Drummer-Less Recordings For The Jazz Drummer
Whether you’re stuck in lockdown desperate to play with other musicians again or just looking for new ways to practice, drummer-less recordings can help to bridge that gap. I’ve found these kind of recordings to be super useful and there are a ton of them out there on Spotify and iTunes.
They’re great for working on time, locking in with the bass player, comping, playing over forms, practicing brushes, building repertoire or learning to orchestrate drum parts for an arrangement and I’m sure there are hundreds of other ways you could think to use them.
It may not be quite the same experience as playing in a live situation, interacting and improvising with other musicians, but they allow for focusing in on specific areas of your playing and developing them in a musical setting (and a chance to sit in with some killer rhythm sections!).
Recommended Listening
Here are some of my favourite drummer-less recordings/albums (I’ve tried to include a variety of tempos, feels and grooves):
“Don’t Blame Me” - Ahmad Jamal, The Legendary Okeh & Epic Recordings
Great for building a drum part along with an arrangement.
Entire album is a goldmine for drummer-less tracks.
“Virgo” and “Ernie’s Tune” - Benny Green, These Are Soulful Days
“Virgo” - Uptempo with stops to catch in the head.
“Ernie’s Tune” - Slow ballad perfect for working on ballad brush playing.
“Dexterity” - Roy Hargrove, Parker’s Mood
Unison head you can play the melody on the drums along with.
Hard album to find (at least in the UK) but can be found on YouTube.
“Segment” - Kenny Barron and Dave Holland, The Art Of Conversation
Similar to the previous suggestion, the head is also played in unison in the A sections. Piano and bass trade 8s.
“Girl Talk” and “Give Me Something” - Marc Hemmeler and Ray Brown, For Betty
“Girl Talk” - Slow swinger.
“Give Me Something” - Figures to catch in the head and stride piano in the bass solo.
“Eastside, Westside” - Monty Alexander and John Clayton
Whole track of stride/2-feel.
“Oliloqui Valley” - Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield, Fingerpainting: The Music Of Herbie Hancock
Moves between straight/swung feels.
“Kind Folk” - Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Dave Holland and Bill Frisell, Angel Song
3/4 feel and atmospheric with driving bass playing from Dave Holland.
“Night And Day” - Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Barney Kessel, Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter
See other Oscar Peterson Trio albums for loads more - “Oscar Peterson Plays George Gershwin/Duke Ellington/Irving Berlin/Jerome Kern/Richard Rodgers” etc.
“Don De Fluir” - Celso Francesa and Jorge Drexler, Rive Gauche Rio
Something slightly different to finish, a duo Brazilian tune to test those Brazilian brush chops on!
You can find a playlist of these tracks here and let me know your favourite drummer-less recordings below!
