Tony Allen was a drummer from Nigeria who played behind Afro Beat creator and legend, Fela Kuti. In 2016 Tony Allen did a masterclass for the youtube channel and virtual concert promoters Boiler Room. After watching the masterclass video, I transcribed one of the groove Tony plays as an example. You can check out the PDF transcription below and follow the link to the video to learn more.
Originally written by Bruce Springsteen, this song just wasn’t fitting on his album Darkness at the Edge of Town, plus, he was having some trouble with the lyrics. Patti happened to be in the studio next door working on her album Easter. So Bruce gave the song to her, and she reworked the lyrics while waiting for a phone call from her husband who she was in a long distance relationship with at the time, which inspired lines like Have I doubt, baby, when I’m alone
Love is a ring on the telephone
Love is an angel, disguised as lust
Here in our bed ’til the morning comes
The drums were recorded by Patti’s drummer Jay Dee Daugherty. You can check out a transcription of this recording by clicking the link below.
Here’s another drum transcription and cover video from Death Cab For Cutie’s 2001 release, The Photo Album. Jason Mcgerr’s drum groove is super creative and the use of playing with his snares off for the first part of the tune was such an interesting use of tone and dynamics.
Death Cab For Cutie has been one of my favorite bands since I was a teenager, and Jason Mcgerr’s unique and creative approach to playing drums in a rock band is a big reason why they are one of my favorites. I have transcribed his drum part on their song “We laugh Indoors” from the 2001 record, “The Photo Album”. You can check out a video of myself playing through the song, and download the transcription here!
Here is a free PDF transcription of some of my favorite James Brown drum grooves. Be sure to also check out the demonstration video on youtube for examples of each groove.
Traveling Through the Bardos With Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus reveals where the future of Jazz is headed on his new album entitled You’re Dead. On his previously released albums, one can hear a subtle jazz influence in the various samples that he would mix with some hip-hop and electronica compositions. But, You’re Dead is by far the most jazz influenced of his records thus far. Initially, Flying Lotus intended for the album to be, what he described as “a straight jazz record”. In order to achieve his vision, Flying Lotus hired legendary Jazz pianist, Herbie Hancock to play on You’re Dead. Using samples of Herbie’s keyboard intertwined with the disorienting bass licks of fellow BrainFeeder crew member, Thundercat , mixed with the lyrical artistry of rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg, Flying Lotus has sculpted an avant-garde jazz fusion record that has a spiritual message reminiscent of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Just as A Love Supreme is a concept album, in which the music is supposed to tell the story of Coltrane’s conversation with God, the concept of “You’re Dead” is the story of the human soul’s journey life after death. In an interview with NPR, Flying Lotus described the album.
“I wanted to make a record that started at the moment of death, the perceived idea of what death is. As soon as you hit the play button, it's on, and then it's the whole journey through the afterlife, through the Tibetan Book of the Dead kind of idea of what it means to die and to go into different dimensions — you know, the "bardos," as they put it.” (All things Considered, October 12, 2014).
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, guides readers through the three realms or “Bardos”, which the soul must travel through between the moment of death and reincarnation: The Chikhai Bardo (Moment of Death), Chonyid Bardo (meeting of Deities), and Sidpa Bardo (Rebirth). “You’re Dead” could be the film score to a souls journey through these realms of the afterlife.
In the moment of death or Chikhai Bardo, the soul is presented with “The Clear Light of Ultimate Reality”. From my understanding, in this stage of the after life, the soul is supposed to come to terms with what has happened and let of go of his or her ego by accepting that they are dead. I feel that this can be seen as a metaphor for Flying Lotus abandoning his ego and entering this new dimension of musicality. This is the stereotypical “white light at the end of a long tunnel” that has been described by people who have been very close to death.
The first track on the album entitled Theme, begins with a ringing of a bell and some low ominous yet peaceful tones beginning at a low volume and then gradually increase. As the dark tones come to a climax, they suddenly drop out and are taken over by very active syncopated lines between bass and drums that cause the listener to almost get disoriented. I interpret this moment as the spirit stepping into the light and then being sucked through a vortex.
The second track entitled Tesla begins with a driving pulse being driven by some brush playing on the drums while the bass dances in and out of the groove with extremely complex lines that really capture the attention of the listener. This driving brush groove makes you feel like you’re on a train or still traveling through the vortex.
Track three, Cold Dead, starts to bring up the intensity of the record by using a rather abrasive guitar line played over a groove that contains some odd groupings, making it feel like it could be written in an odd time signature although it is actually in 4/4. Listening to this song makes me feel as if I am still drifting through the vortex in the first Bardo, but I am being jostled around as I come through different twists and turns. The guitar suddenly drops out as a more spacious and melodic sax melody is gives the listener a sense of relief, that is until the guitar jumps back into the same lopsided groove played at the beginning of the tune.
Track four, Fkn Dead marks the moment when the soul comes to the end of the first bardo and drops his or her ego as they accept that they are in fact, just F***kin’ dead. This is represented, by playing what actually sounds like it could be an earlier Flying Lotus tune. I think this represents Flying Lotus accepting who he is and being proud of where he comes from, but it also shows that he is ready to move on to the next dimension.
The second bardo, is the point in which the soul meets various deities that tempt and challenge the traveling soul. Over the next few tracks on the album, the guest artists – the musical representations of deities interacting with the soul- really come into play, as different characters along the journey.
Track five entitled Never Catch Me, features famed rapper Kendrick Lamar who may be the traveling soul that has just died. Paying attention to the lyrics, it seems to me that Lamar may be the traveling soul that has just died. “Lookin down at my soul now, tell me im in control now.” I believe that line is possibly reflective of this stage of the bardos. In the Chonyid Bardo, the soul is first met by the Peaceful Deities, which tempt the spirit into delving into their godly activities. But it is taught that the spirit must stay centered through the practice of meditation in order to not be mislead by these peaceful deities. Never Catch Me, tells the story of the soul realizing he is in the second bardo and he is preparing to meet these powerful deities.
The next track of the album is entitled Dead Man’s Tetris and features vocals by Snoop Dogg and Flying Lotus’ alter ego: a rapper known as Captain Murphy. In this track, I believe the soul played by Kendrick Lamar enters the next stage of the Chonyid Bardo where he meets the wrathful deities. Snoop Dogg and Captain Murphy represent the wrathful deities. The wrathful deities are there to challenge the spirit in different ways, but mainly to judge the spirits previous life. One wrathful Deity sits counting the souls’ good and bad deeds performed throughout their life. White stones represent the good deeds and black stones represent the bad deeds. If enough good deeds were performed, the soul can be reborn as a human—or even a God. If there were to many bad deeds in the person’s life, then they can be reborn as an animal, Demon, or a hungry ghost, doomed to an eternity of misery.
Now the rest of the album seems much less focused and harder to relate to the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Until, track 14 entitled Moment of Hesitation begins. I interpret Moment of Hesitation as the soul entering the third and final Bardo, known as the Sidpa Bardo. In the Sidpa Bardo the spirit is presented with many couples all making love. The soul then walks about these couples and picks his parents for his next life. The next 3 or 4 songs until the end of the album really just invoke the image of the soul choosing his parents and then entering another vortex similar to the one in the first bardo. Drifting through the vortex into his next life the music becomes much more tranquil and calm until the music finally fades out and the album comes to an end.