Sher Music fans - We had some trouble with our blog a year or so ago and stopped posting but that seems to have been resolved now so let me catch you up on the new books we've put out since then.
1. "Syncopation Companion" by Bryan Bowman - Bryan is a Bay Area drummer and bandleader and he approached me in 2020 to see if I wanted to publish his book, which expands the possibilities of Ted Reed's classic "Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer." I'll refer you to its webpage for more detail, including a glowing endorsement from Peter Erskine - https://www.shermusic.com/9780997661781.php. All I want to add is that I've had the great pleasure of playing with Bryan on a bunch of COVID-safe outdoor gigs here in Petaluma and he is always swinging - so his method works! And a super-nice guy to boot!
2. "Drum Chart Supplement for the Real Easy Book 1" by Alan Hall - Another great drummer and former Bay Area musician, Alan Hall wrote drum charts for every song in the first Real Easy Book in this cool publication. In addition, there is very cogent instruction for beginning drummers on how to read drum notation, basic styles of contemporary drumming and advice on how to be a good team player. The webpage is here - https://www.shermusic.com/9780991077397.php, including videos of Alan performing each chart in both real time and slowed down.
3. "Contemporary Latin Jazz Guitar" by Neff Irizarry - Neff is a talented Finnish guitarist who is included in The European Real Book. He sent me a manscript last year on Latin jazz guitar playing that was super informative and well-organized, going from the basic rhythms of Afro-Cuban music and how they relate to playing guitar in a Latin rhythm section, all the way up to a 6-page transcription of a great Steve Khan solo! There are about 100 shorter transcriptions of guitarists from all eras of Latin music with analysis of why they sound as good as they do. A really well-done and comprehensive book that we are proud to publish - https://www.shermusic.com/9780997661798.php. (Comes with multiple videos of Neff demonstrating many of the exercises.)
4. "The Jazz Saxophone Book" by Tim Armacost - Tim is a leading voice in the New York jazz scene and quite a player. He approached me with an idea for a book on melodic soloing and I said, "Sure, but how about expanding it to include everything a person would need to be an accomplish sax player, like Mark Levine did in his "The Jazz Piano Book." He took on that challenge and the result is magnificent - a super helpful book for any improviser, really. Check it out at https://www.shermusic.com/9780991077380.php. Endorsed by Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Mintzer, George Garzone, Bob Sheppard, Jamey Aebersold, Steve Wilson, Walt Weiskopf, and his bandmate David Berkman.
Coming up - a) "Jazz Scores and Analysis, Vol.2: Strings and Things" by Rick Lawn and b) more great "Jazz Songbooks" from people like Andy Narell, Randy Brecker, Denny Zeitlin, Steve Khan, Duke Pearson, etc. Be well, stay safe and keep it swinging! - Chuck
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