|
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It beats the four walls baby! That's an expression that the late great
Lester Parker used to use. The more you get out and play, the more
aptitude ideas and energy you have. Today more than ever-to get
something happening with other people face-to-face is of paramount
importance to your playing.
Tuesday night I played a excellent
gig with pianist David Newman. I always tell David set up two sets
worth of music. I look at the sets and it's the best way to refresh
yourself on tunes that you might not of played, and also learn new ones
if that may be the case. Best way to learn a new tune ? Get out of the
house and find out what you don't know! Even get together with a
guitar player and a piano player- you're doing it. I hope this is
making sense, because it is something we are sorely missing in today's
atmosphere in jazz. I look to jam sessions back in the day, when tunes
were called and standards were the call the day. Everybody was on a
common ground-the Facebook world hadn't been flooded with bedroom videos
yet. A fair drummer who played jam sessions all the time, could
easily turn himself into a very good drummer in a group circumstance by
playing with other people. Same holds for any instrument.
I want
to say, this is vitally important as well. Once you find the mouthpiece
you really love, sure get a back up. And it's always an asset to have
something that lays in a different area sonic-ally for gigs that you
have
to do a different blend on-if you're that kind of player. E.g. Broadway
shows a rock gigs etc. Don't be foolish-spend your money on studying
records and CDs and reading autobiographies about the great players in
jazz. That will improve your playing in an incredible manner. Check it
out and watch what happens. Today's blog- Is dedicated to Lester Parker.
His picture is below-King Super 20 - Metal Berg Larsen mouthpiece 120
over Zero and...RICO BROWN BOX 5 reeds. The set up of a warrior. Lester
was always up for a session- his expression " ban the books" referring
to guys who opened a fake book for a blues head or " Body and Soul"
would be echoing on the stand.
Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through on your best intentions no matter what.
The
pinnacle of self-discipline is when you reach the point that when you
make a conscious decision, it’s virtually guaranteed you’ll follow
through on it.Be it practicing your instrument, sticking with a
mouthpiece and putting the time in to learn to play it or just daily
goals and jobs.
Your discipline is one of many personal development tools available to
you. Of course it is not a panacea. Nevertheless, the problems which
self-discipline can solve are important, and while there are other ways
to solve these problems, self-discipline absolutely shreds them.
Self-discipline can empower you- imagine the results, if you say to
yourself ... I want to learn all my scales in 3eds...in every key at 120
on my metronome. Not have to...but want. That can be done sooner
than you think with discipline. So can application to study-reading a
new book to open new ideas on things. It can wipe out procrastination,
disorder, and ignorance. Within the domain of problems it can solve,
self-discipline is simply unmatched. Moreover, it becomes a powerful
teammate when combined with other tools like passion, goal-setting, and
planning.
Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger
you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become.
Think of the results- just for you.Confidence
before an audition! Confidence when picking up your horn to play in a
new setting- your primed and ready. Relaxed and confident! We all
possess different levels of self-discipline. Everyone has some — if you
can hold your breath a few seconds, you have some self-discipline. But
not everyone has developed their discipline to the same degree. Check it
out- it takes self-discipline to build self-discipline. Similarly, the
basic method to build self-discipline is to tackle challenges that you
can successfully accomplish but which are near your limit.
This doesn’t mean trying something and failing at it every day, you
must start with challenges that are within your current ability.
Old opportunities will dry up. New opportunities will begin to
appear.Your mind set does change- and so does your ability on whatever
you are working on with discipline. Invitations that once attracted you
will seem boring, while others will become interesting to you.People
will change how they relate to you. Some will become more distant while
others will zoom closer.Gigs will appear, you'll enjoy things more.
Things you used to merely dream about will begin to seem possible for
you. Celebrate your success!
