Bilbo

Trouble is, teentshirt, that there are levels of structure. Some jazz (big band, most 'smooth' jazz (Diana Krall doesn't actually take chances!!), third stream jazz etc) is very structured whilst some (free jazz) has none whatsoever. If you like structure try Mike Stern's solo stuff, or Miles Davis 'Sketches of Spain' or any of Bob Mintzer's Big Band Cds. Or Michel Camilo's 'One More Once' - they are all very structured. Most jazz is built on clearly defined forms that are set out in advance but only in the way that, for instance, a conversation about fish would be - it has a beginning and middle and an end and you can say anything you like as long as it it about fish. The freedom to express yourself as a jazz musician comes from the structures. Absolute musical freedom is massively overated! That's what Ron Carter said and I believe him!

Ha ha - whats the chances of that happening!!

I have recently got a weekiy gig at a bar in Ipswich, Suffolk (Mar Azul - Saturdays 10 - 1 a.m.), playing what is essentially Latin Pop - Its a heavy gig in that it requires you to play straight for two hour and a half sets pretty much without stopping. Its a cool gig with a receptive Portuguese audience but the pay is only £50. I can do it most weeks but I do quite often get other gigs which I prefer (that'll be the jazz then ). So I need a dep whocan do the odd gig. The trouble is, the charts are poor and you have to let your ears and eyes guide you as the singer/cavaquino player/guitarist ploughs on regardless! Its great experience for someone looking to get inot this kind of music. Anyone interested? More than one dep would be cool. PM me if you are interested and I'll let you know what's what. Rob

Thanks chaps (assuming you are chaps) - I now know more than I did at 4 p.m. today. Muchos gracias!

While we are talking cables, can someone remind me of the difference between instrument (bass to amp) cables and speaker (amp to cab) cables. I have been told this but can't remember why. And, in the answer, can you clarify why you shouldn't use an instrument cable as a speaker cable and vice versa. Yours in ignorance. Rob

Frankly - you should buy the best bass you can affiord otherwise you will spend your life wanting the next one up! Look at some name basses, buy one you like that you find relatively easy to play and that sounds good. Reputations on instruments are always available on BC (if in doubt, ask). A nice looking instrument (to your eyes) will mean you will always be excited about playing. A good secondhand quality bass is a good idea because you can get more for your money and can always resell at roughly the price you paid. Find a bass player to go with you to look so you don't get ripped off (can't see where you are located but there are players who are BC members all over and London is full to the brim with them if you go there to make a purchase). A good professionsal instrument (£1,500?) will allow you to measure your improvements against your learning needs and not against the quality of your instrument. And don't get screwed up about your fretless - 10 million cellists can't all be wrong... Playing fretless is not that much harder than fretted in reality - suggestions that it is harder are just an urban myth.

Weather Report were a hybrid of world/jazz/fusion. Their whole catalogue is a panolpy of jazz/jazz funk/jazz rock/fusion/pop - just goes to show how inadequate labels can be. My favourite WR CDs are 'Night Passage', 'Mr Gone', 'Heavy Weather' and 'Procession'. 'Black Market' and 'Domino Theory' have some great tracks (Db waltz is COOKIN') but I prefer the first four I have listed. Oh and that Alphonso Johnson guy is seriously underated!

'As bilbo230763 points out, as small difference in signal strength may be measurable electronically but whether or not that difference can be heard in a real gigging environment (or even a practical studio environment) is what matters. And if the only effect of the signal improvement obtained by adding a very expensive cable is a slight increase in the top end....then why don't you just tweak the treble control on your amp to make the same adjustment for free ?' That's what I thought....

I can accept this in principle but my question is this: can a cable effect tone in a manner that impacts significantly on the perceived tonal results in the context of the other environmental variables in play? Or, in English, is the effect significant enough to be heard against the other things that effect it such as the shape of a room, the amp's/bass's eq, flat surfaces, carpets/tileds floors etc. My perspective is that it probably doesn't so, whilst it is worth noting, it ain't worth lying awake over. I am open to challenge.

Just a small piece of advice - if the band gets louder, let your amp do the work not your fingers. If you play too hard you can get all sorts of problems (blisters at the very least) but a nicely eq'd amp with a lot of head room lets you relax and lets you execute complex ideas comfortably and tightly. I have rarely met an idea that sounds better executed with a pick but rarely is not never and there are some very sophisticated players who do use picks' Chris Squire (Yes), Anthony Jackson (Al DiMeola) and my favourite, Steve Swallow.

Bury - the jazz centre of the universe!

I was just reading something on the Eden site and thought I would start a thread on an issue that used to disturb me as a player/learner. When I was a 17 - 27 year old student of this noble instrument, I was SO paranoid about taking time off from practising that I would do stupid things like take guitars wherever I went (even on holiday) and I never ever gave myself permission to take time away from studying. Now, whilst I agree that we have a responsibility to practice as much as we can, I think it is also important to take time away from the instrument to allow us to digest the stuff we are learning - even if it is just time to listen to what other people are doing. I guess I am saying, hey guys, its ok, even productive, to take a day off once in a while and look out the window! Or is it just me?

