to put out a new book. It also deals with these particular styles of music, but it goes more into particular eras. My book is about what I call classic Rhythm & Blues drumming. It covers a period of time from the early ‘40s through the late ‘50s. The reason that I wrote this book is that I was inspired by another book written by a drummer named Zoro who specializes in Soul, Funk, and Hip-Hop, all of which are also styles of R&B. His book takes you through the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and into the ‘90s. Zoro is a very successful marketer and self-promoter. In addition to being a very accomplished drummer and educator, he has created an entire brand. Essentially, he has branded himself. He’s got a look, a vibe; and he is out there on the road educating people every day of the year. Once this Rhythm & Blues book that I’m doing is finished, I’m going to be able to count on Zoro to get out there and sell this project with the same tenacity with which he has sold his own project. Here’s where it’s going to start snowballing: Once I raise my profile even more so, I can count on the drum companies to feature me in ads. For example, Drum Workshop (DW ) has just put out a classic line of drums. They’re brand-new, but they’re vintage looking. The design is based on the old Slingerland/Radio King era of drums from the ‘40s and ‘50s; and I am partnering with them to go out and promote these drums. You asked about how I’m going to create the demand for what I’m supplying. I do so by just doing what I’m doing. Q: Who are your favorite drummers and why? DG: I’m a fairly eclectic person. I don’t really like to say what’s my favorite and what isn’t. It implies that you spend all of your time being into one thing at the expense of other things. Even if you like Chinese food, why would you eat it every day? For me, I definitely go through phases where I’ll be into certain drummers. Writing about classic Rhythm & Blues, one drummer that I’ve really been studying very closely is Earl Palmer. He’s the one drummer that you could really say is the architect of Rock ‘n Roll. Through the many recording sessions that he did, Palmer invented, or at least popularized, a lot of the elements that we take for granted as Rock ‘n Roll drummers today, or any kind of Pop drumming for that matter. So, you could say that he’s one of my favorite drummers; but I may turn around tomorrow and listen to some Vinnie Colaiuta with Frank Zappa or John Bonham the next day. It could be Gene Krupa the day after Bonham. I love music; and I love drumming. The more that I can learn about these guys, the better. The more of them that I can meet and get to know, the better; because then you really get it from the horse’s mouth. You can ask them, “What were you doing? What were you thinking? Why did you play this? What was happening?” Sometimes you get your answer; sometimes you get a story about what it was like to play with Benny Goodman or whomever. In any case, it’s all good information. Q: Out of all the drummers with whom you’ve been acquainted and interviewed, who would you say is the most interesting as a person?  I have a photograph that I actually had blown up; and I’m having all of the participants in the photograph sign it. The shot was taken at a NAMM show a few years ago. It’s a photograph of myself with Earl Palmer, Louie Bellson, and Freddie Gruber. Those three guys encompass a tremendous amount of drum history in terms of inventing and creating so many of the things that we as drummers today take for granted. Louie Bellson, of course, came out of the swing era. He played with everyone from Benny Goodman to Duke Ellington. Basically, he’s the inventor of the double-bass drum set. Anybody who uses the double-bass owes a huge debt of gratitude to Louie, from Carmine Appice to Ed Shaunessy to thousands of metal head dudes that play. Today, the double-bass drum is just totally taken for granted. Also, Louie Bellson is one of the greatest technicians and soloists and ‘chops’ guys of all time along with Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. The three of those guys are always mentioned in the same sentence. To say that I’m friends with Louie and have been able to share what I’m about with him is a tremendous honor for me. Earl Palmer is another guy. Drumming would be completely different without this man’s presence on the earth. He played drums on all the famous Little Richard songs that you hear. “Tutti Frutti,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Long Tall Sally.” You name it. He’s on all of the Fats Domino tracks. “Blueberry Hill,” “Blue Monday,” “Walking To New Orleans.” That was just what he did when he was in New Orleans. He also played with very famous New Orleans stalwarts such as Professor Longhair. Earl Palmer was on so many early Rock ‘n Roll and Rhythm & Blues records that, without a doubt, he was a primary influence for drummers such as Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, and Dave Clark. All of the British Invasion drummers were listening to that R&B music and the early Rock ‘n Roll. After Earl finished playing in New Orleans, he moved out to Los Angeles where he played on all of the Eddie Cochran recordings, Richie Valens’ “La Bamba.” I have a list of songs on which he played. During the 1950s, the guy was probably the most influential drummer in terms of the number of people around the world that heard his drumming