Ahmad Jamal’s record At The Pershing featuring Vernel Fournier on the drums, was one of the first jazz records I really connected with. The entire record swings and the band sounds like they’ve been playing at least 2 sets a night their entire lives. For me the first stand outs were But Not For Me, one of my favorite standards, and The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, a relaxed and very hip up tempo take on a tune from a decidedly unhip show (my opinion…)
It was later, the second year of my undergrad that my teacher at the time, Bob Tamagni pointed out Vernel Fournier’s unique groove on the tune Poinciana. It’s not the most difficult thing to coordinate, but making it groove like Fournier did is another story. A couple days ago I spent the morning playing along with some of the records I’ve listened to most over the years, including At The Pershing. Poinciana stopped me in my tracks. I could play the tune, but it wasn’t really hanging together as much as I’d like so I came up with a couple coordination exercises to try to focus my groove a bit more. Here’s the first; the groove for Poinciana with Syncopation “Set 2” played on the bass drum. I’ll post the second tomorrow. As always, check out my instagram for a play through.
What Should I Practice Today? 
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