It’s been said that in order to master something you’ll need to spend at least 10,000 hours practicing. So, I think it’d be safe to say that over a 65-year career, one would be considered a master of masters. Such is the case for drummer Charlie Persip. From 1945 until 2010 he was a session and touring drummer for the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Harry James, Dinah Washington, Sonny Rollins and nearly anyone else you can think of. After he retired, he devoted his time to educating and sharing his many years with the instrument.
​
 “Tubby” is from a session he did with Gene Ammons, Sonny Still, and Jack McDuff. It was released in 1962 on Prestige Records, and is a funky soul-jazz number that has some tasty solos. It also showcases his mastery of the instrument, and is just a warm celebration of these four giants of jazz music. ​

After Bad Brains moved from Washington DC to New York City in 1981, an interesting music scene grew around them. Bands like the Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, and Murphy's Law took punk rock to the next level. This hardcore subgenre of punk rock spread to nearby Danbury and New Haven Connecticut, where Revelation Records was formed.
​
In 1987, Revelation released New York City Hardcore: Together, and a year later New York City Hardcore- The Way It Is. Both of these compilations showcased the NYC Hardcore punk rock scene and influenced generations of musicians. My favorite track was Breakdown’s “Sick People.” It’s a thick and heavy number, and still stands out today.  

If you ever look at a map of the United States, you’ll notice that Nashville is equidistant between Chicago and New Orleans. Since the 1950’s it’s been the center of the country music industry. It’s also been a sanctuary for session musicians who migrated there from both those cities, and everywhere in between, dragging with them various musical influences.

One of those unsung musicians was drummer Aaron Kenny Buttrey. Born in Nashville and raised on the road from the age of 14 with Chet Atkins, Buttrey also performed with everyone from Elvis Presley, to Bob Dylan and Joe Simon, to Neil Young, Peggy Scott-Adams, and Donovan.

In 1969 he helped form Area Code 615, a group aptly named after Nashville’s area code. They were a progressive country rock supergroup of sorts, made up of some of those session players like Wayne Moss, Mac Gayden, Charlie McCoy and David Briggs.
“Southern Comfort” is the first single from their debut self-titled album released in 1969 on Polydor. It’s not their most popular single, that would be “Stone Fox Chase” released a year later, but this song truly showcases the various musical genres that made their way through Nashville.
​
We lost Kenny Buttrey this week in 2004. He was a true legend among musicians and his slick and funky style will forever be mimicked and enjoyed by future generations.  

It’s hard to dance without music, and throughout human history the two art forms have become synonymous with each other. If it was “The Stroll” in the 1950’s, or the “Macarena” in the 90’s, communities creating dances around songs or musicians creating songs around dances, this aspect of music history is fascinating.

One such song that stormed the R&B charts in 1964 was “Twine Time” by Alvin Cash & The Crawlers. It was a response to a dance that sprang up in the south side of Chicago.
​
The Crawlers struggled to find that same success and eventually disbanded, but Cash would go on to have a modest solo career, scoring an R&B hit with “Keep on Dancing” in 1968.   ​