I really am not one to kick off Christmas early despite the shops being full of festive tat in October. But then I did hear Maria Carey talking to Zoe Ball on Radio 2 this morning as they played her big hit.

I just finished the [jazz course](https://www.drumeo.com/drumshop/30-day-jazz) on Drumeo that was really useful to me. I have tried previously to play some swing, but did not really know what I was doing. The instructor was [Ulysses Owens Jr](https://www.usojazzy.com/) and he managed to make it less intimidating that you might expect. I was thinking that I ought to practice this on some songs and Drumeo delivered with this appropriate backing track.

https://youtu.be/hZE5Yeuqys0

This was just a single take recording with no real practice, so do not expect wonders. The audio mix is not great, but I just had by speakers turned up loud to compete with the drums. I really need ear protection for longer sessions as I value my hearing.

The drums are Tama Club Jam and cymbals are Zultan Caz. Recorded on my Motorola phone. 

I may eventually get some better recording equipment. The [Yamaha EAD10](https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/drums/ea_drums/ead/ead10/index.html) is a neat solution with a microphone module that attaches to the bass drum to record the whole kit and a controller that can add effects or samples as well as mixing in backing tracks. It is not cheap, so I shall be saving up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNd12mSn0K0

Rock on!