Bilbo

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='242523' date='Jul 18 2008, 11:21 AM']It was the Army Officer's Christmas do and there was only about 100 of them.[/quote] Its always a bit harder when there are 100 people in the room that could kill you instantly using only their thumb.

I just got hold of a book called 'Sibelius: a comprehensive guide to Sibelius Music Notation Software' by Thomas Rudolph and Vincent Leonard. Got it from Amazon Marketplace for less than £12. Its incredibly easy to use and has really opened some doors (and reduced a lot of wasted time) on the software for me. I just wanted to register how useful this software is, not only in preparing charts and composing, but also for transcribing and study. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't got it already! Probably a lot more use than a third, fourth or fifth bass!!

I had a mate who was TOLD he had the Jamaroqui gig (on guitar) - that was the last he heard from them. He is now in a well known national act so it turned out ok but the problem with these pro-gigs now is that you aren't dealing with artists but huge anonymous corporations. Chances are the band like you but the money didn't (too tall, too short, too young, too old -s'all b******t)

Right; I'm gonna say it.....! Putting a funky groove to 'Fever' does not improve it - it is a turd. Polish it as much as you like it remains a turd. Captain Smith and Pocohontas my a***. 'Summertime' was written as light opera (Porgy and Bess) (and how you can call someone a contemporary musician when he died in 1937 is beyond me ). There are several good versions of it (the Miles Davis/GilEvans arrangement especially). Every other version I have heard or played has been a pale imitation and it has become embarrassing to play it or hear it played. It makes me cringe. Stop doing it. Now. I know you like it. I know you think its funky and great but it isn't. Its a sixteen bar minor blues. There are 1,000s of them. Find another one.

[quote name='pete.young' post='241385' date='Jul 16 2008, 11:35 PM']Anyway Bilbo, with the kind of stuff you're knocking out on a regular basis in the Mar Azul I'm surprised that you've got any time for playing jazz ;-)[/quote] The funny thing there, Pete, is that most of that stuff Gione plays is the Brazillian equivalent of 'Barbie Girl' - its really lightweight pop stuff but, because it is relatively hard to play if you are not familiar with Brazillian rhythms, it comes out sounding fresh and exciting. I guess its called fooling some of the people all of the time!!

Hammersmith Odeon. The Mason's Arms in Pantygasseg - that'll be no stage at all

Billie's Bounce!! Blue Monk!!

Prompted by responses to the guy who is gooing to play jazz at the Jazz Cafe..... Some jazz standards are just sickeningly over played and almost always suck. OK, I accept that it is still possible to do something creative with them if you are Iain Ballamy but, in the main, these 'evergreens' keep appearing at jam sessions etc being played badly by people that can't play. I have heard (and played) them all a million times but now refuse to play them (really, I do). Its the jazz equivalent of 'James Galway plays The Beatles'. So I am starting a campaign to have them banned. The offending tunes are: Fever Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Canteloupe Island Watermelon Man Summertime Mac The Knife Tenor Madness Please feel free to add any jazz standards you consider banal, boring or just bad. I get the last say

In my experience, most jazz musicians like all sorts of music (most of us didn't start in jazz) but, as you get older and you have less and less time to dedicate to consuming music, you tend to go for the genres you get the most out of. I 'like' lots of genres but rarely listen to, buy or play them because I prefer jazz. My time and money is limited so I prioritise. Just keep your ears open and enjoy what you enjoy.

As URB has implied - improvisation is, like all music, about communication. In order to communicate in a language, you need to get a grip of its rules; grammar, vocabulary, syntax etc. We have all done it with the English language if nothing else. As a result, if anyone starts a conversation (the most natural form of improvisation), we can all take part. For example, if someone starts a conversation about fish, we call all say something pertinent about fish but no-one will know at anytime what anyone is going to say next. Some people will say very little; 'I like fish;. Some will be very intellectual 'I like eating fish because they contain OMEGA 3 oils that help reduce choloestrol'. Some will be funny; 'three fish walked into a bar...'; others abstract; 'I think my ex-wife was a fish'. Despite the varied responses, they are all subject to some form of agreed and, to a degree, pre-determined structure, in this case, teh English language. Improvised music is the same. If you play a blues in Bb, you can play anything you like as long as you can relate it to the 'mother' key. John Coltrane would play something very different to Stevie Ray Vaughan, who would play something very different to Keith Jarrett, who would play something very different to Evan Parker, who would play something very different to you, who would play something very different to me. But it would all be related to the key of Bb, even if that relationship is to ignore it in order to create tension. Just like there are great speakers, there are great improvising musicians; Bach was one - its not a skill that is confined to jazz. Lets get this straight: improvisation is not about making stuff up spontaneously out of nowhere. It is not 'playing what you feel' - anyone who actually beleves that knows nothing about improvising. It is engaging in a process of communication with other players and with the audience that has form, logic and depth. It is hard to do well but immensely rewarding when you get it right.

