"We are a physical representation of the music."

This summer, I was fortunate enough to have taken a conducting class with Anthony Maiello, a professor at George Mason University. He was not only insightful, informative, profound and humorous, but warm, caring and humble. In a nutshell, the man is an artist. In the course of a week, he changed the way we think about music, and the way we perform as musicians/educators. Below are some notes and quotes from his class I had scribbled on my legal pad...

On conducting:
"When the orchestra doesn't need you...get out of the way. When the orchestra needs you...be there for them."
"After the cutoff...let it decay."
A big issue, and problem for music teachers "we change our conducting to compensate for the inadequacy of our students"
"Score in the head, not head in the score"
"Use all three planes...horizontal, vertical and sagittal...you don't view every piece of art from the same distance."
"The horizontal plane is like a workbench"
"Maintain eye contact on a fermata"
"I hawked you" a phrase he uses to describe eye contact
"People hear with their eyes...and ears"
On entrances..."the closer to the downbeat the harder the stroke, the further from the downbeat the softer the stroke"

On music:
"You can't have an ensemble without community"
for transposition..."bring the instrument to the music"
from his friend John LaPorta..."In the beginning there was light? Well the Bible's wrong. In the beginning there was time!"

On teaching music:

"Music picks you...you don't pick it"
"Be honest...When you go to the doctor, you don't want him to lie to you - You're fine. (as he's thinking you're going to die next week) Buy a new car!"
"Would you like to be a performance major? Go to a music education school first, so that you understand music. Then if you still want to, go to a cut throat graduate school."
For a kid who misses class and is considering a career in music..."Would you go to a doctor who missed the class on lungs?!"
"When I get to school my tank is empty, when I leave my tank is full."

If you get the chance to see Mr. Maiello perform or teach, seize the opportunity. It's a life changing experience.

Free Flute Choir Arrangement!

This is the same Enur tune - Calabria or something, rearranged from the earlier sax quartet version into a flute choir piece. You can download all the files for free HERE

They are all in .pdf format, the score then a flute 1, flute 2, alto flute, and bass flute part. I hope you enjoy it, let me know if you give it a try.

What are McCain and Obama listening to?

Are you a fan of Javanese flute music? (Odd as it may sound I actually am.) Does ABBA do it for you? What are the presidential candidates grooving on? THIS ARTICLE from New York Magazine will lay it all out for you. Please note in your reading...everybody digs Frank Sinatra. Here's a clip of Frank and Peggy Lee, it's perfect.


Oh, I almost forgot, click HERE...Obama keeps it cool, blue note style

Baritone sax love

Gerry Mulligan. Check this out, you'll learn something about a jazz giant. Three reasons to watch the clip...1. His reed is bigger than your reed. 2. You'll also hear bari sax like you haven't heard it before. 3. He's cool, and if you're lucky the cool will rub off on you.

Remove your ignorance!

Wondering what to practice? Kenny Werner will straighten you out.

If you like that clip you might want to check out more HERE

Beef bones, the comb and the tea kettle whistle!

Feeling irreplaceable in your section are you? Is your contribution to the band indispensable? Asking yourself "where would they be without me?" Well my friend, according to THIS ARTICLE from the New York Times in March of 1876, they would be one dollar, 87 and a half cents richer without you, and you can take that to the bank.

Studio Perfectionists

The band "Steely Dan" fills in that void between popular music, R&B, blues and jazz. Their lyrics are unique, their tunes are interesting without being pedantic, and they rock. Additionally, they are famous (at times infamous), for their perfectionism in the studio. Watch this clip, you'll get a pretty clear picture of a pair of musicians searching for a sound they've preconceived in their heads on some level.

Every musician they work with is at the highest level of performance, and most are what you would call "studio musicians." A studio musician is a musician who can come into any musical situation, read what's written, solo if needed, and play consummately for the client with a short number of "takes." Generally studio musicians play the music perfectly the first time. If you are interested in a career in Music Production or Engineering, this clip is for you. Read about Steely Dan HERE.

Sir, can I see your drivers license and music collection please?

Check out this very funny link right HERE. Maybe you should stick to talk radio on the way to jazz band rehearsal. Try NPR (National Public Radio) at 93.9 on your FM dial on your next trip to the JV mall. If nothing else it will make you smarter. It may even help to balance out the IQ points you will lose from cologne asphyxiation at Hollister.

Back in action!