~ Till next week...practice your long tones everyday- Tim Price
In speaking to many people about jazz, as time goes on I realize how
damn lucky I was even as a high school student to be around the caliber
of musicians I heard in small bars. And one of my past blogs I referred
to a local jazz club here in Reading Pennsylvania-that was run by a pimp
called "Macs Place". I was still in high school when I went in there-as
the cats got to know me I was asked to come up and play a tune. Trust
me, I would've never had the guts to be asking cats like that to sit
in at that age.I had heard the big bands as they came through this area, Basie, Duke, Hamp,Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman. Hearing guys like Lockjaw Davis, Sal Nistico and Paul Gonsalvez in high school set my mind straight as to _WHAT_a tenor player sounded like. My mom took me to Lambertville NJ as well to hear guys like Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck and MJQ there in their summer concerts at Lamberville Music Tent.
I was telling a student that recently things to listen to-like Don
Patterson's record with Booker Ervin called " The Hip Cakewalk". I was
telling him about an alto saxophone player on that recording named
Leonard Houston. I did not know about the recording, Leonard had played
here in Reading Pennsylvania in the late 60s with another Philadelphia
organ player I can't remember. There's a good chance it might've been
organist Billy Gardner, when I actually spoke to him he told me about
the recordings he was on with one of my main inspirations George Braith.
But Leonard told me about the recording he had done with Don Patterson
which I immediately went out and found.
That's the way you find things out! There was no Google then Ha ha ha.
Sometimes those clubs were walking distance from my house so I would
just walk in and try to catch a matinee or an early set. I made sure I had a coat and
tie on like everybody else in the club. Once the bartender and staff got to know
me-and I knew I was there for the music everything was cool. I just had to stay low key and not drink or create any attention. I heard
people like Paul Weeden on guitar, Billy Bean on guitar Danny Turner on
alto sax and a host of others I mentioned on my blog before a few years
ago. If you Google those names, they will come up. Check them out.
Remember this is the late 1960's, I graduated from Reading High School in 1969- Then went to Berklee School Of Music in Boston. Which changed to Berklee College Of Music in my freshman year.
When I think about it none of those bands were even advertised, but the
places were always full and people were spending money. Most of the time
there was no cover charge whatsoever. I was always allowed to sit near
the wall and just listen. More often than not, education I got
from hearing people like that was amazing. I've search the recordings
out and check these guys out on vinyl. Still to this day hearing
somebody as a kid like Shirley Scott or trombone player Al Grey were
life changers.
Aside from all that,and my students question about the " Hip
Cakewalk", I noticed one of the pimps from that generation had passed
away this week. Out of respect for him-I dropped by his services. He was
the last one I think. He had a small bar near the Parish Steel buildings that was a shot and beer spot for the steel workers after work. I mentioned guys with names like chewing gum
Jimmy, another pimp they used to call Wat!! Short of course for
Watusi. Along with chewing gum Jimmy, and guys like Honey Boy. Most of
these guys ended up in Reading and were never born here. From what I
said in blogs, you can see that they were a jazz fans, but they saw
where a young guy was like me, checking out the music, and they were
super cool. If I would've never told my mom or aunt about characters
like that, I might've been grounded for life as a teenager ha! God bless them, they were real.
My
point is-anything I put in one of these blogs like a CD cover or
mention a musicians name, please go check them out. There's a good
chance this might be one of the only spots you hear their names.
Sometimes information comes from more than one source - it pays to go
out here live music and I won't be telling you this if I didn't over 50
years ago. Most of that music has held the test of time, and I'll leave
you with this, you find a better record and record than " Hip Cakewalk"
with Don Patterson, Booker Ervin, Leonard Houston and Billy James. I'll
leave you with that! This weeks blog is dedicated to the late great
Horace Parlan. Another musician that spent his life in Europe and was
originally from Pittsburgh. Check out the CD that I have listed below
here with the Turrentine brothers. If that don't knock you out you need
to see a doctor. Tell next week, check out some of this music. OK- The picture above this is probably 1977- of yours truly playing a local bar here in Reading, Pa, probably " Birds Place". A bar on a side street downtown- when I was off and home from road gigs. As with any city, there was jazz here and REAL JAZZ. If you get my drift then you know. For sax peeps- That's my old Couf Tenor saxophone, a Lawton 9starbb mouthpiece and....Rico brown box #5 tenor saxophone reeds. See you next week- Check out Booker Ervin & my man Don Patterson. ~ Tim Price
As we enter March 2017 ; LET'S REMEMBER...jazz is personal expression.
