I only have a couple of students that I teach at my house. I had a lesson yesterday with a high school sophomore. It was his second lesson, and he is a pretty good player. He likes jazz band, so we started talking about improvisation, which he said he wanted to learn. I played a vamp in Bb on the piano, and he played some stuff over it. He sounded pretty good for a beginner, so I put on the Aebersold Major/Minor and we traded 8’s, just trying to deal with playing simple melodies. As we kept playing, we went from 8’s to 4’s, then we were both playing together, and then it happened. I got that feeling. That feeling I get when something cool starts to happen, when there is interaction between improvisers, when it starts to really get fun. I love that feeling. I guess it can even happen with 15 year olds and Aebersold LPs.
Category: Personal
Michael Brecker – RIP
Michael Brecker passed away today.
Saxophonist Michael Brecker succumbs to cancer – USATODAY.com
I first became aware of Michael Brecker when I was in high school. His band was on one of those PBS Newport Jazz Festival shows. They played “Original Rays” and he did that killer EWI stuff that he could do. It totally knocked me out. I taped it and watched it over and over. He played some stuff on that set that was SO burnin’. It was one of the first times I realized that jazz could be so fiery and energetic that it just made me want to jump in the air and shout.
Years later I heard him at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with McCoy Tyner. It was one of those special religious musical experiences. A few days ago I was listening to Pat Metheny’s 80/81 and thinking about how bad Michael Brecker is. Too bad that is has become a was. Thank you, Michael, for all the great music.
New Year’s Resolution
This year I am resolving not to judge people. Just because the guy is stumbling drunk and has fallen over the monitor into the sax player twice, it doen’t necessarily mean he is an asshole. That’s not for me to judge. I resolve to do my best to see every person I encounter in a positive light.
Kermit Ruffins Big Band
I had the pleasure of playing with the newly reformed Kermit Ruffins Big Band last Friday in San Antonio. It was a treat to play simple tasty arrangements of classic swinging material with a great bunch of musicians. Kermit is a fun and charismatic performer, and the band is a great bunch of guys with no silly vibes or ego trips. Just good musicians having fun playing good music. The fact that the band is well managed and the musicians are treated well is icing on the cake. We need more gigs like this one.
JB…
James Brown triumphed because he had unequalled energy and an uncanny genius for fully unleashing the rhythmic power of music.
I had the pleasure of seeing/hearing James Brown live in Las Vegas in 1995. The band wore navy tuxedos with orange tie/cummerbund combos. They looked like total Vegas cheese, and they sounded like the funkiest most powerful force ever. It was impossible not to move your body when the music played. To co-opt a line from Duck Dunn, that band was bad enough to turn goat piss into gasoline, and all of that badness emanated from James Brown. I’m glad I didn’t miss my one opportunity to experience JB live.
Don’t pass up a chance to hear a master, we never know if there will be another one.
ATTENTION ALL SOUND MEN MIXING JAZZ!
This is me quoting Doug Ramsey quoting David Berger.
Rifftides: Doug Ramsey on jazz and other matters
This is acoustic music. Keep amplification to an absolute minimum; in the best halls, almost no amplification should be necessary. Everyone needs to develop a big sound. It is the conductor’s job to balance the band.
The bass should not be as loud as a trumpet. That is unnatural and leads to over-amplification, bad tone and limited dynamics. Stay away from monitors. They provide a false sense of balance.
Chicago hang
I got into Chicago last night just in time to check into the hotel and get to Grant Park to hear Ray Anderson with the Charlie Hunter Trio. Ray sounded great and it was nice to see Simon Lott, who is now playing with Charlie Hunter. Wolter Wierbos and Eric Boeren, who are in town with the dutch group Bik Bent Braam, were also there listening.
It turned into trombone geek fest back stage as Ray, Jeb Bishop, Wolter Wierbos, Norman Palm, and I got into a gear dialouge about old horns sparked by Norman’s old Conn 40H and Ray’s new/old NY Bach 6. Wolter plays a voca bell 44H and Jeb plays a 78H. I felt a little left out as the guy with the new horn, but that’s ok, I like my new horn.
