Dennis Chambers on Blue Matter

When it comes to jazz fusion drumming, I always come back to Dennis Chambers. His combination of funk sensibility with killer chops leads to deep driving groove that is perfect for fusion but not over the top. Very pocket.

This is a classic Chambers jazz fusion groove from the title track of John Scofield's 1986 album "Blue Matter". It's basically a slow double time shuffle, but Chambers is just playing accented eighths notes in the hi-hat, which means there's a lot of space for the kick part to sync with the bass on all those triplets.

It's so heavy and, for some, perhaps hard to believe it's all done on a single pedal.

This is a great groove for getting you kick drum chops together and it will take a bit of work to get it down.

Have a listen and have fun.

This was originally posted on "Jazz Drumming Blog" back in 2012.