Bilbo

I disagree with the idea that Manring's compositions are showcases for his techniques. My head is rarely turned by those kinds of things as I look for something musical rather than athletic; I listen with my ears not watch with my eyes. Manring makes great music using these tools unlike, say, Stu Hamm, Billy Sheehan or Dave LaRue, who are just stuntmen.

Trouble with teenagers in bedrooms is they 'get' the issues around velocity and playing fast but there are so many of the great guitar players of yesteryear who have a depth to their playing that these new kids lack. Beck, Leslie West, Clem Clempson, Peter Green, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, even Eddie Van Halen all had great sounds which they achieved using the right guitar, pick-ups, strings, amps and gain and the like. The new guys get it through 0.7 mm strings and dialling in a digital effect. They often lack the personality of the greats. Its no different in Jazz. There is a lot of faux Coltrane playing but it doesn't come anywhere near competing with the depth of Lester Young or COleman Hawkins etc. I guess the difference is that which exists between Art and craft. YOu can copy an original but it will always be a copy.

Guys like Manring have to exist and should absolutely be celebrated but, for me, their achievements are so 'off the scale' that I find myself admiring them as I would a racehorse or a fantastic piece of scenery. There is huge pleasure in the spectacle but very little I can draw upon in terms of developing my own playing. The music is what matters and I find Manring to me one of the most musical of the 'trickster' bass players. If any player can be called a genius, its him.

Jeff Beck is one of those guys who plays great, great guitar and who can play some of the most moving rock guitar music ever heard but he can also play some absolute tasteless cack! If I had Tal's gig, I know me and JB would have a falling out every day about his choice of material. I'd have to sack him.....

ONe of the commone probelms is that many capable jazzers are also involved in other pieces of work, be that theatre work, function bands or even tribute bands (one of the better players I used to work with is now playing keys with PRofessor Green!!). Every one of these alternatives pays better than most jazz gigs so, if someone is a pro and have a mortgage/family etc, they are going to have to take the 'other' gig rather than the jazz gig. Multiply this by several players in a reheased ensemble and you have a major disincentive to invest time and effort into properly prepared material. This creates the head-solos-head cultlre and the negative image of which you speak i.e. its self defeating. I have my own trio now that I am writing for (nearly 30 original jazz tunes to look at) but it has taken me over a year to get to the first rehearsal!! It will be interesting to see how it moves forward.

I so wish I had time to focus on all this. I retire in 19 years so will have a bit more time then . I will put some thought into the compression issue next time I get to record something. I could, of course, revisit older stuff (with the hum.....)

What kind of things are you thinking about, my friend? Classical theory or Jazz/Rock/Pop? I assume the latter but wanted to be sure? I think this is a great cause and wonder if we could contact publishers for overstocks etc. I assume there is a limited budget?

But Sibelius is SOOOOO much easier to use than Musescore (which I have but don't like at all)!!

Start with something you know and like that is reasonably short and learn the nuts and bolts of the process that way. You can move onto Suppers Ready later....

I occasionally try some compression/limiting but not routinely (my recordings are never properly mastered either, just mixed down to mp3), Even though I know what it does, I can't really hear it. I mix through headphones mostly; maybe that's an issue too!

That is a serious problem, Derren. The head solos head criticism is a legitimate one and it has been heard by many of the new wave of artists who are approaching their material more creatively. But it remans de rigeur on the UK because there is no funding for luxuries like rehearsals etc and it can be an easy route to a credible product. But, yes, it is lazy. I think also that there are many who a middle aged and older who have less time to be able to dedicate to the one-off projects. If someone offers you 12 dates, you will arrange stuff and rehearse but, for a one off, no chance. Writing out complex charts is an option but it will increase the risk of a train wreck and there are some players that will always default to the standard reportoire (there are plenty of jazzers who have weak reading skills). I did a gig last year with a great local sax player and we really burned but he won't do anything other than the standards and, as a result, I am working with a player who is less skilled but more incined to try new stuff. Its a real issue.

I have been nursing a frustrating hum for years now and thought I had tried everything (different leads, moving hardware, earth loops etc) and had given up on the thing, deciding to live with it rather than fret about it because in most cases you can't hear it on the finsihed track and because I am only sketching, not recording things for release. Anyway, for no reason other than grabbing what was at hand, I used a new (expensive) lead on the weekend (one of the ones I gig with)and its a silent as a grave. It wasn't that I was using one bad lead. It was ALL of my leads that were cheap and probably bordeline microphonic (hence chaning the original set of leads had not cured the problem). SO now I have to replace all of my leads with decent ones. More expense!

