Han Bennink, drummer, percussionist, visual artist, etc.
Han Bennink (drums) & Guus Janssen (piano), “One Bar”
Live, Japan (Chiba), 2010
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lagniappe
You’ve got to hand it to WKCR-FM. There are a few stations, here and there, that might spin a track or two in honor of the Dutch drummer’s 70th birthday. Somebody might even give him an hour or two. But who, other than a station deeply in tune with Bennink’s own inspired lunacy, would stage a five-day marathon?
How many sonic experiences are as dizzying as the one offered this time each year by WKCR-FM (Columbia University)? First there’s 24 hours, straight, of Ornette. The next 24? Bix, Bix, Bix.
Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra (feat. Bix Beiderbecke, cornet), “There’ll Come A Time (Wait and See),” 1928
Ornette Coleman Quartet with guests Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone), James Blood Ulmer (guitar), Charlie Haden (bass), live, Netherlands (North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam), 2010
Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
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Part 5
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR-FM (Columbia University): all Ornette, all day.
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads(Kevin Nutt, gospel) —Give the Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis, Web only)
—Lamin’s Show (sui generis)
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads(Kevin Nutt, gospel) —Give the Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis, Web only)
—Daniel Blumin
—Cherry Blossom Clinic (Terre T, rock, etc.)
—Antique Phonograph Music Program (MAC, “78s and cylinders . . . played on actual period reproducing devices”)
—HotRod (“Shamanic vibrational love frequencies for the infinite mind,” Web only)
• WHPK-FM(broadcasting from University of Chicago)
Beginning yesterday afternoon and continuing until noon Saturday, WKCR-FM, which broadcasts from Columbia University, is celebrating the centennial of Papa Jo Jones—the “greatest drummer who ever lived,” according to the station’s Phil Schaap—in the best possible way: they’re playing his music (with Count Basie, Billie Holiday, et al.), and nothing but his music, 24 hours a day. Breakfast, he’s on; lunch, he’s on; dinner, he’s on; bedtime, he’s on—and it’s all free.* Is this a great life, or what?
Here at MCOTD, we’re celebrating Papa Jo, too—with this clip, a favorite.
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He doesn’t pummel the beat, the way so many drummers do.
He pulls it out of the air.
Jo Jones (“Papa Jo” [as distinguished from “Philly Joe“]), October 7, 1911-September 3, 1985
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lagniappe
[W]hat really distinguished the great drummers I heard growing up, what really attracted me to men such as Sonny Greer, Chick Webb, Sid Catlett, Jo Jones and Kenny Clarke was that they all thought like composers, they all had their own way of hearing a band. They were all original thinkers who identified themselves when they played. And they stood out. They played like leaders.
—Max Roach
(Originally posted 8/5/10.)
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*“Free” is a bit misleading; it costs money to keep this daily miracle on the air, so, periodically, WKCR-FM solicits contributions. If you tune in and like what you hear, perhaps you, too, could kick in a few bucks.
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Lester Young/Charlie Parker birthday marathon
—John Coltrane birthday broadcast
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Traditions in Swing (Phil Schaap, jazz)
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads(Kevin Nutt, gospel) —Airborne Event (Dan Bodah, “electronic noise to free jazz, drone rock to a capella African song”)
—Give the Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis, web only)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)
• WHPK-FM (broadcasting from University of Chicago)
—The Blues Excursion (Arkansas Red)
music clip of the day 