At last, a long-awaited new post that will hopefully not disappoint. This little ditty here is nice because it shows you what a real studio session looks like. All the guys in this band are what they call "session players" or "studio musicians" and are on a combined bazillion or so albums. Notice all the good habits...feet tapping the beat, excellent postures, great embouchures and hand positions. Also take note of the fact that they are all wearing headphones (they are generally called "cans" at a session) to get a rough mix of the sound of the group as a whole because some of the musicians are isolated in different rooms (like tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker) or behind clear sound barriers (like bass player John Pattitucci). Interesting eh?

Free Saxophone Quartet Chart in .pdf format!

For all the freeloaders out there. Here is a sax quartet (aatb) I wrote based on that song you hear all the time on the radio by someone named Enur. There is no escaping this tune unfortunately, but this quartet version is kind of fun. I added a little here and there. I've included the mp3 for your listening pleasure as well. It's how it would sound if you all played computerized saxophones.

Click HERE for the folder with all the parts, the score and the .mp3

Summer Schedule

You're probably thinking to yourself...Whalen, what are you doing? Taking an early vacation? Retiring? Calling it quits? No, I'll post again soon, so hang on until mid-summer for a whole bunch of new stuff.

Second Greatest Drummer in the World

You've still got to give the greatest accolades to Animal on the Muppet Show. That aside, this guy is pretty spectacular with the emphasis on the spectacle part of the word. When you get married you might consider hiring this band for the gig.

I've got rhythm, I've got youtube, I've got Gershwin, who could ask for anything more?

So this is George Gershwin in 1933, despite the date on the clip. I'm hoping you've heard his name before. He is one of America's greatest composers. Some of his masterpieces are "Rhapsody in Blue", "Porgy and Bess", and "I've Got Rhythm", which is shown here. In jazz, the most common tune to solo on is a 12 bar blues, the second most common tune is Rhythm Changes.

Rhythm Changes are the chord changes to "I've Got Rhythm". So you see it's all pretty simple. The primary chord sequence for the A section of Rhythm Changes is I - VI - II - V. You will see that little pattern all over the place in jazz, so should try and become familiar with the sound of that. The bridge is moves around the circle of fifths and then goes back to the pattern. So in the key of C the bridge would be E7 to A7 to D7 to G7 and back to C. There are a a myriad of songs written over these changes, and "I've Got Rhythm" is a good one to start with. This is a good head to memorize and try in different keys.

Pucker up!

This is for all the whistlers of the world. CLICK HERE, you won't be disappointed. By the way, it turns out you all own a "Pucculo."

You could virtually be sitting on a throne right now!

You, your throne, some drummers you never heard of, a nice kit and a pair of sticks. Sounds like vacation, eh? Click on THIS LINK, and have some fun. Select your kit, then click on "Key Settings" and rock out with your keyboard out. p.s. Elvin Jones is just about every jazz drummer's favorite drummer. He is best known for his work with Coltrane. Steve Gadd is the ultimate studio/session player, and perhaps the most recorded drummer in history. I really dig the groove on "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", see the transcription HERE. Stewart Copeland and Sting lost that lovin feeling, which is a shame. Can't we all just get along...like Elvis and Nixon , Owen and Mzee or these three? (great drumming with great mullets on the last one)

Don't quote me...

Here are a few interesting quotes by famous jazz musicians and some guy named Einstein. Some funny, some intriguing, and some to make you think or reflect on your own experiences...

Only play what you hear. If you don't hear anything, don't play anything.
~ Chick Corea

Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny.
~ Frank Zappa

The history of a people are found in its songs.
~ George Jellinek

I start in the middle of a sentence and move both directions at once.
~ John Coltrane

I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.
~ Paul Desmond

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.
~ Thelonious Monk

Imitate, assimilate, and innovate.
~ Clark Terry

Hipness is not a state of mind. It's a fact of life. You don't decide you're hip… It just happens that way.
~ Cannonball Adderley

It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the result of musical perception. (When asked about the theory of relativity)
~ Albert Einstein

Improvisation is the ability to talk to oneself.
~ Cecil Taylor

...don't think of yourself as a jazz musician. Think of yourself as a human being who plays music.
~ Charlie Haden

Spiraling out of here

Steve Coleman is a NYC based alto saxophonist and the founder/leader of a method of improvisation known as M-Base. M-base is an acronym for "Macro - Basic Array of Structured Extemporizations." The wording is a perhaps a little heavy, and can make your eyes water if you stare at it long enough. Simply put, it's a way to express musical experiences through improvisation and rhythm.

I've included THIS LINK to show you that there are more ways to improvise than knowing chords, scales and patterns. In it Steve describes how to play with a Symmetrical Movement Concept. It's a pretty deep read, but makes sense. If you get good at this, you'll be one of about 5 people on earth who know how to play like that. Steve posts most of his music online for free distribution. You definitely should check it out. HERE is a good example of his playing, it's about as dark and funky as saxophone playing gets. Give it about 15 seconds, to go from solo to band. This album changed the way I make music. Always, always, always be receptive to new ideas!

