Great Drum Grooves 14 - Elvin Jones' 3/4, as in Shorter's "Juju" or Coltrane's "Out of This World"

I feel this groove in 6, but would write it out in 3/4. Whatever you want to call it, Elvin's 3-based African- and Latin-flavored groove, as used in Coltrane's "Out of This World" and Shorter's "Juju", is just crazy good -- powerful, yet with surprising nuance, and requiring tons of 4-limb independence. This video is merely my approximation, with a lighter section in the middle.

Note that Elvin effortlessly changes things up within this groove, making it so much more organic than an imitation could ever sound. For example, he often puts the first closed hi-hat on the swung-8th note of 1, instead of directly on 2... or, he may vary where the ride cymbal accents appear, or even the toms. And of course there's his general loose interpretation of time. Regardless, when it comes from him, it's always musical, flowing, and effortless-sounding. He is one of the few true "one-of-a-kinds."

I don't feel I can do this part total justice, but there's no way this drum groove CAN'T be on a video list of my all time favorites!

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[DougDinsdale]

You definitely do it justice.