A proud funky drummer recently informed me that he is no longer just a funky drummer, but a Professor of Funky Drumming.

Every once and a while Mr. Stubblefield ducks out of town to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what. A couple weeks ago he left to Canada to make a visit to York University in Toronto, Canada. Apparently, the school invited to teach their young funkylings “what it’s all about.” Man, where does he begin??

When he returned the next week, you could tell Clyde was honored and proud to have received the opportunity to teach. In fact, he’s listed as faculty.

Anyone who knows Clyde, knows how generous he is. He loves to share his passion for music and his love for life. He gives because he cares about people, and in return, so many people give back to him. I think he really enjoyed being Professor for a day. It was not only another chance to give to people, but a moment to appreciate how much he is respected throughout the world for his music, his knowledge and his self.

Here’s the course web site at York Univeristy featuring Clyde:

• Fine Arts/Music 1520 - Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk and Rap

Congratulations, Professor Stubblefield! You’re the best!!! And we love ya for it!

And if you don’t believe it…then check out Professor Clyde Stubblefield, PhD (Doctorate of Phunk) as seen here from last year’s visit to York U. Work it, Clyde!!!

(Dr. Clyde looks so serious! At the King Club, he’s usually grinning ear to ear!)

Addendum: I stumbled onto this blog entry from a Technorati search for “Clyde Stubblefield.” To my surprise, I found this posting, which must be a student from the York U class. I was crackin’ up when I took a glance and read that “Sugarbunnie” wrote that “me and Bryan had such a great time.” I’m like, huh?!? That’s MY name, and with a “y”. Pretty hilarious. It’s an interesting read, though. In fact, it’s kind of touching how positive an influence Clyde had for this person during a semi-random, momentary visit. And the beat goes on…

Have you ever seen a list so long??? Amazing…

http://www.plonsey.com/beanbenders/Roscoedisco.html

James Brown (vocals, organ),Bobby Byrd (M.C., vocals, organ)Phelps “Catfish” Collins,Hearlon “Cheese” Martin (guitar),St. Clair Pinckney (tenor saxophone),Darryl “Hasaan” Jamison,Clayton “Chicken” Gunnells (trumpet),Fred Wesley (trombone),William “Bootsy” Collins (bass)John “Jabo” Starks,Don Juan “Tiger” Martin (drums)

Thanks, Alex, for forwarding this. Enjoy everyone!

For the last two or three years I’ve been studying the saxophone about as hard as ever before in my life. Granted, hour for hour, I probably spent more time practicing when I was younger, but these days I’ve definitely put more focused effort in mastering skills I never worked hard enough to achieve prior to this point. There really is no end to learning music; there are just different roads to explore and further distances to travel. This period of learning has been a payback for what I missed by not majoring in music school during college. At least there are no tuition bills via this route!

With the help of Roscoe Mitchell as a mentor, I’ve been pushing myself to hone the discipline required to master fundamental techniques and basic scale patterns and combinations, and then translate those patterns to all keys. Next, I’ve bought a lot of Jamie Aebersold play-along books and CD’s. These have been not only a lot of fun to practice with, but essential for diagramming chord structure and song arrangements.

With time and patience, I’ve finally begun to develop a decent comprehension of “how it all fits together.” One of the most important lessons that Roscoe, and honestly all my music mentors over the years, have stressed (and finally drilled into my head) is to SLOW DOWN and really take the time to thoroughly learn whatever it is I’m trying to practice. Then gradually speed up. It has never been an easy lesson for me. I tend to get too enthusiastic and impatient and push through stuff. Thank you, Roscoe, for being patient enough with me to tug on my reigns and make me walk before I run. The reward is once you’ve mastered something, it really is always yours to have at hand thereafter. By slowing down, I’ve come to understand and internalize so much more.

Similar to developing a disciplined practice routine, I’ve been seeking out and listening carefully to some fundamental jazz recordings that I should have bought and devoured years ago. Oh well, better late than never!

Here are some of the resources I’ve been using in my studies, in case you are interested in following a similar path.

• Daily Warm-Up Exercises For Saxophone, by Jackie McClean
• Universal Methods For Saxophone, by Paul DeVille
• Volume 42 - Blues In All Keys, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 57 - Minor Blues In All Keys, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 6 - Charlie Parker All Bird, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 75 - Countdown to Giant Steps, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 43 - Groovin’ High, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 48 - In a Mellow Tone - Duke Ellington, by Jamie Aebersold

Then, to a lesser degree, I’ve been working on 2-5-1 turn arounds with an all-keys warm-up exercise that Roscoe showed me a few years ago, as well as some more Jamie Aebersold books.

• Volume 3 - The II-V7-I Progression, by Jamie Aebersold
• Volume 16 - Turnarounds, Cycles and II/V7/I’s, by Jamie Aebersold

The 2-5-1 exercises are a basic requirement for taking on more advanced concepts in jazz theory. There is no better example than learning John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and “Countdown”, where 2-5-1 patterns are combined with the minor third cycle. Understanding this set of chord patterns and combinations has revealed one of the most beautiful music theory sets to comprehend and one of the most intriguing to listen to and play. A song like “Central Park West” is at once a simple and elegant ballad, but a song with deep, rich chordal structure.

Finally, I’ve been listening to a lot of swing and hard-bop recordings from the late 50’s and early 60’s, particularly the EMI recordings from Blue Note Records with Rudy Van Gelder. It all started with a concert DVD of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in Belgium from 1958 featuring Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley and Bobby Timmons. Lee Morgan’s solos are so soulful that I immediately wanted to find recordings of his playing. Along the way, I stumbled onto some classic Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine albums. Again, I’ve heard many of these songs before, but I never really appreciated them in the context of jazz the way I am discovering today.

Here are the albums I’ve been listening to lately.

• Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder w/ Joe Henderson on tenor sax
• Lee Morgan - The Cooker w/ Art Pepper on the baritone sax
• Hank Mobley - Workout w/ Lee Morgan on trumpet
• Hank Mobley - No Room For Squares w/ Lee Morgan on trumpet
• Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack w/ Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax
• Jimmy Smith - Prayer Meetin’ w/ Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax

Like I said, many of these are already known classics. The fun part is reading the liner notes and finding other albums and artists doing similar stuff. Every great album is related to another. This has really been a gold mine discovery for me. Nothing beats listening to Jimmy Smith on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee, the newspaper and the morning sun cutting through the living room. It’s a moment of heaven!