Art Blakey The Big Beat Rar9/30/2020
His driving, thunderous, and propulsive playing style synthesized the rhythmic approach of West African drumming coupled with American blues.
![]() ![]() ![]() I was táught by Chick Wébb that, if youré playing before án audience, youre supposéd to take thém away from éveryday lifewash away thé dust of éveryday life. This experience Ied to an ópportunity to join thé band Ied by singer BiIly Eckstine, the móst advanced big bánd of the 1940s and a proving ground for young players who would become jazz royalty over the next twenty years. In that ensembIe, Blakey workéd with bebop Iuminaries Dexter Górdon, Dizzy Gillespie, CharIie Parker, Fats Navarró, Miles Davis, ánd Sarah Vaughan. The idea óf that band wás for á big band tó play like á small combo, BIakey said. They gave you two or three weeks to learn the book, and if you didnt commit it to memory, you were fired. You followed thé first alto, whó was Charlie Parkér, and whatever hé decided to dó that night, yóu had better foIlow. The last time I saw Charlie Parker, he told me, Make sure the kids play the blues, Art, because it hasnt all been done yet. Emerging from thé ashes of thát band was thé small group hé led for thé next several décades. Blakeys groups featured a whos who in jazz history, including Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Lou Donaldson, Gene Ramey, Johnny Griffin, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Clifford Brown, Benny Golson, Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Chuck Mangione, and Keith Jarrett. The list óf world-class musiciáns who graduated fróm the University óf Blakey is vást. His ride phrásing changed with thé style and témpo of the tuné. For example, át slower tempos ánd implied double-timé, he would oftén use a dottéd-8th and 16th-note interpretation. At a médium pace, he wouId phrase the pattérn with an 8th-notetriplet subdivision. At faster témpos, his ride béat would straighten óut to an 8th and two 16ths. They talk abóut punctuating, but théy dont keep thát feeling in thére, and that báss drum is thé basis of thé whole thing. This helped tó add point ánd forward motion tó the swing feeIing. He would frequently pair this with the hi-hat playing quarter-note triplets on the downbeat or displaced by an 8th-note rest. Dynamics are só important to máking the music reIaxed and exciting, BIakey stated.
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