Hey my drums were sampled in this dope new tune – “2” by Ayoni. My first appearance on a Def Jam release and I’m really digging this 🙏🏽. The drums are from Lunch Breaks, a break record I put out in 2014. I’d only been playing about 2 years when I recorded it and those early break records were my only outlet at the time. Those very simple fills and my inconsistent (in a funky way) snare backbeat on the main groove…this was REAL early on haha. But that same record also being sampled by Madlib, Vampire Weekend, Danger Mouse, Alchemist, etc. I never saw coming. Didn’t want to be pigeonholed for just sample packs and was self-conscious about it so I dedicated the ensuing years to trying to become more well-rounded…and the more that came out in my playing, the less people sampled the stuff! I moved into more live and session work and am glad I did, but this is proof that sometimes what you DON’T know can work in your favor. To evolve and then forget everything you’ve learned for the good of the song when it’s called for – and let folks who’d never hire you anyway say you have no chops! Thanks to everyone involved for the call to be a small part of a great record.

I did a radio interview with Alex Newman of Portland jazz station KMHD.

Here goes (link)

Have a listen while on the go, on the run, on hold with social security for 3+ hours like I just was, etc. I’ve been a musician since circa 1987 and a fan since birth so there’s a lot in there.

Enjoy

And we’re out! Soul Supreme and I give Digable Planets’ “9th Wonder” and PUTS’ “Crown Ones” a funkified reworking on a new 7” that’s out now. I’m fresh out of the wax (thanks to all who preordered), but the downloads are on my Bandcamp.

Stream it on:

Spotify

Apple Music

and anywhere else. Or, if you really want the wax, grab one from Soul Supreme’s Bandcamp or your favorite record store.

Thanks to the crew:

Job Chajes: 

Lourens van der Swaag: 

Olav Schloorlemmer: Trombone 

Dase Boogie: Design

Wouter Brandenburg: Mastering Engineer

Timjen van Wajeninjen: Recording Engineer

Thanks for your support! I’ll be on shipping duty early next week. This was a fun(ky) way to launch my new Bandcamp account and get my first headlining release under my name. More to come! Here’s the artwork and some limited color variations of the wax (the majority are plain black wax).

And we’re out! Life went haywire over the last three weeks (my father’s passing, a week of sessions in Texas) so I haven’t been online and missed a bunch of stuff. Including the release of this single. Soul Supreme and I covered a lot of tunes (20+) over the last few years and this cover of Digable Planets’ “9th Wonder” was a favorite, so we went for a full arrangement with a killer horn section and Soul’s top choice arrangements.

The 7″ has a cover of People Under the Stairs’ “Crown Ones” on the flip side and it drops at the end of February. Pre-order is pretty much sold out on my Bandcamp (I only have two copies left at the publish date of this post), but if you don’t get one of those, then Soul Supreme has them on his Bandcamp and it’ll be in your favorite record shop.

“9th Wonder” is also now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music and everywhere you stream. “Crown Ones” will drop digitally at the end of February when the 7″ comes out.

Enjoy.

Having the same birthday as my father, it’s obvious we’d be close. Throw in me being an only child. So when he suddenly passed away this week, everything went blank. 

Exposing me to Coltrane, Miles, Hendrix and Tony Williams as a kid, then me getting him deep into funk (which I got from Mom) and hip-hop of my teens – Gang Starr, Tim Dog, Professor Griff, Kool G Rap and Capital Tax were his favorites, eclectic taste – music was our bond from early. Basement jams; excursions to record stores and conventions every other weekend growing up, including way out to a diner in New Jersey to find obscure Kool & the Gang albums; escorting me to dangerous studios in high school…he was there every step. During my hiatus from music I started covering high school b-ball – he’d just retired and rolled with me to games, bonding over hoops. Only right since I rarely beat him one on one – OGs will hook shot and finger roll you to death. 