Just some thoughts.......
Bird had incredible ears and gifted depth of creativity he picked out
the hip ideas that other musicians were playing and then added his own
to make those incredible new lines of his. He was mostly using his
ears!
THINK ABOUT THAT- the guy was ultra-melodic.Very very easy to hear.
Another way is that a musician can learn to improvise let's look at
the COLTRANE thought process. Trane was the opposite of Bird. He didn't
stop practicing and studying. He slept with his horn so that he could
start practicing the moment he got out of bed. He practiced on the
breaks at gigs and every other free moment he could find.
He was a searcher. He searched for new scales and modes from all over the world.
He studied out of violin books and harp books. He used the Slonimsky
book of scale patterns. Trane learned by studying as well as using his
own incredible ears! As Charles LLoyd said to me " Bird invented the atom.....TRANE smashed
it."
So we have two very different ways of learning the mechanics of
improvisation but, and here's the big but, when Bird or Trane got on
the bandstand to perform neither of them spent much time "thinking"! In
performance they were both in the same state of incredible
self-awareness. The mechanics became unimportant on the bandstand and
the emotional side of their improvisations took precedence. They played
from their heart and soul. This is the key to their greatness. They
both had an incredible natural gift for being able to open themselves
up to their inner creativity and let out their amazing ideas with
wonderful ease, excitement and wonder.
In fact of all the hundreds of bands I've played in not one has ever
said to me, "play a mixolydian scale here" or lets only play a
diminished scale there.
Never! LETS REMEMBER.....jazz is personal expression. :REMEMBER ~ you do not have to reinvent the wheel !!! :::: Virtually all of Bird's solos have already been transcribed.Go study
some.
My personal favorites though are "Nows The Time " and "The Song Is You
". There are transcriptions of those solos around too. I'm sure if you
TRY to sing them along when driving in your car...you'll got the SHAPE
and HARMONIC PARTS in your ear.
By
analyzing the already transcribed solos, you'll save yourself a lot of
time if your main intention is to "learn more about his
vocabulary".You'll find that Bird used a lot of the same priniciples
and tricks over and over. After a couple of years study you should have a
decent handle on the underlying concepts and then it's all about
putting those principles to use in finding your own voice. I think any
kind of transcription work you do well benefit your ear.
These are just some thoughts on this.Maybe it hits ya maybe it
don't. HERE'S A ASSIGNMENT - The ultimate expression- Transcribe LESTER YOUNG'S CLARINET SOLO- ON- " PAGING THE DEVIL"....take 2. Watch what happens to your playing.
But most of all keep trying-playing-listening.
That is MOST vital to personal growth.See you next week; Tim Price
My friends there is a very thin line,
sometimes with a pale shadow attached, between what happens on the
bandstand,in the shed,writing your thoughts in your blogs, and in the
classroom. All involve the now, listening being in the moment.
Instruments, reeds,paper,laptop, pencil, the mind as messenger for the mind and heart are our tools for being in this life.
Whether
it's playing with a cool band,or some friends playing Monk tunes,
writing a really good line of poetics,learning some new ideas or tunes,
or connecting with and enjoying your students.All are gifts that I
continue to be thankful for, and always will be.We now have to believe
in our true selves and realize that what we do is a gift!
Let
me also add, to me , communication is most important . So, it there is
no direct communication with the audience for which you are playing,
there goes your job. Play music for people- and watch the result!
John
Coltrane used to talk about imagining his music reaching out and
embracing his audiences.Remember before Trane was Trane he was a player
who could rock the house on the blues, and play any standard song.
When
you speak of touching someone and reaching out- There's Charles Lloyd.
