The Art of Playing with Brushes (2 DVD's + Play Along CD)

Pardon my use of trite metaphors, but I view the three brushwork instructional videos as Vocabulary (Ed Thigpen's  The Essence of Brushes (DVD) , this DVD, which would fall under creative writing, and Clayton Cameron's  Clayton Cameron: Brushworks - The DVD , which I view as a thesaurus.Where Ed Thigpen's The Essence of Brushes (DVD) provided the basic foundation in the form of a vocabulary, this DVD set liberates you in ways that allow you to creatively employ Mr. Thigpen's approach, and shows how you can imprint your style on music when playing brushes.The many hours I spent with Ed's DVD gave me the confidence to play brushes in a musical setting, but I was worrying more about remaining faithful to Ed's lessons and approach than I was about letting the music move me to take chances and play more about how I felt. In many ways I was too rigid (in mindset), believing that Ed Thigpen represented the canonical. Of course, this was more a self-imposed limitation because Ed stressed finding your sound repeatedly. I didn't take that part of the lesson to heart until Misters Smith and Nussbaum pulled together some of the best living brush players and made The Art of Playing with Brushes a reality.Here I watched some of the greats tackle the same songs is vastly different ways. It was an eye opener because none of them sounded a thing like Ed, but each of them brought the songs alive. Before I had gotten half way through the first disc I had an epiphany about what it means to put your personal touch on playing of any kind, even if it means breaking with some self-imposed set of conventions.The artists who performed and demonstrated on this DVD are Joe Morello, Charli Persip, Eddie Locke, Billy Hart and Ben Riley. Same songs, including slow and faster tempos, and a Latin piece for each of them. Results: so totally different that I was inspired to play along to the accompanying CD before I was anywhere near through with the DVD set. It was liberating and I felt as though the vocabulary that Ed gave me was now ready to be used in other ways to creatively write (in a figurative sense, of course.) And creatively write I did. One set by Billy Hart was especially inspiring because he was actually doing quarter notes on his bass drum when conventional wisdom would have dictated otherwise. And it worked!While two DVDs filled with demonstrations by some of the greatest drummers alive today, and a play-along CD earn this set a significant value point, the booklet that comes with it adds even more value. All too often we never take the time to read booklets that come with DVDs (unless in a fit of boredom), but the accompanying booklet is not only fascinating, but also essential reading by any drummer who wants to extend the contents of the discs and CD into deeper thinking and a deeper understanding of brush playing.Most of the booklet was written by Mark Griffith who is an extraordinary writer and historian, among other talents. Highlights of the booklet [for me] were A History of the Brushes that fills in gaps in other resources and includes some provocative material about the relationship between tap dancing and brushes, and the early brush masters. He extended the relationship discussion with a brief history of tap dancing. Also important is Mark's brush resource guide that covers selected artists and songs to which you should pay attention.One omission from the set is a collection of PDF files that were supposed to be on the DVD set. However, you can obtain them by going to Hudson Music's product page, which contains a link that will allow you to download the missing files.

I had to do a listening assignment for this and write and paper. Here is my paper - tells what is presented in the DVD and my opinions: The Art of Playing with Brushes, released by Hudson Music, is a true treasure trove of information and tools to learn to play brushes. Steve Smith and Adam Nussbaum host other elders of the art to demonstrate their techniques and explain their philosophies, inspirations and tips. The complete set includes two DVDs and a play-a-along CD with tracks that match the charts the interviewees play to. In total there is over seven hours of video to soak up and learn from! The DVDs are organized by examples of different styles, lessons from different teachers, and other "bonus" material. Under each category Joe Morello (of Dave Brubeck fame), Charli Persip (Dizzy Gillespie), Eddie Locke (Coleman Hawkins), Billy Hart (Hank Jones), Ben Riley (Thelonius Monk) play and talk about each style or lesson. It is through these extensive examples that the viewer can learn many approaches to brushes. First and foremost, all the drummers discussed the fact that brushes are based on individuals and personalities. Each brush player uses different "moves," creates different colors, and adds in unique kicks and tricks. But they also explain some fundamental truths about brush technique. First, brushes are based on lateral and circular motion. The most common implement, the drumstick, uses mostly vertical movement to achieve sound. Brushes, because of their unique design and purpose, call for more subtle, lower, finessed movements. The goal with brushes is to create a "sound-scape" of swishes and accents, whereas drumsticks are more about time and rhythm. Interestingly, Billy Hart talks about how he completely avoids thinking about rhythm when playing brushes, and instead focuses on the melodies and feelings of the music around him. It is much harder to play brushes well if you are focused on counting more than feeling. Each drummer offers their own takes on swing (many different tempos), ballads, ¾ time playing, and latin brushwork. Basic swing patterns usually included the left hand making a circular motion, with the right hand tapping a ride pattern around the left hand's motion. This is made very clear in all the demonstrations. Some of the drummers incorporated more staccato movements, accents on the cymbals, hi-hat splashes, and varying amounts of bass drum playing. All of these variations are valid and worth examining so the viewer may incorporate what they like into their playing. Besides more than five hours of hardcore brush demonstration and talk, the DVDs also include eleven archival clips of great brush players, brush lessons with Adam Nussbaum, Ed Thigpen, and Louis Bellson, and a 5/4 brush solo by Joe Morello. If the viewer inserts the DVDs into their computer, extra PDF articles can be found. They include biographies and listening guides of the artists featured in the DVDs, a written brush lesson with Adam Nussbaum, an article on the sounds of the brushes, and information about playing along with the included CD. As an individual player, there are many things I can take from this package to improve my brush playing. As I am currently studying brushes in Philly Joe Jones's book "Brush Artistry," I was familiar with some of the basic concepts presented in the video. A picture (or video) is worth a thousand words -watching masters of brushes has given me direct connections between concepts, movements, and sounds. It will take me time and more watching of the DVDs to develop and integrate all of these ideas into my playing. As described in the video, my practice could be with or without music on any suitable surface: a drum, newspaper, record cover, or book. Truly, The Art of Playing with Brushes is a monumental resource for playing brushes. The material presented can help develop any drummer into an individual, swingin' brush player.