Roy Haynes
Right now i’m listening to the Roy Haynes Trio with Danillo Perez, and John Pattitucci. If you haven’t heard this band, you are lacking a tremendous experience! Just now while listening I had an epiphany about Roy Haynes, especially about how he plays the ride cymbal!
Before I tell you my epiphany, I want to make sure you’re familiar with Roy Haynes.
Roy Haynes, early in his career, played and recorded with Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk. These are of course among many many other great jazz giants that you have heard. This year (2010) Roy Haynes will turn 85, and yes he still plays with as much energy as he used to (if not more). I saw him a couple years ago in Detroit with his quartet, and was completely floored by his absolute command of the drumset. One thing that always bothers me is a timid drummer, or a drummer who won’t hit the drums! Roy Haynes definitely is not afraid to hit the drums. Observe below:
Roy’s ride cymbal:
Traditionally the jazz drummer plays the ride cymbal pattern with a triplet feel. Roy Haynes however has a certain way of playing the swing beat, one that has influenced my playing and many other drummers. What’s fascinating about Roy Haynes’ swing pattern is that its straight. In the beginning of this paragraph I mentioned how the traditional swing pattern is based on triplets. The funny thing is, Roy Haynes IS a traditional jazz drummer. He was in the Charlie Parker’s band! The person who invented beebop!
On the other hand, playing jazz with a straight eighth note feel is not some kind of anomaly. When a tempo approaches about 300bpm the swing beat begins to straighten out eventually turning into a straight eighth note pattern. Roy Haynes’ ride pattern has that straight eighth syncopation, the difference is he does it at much slower tempos. With the right band, this way of playing the jazz beat can create a really sweet feeling that definitely swings.
In Roy’s trio with Danilo Perez and John Pattitucci, they play a lot of songs with latin infused rhythms. One great example is a song called “Folk” (clip below) where the rhythm is a Mambo. Danilo Perez and Roy compliment each other with a lot of energy and spontaneity. Now here’s the cool part. Listen to the next clip which is from a “swung” song. Its as straight as the Mambo!
Happy Drumming.
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