In 2011 he put a drum set in the basement on a whim and his only words were “make it happen”. He helped me find passion for music again, and a whole new chapter. Even rented drums from Guitar Center when I visited once and put ‘em in the kitchen so I could practice and play whatever he asked for while he was eating lol. His advice, generosity and long phone calls got me and a lot of people through rough times. We got through my Grandmother’s passing in 2016 together, but this is by far the roughest week of my life and for the first time, he’s not here. Haven’t yet accepted the person closest to me is gone, but where I am with music and in life is what he wanted for me, so I’ll do my best starting there. Forgive me if I’m not “on” with much else for a while. 

Our birthday next month will be hard as hell. Gonna spend some quality time with Mom and the close few who’ve gotten me through the last week.

Turned off comments, Pop wasn’t big on social media. In lieu of those, CALL your people today. No texts. Visit if you can. There’s always tomorrow…till there ain’t. Love you immensely, Pop aka “Bucky”. With all you’ve done and sacrificed, you can rest now. I’ll keep doing my best to make you proud.

Vampire Weekend to Kelly Finnigan, Greyhounds, Rudy DeAnda, my own (Du-Rites, Means of Production) stuff and more…honored to have had my time in the drum chair on these 2024 releases and adding different styles of music to my credits. Hit my discography to see where I was groovin’ in 2024…look forward to more in 2025.

No touring this year (only played outside NYC once) but big shouts to Reed Turchi and Thomas Simon for the calls to keep me gigging regularly in my hometown and outside my comfort zone with hill country blues and hard rock. Didn’t see those coming but glad they did – groove is universal! And of course the Du-Rites residency at Penny Jo’s. Thanks to all these folks for the call to be part of their music and all who gave these a spin or pulled up at a gig.

For those who dug this Digable Planets cover I did with keyboardist and producer, Soul Supreme (and any of those covers, really), the pre-order for the 7″ (with PUTS’ “Crown Ones” on the flip side) is live on my Bandcamp now! Stock is limited. Full arrangements on both cuts.

Ships in February 2025. Non-U.S. customers will save on shipping at Soul Supreme’s Bandcamp. Enjoy!

The people asked, so the people shall receive! For those following the cover videos I’ve been posting with Soul Supreme, we gave Digable Planets’ “9th Wonder” and People Under the Stairs’ (PUTS) “Crown Ones” covers full arrangements and a 7″ is coming. The funk is deep. Bandcamp pre-order up this Friday at:

http://jaymumfordmusic.bandcamp.com (US)

https://soulsupremerecords.bandcamp.com (EU/worldwide)

Back with more in two days…

Two years strong! The Du-Rites weekly improv jam at Penny Jo’s began as a residency playing our own catalog. At some point someone couldn’t make it, so we started jamming with locals and our musician friends who were available instead. This gig has showed me that while the big stages and Jumbotrons get all the likes, it’s great to have a small spot to sharpen iron every week. Whether the place is packed or there’s 3 people in there scrolling their phones and it’s on you to pull something funky outta thin air and make em look up. I swore in 2020 to never take playing live for granted again, and it’s dope to know regardless of whatever’s going on in life (or the world), there’s some playing to look forward to every week with the crew: Pablo, Billy, Ike, Sami Buccella, Chef Seth, Melvin (our MVP on ) Ola and countless folks who’ve sat in with us thus far. We appreciate your musicianship and anyone funky always got a place uptown to play with us. Salute to the regulars. Every Wednesday 9-11PM (Broadway & 163rd), see ya uptown.

A cover of a cover: Soul Supreme & I re-visit the great organist Dr. Lonnie Smith’s cover of a Blood Sweat & Tears classic, breaks and all. Speaking of breaks, HIGH praise for Joe Dukes, the drummer on the Lonnie Smith cover who is also on my personal Mt. Rushmore of 4 favorite drummers. I discovered him through his work with Lonnie (Drives and Live at Club Mozambique) and then in 2014 I took a deep dive into his years with Bro. Jack McDuff. Equally inspiring and terrifying. Watch Jack McDuff Live, 1964 (in France) and…yeah. His name isn’t mentioned often but reading that Jab’o Starks, Al Jackson Jr., George Benson and Maurice White all spoke highly of him made sense.

There’s rightfully a “Can I Kick It?” nod in here as well; to A Tribe Called Quest on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Well deserved.