I feel very content to have completed my research for my master degree at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague in this topic, which I love.
It’s been 18 months of intensive transcribing, analyzing, reading, writing, discussing, comparing, learning, experimenting & recording that definitely worthed it.
It would be stupid to say that I am a completely different player now or that I have become a master of comping. I am none of these.
However, by doing this research I managed:
-to get exposed to new music,
-to understand a topic that I knew nothing about two years ago,
-to reconsider what and how I should practice,
-to create a methodology that might help other drummers improve,
-to get a small impression of what I want to do with drums in the near future,
-to love jazz even more.
Having focused on these recent recordings of jazz history, doesn't mean that I forgot the earlier pioneers of the drums in jazz. On the contrary, I understood even better, why classic drummers are considered so timeless and significant.
My goals for the coming period are:
-to practice everything I learnt in a very conscious way,
-to play as much as I can with other musicians (and apply the things I learnt, if I am given the chance),
-to write music that compliments my drumming style,
-to keep on investigating and developing this topic.
Thanks to all the teachers, supervisors and colleagues who supported me with their valuable feedback and encouragement!
If you have any questions, comments or advice, don't hesitate to contact me at: dimitrikoutantos@gmail.com
Thanks you for checking out my research exposition!
My Swinging Regards,
Dimitris Koutantos