u/nasralez-Zelibobovic

I’m very new at jazz drumming.
I feel relatively comfortable with keeping a steady swing feel on the ride and hi-hat, but I’m struggling with something that feels much more important in jazz:
I don’t understand how to actually use the snare drum in a musical, “speaking” way.

For those of you who went through this stage:
how did you start developing comping vocabulary?
how did you learn where and why to place accents?
what should I be listening or practicing to actually understand this “conversation” idea?

I’ve been playing drums for a few years and I feel generally comfortable with the technical side of things. Of course I haven’t reached technical perfection yet, but right now I’d like to focus more on creativity.

My playing feels very repetitive and limited when it comes to creativity.
When I try to play fills or improvise, I tend to fall into the same ideas and patterns. I understand the basics, but I don’t really have a strong “vocabulary” of phrases or ideas to draw from in the moment, so everything ends up sounding a bit predictable.
I’ve already heard and tried the usual advice like:
listening to different styles of music
playing with other musicians
analyzing and transcribing drummers I like
Those things definitely help, but I still feel like I’m missing a more direct way to develop creativity and phrasing on the instrument itself.
So I’m curious:
how did you personally move from “playing patterns” to actually creating ideas on the kit?
are there specific exercises or approaches that helped you develop improvisation and vocabulary in a more intentional way?
Any guidance would be really appreciated.