The application of jazz methods to Brazilian drum kit improvisatory techniques in choro, samba and bossa nova

There are a number of excellent books currently available that address Brazilian drum kit playing, but across all these books, there is a general lack of ideas for further development and advanced applications, particularly improvisation. Meanwhile, there are many excellent texts that deal with improvisation and the development of improvising skills, but they are largely within the realms of jazz drumming. As a drummer with a long interest in jazz and Brazilian styles, I came to a point where an in-depth look at the methodology for practicing improvisation within the framework of Brazilian music was a clear next step. It is something I felt the need for as a performer and as an educator. The first section of this thesis provides: a background to the characteristic sounds of choro, samba and bossa; background information on the development of Brazilian drum kit playing; a look at Brazilian phrasing concepts; and a discussion of rhythmic frameworks in these styles. The second section addresses practice and performance methodology based within the framework laid out by the earlier chapters. A significant part of this is the outlining of a graduated process for the development of three- and four{u00AD}way co-ordination. It also includes analysis of rhythmic tension-and-release devices and discussion of some of the subtler aspects of Brazilian drum kit performance. The final part addresses the development of solo ideas, primarily through motivic development. The ideas presented throughout are focused on the concepts of fluent and responsive drumming

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

A Cannibalist's Manifesto: Candomblé Rhythms for Drum Kit

© 2019 Peter Alastair McGrath-KerrAfro-Brazilian rhythms from the tradition of Candomble have had a significant influence on Brazilian secular music. That influence can be found in samba, choro, Brazilian jazz, and popular music. Although Candomble and associated musical practices have been investigated by musicologists and sociologists, the rhythmic and contemporary performance aspects are poorly represented in academia. As an Australian musician with a long-time interest in Brazilian music, it became a natural progression for me to develop an interest in the rhythms that form the basis of so much Brazilian music. As a drummer, my research has involved the adaptation of traditional drumming practices to the modern drum kit, with an emphasis on groove creation and improvisation. This is a creative research project that combines recordings with analysis. My processes and outcomes will in part be analysed relative to Oswaldo de Andrade's Manifesto Antropofagico (the Cannibalist Manifesto) - where the cultural cannibal seeks to absorb multiple and diverse influences in order to create something new