Fighting For Life

In a bizarre coincidence, two of my children came close to something dreadful happening to them in two completely separate gas leak incidents in the past few days.

And I also found myself helping to tend to a close friend who had collapsed suddenly and had to be taken to hospital.

Inevitably, such incidents remind us of the fragility of our lives.

It was sad to hear of the death of Pat Pilkington (above), a remarkable woman who, along with Penny Brohn, helped found the Bristol Cancer Help Centre (now Penny Brohn Cancer Care).

Pat, whom I had the privilege to meet and interview, was in a way an "ordinary" woman who did extraordinary things, making so many people take a second look at the ways in which we had been conditioned to deal with cancer.

She was the best kind of revolutionary: quiet, effective, steely, charming, successful and modest.

Kofi Time

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Kofi Baker. Not literally, but with his excellent drum tuition book, The Forgotten Foot. 

The drummer’s forgotten foot is, of course, the left foot – unless you’re left-footed (in which case it’ s the right one).

And Kofi is, of course, the son of the legendary Ginger. Whether they are speaking to each other these days, I don’t know. Kofi said a while back that their relationship was “distant”.

But one thing that unites them, apart from that distinct Baker drum sound, is their appreciation of the left foot as time-keeper.

For many of us of the rock persuasion, the left foot just sort of follows on in there with the left hand. But if you come from the jazz direction, the left foot on the hi-hat is the crucial master control – the original click track

Once this fact is grasped, the left foot becomes the linchpin rather than an add-on.

Ginger’s left foot – on hi-hat or second bass drum, or on both of those at the same time (in what is known as pedal-bridging) is a marvel, and I’m beginning to find the joy in having that left foot taking on a life of its own, inspired by watching great jazz drummers and particularly my mentor, the great John Marshall.

I’m also indebted to Kofi for his book and its wonderful exercises for every foot and hand. He comes over as a modest man with a true passion for the drum kit and its infinite possibilities. And he deserves to be remembered for Forgotten.