Arguably nothing. Arguably everything. The difference is that a standard is a tune that folk use as a vehicle to start their improvisations and it can be massively rearranged to sound nothing like 'the original' (changes of harmony, changes of rhythm, time signatures, grooves, feel etc) although calling the original 'the original' is a slight misnomer because, in 99% of cases, noone knows what the original sounded like. Having said that, most versions of Canteloupe Island are the same, as are most versions of DOn't Get Aroudn Much Any More and Take The A Train. A cover can be all of the above and more but is generally much more similar to the original in most senses but can be radically different e.g. Yes' version of Paul Simon's 'America'. But, in absolute terms, there is no difference other than in jazz, they tend to be called standards and in pop/rock etc, its covers. .

Me too, H. Although doing it in public occasionally would be nice. I had 5 gigs in January but I have one (my own trio) between 30th Jan and 15th April.... That's one gig in 76 days. Total sh*te.

Reading improving your playing? Careful, Sonny! They'll be calling you elitist next

In case you miss it (which you would if you only ever get your news of TV).... 54th Grammy Awards - Jazz categories (winners followed by nominees Best Improvised Jazz Solo "500 Miles High" – Chick Corea "All or Nothing at All" – Randy Brecker "You Are My Sunshine" – Ron Carter "Work" – Fred Hersch "Sonnymoon for Two" – Sonny Rollins Best Jazz Vocal Album The Mosaic Project – Terri Lyne Carrington & Various Artists 'Round Midnight – Karrin Allyson The Gate – Kurt Elling American Road – Tierney Sutton (Band) The Music of Randy Newman – Roseanna Vitro Best Jazz Instrumental Album Forever – Corea, Clarke & White Bond: The Paris Sessions – Gerald Clayton Alone at the Vanguard – Fred Hersch Bird Songs – Joe Lovano & Us Five Road Shows Vol. 2 – Sonny Rollins Timeline – Yellowjackets Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Good Feeling – Christian McBride Big Band The Jazz Ballad Song Book – Randy Brecker with DR Big Band 40 Acres and a Burro – Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Legacy – Gerald Wilson Orchestra Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook – Miguel Zenón

I have been late for Sunday lunchtime gigs twice in my life because the clocks went forward and I didn't know.

Jazz players do natural fades all the time, actually playing quieter and quieter (without walking backwards ). Its all another texture that can offer an interesting alternative approach. When you are improvising, the idea is to create something interesting or to find a new perspective on a oiece and this kind of thing is just another option taht is available to explore.

I have used Rotosound Solo Bass strings (groundwound) for nearly 26 years and have no discernable fretboard wear on my Wal. I put a new set on about two weeks ago and they sound great to my cloth ears.

+1 for the Paul Stump book. I also have a Hatfield and The North DVD I put up for sale on Amazon (mine is the £12 one) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000062XI1/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller= Anyone who wants it here can have a Basschat discount!! (PM me)

Wal To Wal is on Product, Dave, and, yes, Phil Collins was on those albums (he was also playing percussion on those Nova tracks, incidently). I know PJ stuff is hard - I was being mischievious

Another old favourite from way back... its in 5:4 but pretty as fcuk and sees Jeff pretending he has a fretless (he doesn't) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGRx5Ja2stc&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGRx5Ja2stc&feature=related[/url]

This one has Neil Peart on it! It is Cannonbal Adderley's solo on Marabi transcribed for electric bass (I used to be able to play this 100 years ago) - notice that the bass is lower in the mix than Scott Henderson's guitar - a producer's decision not a bass player's. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lXfIVeDFEQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lXfIVeDFEQ[/url]

Joe Frazier Round II [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6Q3F1a8V8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6Q3F1a8V8[/url] Manos De Piedra [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZs77J4yiK8&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZs77J4yiK8&feature=related[/url]

A ballad with Bruford [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDCeel-Zti0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDCeel-Zti0[/url] This one is even pre-moustache.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF19xpZPJgg&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF19xpZPJgg&feature=related[/url]