Click Click Click

Hello there... I'm clicking for you. Is your internal pulse in need of a pacemaker, you might try THIS site. Yes it's a metronome. In the interest of full disclosure...I, your blog, am generally against metronomes. However, if your sense of time is that pathetic, oops, I mean erratic, then at least be a jazzer about it and put the clicks on beats 2 and 4 when you practice. Or for fun try clicking on every 5th beat in a 4/4 tune. Turn the beat around, like Gloria!

Smalls...

Smalls, where these two clips were filmed, is a jazz club in Manhattan really worth checking out. If you haven't been to the city to see jazz live, you really should talk your parents into bringing you. We live about an hour away from the center of the jazz universe. A place where on any given night, the best and brightest musicians are playing their hearts out. Some great clubs to explore are Smoke, the Village Vanguard, Birdland and the Jazz Standard. Live music is great because there is an element of experimentation that is not often captured on albums.

This first clip is of tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart with guitarist Joe Cohn. Grant sounds a lot like Sonny Rollins to me, with a modern twist. This tune has a lot of the II-V's we've been talking about. Listen to how each idea or motive is developed before spawning the next. Grant's group plays at Smalls almost once a week.

O.K., this second clip is maybe more than a little on the dark side, but the solo is killer, and it's over a blues in F called Birdlike written by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The alto player in the dark is Miguel Zenon, one of jazz's rising stars. This really captures the excitement of being at a club, it's nice someone was there to capture it.

Make a song your song...

This first clip is of Billie Holiday with the Count Basie Orchestra performing a song she co-wrote with Arthur Herzog entitled "God Bless the Child." Listen to the way a vocalist like Billie Holiday sings a melody, then try to mimic that phrasing on your instrument.

Billie holiday
Uploaded by 2gaia

The second clip is of Eric Dolphy performing the same song on Bass Clarinet. Eric Dolphy was one of the leaders of a style of jazz known commonly called "free jazz." Free jazz musicians usually try to alter, extend, or break down the conventions of jazz, often getting rid of fixed chord changes or tempos. The style came about in the 1960's as a reaction to bebop and modal jazz. Free jazz is fun, give it a try. To get started, take a duet and have each player play the notes but at different tempos. Speed up or slow down wherever you feel like it. You'll find you get some pretty modern and interesting harmonies. The more you open up your ears to different sounds and tonalities, the more you will grow as a musician.

I've got one for ya'...

A man is being led thru the jungle on a safari. He begins to hear some really furious, pounding drums, rolling along without end. After 15 minutes of this, he asks the guide "When do the drums stop?" The guide answers "Oh, the drums NEVER stop. Bad things happen then." The man ponders this for about two hours more of furious pounding, and says, irritated, "When do the drums stop?!?" "The drums never stop. Bad things happen when the drums stop." Finally, after 5 hours, the man asks "What bad thing happens when the drums stop?" "BASS SOLO."

Free Blank Staff Paper!

If Beethoven's arrangement of "Grosse Fugue" for piano four hands can sell for 1.95 million dollars (pictured here at left), you might want to start writing down some of your ideas. If you want to write down your ideas, you are going to need paper, and that's where I, your blog, can help you out...
CLICK HERE for free blank staff paper.

The Girl from Ipanema

This is one of those extremely cool moments frozen in time through video. Frank Sinatra is jazz's most popular singer, an academy award winning actor, and a pop icon. Antonio Carlos Jobim is credited with being the creative force behind the style of music known as Bossa Nova, and is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. To hear and to see them together like this is a gift. The song they are singing - "The Girl from Ipanema" is a jazz standard, and is often requested on gigs. Kick back with some Brazilian food, and take this in...

This next clip is all about the Portuguese. It features Elis Regina on the vocals. Listen to the rhythm of the language, and to the subtle comping behind her vocals.

THE MUPPETS!

That clip has it all...Muppets, drumming, the old guys on the balcony and an uplifting song to pull it all together. Below is another muppet show clip with Buddy Rich facing off with Animal in a drum battle.

"This is rock and roll"

This man takes his sales pitch seriously. Fun fill at the end.

Three little nuggets for your reading pleasure

Here we have three beautiful little articles from the website Science Daily, a source for the latest in research news. You can find all sorts of interesting information here on a large variety of topics.

CLICK HERE for an article you might like, but have a hard time comprehending because of your weekend activities... or lack thereof.

CLICK HERE for for a scientific reason to stick with jazz.

