On the Cover: Drummer Jojo Mayer and bassist John Davis, of the improvisational band Nerve, share with us their insights into their longstanding, highly successful creative rhythmic relationship, as well as their reflections on the essential ingredients of a great rhythm section. They also have something to say about Ringo Starr’s collaboration with Paul McCartney. Features: We present our selections for The 10 Best Rhythm Sections Of All Time, along with a musical evaluation of each one. We also show you 15 Ways To Groove With Your Bass Player by analyzing tried-and-true techniques for drummer-bass player interaction, backed up with transcriptions of great sounding recorded grooves from a wide range of musical genres. Because it’s so important to keep the beat with your feet, our Bass Drum Beater Roundup evaluates 43 bass drum beaters that are currently on the market. Lessons: Diversify your repertoire, find new inspiration, and branch out into new gigging possibilities by studying Jazz Chops For Rock Drummers Anika Nilles’ new Subdivisions warmup will help you to build chops while solidifying your rhythmic accuracy Joe Smyth’s teaches tasty and effective grooves for the hi-hat and ride cymbal Danny Gottlieb’s creative interpretation of a jazz chart in 6/4 and 7/4 Plus: We catch up with Danny Carey about his new project, Legend Of The Seagullmen, and with Barrett Martin about Seattle supergroup Walking Papers; tell the story behind Pan Rocks, a group with a 30-piece steelpan section that knows how to rock; introduce up-and-coming female drummers with our new Women Crush Wednesday series; examine copyright laws as they pertain to drumbeats; and review Doc Sweeney’s Rosewood Kit and Zildjian’s K Sweet Cymbals.
