Compliment the soloist

Hey, you look nice in those pants!  
While that may or may not be true, that is not the kind of compliment I was referring to in the title of this post.  I was referring to the magnificent drumming by Greg Hutchinson.  He is responding to everything he hears and setting up soloist Joshua Redman beautifully all while maintaining the groove and feel of the song.  He is complimenting the soloist through his subtle touch, and strong interest in what he is playing.  This is performance at a very high level, and a level you should all strive to attain.

What is your motive?!

This rendition of Charlie Parker's bebop head "Perhaps" by the Aaron Goldberg trio is great for a lot of reasons, but the reason I want to highlight is for it's clear cut example of motific playing on the piano.  Listen carefully to the the first couple of phrases at the very beginning of Aaron's solo (I'm calling him Aaron like I know him, although I am a blog, whatever that is, and I do not).  There...good, did you catch that first phrase?  Now listen to how he moves that little phrase snippet all around over the piano.  He is elaborating on that first phrase, and at the same time reinforcing the weight and the meaning of it.  He stretches it sometimes, he messes with it's rhythm, he changes it's pitch and it's shape. This is how a solo can happen...it's not the only way, but it is a nice way.  He is telling a story with that first phrase and he does it beautifully.

Would you like to play at the Grammys?

Josh Shpak is playing at the Grammy Awards this year, and he is in his high school jazz band just like you.  Here is his audition video for the Grammy band.  Pretty cool, eh?  I love his flow of ideas, and how he makes the most of every phrase.  He's got that Lee Morgan-esque punchy articulation when he wants to pop it in there, and best of all, he is interactive with the rhythm section.  He's listening to them, they are listening to him, and they are feeding off of eachother.  You can do this!  It just takes a lot of practice, a lot of experimentation, and group of friends who are as excited about making music as you are. 

Who knew Mr. Bean could conduct?!

Happy Holidays everyone!  As I prepare in the darkness of my band room to embark on another "secret mission" I just want to quickly pass along how very proud I am of each of you.  You've come a long way musically to be accepted in the group, and you continue to prove at each rehearsal that you deserve to be there.  Now...if you can follow my conducting like this brass band follows Mr. Bean then we will be all set.  This is classic...

"Jazz is an accident...glad to have happened"

If you follow one piece of advice on this blog, it's to go rent the movie "This Is Spinal Tap."  It's satirical awesomeness.

Your jazz prescription...transcription.

Dear Blog,
Will reading a transcription mess me up by forcing me to play someone elses idea, effectively eliminating my creativity?

No.  Not more than watching Tony Hawk riding a skateboard limits your creativity at the skate park, or reading books limits your ability to write.

Look at it another way...these transcriptions are from musicians who have dedicated their lives to play at a certain level.  They would all like to leave their mark on the world musically and in turn, they all bring something to the table...some new harmonic idea, some rhythmic concept, some melodic change, a feeling, their culture, whatever it may be.  If you can pick up on that, and maybe set your sight in a new direction, or expand on what you heard, you are on your way to doing your own thing.  What makes you unique?  You are unique, you know...just ask your mom. 

Check out this site HERE.  It has tons of transcriptions, the recording AND the analysis so you can break it, break it, break it on down and see what each musician is up to.   

Caravan...not your mom's car

This post is about the song "Caravan" by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington (jazz's greatest composer).  I've always dug this tune.  It has that mystical middle eastern vibe thing happening.  Even my own mother, who drove a Caravan, can identify this as being jazz.  It's exotic.  It's spicy.  It makes you want to sit cross legged on the floor of your tent and dip bread into some hummus or roast a lamb or something.  Check it out HERE.
Someone pointed out one time that Duke wrote for the musicians in the band, rather than just writing for some fictional band.  In other words, he played to the strengths of the people he was working with.  Look at this score HERE, he even has nicknames penciled in there - Tricky, Cooty...what's yours?  

Esperanza Spalding...Letterman's "coolest guest"

I know what you are thinking...can you, my favorite blog, provide me, the viewer a.k.a. me, with a 23 year old female jazz/soul singing bass player?   How about a guy on a keyboard with a blowtube to back her up? 

You know I can!

"You fear jazz."

Ladies Home Journal 1921..."Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?"

Read this article HERE.  It was published in 1921 by Anne Shaw Faulkner, head of the Music Department of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in the Ladies Home Journal magazine.  It's fair to say that she wasn't a fan of the new music of the time - jazz.  Take this quote for example...

"But 'jazz' is an unmitigated cacophony, a combination of disagreeable sounds in complicated discords, a willful ugliness and a deliberate vulgarity."

A wee bit harsh, no?

You have been replaced...meet Jazzbot.

OK, so "Jazzbot" is not going to replace you anytime soon.  However, scientists in the Takanishi Lab in Japan are working on it.  That is right, "Jazzbot" is capable of learning to play hip little jazz lines.  Check it out HERE!  You better start practicing, Jazzbot is coming for you, and he/she is stainless steel baby!

Nintendo Jazz?

If you are worth your salt, you have checked out the classic Miles Davis album "Kind of Blue" by now.  If you haven't, there is no hope for you.  The end.  Only joking of course, but this post will be much more enjoyable if you are familiar with the original recording.  Check it out... type it in the google... it will come up in many ways.  (I like calling it "the google".  It's very 1975.)  Some guy with too much time on his hands duplicated the album note for note as an 8 bit recording.  This is the "So What" cut.  If you play video games more than you play jazz you'll still enjoy this one, but you should maybe take a break and practice once in a while.  I'm just sayin'.