CLICK HERE to explore the sounds of silence.

Swing it Ella!

The One Note Samba featuring Ella Fitzgerald scatting away. In class we have you sing your parts, in hopes that you'll internalize and solidify musical passages and then put them on your instrument the way you sang them. It also doesn't hurt your future sight reading. Perhaps (and by "perhaps" we mean do this) you might try scatting a few choruses over the 12 bar blues track on your jazz band disk (in the safety of your own room). Next if you want to take it to a higher level (also a strong suggestion), record yourself and transcribe what you sang. (Note to self: destroy tape before sister finds it and makes copies for her friends). One other option, put the CD in your car stereo, and trade vocal fours with your friends on the way to Jazz band practice. If you're into the female jazz vocal thing, there are three you should check out first...Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. All three are legendary.

Studio Perfectionists

The band "Steely Dan" fills in that void between popular music, R&B, blues and jazz. Their lyrics are unique, their tunes are interesting without being pedantic, and they rock. Additionally, they are famous (at times infamous), for their perfectionism in the studio. Watch this clip, you'll get a pretty clear picture of a pair of musicians searching for a sound they've preconceived in their heads on some level.
Every musician they work with is at the highest level of performance, and most are what you would call "studio musicians." A studio musician is a musician who can come into any musical situation, read what's written, solo if needed, and play consummately for the client with a short number of "takes." Generally studio musicians play the music perfectly the first time. If you are interested in a career in Music Production or Engineering, this clip is for you. Read about Steely Dan HERE.

How to build a solo 101

If you can get past Miles's outfit and Kenny's hat and just close your eyes and listen, you'll get more out of this video. It's an interesting lesson in playing over a funk-esque vamp, without many chord changes. Listen to all the "tension" notes Kenny Garrett applies, and the way he keeps things fresh with different rhythmic motives.

Here is a practice idea for you, crank up some hip-hop (rap works best) on your radio (97.1 FM) and practice a new scale over what you hear. Try a concert C harmonic minor scale. Some notes will work, some won't, but you'll get a better understanding of the tension of the notes you're playing against a static background. It's fun to experiment, and challenging to stay interesting. By the way, I think Kenny's mic wasn't sounding right, so he played into Miles's to be heard the way he wanted.

It's not easy being cool.

Leonard Bernstein wrote this for the musical "West Side Story." If you haven't seen the musical, do yourself a favor and see it or rent it on DVD. It is a masterpiece.

"My dream is to spend my life doing what I feel I was born to do"

This clip has nothing to do with jazz, but is inspirational in a way that we hope touches each of you. "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." - Pablo Picasso

Also beautiful

This is another clip of the same tune performed by Luciano Pavarotti. This clip may cause you to weep, so keep a box of tissues handy.

Jam on it.

Here are some free play-alongs from Hal Crook, one of the best teachers at Berklee. Hal Crook is a trombonist and a guru in jazz improvisation. Take a glance at the funny picture of him in his early years. His class at Berklee is always full and for good reason. On this website, he has recorded play-alongs, with alternate "heads" (melodies) for popular jazz standards. Additionally, he's highlighted in his heads the "guide tone" notes that outline the chord changes below the melody. Always remember, the thirds and the sevenths characterize the chord, so that when you move from one chord to the next, you should try and hit those changes in notes (the "chord changes"). If you do that, you are "guiding" the listener through the changes, hence the name "guide tone lines." It sounds complicated right? Try it, I think you'll find it's not as hard as you think. Click on the link HERE.

Guitar madness!

Click HERE to be transported as if by magic into a world where amazing (famous even!) jazz guitarists share their secrets with you. In particular, take a look at the video clips under Larry Carlton's 335 blues. Click on "more motifs," and watch in awe as Larry Carlton (a three time Grammy winner who has played with Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell and Quincy Jones to name a few) solos on a blues and talks about each and every lick as he plays it! It's as though you are hearing him think. There is a lot of great material here to check out.

Check out another jazz guitarist named Mike Stern (played with Miles Davis) burn for a while at a guitar clinic.

Something for you and your stand partners to do on the weekends

Wouldn't it be cool if you knew how to write in three part harmony? You could go to college and study arranging for four years... or you could read this article in five minutes for the basics. Try taking a melody with chord changes from an Aebersold book, a Real book, or a pop tune, and write yourself and your two best musician friends a chart. Try it, it's fun. Click for the article HERE.

I'm in the mood for "In the Mood"

So here you have it...
two video clips of Doc Severinson's take on the Glenn Miller classic "In the Mood." The first featuring Doc himself with the USAF "Airmen of Note."

The second clip is a local big band. Good looking saxophonists in this one.