His contribution since he hit the scene is a music brilliantly conceived and played. Charles always is
always coming up with music of immense power and authority. As great as
any jazz master as well- and someone who has the wisdom to move forward
as himself.His message is a supreme joy-and just watch the audience
react as he plays. Communication!  REMEMBER ~Improvising
means creating music that is spontaneous, of the moment, and uniquely
your own. So think of it as the instrument becomes a process of
self-discovery, finding out what your music really sounds like. You
develop a period of looking within, stripping away the excess and
listening for the simple voice that really is our own. It’s there,
listen for it. You
have to focus your practicing for maximum progress towards creating a
powerful forward motion as a player. Add personal guidance of a master
teacher and artist, and you’re poised to grow as a musician and as a
performer. This is the way I learned with master players-educators like
Charlie Mariano, Charlie Banacos ( I was lucky to study with Banacos since 1994 till 2010
) Sal Nistico, Joe Viola, Andy McGhee and John LaPorta.These men were a
beautiful category of a jazz pro who both knows what he is doing, and
is willing to share. Today's
student needs substance ! Plus how to focus practicing of improvising
on the essential elements,the actual substance of what to play and how
to develop it in your personal style, and dealing with practicing of
specific vocabulary. It's what I call, what to shed! Then you got to
understand jazz is part of culture. Bird, Prez,Basie,Pee Wee Russell,
Roland Kirk, Duke, Hawk and all those giants who gave something to
culture. What did they have? They had the the building blocks of jazz
improvisation. MELODY ! Then guide-tone lines, and melodic Rhythm. Real
world building blocks of jazz improvisation.
IN A WORD- BASICS WILL LAST YOUR ENTIRE CAREER!
As a assignment for ALL those interested, please go buy -
Rip, Rig & Panic
How can you miss with this band!
Roland Kirk - Tenor Saxophone, Stritch, Manzello, Flute, Siren, Oboe, Castanets
Jaki Byard - Piano
Richard Davis - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK....Keep your ears and mind open- Tim Price
- Go to you tube- find one of these standard songs, and start to copy the melody exactly as the artist played it. Using his dynamics, articulations and tempo.These basics are most important these are particular technical areas
that the jazz musician have to specialize in then feel free to present
that information with some twists and turns of their own. All these people I chose have a great sound
technique that starts with melodies. This is not only is a basic tool for
developing great technique, but also your time and knowing how to play
along with the rhythm section. Not to mention sound production.
Listening to these masters is essential to developing beautiful sound. Try to do everyone of these listed-if it takes a year - then you have something that is adding to your playing in a very internalized way.
This
portion on my blog I also wanted to focus on the history of the
saxophone showing you in a way, that you really need to know these kind of standards,
featuring your instrument. By doing this it adds emotion and confidence
to your music. Get started and watch what happens!
Lester Young - She's Funny In That Way
Coleman Hawkins - It's The Talk Of The Town
Charlie Parker - My Old Flame
Johnny Hodges - Night Wind
Lester Young - I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
Chu Berry - On The Summy SIde Of The Street
Flip Phillips - Sweet And Lovely
Coleman Hawkins - Someone To Watch Over Me
Jimmy Forrest- Night Train
Lester Young - Something To Remember You By
Ben Webster - I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Charlie Parker - Don't Blame Me
Chu Berry - A Ghost Of A Chance
Lester Young - East Of The Sun
Benny Carter - Stairway To The Stars
Coleman Hawkins - What Is There To Say?
Jimmy Forrest- - Moonglow
Lester Young - Polka Dots And Moonbeams
Charlie Parker - The Gypsy
Coleman Hawkins - Sophisticated Lady
Charlie Ventura- Dark Eyes with Gene Krupa
Buddy Tate - Blue And Sentimental
Lester Young - These Foolish Things
Coleman Hawkins - I'm Through With Love
Here are some of the things you will learn from- JUST LEARNING TO PLAY THESE MELODY'S ABOVE :
- A clear understanding of melody in relation to harmony, practically, harmony that will give you an advantage in every aspect of your musical life
- The ability to understand music by ear and to play beautiful, melodic real melody's.