Your Brain on Jazz.

"Scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, areas of their brains associated with inhibition quiet down, and those involved with self-expression heat up."

While this isn't a major shock to jazz musicians, the way this was discovered was quite interesting.  Check out how they put together the experiment HERE. and even better, check it out HERE, there are pictures and everything!

The Bloop!

Turn up your speakers and kick back as you take in the jazzness of the Bloop!  You see... even the earth (or whatever is living down there) wants to add some tensions in there. 
''The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency and extremely powerful underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) several times during 1997. According to the NOAA description, it "rises rapidly in frequency over about one minute and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on multiple sensors, at a range of over 5,000 km. The source of the sound remains unknown...''

''Scientists determined that its wave pattern indicates it was made by an animal, and not a giant electromagnet sucking a plane out of the sky, as the creators of Lost were no doubt hoping.''

''While the audio profile of the bloop does resemble that of a living creature, the system identified it as unknown because it was far too loud for that to have been the case: it was several times louder than the loudest known biological sound.''

''There is no animal big enough or loud enough to make that kind of noise, not by a long shot. Not a blue whale, not a howler monkey, not a startled teenage girl.''

Cold Duck Time!

If you're thinking about those long necked orange things hanging in the windows in Chinatown, erase that thought.  This is the Eddie Harris jazz classic "Cold Duck Time."  Lets start with a video of some guy's hands (the hands belong to the oddly named Volvoxburger) doing their funky best to duplicate the legendary pianist Les McCann . There is a transcription of what Volvoxburger's hands are doing if you click HERE.

Next dig some Les McCann and Eddie Harris doing what they do best live.  Mr. Holober recommends this one, and that's about as good a recommendation as you are going to get.

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.

My Way

Learn what you will from this clip, it's a really good one...

Tom Harrell - One of the greats!

Are you a trumpet player?  Then you need to give this a listen.  Mr. Harrell has an interesting story.
 

It's not Kenny G, but they might consider working him in there somehow.

OK...so this is not jazz.  Listen, the nice boys in Metallica are such good sports about the pirated music and all that I thought this clip deserved some attention.  I really like what they've done with Enter Sandman.

This is it!

So on this clip you've got Cannonball Adderley on the alto sax, his brother Nat Adderley on trumpet, Yusef Lateef on tenor sax and flute, Joe Zawinul on the piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums.  This is one of my favorite live groups.  Listen to how hip the rhythm section is, the background lines, the soloists.  This is everything jazz can be.

Groove, you are born with it.

I feel for this thing - click HERE.  It just wants to lay down some jams.  It's hard being a robot in this cold, impersonal world we live in.

Larry McKenna, he's bad!

This guy Larry McKenna is one of those dudes who seems to have magic fingers when it comes to playing hip inside, tasty lines.  Dig this clip of him playing "Groovin' High" and check out the transcription too while you are listening.  He's got a lot of gems in there you can emulate.  Outside of Sonny Stitt, I don't think I've ever heard anyone put bebop lines together so fluently.    HERE is the link to both the recorded solo and the transcription.  HERE is the transcription only.

This is a special animal

This is not your run of the mill pooper scooper dog scat.  Yeah, it turns out scat has dual meaning.  This dog has skills.  Kudos to his trainer and vocal coach.

Stormy Weather

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been going through some stormy weather of my own, but don't you worry, I won't leave you out there in the rain to find jazz for yourself.
This is Lena Horne, who just passed away today at age 92.  Lena was a great jazz vocalist and a civil rights leader.  She battled all sorts of persecution in her lifetime, but remained strong willed and steadfast in her convictions.  This is a clip of her performing the song "Stormy Weather."  It's a jazz standard, aren't they all?  Dig in particular the dramatic window-blowing-in music...poor conductor.

Solid Potato Salad!

Not sure what this has to do with jazz, but you will like it.  First the abridged HD version...

Next the low def, but equally entertaining clip...

Virtuosity

Sometimes as I eat pistachios, I think about what it takes to make it as a musician.  If it's money you're after, then you need to get hooked up with the right management, look the part, and play what your management asks you to play.  I know what you are thinking...hey, could that be conceived as "selling out?"  Maybe, but it's nice to live in a house and eat, isn't it?!  Still, I keep thinking that it would be more satisfying if you could play what you want to play, and at a level where every idea in your head could make it's way onto your instrument.  I hope there is always a market for that, I guess we'll see.  Here is a guy who can throw it down like that...Loren Stillman is up with this thing:

Veritable Flabby Preludes (for a Dog)

Five Grins or Mona Lisa's Moustache

Sketches and Exasperations of A Big Boob Made of Wood

Menus for Childish Purposes

All are titles by the classical composer Eric Satie (1866-1925).  Is he a little eccentric?  Yes!  THIS ARTICLE makes a pretty good case for Satie as the first modern composer.  He's using modes, working the tritones, chord planing, he even has a cool nickname..."The Velvet Gentleman".  A lot of this stuff sounds modern even today, almost 100 years later.  If you haven't checked him out, he's a guy that influenced a lot of jazz musicians when he was semi rediscovered in the 60's by guys like Bill Evans and John Cage.  CLICK HERE for a summary of Satie, the man and his music, there are even some sound clip on there for you to hip yourself to.