Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Play-Along Series: Drums
By Gordon Goodwin and Bernie Dresel
Grade: 5-6
Item: 00-PB-0002220
$24.95
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Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Play-Along Series: Drums: Drum Book & Online Audio/Software |
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Description
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Play-Alongs are the perfect opportunity to sit in with outstanding players from the Big Phat Band in order to measure and improve your ability. Learn volumes of information about style, phrasing, tone, dynamics, technique, articulation, playing in time, Latin grooves, and a variety of swing styles as you play along and listen to the players in the Phat Band. Performance tips and suggestions from the Big Phat Band's lead players and Gordon himself are included in each book. The Alto and Tenor Sax books include tips from Bernie Dresel, one of the most superb and well-rounded drummers on the scene today. The horn solos have been kept intact on the accompanying recording so you can learn to play off of the soloist.
Titles: Swingin' for the Fences * La Almeja Pequena * Hunting Wabbits * Whodunnit * Count Bubba's Revenge * Get in Line * Horn of Puente * The Jazz Police * High Maintenance * Cut 'n Run. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.
Titles: Swingin' for the Fences * La Almeja Pequena * Hunting Wabbits * Whodunnit * Count Bubba's Revenge * Get in Line * Horn of Puente * The Jazz Police * High Maintenance * Cut 'n Run. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.
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Sample Audio
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Hunting Wabbits (Demo)
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2
Hunting Wabbits
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Hunting Wabbits (Demo)
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Sample Video
Additional Details
Series:
Jazz Play-Along Series
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
68
SKU:
00-PB-0002220
Instrumentation:
Drums
More about this title
About the Composer: Gordon Goodwin
Gordon Goodwin began composing full orchestrations in his head at age five, writing complete big band arrangements by his early teens. His work has shaped film and television for decades, earning three Emmy Awards and multiple Grammy nominations for scores that appear in Bad Boys II, Con Air, Remember the Titans, and Star Trek: Nemesis, alongside arrangements for artists including Quincy Jones, Christina Aguilera, and Ray Charles.
In 2000, Goodwin founded Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, establishing himself as both a bandleader and conductor with world-class ensembles. The band's debut album Swingin' for the Fences made history as the first commercially released DVD audio title and earned two Grammy nominations. His subsequent releases continued to build on this success, solidifying his position as one of contemporary jazz's most accomplished composers and arrangers.
Why we love this
Few play-along packages give drummers access to the actual language and sensibility of a working big band at this level of execution. The Big Phat Band's rhythm section doesn't just keep time; they swing with intention, phrase musically, and respond to the soloist. Studying alongside Bernie Dresel and learning directly from the band's lead players transforms this from a transcription exercise into real mentorship.
What to expect
Stepping into a professional recording studio where every swing phrase, every dynamic swell, and every groove pocket is intentional and executed with polish. The ten tunes span multiple idioms—straight swing, Latin rhythms, funk inflections, and studio sensibility—but they all share that Big Phat Band signature: precision meeting joy.
Who it's for
High school and college drummers ready to develop beyond basic timekeeping and into the nuanced pocket work that professional big bands require. Musicians who learn best by listening, imitating, and internalizing the choices of working professionals will find the recorded accompaniment invaluable.
How to get the most out of it
- Lock into the swing feel first by listening to how the bass and piano interact before focusing on your own comping patterns; the ride cymbal should sing over a walking foundation, not fight it.
- Study the recorded solos carefully to understand how the drummer responds dynamically to each horn section; you're not just keeping time, you're in conversation.
- Attack the Latin grooves in La Almeja Pequena and the funk figures in Cut 'n Run with the exact articulation you hear on the recording; these styles demand precision beyond just the right notes.
How to use it
Use these transcriptions as a capstone experience for jazz ensemble drummers or as a bridge into the upper levels of jazz pedagogy. Pair them with live Big Phat Band recordings so students hear the same arrangements performed in real time and witness how studio precision translates to the stage.
Skills your students will build
- Comping behind horn solos with dynamic responsiveness
- Swing feel across multiple tempos and phrasing contexts
- Latin grooves and mixed meters (straight eighths vs. swing)
- Reading and executing funk and contemporary jazz articulation
- Building cohesion between ride cymbal melody and kick drum foundation
- Listening and reacting in ensemble as opposed to counting independently