Jeb, Wolter, Eric, and I continued on to the Velvet Lounge to hear some classic AACM stylings from Douglas Ewart and his colleagues. There is something special in that music. I need to explore more of it. Comments with your favorite AACM listening are encouraged.
What’s the difference…
What’s the difference between a composer and a songwriter?
A songwriter won’t write stuff he can’t play.
Thanks, John W.
Dewey Donation System
I received the following email from a friend tonight.
I try never to forward mass emails — but this one (I hope you’ll agree) is worthy of sending to everyone you know who is a book lover.
As you might already know — I grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, where Hurricane Katrina took an enormous toll. Tom and I recently toured the devastation and it’s remarkable that now (10 months later) most places still look like a bomb just went off. It was so much more vast and overwhelming than photos can possibly portray.
The one thing that hit me the hardest was seeing the Gulfport Library in such ruins. I spent nearly every Saturday morning there with my family — I was the Lisa Simpson of our clan — and I knew the librarians/staff there and their collections well. I have so many memories of that place — doing research for hours in high school — writing college papers while seated in the aisles of the stacks of books — reading all the classic children’s literature in their special room devoted to kid’s books — participating in their summer reading programs, etc. It was the place that probably meant the most to me in Gulfport, apart from my home.
So — here’s an easy way to contribute to their re-building effort —
http://www.deweydonationsystem.org/
These nice folks run a book drive each year — in the past, they have supported school districts where funding for libraries have been cut, or even supported libraries in the tsunami-affected areas — and this year (2006) they selected the Gulfport/Biloxi public libraries as their targeted beneficiary.
The libraries in Gulfport/Biloxi have even put together “wish lists” on Amazon.com — and you KNOW how easy it is to order things there — or you can send whatever you like — including just a cash donation — and there’s a place to leave a note, letting them know what you’ve sent and why — the website has everything you need — including an adorable mascot — Dewey (he’s a decimal).
PLEASE (after you send a few books/dollars of your own) consider forwarding this to everyone you know who’s a book lover and who would support this worthy cause — you can spend big/little, you can send your favorites or some classics, you can send anything you like — and be sure it gets directly to the good folks who are rebuilding in Mississippi.
Think for a moment — how different your life would be without books/libraries — and consider what an amazing thing a public library is — it’s a Barnes & Noble where everything is free, so long as you promise to return it.
Thanks for letting me share this with you —
Claire Brantley
Claire is a great person. She has a special spot in heaven because she married a trombone player.
If you are looking for a cool way to share a few dollars you have been blessed with, with some folks who are still only beginning to recover from Hurricane Katrina, consider the Dewey Donation System.
What I learned from George last night , or a common characteristic of great musicians
One of the beauties of working in the New Orleans scene is that I get to play a lot of different music. I have the pleasure of playing with a great bunch of musicians in the city’s growing adventure jazz/improv scene, I get to play with the Louisiana Philharmonic occasionally, and I get to work with some of the legends of the New Orleans r&b/funk scene. Last night fell into that latter category.
I had the honor of playing with George Porter Jr. and Runnin’ Pardners. George is the bass player in The Meters. He is a New Orleans music legend, and a big influence on much of modern funk.
The gig was a wedding. The kind of gig that many people would have phoned in. We had to do “What a Wonderful World” for one of the bridal party dances. While that is a classic tune, it is pretty far from the band’s normal repertoire. George joked that he learned it the night before, then put on his glasses and squinted at the lyric sheet on his stand.
Then he sang one of the most deep, soulful, honest renditions of that song that I have ever heard. It sounded like it had been his song all along.
That’s when I realized that great musicians are always in touch with the music inside of them. Here is a man that is known as one of the world’s greatest bass players and groove masters, yet he is singing a wedding standard, and it still becomes a personal musical statement. George is always George, no matter what the music is, and we can always hear that soul pouring out.
We should all strive to let our musical souls be available at all times. That’s what I learned from George last night.