A filter removes select bands of frequencies but never boosts any of them. There are five kinds of filter: [b]low-pass[/b], where low frequencies are allowed to pass through but high frequencies are reduced in level; [b]high-pass[/b], where high frequencies are allowed to pass through but low frequencies are reduced; [b]band-pass[/b], where both low and high frequencies are reduced but mid-range frequencies are allowed through; [b]band-stop[/b], where both low and high frequencies are allowed to pass, but a region in the mid-band is reduced and, last but by no means least, the [b]notch filter[/b] which is a narrow band-stop filter, taking out a small range of specific frequencies. I guess an analogue filter is one that is made up of old fashioned electrical circuits rather than computerised digital ones!

QOTD - the literal answer to your question is they are all jazz but jazz is a term that is too big to be really useful (a bit like saying I like books or food or sport). You need to be more specific - trad, dixieland, smooth jazz, free jazz, jazz funk, jazz rock, bebop, post bop, neo0classicism, fusion, world jazz, pop-jazz - the list goes on. Writing about jazz is like dancing about architecture... Buy a Jazzwise or Downbeat magazine one month and look for some stuff that sounds interesting then look it up. There used to be plenty of jazz in Cardiff (that's where I cut my teeth in the 1980s) but I can't speak for it now. There is a guy called Jon Caulfield that knows his stuff, or Julian Martin (piano), Andy Maule (gtr), Paula Gardiner (bass), :ee Goodall, Osian Roberts, Dick Hamer (saxes) - keep you eyes out and go see some people play!

I think people, jazz musicians, are generally more conservative than they would like to admit - they get to the cutting edge early on in their careers and then stay where they are despite the fact that the music moves on. I find younger people are more informed about a broader range of idioms and are, consequently, less staid in their outlook but the people who learned their craft in the 60s & 70s seem less flexible. Is this me in 10 years time!!?

Get a player you like locally to play his bass and your bass through your gear - you can then get a sense whether its you, your amps or the bass!

Its subtle but, yes. There are many people who book me for jazz gigs but I always get the sense that I am not their first choice because, whilst I can play, I don't fulfil the expectations of the 'jazz aesthetic' by having a 'real' bass. They all ask, for instance, 'do you play the upright'? Would these same jazzers routinely ask double bass players if they played electric? I think its as much to do with the 'perception' of the upright as the 'correct' instrument for the genre as it is a genuine insight into the strengths or weaknesses in my playing. The problem is less of an issue with younger players (I am 44) but, whilst there are exceptions, the old school are still prejudiced in favour of the upright. I have said it 1,000 on here, Steve Swallow is one of the mst musical bass players out there. If the electric is good enough for him....

Don't get me on the 'electric bass in jazz' thing, Mikey. I have spent my whole career (since 1985) fighting that one - I don't mind losing gigs to Dave Holland but there are some urb players out there that should be encouraged to PACK IT IN!!! NOW!! I can swing as well as most urb players and can nail a lot more than many.

Am looking to downsize and am liking the spec of the GK 112MBX. ANyone got a view? I play mostly jazz w a bit of Latin and a rare function gig. My big concern is warmth over crystal clarity. Could be with an SWR Electric BLue or GK MB150S Anyone got any experience of these wee fellas?

And the cello, double bass, viola, banjo, mandolin, saxophone, flute, oboe, english horn, french horn, trombone, tuba, piano, cor anglais, guitar.... We're DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!

Obscure query!! Years ago (around 1990), I was the proud owner of an SWR Electric Blue amp (head) and a Baby Blue Monitor speaker (essentially the origianl SWR Baby Blue combo but as separates). To cut a long story short, some small minded, bassball cap wearing nothing at Aust services nr Bristol stole the monitor out of my car in around 1994 (despite there being someone in it at the time!) and I never saw it again. Anyway, I never knew the spec on it and wondered if anyone knew what ohmage the cab carried. Does anyone know? I would love to replace the monitor as I still have the amp head. I use an Eden combo mostly but a spare SWR set up would be great. Does anyone know of one for sale anywhere?

Its because we care! Deeply!

Its changing and growing. Stuff that was turning heads in my early days (early 80s) is old hat now. THumping and popping a la Stanley Clarke/Larry Graham is unrecognisable in Wooten et al and the technique of people like Feraud and Gwizdala is a lot more advanced than that of Jaco and Clarke, even Jeff Berlin is being left behind IMO. The problem with incremental change is that it is impossible to spot in real time and can only be looked at with hindsight. So, revisit this thread in 2018 and we will know whether we knew what we were talking about.