Even in the Odds by Ralph Humphrey
This is the king of odd meter books. See my earlier review for details. The method is very interesting- it sets you up to play beyond the book. One of the things that typically goes wrong when improvising in odd meters is overshooting the barline- accidentally making, say a measure of 5/4 into a measure of 6/4, and ending your fill on beat 2 of the next measure, and either getting lost or causing someone else in the band to get lost. Also, playing the wrong division of the measure- playing 2/4+3/4 in a song that is predominantly 3/4+2/4, and getting lost as a result. This book somehow addresses both of those problems.
A Thesaurus for the Jazz/Rock Drummer by Charles Dowd
I think the new edition is titled A Funky Thesaurus. Includes sections on rock in 3/4, Latin rock in 3/4, Latin rock in 4/4, Latin rock in 12/8, rock in 5/4, 7/4, 9/4, 11/4, 13/4, and 15/4. The Latin rock in #/4 meters are quasi-mambo, with funkier bass drum. The Latin rock in 12/8 uses variations on the familiar afro-cuban/bembe/naningo bell pattern, generally with the denser bass drum part. The other sections use the basic 8th note cymbal part along with dense, early-70’s style funky bass drum and snare drum, which will be familiar to anyone who has worked with Dowd’s A Funky Primer.
3, 5, 7, 9, Jazz! by Joel Rothman
I did a short overview of this book in my earlier “stack of books” post. After working with it some more, I’ve found it’s very useful for developing an Elvin-like left hand in 5/4 and 7/4.
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