and, therefore, imitated it. He was one of the first guys to use a consistent backbeat. He was also one of the first guys to use straight 1/8th notes in his groove; and one of the first guys to play fills that we normally think of as Rock fills as opposed to Swing styled fills. The list just goes on and on. He’s another guy who was incredibly gracious to me. He allowed me to hang with him a lot, interview him; and he showed an interest in what I’m doing. The third component of that photograph is Freddie Gruber who was actually my teacher. Freddie Gruber is now a legendary drum teacher. His students include Neil Peart from Rush, Dave Weckl, Steve Smith, Anton Fig, and Cindy Blackman from Lenny Kravitz’ band. Peter Erskine has worked with him, too. Freddy was an unbelievable repository of information about history as are both of the other guys. He was Buddy Rich’s best friend until the day that Buddy died. He hung out with Charlie Parker, roomed with Philly Joe Jones and was one of his best friends. The guy has truly been through the pathways of some of the greatest drummers ever. Certainly his students are some of the top drummers in the business. The knowledge that he brought to the table and what I learned from him, not only about drumming but also about history and life, were invaluable lessons. Most likely, these three gentlemen, who are all in their early ‘80s, will be gone in another ten years. For me to have had the opportunity to be around them and to gain some of their wisdom has given me more energy to keep this history stuff going than anything else out there. In a way, I’m kind of doing it for them because it’s their legacy that they created. Their music deserves to be remembered. We’re moving into an era where more and more of today’s pop music is created on machines, where more and more drummers never got their basis. All Rock drummers through, probably, the 1970s and into the ‘80s still had roots and the idea that the music swings to a certain degree, that it’s Blues based music. There’s that kind of connection. Once you get into another generation beyond those decades, drummers don’t really have anymore of those kinds of connections. The sad thing about today’s drummers is that most of them don’t think of their instrument as an instrument. They don’t think about it as something that needs to be tuned, something that has tonal and timbral textures and qualities. Rather, they think about it as, “I gotta hit really hard and it doesn’t matter what the drums sound like or how I hit it.” There’s always amplification; or there’s triggers or whatever it may be. So, a huge tradition is in danger of being completely lost. Q: Why do you think that has happened; the sudden lack of roots where they’re not aware of anything that came before they were born? Is it because they just don’t care? Is it because they just don’t have the intellectual or artistic curiosity? DG: Number one is because music education is not stressed in this country at all. You don’t have a tradition that you study. Drummers get their information and knowledge willy-nilly rather than embarking on a course of study. Steve Smith, a very famous drummer best known for his work with Journey, but who’s also a tremendous Jazz drummer, talks about the teacher-student relationship; the master-apprentice relationship. That was something that always held true up until recently. There was a tradition that was passed down from people who had mastered it to students who were interested in learning that tradition. In today’s world, because of the lack of formal music education and the cuts in programs, because of the fact that in the last 20 years our country has decided that culture is not something that is worthy of the public good, that music and art is only a commodity to be sold like McDonald’s hamburgers, the only interest in creating something is to sell as much of it as possible. That’s why such a relationship doesn’t exist. You don’t have the environment for that kind of thing anymore. Q: For over three decades, we’ve never really had all that great of musical education in schools. It hasn’t been on par with if you want to study literature, the sciences, or mathematics. Really, kids have always engendered their own interest in it. They’ve gone back to past decades; but now you don’t have that equation. Are you saying that the national environment, mindset, and set of values affects kids coming up at a core level? DG: Yeah. If you don’t have a music program in your school because there’s no funding for it, how are you going to be educated about music? You’re only going to be educated by what you hear on the radio or what your friends tell you. It’s a more random approach to learning something than a tradition that is handed down from generation to generation. Q: Using you as an example, you started out as a Rock guy. As you mentioned earlier, you really got into Jazz when you began to go to college; but you always had that interest in music and in roots. It didn’t come from school. DG: I had parents who were very cultured people; so I was really lucky because I was exposed to a lot of really cool and interesting kinds of culture when I was a kid. I also was very lucky because I had a good music program at my school, at all the schools I attended. I started being in band and more formal kinds of situations. I was in Jazz band, orchestra and marching band, concert band, show band, theatrical-musicals-in-the-pit-band. All