First things first - grab your free transcription here.
I don’t want to say Justin Brown is “underrated”, exactly. There are New York Times articles about him, and he plays with Thundercat.
Still, his influence probably outpaces the number of times he’s on people’s lips when they say stuff like “great modern drummers like Larnell, Thomas P, Marcus Gilmore, etc”. Justin should warrant frequent mention in this pantheon. His playing with Gerald Clayton, for instance, is an encyclopedia in how to make every moment of a song feel good.
I’m not exactly sure why I had Justin on the brain this past month, but something reminded me of the first time I heard him, in the 2000-oughts, and my subsequent search for any recordings or gig videos. It was at the end of such a search that I unearthed the song Subversive, by jazz saxophonist Yosvany Terry, and a live performance from LA, with Justin Brown on drums.
I found the groove fascinating and hypnotic at the time, and listened to it on repeat. (The drum solo at the end of the song is a lot of fun.)
At any rate, after around a 10 year break from the song, I revisited Subversive, and Justin’s drum groove, this past month. And decided it might make a cool video. So here you have it.
I’ll break down my process for understanding what’s going on, then we’ll talk about some key aspects of the groove. Then I’ll show you some of my favorite “JB” embellishments. And if you dig this one, maybe I’ll do a Gerald Clayton or Ambrose song at some point.
Hope you enjoy!