- How to recognize how the chords move to any song as easily
- The mind set of those “musical geniuses” who can listen to any song once and immediately know how to play it
- How to play directly from your imagination, expressing your own musical ideas exactly as you hear them in your mind- just as the artist did.
- How to play standards with the freedom to be expressive and play in time.
- How to attend “jam sessions” and play jazz tunes by improvising together and not being stuck in a book, you will be able to recognize melody by ear and
to play it instantly- because you have a hard drive in your ear from doing this! You will also learn
to express your own musical ideas exactly as you hear them in your mind.
- HISTORY! ROOTS! Of what your instrument should sound like. Other aspects like- taste, control and telling a story.
- You need to stop worrying about “what mouthpiece someone plays” and just
enjoy making music knowing you developing internally a SKILL LEVEL and a set of roots, techniques on the language.
PLUS- It will enhance your phrasing! Phrasing should be internalized.
When you improvise a musical phrase, you are creating new melodies on the spot over an established chord
progression. Therefore, knowing melody's is essential for creating a successful
musical phrase.
In Arnold Schoenberg’s The Fundamentals of Musical Composition. He states;
- “The term phrase means, structurally, a unit
approximating to what one could sing in a single breath. Its ending
suggests a form of punctuation such as a comma.”
- “The mutual accommodation of melody and harmony is
difficult at first. But the composer should never invent a melody
without being conscious of its harmony.”
Get started learning these melody's- as the above artists played them. Make it part of what you shed everyday. This is a basic element to a solid foundation not only as an improvisor but also as a complete jazz player and beyond. See you next week - Tim Price
Your music should be a launching point and a departure point for
personal expression. Whether speech or natural sound,and anything that's
carrying a personal impression should be creating this. In
simplest form-just carefully take the word -Morning. Now repeat it 50
times. This is what a single note can convey from hearing it in its own
position and it's on relation to itself. Sometimes thinking of something
in this matter without any other instrumental parts around it or any
other contacts requires that we call upon some quite extraordinary
abilities that rely on personal expression in response intuition. In a
matter of the improviser music should be built upon memory and the fluid
reality. As you play your first note to the solo play almost at random
you should begin to develop your soul into a harmonic contexts that does
beginning suggest via self interpreting and being creative
mechanically. Just like when you said that one word-your creative energy
and your speech pattern can change that one word or one note, it's
something that lays on a deep personal level , it's as important as your
musical abilities. Just like when somebody calls you on the phone you
recognize their voice-you don't automatically think oh it could be one
out of 75 people.
Improvising should be a direct result of your
past conditioning and reference-something that already exists in time
just like when you speak. Language can be finite in other words to the sum
total of every statement every configuration of words, it is possible to
string together, or it is possible to continue inventing new statements
with in that . This way you're dealing more with context and vastness of natural languages-both idiomatically
and in terms of your own vocabulary. This should be similar to an
internal world that you simply use for what you've already worked on and
internalize to study. Just like when you learn to talk you study the
language-that's the principal function of a human being as of artist or a
seeker of things on the improvisational level, and
internalizing your basic skills is an absolute must. ( If not, think of the babble of an infant who has not learned to talk or express themselves! ) 
Improvised
music should rely upon contrasting sounds with the player themselves
and the ensemble, if you cut your harmonic activity to a
minimum and think of groupings and textures within what your playing and
make that your main vehicle of expression, in the beginning new sonics and contrasting shapes will start to present themselves to
you. You have to cross your boundaries zones! You'll find a musical
universe of your own inside one note of the time this is what I call
simplicity of expression and also your tuning in to your own thoughts as
an improviser .
Through the history all the greats have re-imagined the music and also invited you into it to experience on a
unexpected personal level . Think about this try to apply it as
you're doing this you're going to be awakening what you already know and
also opening your ears more-unity and cohesiveness will become a new
tool . 
