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.