BEN BYNUM
Drummer/Percussionist/Producer
Drummer/Percussionist/Producer
drummer/percussionist/educator
Blog
December 14th, 2010
At the request of a violent fan who threatened to pummel me if I don't update my blog, I've decided to... update my blog.
It's been a very busy pre-winter so far. In late November I traveled to Switzerland for a gig with the lovely Nellie McKay. When we landed, Geneva was experiencing their first snowfall of the season, and it didn't let up for our four-day stay. It was beautiful. As was the performance and the kind people we played for in the small town of Vesenaz. Enormous thanks to Frederic Spycher for orchestrating the entire evening.
On our day off we took a train to Montreux which sits at the opposite end of Lake Leman, about an hour and a half northeast of Geneva. Upon arriving we boarded a small ratchet train that carried us up the mountains to a little town called Caux. There was only one restaurant/bar and it was inhabited by a slew of drunken international Hotel Management students, dancing, falling over, and rubbing icy snow in eachothers' faces. As we sat there consuming soggy fries and local beer and enjoying the display youthful idiocy on the stage surrounding us, I realized that I certainly wasn't missing my ten-year high school reunion back home. No disrespect to my alma mater, but the Swiss Alps trump cheap nostalgia 10 times out of 10.
Another highlight of this overseas expedition took place on the flight from New York to Geneva. About an hour in, somewhere over the Atlantic, we began to experience some mild turbulence. No big deal. The captain had initially warned us in a Swiss-German accent that we may hit some strong winds. But suddenly we hit an air pocket, and the plane instantly dropped about ten feet, sending food, drinks, and the occasional unbuckled passenger (myself included) hurdling into the air. It was terrifying, like a mid-air earthquake. But it was also exhilarating. I was tempted to shout, "Bring it on, $%&^! The Swiss built this beast to take more than that!" But to my dismay, the remainder of the trip was quite calm. I think this pleased the majority of passengers. And in retrospect, I guess one mid-air jolt was enough for me too.
June 1st, 2010
Well it's 1:30 am Memorial Day Evening. The two week residency with Nellie McKay at Feinstein's starts tomorrow (technically today) and I couldn't be more excited. We're blessed to have an exceptional lineup, almost identical to the personnel from the Lincoln Center gig in Febrary. Belinda Whitney on violin, Jay Berliner on guitar (week one), Howard Fishman on guitar (week two), Glenn Drewes on trumpet, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass. There will be lots of fun and lots of great music. Hope to see some of you out there.
And for the few of you who are disappointed to see my tribute to Rod Blagojevich finally disappear, my sincere apologies. It just wasn't really funny anymore... and possibly never was.
November 5th, 2009
Things have been hectic recently, but extremely positive. I just got back from a west coast tour with the one and only Nellie McKay. For those of you who aren't familiar with her, she is a phenomenal singer and pianist who boasts an astounding repertoire of eclectic originals and old school jazz standards. Her most recent album "Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day" was just released on Verve, and we've been performing many of these wonderful arrangements.
I've been a fan of Nellie's music since 2005, so to be touring with her now is a dream come true. If you haven't heard her music yet, please check out her website at www.NellieMcKay.com
I will try to be a little more regular with blog posts, as opposed to the once-every-ten-months-approach.
And a big thanks to JS for everything. You know who you are!
Greetings everybody. Hope you all enjoyed the holidays and had a happy new year. I'm psyched to take on some new projects in '09 and figured I'd start with the addition of a blog to my website. Here goes Blog-oyavich #1 in honor of the recently disgraced Governor of Illinois:
Max Roach Drum Solo: Daa Houd
For those of you who aren't too familiar with Max's playing, his recordings with Clifford Brown are next to Godliness. This particular excerpt is off the record Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954). I roughly sketched out Max's musingly melodic and technically dexterous solo a few years back as part of an independent study with trombonist Ray Anderson. Although Max actually plays a 5-piece kit in this recording, I adapted it for a 4-piece. It hasn't been proofed by anybody and I'd love get feedback and corrections on some of the licks, but this is in the ballpark of 90% accurate (I don't know where I got that figure).
For the past few weeks, I've been using the bridge as a technical exercise. Try playing it hand-to-hand, and memorizing it. After you've got that, here are some fun things to add:
1) BD on all 4 and HH in half-note triplets starting from the second triplet of beat 1
2) HH on all 4 and BD in half-note triplets starting from the second triplet of beat 1
3) HH on 2 and 4, rhythm of the bridge melody in the BD
I look forward to hearing your ideas.
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