a free form jazz odyssey in front of a festival crowd

Last night, in preparation for a recording session, I changed a few drum heads and organized some things. Its a therapeutic experience, bringing new life and sound to some drums, learning more about your instrument. But this is kind of a special session, so I decided to do something I’ve been on the fence about for a long time, I will bring the Elvin Jones drum.

If you know me, and theres a very big chance of that if you’re reading this, you understand that this is my most prized posession on earth. I bought it from the late legend’s wife Keiko, in their Central Park West apartment, one year after he passed. Her one condition was “You have to play it, I won’t let collectors in here, you must play it”. And I’ve kind of let her down. Theres always that struggle when you have something like that. When I’d hear of some collector buying a Hendrix Strat for nearly a million dollars, I think “man, you can’t just let that sit, you have to play it!” But….when you get it in your hands, you don’t want to damage it, its not like you can go to Guitar Center and get another.

The drum is nearly immaculate. From what she told me, I think he played it on a few sessions, then it looks as though it never left his apartment. Old drums in this color, which they called Champagne Sparkle, would often fade to a ginger ale type color, from exposure to light and things like that. The only way to tell, is to remove the drum heads to see if the color underneath the rim matches, since its not exposed. Kind of like in that Thomas Crown Affair movie, where they identify paintings from the 1/8 inch border beneath the frame. Anyhoo…the head on there is the original calf skin gretsch logo head, beater marks on it, its a little worn. This is a big part of the original sound, and the most easily broken part, so it has been decided that I should remove that head, save it, and replace it with a newer one. This was going to be a delicate process, as heads of this type will sometimes stick to the shell, and tear upon removal, a result I am not willing to accept.

So, I put on my white lab coat, silk gloves, protective hazmat suit, goggles, and got to work. My theory of the head having never been removed proved to be true. It was a sight to be seen. There was no discoloration on the wrap at all, CRAZY!! I also managed to move the original head milli-millimeters at a time, so it stayed in tact. The drum was made in 1968, and the interior is spotless. The air had not been released in 40 years. The room filled with a definite vibe the minute the head was off. There is a felt strip used to muffle the batter head, it was still a pristine white color- these turn brown from god knows what when exposed. The orange gretsch sticker with blue pen writing is clear as ever, and the signature silver Gretsch paint is spotless. Yes, the vibe I felt may have been the toxic fumes from lead paint escaping, but I didn’t mind. I replaced one bent tension rod, reassembled and set it with the rest of a kit.

I just read an interview with Smokey Hormel, one of my 3 favorite living guitar players, who said that you have to play what a particular instrument tells you to play. I feel this is especially true with older instruments of any type. When this drum was set up, it refused to give a thud-rock-kick drum sound. It flat out refused. I asked nicely, tuned it in every way possible, changed pedals, materials, dampening techniques, everything. Its response was “do you know who I am?” My response was “I apologize sir, I should have seen your name on our exclusive nightclub guest list” We then came to an agreement, accepted each other for who we were, and lived harmoniously. Well, I mean, we played as much jazz as I am capable of doing, which could fill maybe a shot glass. But still, all was well in the universe.

Overall, it might not be the right choice for the recording, but it will be interesting to have it there, just in case. Maybe we’ll all step up our playing just a bit in its presence.