Live, unedited jazz drum tracks… that’s what Jazz Essentials II is all about!
When you think of jazz, you think of free-flowing improvisation. Free, unfettered, exploration of a a musical idea that demands space and time to develop. Jazz is about communication between musician and musician as 
well as musician with the audience. At its purest essence, it’s a musical conversation.
When it came time to release a collection of jazz drum loops, we approached the genre with these basic tenets of jazz in mind. The result? Jazz Essentials II. Over 2GB of long play jazz drum tracks that give all jazz musicians the chance to explore and interact musically with one of New York City’s busiest gigging drummers.
Most sample releases offer 1 or 2-bar loops of jazz drums, offering various groove styles, phrasings, and syncopations. And, while that might be OK to get an idea or two off the ground, we felt this approach was severely limited. So, what did we do? We captured complete long takes, ranging anywhere from 3 – 10 minutes, that could allow jazz songwriters to experience the full spectrum of expression that is essential to the jazz genre.
Recently, Music Tech Magazine rediscovered this collection of jazz drum tracks and asked to use them for their cover DVD of loops and samples. On top of that, they gave Jazz Essentials II a review of the collection. Both the review and the free sample content can be found in the August 2018 edition of MusicTech Magazine (Issue 185).
What did they have to say about our jazz drum tracks? A few highlights:
Jazz Essentials II shies away from the traditional loops and samples phrasing for something more authentic.
…it offers up a much more natural performance, and having the full take is good inspiration for improvisation.
…the superb performances and longer run time offer up a unique opportunity for more natural sounding tracks.
Their final verdict:
Punchy sound, great performances and full-length tracks provide a unique way to add natural acoustic drums to your compositions.
The entire review can be found in the August 2018 edition of Music Tech at newsstands or online at: https://www.musictech.net/2018/07/jazz-essentials-ii-review/
So, if you’re after 100% live and unedited jazz drum tracks that capture every nuance of a free-flowing, improvisational conversation on the drums, we think (as did Music Tech Magazine!) it is hard to beat what Jazz Essentials II drum tracks has to offer.
Thanks for these drum tracks. It’s really hard to find live jazz drum tracks that have the feel and flow of playing alongside a live drummer. You guys totally captured that with Jazz II – I jam along with these all the time when I am just practicing or trying to get melodies together. Any chance we will see more jazz tracks soon? I, for one, would be the first in line! –ED