Been there and done that.....

I read somewhere that you can use any power ouput amp with any power handling cab and that, if any of these combinations makes bad sounds then you just need to turn down and/or stop cranking the bass EQ excessively or damage may occur. Its that simple. I've also got a great recipe for Special Fried Rice if anyone wants it. As for 'Inside The Score' by Rayburn Wright; when you have written a couple of dozen scores, go back to it. It will all make sense then.

Our culture is geared towards low input, high return, immediate gratification stuff. No-one seems inclined to invest in themselves anymore and the Arts suffer. Its a pretty shallow and ultimately unsatisfying existence. It'll turn around eventually (I notice the Australians have canned Big Brother - more power to them)

None taken....

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='240585' date='Jul 16 2008, 08:41 AM']So if things went really wrong with a song how far out of time would the guitarist (we all know that bassists don't go out of time) be allowed to go before it counted as a separate (but simultaneous) performance of the song, and thus incurr double the royalties? [/quote] No, silly, That would be jazz.

I am assuming when you say a 'jazz' set, you don't mean jazz-funk or jazz-rock. Santana/George Benson tunes aren't considered to be jazz. I suspect you are talking standards type jazz. Starters for 10 - All of Me All the Things You Are Autumn Leaves The Best Is Yet to Come Body and Soul Desafinado (Latin) Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye The Girl from Ipanema (Latin) How High the Moon It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me) Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) Lush Life (beautiful but hard!!) Mack the Knife (although it sucks) Misty My Foolish Heart My Funny Valentine Nature Boy Satin Doll Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (another beautiful but complex tune) Tenderly These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) What Is This Thing Called Love? You Don't Know What Love Is THe big problem you will have is a, accessing charts (if you have some fake books great, if not, you may have a problem). After that you will find that many songs are not in your singers key so they will need transposing - not a massive problem but it will need a run through if only piano/guitar and vocals. How much experience have you/the band/your singer got in playing jazz? It sounds like this is a new area for you and I am anxious that you have been set up to fail. If you haven't played jazz before, debuting as a jazz band at the Jazz Cafe sounds like a high risky undertaking!

Can't you order direct from the US?

I guess it depends on what you are practising but I would always say amp for the reasons mentioned. If you practice and rehearse in equal measures, it may matter less. I rarely practice because I play so much and rarely get the time but I would always recommend using an amp because I think that this is your natural state and practicing how to use an amp is as important as many other techniques.

That'll be it

I don't....

The secret is to stay funky. The acrobatics that abound are only of value if they are musical. Mostly they are not. They are macho and brutal and serve no purpose other than to draw attention to the personality. The best slapped lines are not the typewriter techniques the people like Claypool and Wooten espose but the simple, low-down funk. I play fretless only and rarely slap (if ever). I can do it but don't really like it. The day I hear a slapped ballad that is emotionally satisfying, I may change my mind. Until then... MWAH.....!

Its all down to the venues - they book what pulls the punters in. This applies to jazz as much as it does anything else. I was talking to some poeple last night who are booking a jazz band next year to coincide with a local jazz festival. They have no idea what or who they will book and couldn't recognise a lemon if it was geoid and yellow. They just want to pull in some passing trade. They are trying to earn a living too. I'm semi-pro and would go out for £50 but only if its good music. If its tosh it's £80 minimum

Leonard Rosenman had a reputation as a bit of a hack (!?). He would take bits of his other works and cut and paste them - If you listen to his soundtrack for one of the Star Trek films, he has used bit os his work on Ralph Bakshi's 'The Lord of the Rings'. Even my brother heard that and is has the ears of a snake. A bit of a cliche regurgitator - I still like some of his stuff tho' (not heard Clash Of The Titans).

Do you know how to write a big band chart? Then f*** o**

Afternoon gig, open air, at Addenbrookes Hospital - I played like a t****r Trio gig in a pub in Bury St Edmunds (the Ben Pringle Trio) - fanbloodytastic. Couldn't hit a note wrong. I've never been able to work out why that happens!