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.

Wow the neighbors, your family and friends!

Click HERE to find out how. Warning: if you get good at this, you'll be in high demand.

I, say your name, am an Effortless Master.

Although it would be easy to focus on the transcendent tenor playing on the part of Joe Lovano (in Kanye West shades?), take a moment to check out what each of the musicians in this band is actually doing. Here are a few things you might notice...
>they aren't staring at sheet music, they are comfortable with the song ("A Portrait of Jenny") and it's chord changes
>they appear to be creatively feeding off of one another when soloing
>their playing is rhythmically interesting, and not often melodically predictable
>they are not particularly worried about their notes outlining the chord changes
>they each have a unique sound/voice on their instruments
>they are fearless in their virtuosity
Effortless Mastery is a book by Kenny Werner, the pianist you see here in the video. His book might change your playing. His book might change your life. It is a short read, available on the Aebersold site, why not check it out?
Click HERE for a synopsis of the book. Click HERE to learn how to swing a guitar around yourself.

I'm standin' at the crossroads...

You got the blues? Hit this link! Be sure you turn the on site radio on first. I'm not sure why this is so entertaining, but it is. If you play long enough, you'll crave gumbo, so be careful.

Click here to express your sorrow through music.

What is "Post Bop?" A rash from the sticky stuff on stamps maybe? A new cereal perhaps?

This little website from the creators of "Downbeat" jazz magazine explains, in a fairly easy to digest manner, all the different styles and periods of jazz history. You might want to pick up an album by a different artist in the style of an artist you already like. This website is good for that. You might want to comb your hair, this website is bad for that. Discovering new styles of music... good for that. Discovering Alaska...bad for that.

click here to go to learn a little jazz history

click here to non-productively check out AN AMAZING LINK!

The big Peplowski.

Ken Peplowski is pretty unbelievable on clarinet. This clip is included to showcase how important it is to become a virtuoso on your instrument. You might have the greatest ideas in your head, but unless you can transfer them to your instrument (or we can live in your head. No thanks on that by the way, it's scary in there) you are nowhere. Hey, put down that Twinkie and work out some diminished scales...there are only 3 and they sound great on dominant 7 b9 chords!

Ring them Bells -Ken Peplowski
Uploaded by boberwig

Casio fun.

I don't know why, but I think of our baritone saxophonist when I hear this one. It's another short clip from the pianist doing the Radiohead cover on the clip above. Oh, one last thing regarding this clip... do yourself a favor and don't take up smoking. Brad is cool, but he'll die young if he doesn't kick his habit. Don't believe us? Take a look in bag number one...
BAG NUMBER ONE

Enter the exit music.

No need blow the dust off this one. This is Brad Mehldau on the piano. This is a Radiohead cover called "Exit Music (for a film)". Why not? Jazz doesn't have to be the standards of yesteryear. When I jog I listen to "Rage Against the Machine" (not sure why, latent aggression or something), and I was thinking wouldn't that be interesting for big band? I was also thinking maybe some rap with a small jazz band backing it up. Why not some Dave Matthews (Yorktown alum) tunes, or even Justin Timberlake reharmonized or something. Do you have a band, try this, and let us know how it works out for you. Maybe put us in your liner notes if you're famous...Mrs. Kluga and Mr. Whalen's blog shaped my life's direction. ;)

Everybody digs Bill Evans! You might too.

This is Bill Evans, one of the greatest jazz pianists who ever lived playing a tune called "Waltz for Debby". Bill is known largely as a master of the inner voicings in chords - meaning he adds tension notes to chords that are not quite as cliche as in standard voicings. He also moves from chord to chord in interesting ways, creating melodic lines that most professional pianists would have to sit down and write out in order to play. He does it at light speed, which adds to his charm. Check out how they listen to one another, and compliment each other's playing.

Hi, I am your psyche...

Please take a break from your AP course work for a moment, and give me, your psyche, a little something something. By something something I mean a video clip of the Miles Davis quintet (in 1959) Mr. Whalen found while taking a break from finding new ways to make the tune Mary Had a Little Lamb exciting for fifth graders. Just watching this clip will make you cool, for at least 10 whole minutes.


Now listen to how the song evolved in another clip from 1964, 5 years later.

Young...even compared to you!

This is a guy I went to Berklee with back in the late 80s, a.k.a. when most of you were born. He is probably 17 years old in this clip... it's how I remember him as he entered school. I was there to see Roy Hargrove play before he was the jazz superstar he is now. Aside from the obvious talent and skill, confidence has a lot to do with why he is headlining at the North Sea Jazz Festival before entering college. It's a trait most of the prodigies have... a fearless ability to just play without worrying about making a mistake. If you are worried (as I often am, hence the lack of the child prodigy moniker next to my name) you'll have the tendency to get hung up on stuff or sound ridiculously preconceived. You should try playing Bb blues with a B scale sometime, if you play it confidently it will sound cool. If you play it weak, it will sound lame. This is good practice, because it will show you that you can't really make a mistake playing jazz, everything is more or less good in context.

Jaco

Electric bass as you have never heard it before. Jaco Pastorius is widely respected in both the jazz and rock worlds. He is best known for his work with "Weather Report", a popular fusion group. Listen to his use of harmonic chords. Also listen to the way he uses repetition as a sonic canvas. (good one..."sonic canvas"... I'm cracking up that I wrote that, perhaps I should write for the Times. The baloney section.)

I like it, maybe you'll like it...

Here we have a clip of the Maria Schneider Orchestra. Is it jazz? Yes. Does it sound like the jazz you are used to hearing? Probably not. Is it something unique and beautiful? Well, you decide. The group features some of the most happening players in the world- drummer Jeff Ballard, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, saxophonist Rich Perry to name a few. Listen to the way everyone works together. One of the things I like most about this clip is watching Ms. Schnieder. The way she connects to the music is the way I'd like connect with my own playing and compositions. The music clearly moves her.

Hans Solo

This is a spoof created by jazz pianist Larry Goldings, masquerading here in a bad wig as pianist Hans Groiner. Thought you might enjoy it...

Thelonious Monk!

During Bill Clinton's campaign, he was asked by a reporter from MTV who his favorite musician is. He replied "Thelonious Monk." The reporter followed up with an amazing question... "Who is the loneliest monk?" Check out Monk's technique on piano, you have never seen anything like it. This is a blues head called "Blue Monk." It's a good tune to know, and you might want to learn it by ear. After you check out this clip, follow up with the clip above featuring the not so hip Hans Groiner.

I want to play drums!

This is an incredible example of modern jazz drumming. Brian Blade plays a solo over hits and an out chorus with Josh Redman on the tenor sax. Notice how relaxed and loose Brian is... even with the hits, he is having fun and responding to the rhythm rather than forcing something he worked out onto it. Remember, in your own playing tone and time are most important when soloing, notes are secondary. If you play with a beautiful tone, and you solo with a solid rhythmic feel, you'll always sound great.