Jazz at Lincoln Center! a.k.a. JALC

Some very hip stuff in HERE, all available for free for your listening pleasure.  Shhh...don't tell anyone, but listening to these shows will make you more WORLDLY, and people will be attracted to the chemistry of your character.  I just traveled "Beyond the Spanish Tinge."

I Get Misty...

Ella Fitzgerald.  This is a singer.

Jazz Play-a-long tracks for the Bb Blues and F Blues

My new favorite site for jazz karaoke is Grooveshark.  I plug in the search for "Aebersold" and instantly I have like 100 play-a-long back up rhythm section tracks for a wide array of jazz standards.  

Here is your assignment...Go to the Vol. 54 Maiden Voyage album and play with F Blues and Bb Blues.  Remember, the more you play along, the more comfortable it's going to be.  Before you know it, you'll have a goatee and call your girlfriend "man," as you lay down the heavy bebop.

Ridiculous!

I don't know how much time you put in on your 3rd grade recorder skills in music class.  It's safe to say however that it is not as much time as this guy.  In addition to having a cool name (Benoit Suave), Mr. Sauve has mastered transcription at a level I don't think I've ever seen before.  Transcribing a solo is a great way to get inside the head of a master improviser, and it helps all aspects of your playing in the process.  Here is a great way to get started with your first transcription.  Step one - find a solo you like.  Step 2 - set yourself up really close to the rewind button (dating myself, but you get the idea).  Step three - play along until you have it down.  Step 4 - Put it down on paper.  I found that last step to be the hardest one as a beginner.  Keep at it, it will get easier with time.  Miles Davis's "So What" solo is a great place to start if you are looking for inspiration.

Don't start with this solo.  It's another solo over "Skunk Funk" from Michael Brecker.  This one won a Grammy Award for best improvised solo in 2007.  It's also amazing.   Michael Brecker is a hugely influential jazz musician, and really took the whole post-Coltrane sound in a different direction.