I tend to like playing for the music regardless of the style. Most of the time, that means that I get the opportunity to groove hard while interacting with the other musicians. I like the moments that are not planned the best. To me, this is when the music can start to breathe and come to life.
One thing that can be fun is when the leader looks at me and indicates that it’s time for a drum solo. Most of the time, we’re playing a song with a specific structure. During my solo, I keep that structure going. It helps make my solo relevant to what has come before and what’s coming after. One really cool way to keep the structure in mind, is to sing the song while I’m soloing. This is something that one of my teachers, Alan Dawson, had me do many years ago. I will always be grateful to Alan for the brief time I spent in his company. Anytime time I solo, he is there.
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