The Secret To Exciting Jazz Drum Set Comping

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You can have solid coordination and still feel like your comping goes nowhere.

This is a really common spot for jazz drummers.

You’ve worked through the books.

Your ride is consistent.

Your hands and feet do what they’re supposed to do.

But the comping still feels flat — like you’re with the band, not driving it.

In this video, I show you a simple concept that fixes that problem quickly: releases.

Releases give your comping shape.

They give your phrases something to lead toward.

And they turn coordination into music.

This isn’t about adding more vocabulary.

It’s about learning how to phrase.

I also play along with a classic Ray Brown trio track so you can hear how releases work in real musical context, not just as an exercise.

Chapters:

00:00 — Why Comping Gets Stuck
00:31 — What a Release Is
01:53 — How to Play a Release
02:51 — 4-Bar Phrasing with Releases
04:13 — Creating Tension Before the Release
06:11 — Early and Late Releases
07:56 — Playing Example