Bilbo

He made my Wal. RIP.

And a great article on rising Jazz star Ben Williams by our own award winning Mike Flynn (urb).

Avishai Cohen: The Trumpet Player - stonking player. Came across him as part of the SF Jazz Collective. (AC is not the bass player of the same name. Apparently Avishai Cohen is the Israeli equivalent of John Smith)

Double bass is great for acoustic work but there are different kinds of acoustic music and, depending on what you will actually be playing, the big fella may not work. I have worked for may years an achieving a live sound on my Wal that has a 'acoustic' ambience and I think, in many ways, I have succeeded. What that means is that I can play nicely integrated lines but, if necessary, can tweak the sound to bring it forward a little in the mix. As long as you keep it musical, there is no reason why an electric bass shouldn't sound perfectly suitable.

I have had various experiences with drummers and totally agree with the OPs premise; a drummer can make or break a band. Now I play mostly Jazz or Latin (about 90% nowadays) and both genres have the reputation for flamboyant drums/percussion but, in truth, anyone who knows anything about drumming will know that its not about keeping it simple per se (although that can be a factor at times), it is about maintaining the core pulse of the music at all times. If a drummer can fly around all over the place and maintain the pulse, then there is little to complain about. The problem is that many developing drummers try to be clever AT THE EXPENSE OF the pulse. I have reached the point now where I won't play with bad drummers. I don't need to (I have about five or six I will go to before I need to compromise) and, if I know the drummer is not going to deliver, I know that the music will be poor and I can't do that any more, even for money. When I play with a new drummer, I know within seconds whether it is going to work 'timewise'. After that, there are other considerations (a lot of so called jazz drummers are basically pop and funk drummers with a s***load of chops who have great time but who don't quite understand the idiom, thereby compromising the end product not because of poor time but because of contextually inappropriate ideas - I am not communicating that well). The Holy Grail for me is finding the guys who can play the stuff creatively, musically, idiomatically correctly and consistently. There are a surprising number of guys who can do it and, since I have been running my own band, I have never needed to book a dog. In a nutshell, when I worked with bad drummers, I used to leave gigs thinking it was me, that I couldn't 'do' it. Whenever I worked with a good drummer, I sounded great. So I stopped working with bad drummers and, consequently, have massively reduced the number of negative playing experiences that I have.

I have known Nigel for 15 years. He swings so hard because he practices an astonishing amount. What a lot of people don't know is that he started playing quite late, after a stint in the Army. He just worked and worked and worked.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1324116569' post='1470902'] This is a San Francisco based jazz collective featuring some of todays leading new young players. They recently did a double cd of arrangements of Stevie Wonder tunes. So, have a listen to the one we have all played taken in a different direction. Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition'. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBZ-2PzSgY[/media] [/quote] If anyone is interested, there are charts (inc a bass chart) for this arrangement available to download for free on Misguel Zenon's website miguelzenon.com. Look for the 'music' tab and scroll down to 'charts'. They are presented under each of his cds and there is a full arrangement for Superstition as well as individual parts. I spent some time with it yesterday and its a doozy!

Most genres are a series of developments over time rather than one epiphnay. Mark King was influential but he had his predecessors on Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham, for instance. Geezer was not innovator, just took a lot of what had gone before in rock. I think genres are defined not by instruments/instrumentalists but by the relationships between instruments. A walking bass is seen as a jazz thing but idea of a walking bass appears all over the place in other genres but is not heard in the same way due to differing relationsips with the other instruments in the various enselmble. Latin bass is the same as a lot og power ballad bass playing but isn't heard in teh same way because of the other stuff; arrangement, instruments, song forms, drum rhythms etc

Buy a copy of Jazzwise or Jazztimes, follow the reviews/articles/adverts/websites and get onto Spotify to put some names in. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Workin', Steamin', Cookin', Relaxin', Miles Ahead, Birth Of The Cool, Nerfertiti, Miles Smiles, Sketches of Spain, Porgy & Bess John Coltrane: Blue Train, A Love Supreme, Giant Steps Sonny Rollins: [color="#ff0000"]Saxophone[/color] [color="#ff0000"]Collosus[/color], Tenor Madness Duke Ellington: almost anything Count Basie: The Atomic Mr. Basie Wynton Marsalis: Standard Time, Live At Blues Alley, Citi Movement Chris Potter: Gratitude Joe Lovano: Landmarks Dave Holland: Anything Marc Johnson: Bass Desires Chick Corea: Trio Music That'll keep you entertained for a few days

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1324637392' post='1476456'] Since taking up upright I've been totally GAS free on the principle that my shortcomings are way beyond anything that can be fixed in a shop. Quite relaxing, really. [/quote] You wait....... http://www.worldofbasses.de/index.html

Looks pretty heavy to me.....

Famous Felixstowe bands? Errr.... that'll be me. Welcome.

Mahavishnu '84 was my favourite.

Is it worth contacting the Fraud Squad?

Not really. Most simple pretty melodies are just that; simple diatonic scales offering pretty melodies. There are other issues to consider, however, and ARYM offers some opportunities to discuss. The 'pretty' bit, the bit Jaco plays, works so well because of what has gone before. The tension is released by the Jaco melody and it is that release of tension that gives it that sense of 'aaah'. Also, there are issues around chord voicings, timbre and tempo that help the tune breathe so beautifully. Its not just the notes. Thik of the tune played twice as fast or on a trombone. That's why so many of these 'James Galway plays The Beatles' or 'Pop Goes The Classics' albums are so poor; the producers don't get the importance of context.

I will agree not to play at any other venues in the vicinity if they agree not to book any other bands. Or if they pay us a retainer. Either option works for me.

Name and shame the guitar teacher!!!! Classical guitar is just for poor people who can't afford a piano (not really, just wanted revenge!!) In my experience, all instruments carry their own challenges and the thing about classical music over Jazz is that the demands of the improvising musician are very different from a practiced performance of the 'repertoire'. You can't 'fake' Jazz and regurgitating tried and tested lines and patterns is not going to cut it. You have to have a mastery of the instrument and the associated concepts to deliver a rounded performance. Unlike classical music where, if you learn one piece, you have learned it (can't you see I am bitter!). Learn all the scales and chords you can and TRANSCRIBE, TRANSCRIBE, TRANSCRIBE!! Fischer Price guitar, my hairy a***

Yes, they did. ItTs called thematic improvising and Sonny Rollins is the undisputed master of the technique. THe idea can be extended to any theme, however, including your own. A great example is Branford Marsalis' soprano solo on 'Sister Cheryl' from Wynton Marsalis' first album. Branford picks up the closing phrase of Herbie Hancock's piano solo and then uses it's rhytmic phrasing as the hook for his own solo. It's beautiful. Its a simple idea but it really makes your solos musical.

I wish I had the time! I will try and look at it over the holidays but its a big ask.

Personally, I can't hear any jazz in there at all. Just a sh*tload of funk.

This is floating my boat. What a band. Fresh ideas. That Linders guys fills are totally omriginal. No cliches to my ears. 10/10

Wow! Who are these guys? I'm off a googlin'. Swedish 3 piece. Not sure about the use of 'pop' tunes as the core material but, that aside, these guys are bloody good. And I never realised Gareth Gates was such a great bass player,

Thorry :blush:

Looks bigger than a credit card to me....

Senior Probation Officer contracts require us to work 148 hours every 4 weeks not a set arrival/leave time every day so, added to the generous leave (33 days p.a. + BHs) snf the fact that I manage my own diary, its never a problem.