More on brush playing

Scattered throughout this blog are posts about playing brushes:

• On Playing Brushes Part 1: The Vocabulary
• On Playing Brushes Part 2: Creative Writing
• On Playing Brushes Part 3: The Thesaurus
• Clayton Cameron on Tap Dancing and Brushes

I wanted to add another resource from my other blog that should inspire brush players (or those who want to learn brushwork): Sound of Swing - A Great Basie Video. What makes this video special is it's just Basie and his rhythm section (Sonny Payne, Freddie Green and Norman Keenan). Payne's brushwork is exquisite on every performance, two of which are embedded in the post, and the interplay between and among the musicians illustrates how to make excellent music as a cohesive group. Watch Basie closely for the cues he gives the other musicians.

Update: See Jon McCaslin's excellent blog post, The Art of Brushes: Roundtable Discussion for more about Steve Smith's instructional video.