that kind of stuff up through my high school years; I had a lot of it. I didn’t know that was what I wanted to do with my life at the time; but I was exposed to a lot of it. There was that opportunity or that option. Another reason that there’s been this major paradigm shift is that when you have the move to straight 1/8th based rhythm styles, and that became all that there was, drummers lost a certain connection to the past. It’s one of the things that I’m trying to re-establish with them. Just because the music has a beat that has a swung 1/8th feel….. Q: It could be a shuffle feel that you had up through the ‘70s, but not really after that time? DG: Yeah. That was a problem because you have a lot of musicians who are hearing only one aspect of the straight 1/8th thing, and not ever getting any of the shuffle elements in what they were doing. As a result, more and more of that kind of music is disappearing because people say, “Well, that’s old music. That music has no value for me.” That’s what we were trying to redress in Royal Crown Revue; and it’s what I’m trying to do with what I do. The whole beginning of my exercise section in this new book is talking all about getting a shuffle or a swing groove and what it means; what some of the issues are that drummers of today run into when they try to play that way because they weren’t raised on it. Why the balance of their four limbs have to be rethought completely; trying to ease them into it so that they understand the approach from a more old school perspective. As opposed to the kick and snare dominating the groove and leading the way, which is the case in Rock music, the groove was really driven by the ride cymbal and the hi-hat; or in certain cases, it’s the ride cymbal and the four-on-the-floor kick pattern which has to do with what you call the quarter note pulse. You have to get in touch with the combination of the swung 1/8th note and the quarter note pulse if you’re going to play this music correctly. A lot of drummers don’t have much of a clue about those things; so that’s what I’m trying to share with them in this book. When I say, “Here’s how the drummers played during that time period,” I really break it down and show them, “Here’s how they play it. Here’s what they were thinking about. Listen to all of these examples.” This book is much more, “Hey, come over here and check this out. I’m going to start you at the very beginning. Here’s what Rhythm & Blues means. Here’s how we define it.” The era of Rhythm & Blues I’m talking about is the era from these years to these years. What was going on in these years? Well, after World War II, African American people in America had an opportunity to step up on the socio-economic ladder in a way that, previously, they never had; because the war effort had involved a lot more of them in mainstream society, whether it be working in factories, defense industry jobs, or being in the Army, being in a more integrated environment and being an important part of the armed forces. For the first time, they had more economic moxie and were able to produce and consume their own music. They had always been producing their own music, but they had never been a strong enough economic demographic to actually be able to say, “Well, we as a block like this kind of music.” Once that happened, you had a bunch of record companies sprouting up that were able to stay in business producing that kind of music for that particular demographic. That is where you have classic Rhythm & Blues music. There’s all kinds of interesting stories therein, but that is where I start the book. It’s inviting drummers inside, telling them “Here’s why this music developed in the first place.” Then you throw a guy like Earl Palmer into that mix; and you understand why it is that all of these developments happened, with backbeats, straight 1/8th grooves, and fills. He was the guy who made it happen. Part of it was because you couldn’t tour with a big band anymore. It was too expensive after World War II. That was another change in the era. The combo took over; small groups. Louie Jordan was the first guy to create a small group that we can look to and say, “Oh, that’s a Rock band.” Five guys in matching outfits that were performing, dancing around on stage, and playing with amplified instruments and a heavier beat. You can trace that blueprint to Twisted Sister and right back to Louie Jordan, ‘cause it was the same thing. It was what kids were into hearing. As the music gets more geared toward younger audiences, it’s all about dancing; and you had these smaller bands. For the smaller bands to compete with the big bands, the small bands had to be louder. You had amplified instruments coming in; and that’s why you had things like backbeats start to be more pronounced. With a drummer such as Earl Palmer, you can see him in his historical context. You can understand how we, today, take those elements that he created or that he popularized and use them without even thinking about it every time we sit down to play. --- Greg Debonne http://www.danielglass.comhttp://www.danielglass.comhttp://www.danielglass.comhttp://www.danielglass.comshapeimage_3_link_0
Back to home copyright 2006 - THEMUSICMANOR.COM - All Rights Reserved. GO BACK TO PART I: THE ARTIST AND THE INDIVIDUAL GO TO PART III: THE DRUMMER GO TO PART IV: RECORDING ARTIST AND RECORD PRODUCER GO TO PART V: JAZZ AND THE FUTURE photo credit: Dean Cooper