All really great points Kirstin. Hope you and yours are doing well! Was telling Kelli about our hang pre-show last year just the other day.

Hallo strangers, I wanted to drop some info here since I have been taking instruction from a drummer who played OH for 16 years before deciding to mix it up and play a bit of both open and traditional. One who was a student of the late, and much missed, Dom Famularo who was one of the leading voices on OH playing. After watching me play a bit he has given me this course correction that is nothing magical or outside of common sense. Simply put: If you are going through the groove and fill process from HH or RH Ride to any point on the right side of the kit, best practice is to be on a right hand lead.   If you a are going through the groove and fill process from HH or RH Ride cymbal to any point on the left side of the kit, best practice is to be on a left hand lead.  I was already doing this for the most part but I wasn't as consistent or deliberate as he says I should be. It should be engrained to the point that no thinking is involved beyond forecasting if you are going to the ride, returning to the HH, or picking a crash on the left or right of the kit.  He pointed out that, of course there are exceptions to every rule, but having this programmed in will help prevent getting cornered when you are pressed to improvise. He has me practicing going only one direction first. When I have that down pat, I'm to start practicing going the other direction with the opposite lead until I get that sorted.  Only then do I start practicing going to the right on a 4 measure groove/fill (to the Ride), and return to the left on the next 4 measure Ride groove/fill back to the HH. That is all.  Be well and GL. I'm fading back into the woods again for a while. 

I was thinking about Jimi Hendrix and how unorthodox his guitar playing was.  Not only did he play a right handed guitar upside down left handed but he pushed every boundary of rock and roll.  He often played under the influence of drugs and admitted it freely.  Many consider him the greatest rock guitarist ever. There was an equally adventurous music pioneer who performed three decades earlier.  Fueled by drugs and an incredible imagination not to mention impeccable technique was the saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.  Bebop jazz stretched traditional jazz grooves to their limits with speeds of over 200 bpm and incredibly complex harmonies and rhythms and Charlie, or Bird as most called him, was the best ever. I'm wondering if there is a drummer who has come along and defined a generation of drumming in the last 100 years.  John Bonham comes to mind as does Max Roach and Art Blakey.  Neil Peart should be considered.  Any other suggestions?

I’m not overly confident on swing percentages. I’ve heard the term and have, I think, a working definition, but I’m not entirely certain how it is applied when playing. It seems that is something done by feel, but I don’t know. Any insight or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks to this school, I’ve gotten more into jazz and want to develop a greater sense of what to listen for in jazz drumming.