Friday Night Jam: Sax, Hand Drums, Rock n Roll
About this ebook
African drumming was booming in popularity then but not well integrated into conventional Western music mixes. This chronicle conveys the challenge of merging diverse musical instruments, genres and personalities; of attempting to produce quality music in a venue that welcomes relative beginners, lifelong amateurs, and random drop-ins for the night.
The book offers experiential advice to beginning drummers, or to longtime musicians who have not yet had the opportunity or courage to attempt improvisational collaboration with others.
At the core of the journey is the learning of the limited individual ego, with its unique talents and limitations, to negotiate the free and structured spaces with others, to merge in the greater group striving for excellence and beyond, ecstatic union.
Nowick offers an overview of the confluence and conflict of different musical styles and expectations: acoustic/electric, world beat/rock, drummers/guitarists, perfectionists/amateurs, safe/risk, stoned/straight, standards/improvisation, men/women, fifties/sixties, tight/free. In rendering this spirit and process, the words too speak for themselves, players in the mix, jamming on the universal pulse.
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About the author
Nowick Gray continued his study and practice of West African and Afro-Latin rhythms, instruments and styles, becoming an accomplished performer and teacher, while never losing the love of improvised music in eclectic combinations. He has produced four volumes of instructional rhythm studies, Roots Jam, with accompanying audio tracks, and playlists of free djembe and dunun lessons available on YouTube. He still enjoys jamming whenever possible with the improvisational band Aquarius Victoria—the Thursday Night Jam. Nowick also writes fiction and creative nonfiction. View his published books at NowickGray.com.