Hope this helps, as always there's
some technical builders and other material at the bottom of this blog.
Keep in mind I am always looking for clinics and workshops worldwide-if
you have a budget please consider me, or tell somebody about me. You can
always contact me through my email at timpricejazz @aol.com.... I offer
an ocean of possibilities, please keep me in mind.
 
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
1. of, involving, or concerned with experience or actual use; not theoretical
2. of or concerned with ordinary affairs, work, etc.
3. adapted or adaptable for use
4. of, involving, or trained by practice
5. being such for all useful or general purposes; virtual
TRAINED BY PRACTICE. Get out there, and make the music stronger.
I've been saying this. Sure. Thing is the guys that are my age when we went to Berklee
in 1969, could already play a wedding, or bar gig. We were not Coltrane or Stanley Turrentine nor Stan Getz but
we realized this music was- HANDS ON.
Keep the channel open, and try your best.You'll learn something special.
Been talking to my students about the many aspects of the creative mind
set.
Trying to just expand more ideas and thoughts.
Here's some things that I'm coming up with ;
Creativity is the bringing into being something which did not exist
before, either as a product, a process or a thought. Right? So let’s
apply this to ALL levels of saxophone playing, thought and
improvisation.
You would be demonstrating creativity if you:
· Played something which has never existed before.
· Reapply an existing lick or concept into a new area musically.
· Develop a new way of looking at something (bringing a new idea into
existence).
· Change the way someone else looks at something.
We are all creative every day because we are constantly changing the
ideas which we hold about the world about us and our relationship with
it. Creativity does not have to be about developing something new to the
world, it is more to do with developing something new to ourselves !!
As we remember as Sonny Rollins said- " MUSIC IS AN OPEN SKY".
Michael
Brecker, god bless him, was a great friend of mine. He knew tunes
without a Real Book in front of him.
Like my blog said last week- I hope people are taking heed and looking
at that reality. Everything ain't Wayne Shorter
tunes and " Inner Urge". Nor is it one chord funk jams- though we all
love to play them. It's about a new reality and NOT
trying to be like some guy you hear or read about.
~Beyond-the-classroom opportunities.ok? Search inside you for the the
inner sources of spontaneous creation,where art in the widest sense
comes from.
The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art,is about
yourself.All the things in life you love to do, regardless of how well
you or others think you do them. Whoever you are, and whatever you do,
discover what creativity is, where it comes from,and how we can make it
sizzle and on your own terms.Ypu do that with otheres on the bandstand,
in the loft, practice room, garage, backroom bar and rehearsal room. But
do it!Jamming becomes a shared manifestation of a single impulse at
least an attempt at it – and when you all lock in together, there’s
nothing like that feeling. If I had to choose between jamming and
gigging, I’d choose jamming – just for the excitement of finding that
groove with a different bunch of people. At its core jamming is all
about collaboration, instinct and innovation. One musician may start
things off but it is the obligation of every other musician to build on
that, take it further, push the envelope and ultimately take it to a new
place. To get jamming to work each player must pick up on other players
thoughts, translate them, add to them and then pass it back to them for
the process to perpetuate itself. Done well it creates a powerful chain
reaction of energized collaboration and creativity that produces
something new and wonderful.It also allows you to tap into a deeper,
more diverse brains trust that can lead to ground-breaking new ideas for
your organization.
Charlie Mariano used to tell me- " YOU GOTTA PLAY".'
With that, I'll close this blog- go play. Get off pro-crasta-net and play, shed, work in a new reed and DO IT. Practical application...real world. Get it? hope so.....it's life!!!!
My contribution is to spread love and inspiration through music. Check- and read the book above about R & B...You'll love it. In LA.
In some small way I would like to think that this could make a difference.
In the process I hope to inspire people to seek the truth in themselves and music, and get deep inside
of the art form we love. It's all about that. As Lester Bowie said- " It all depends on what ya know".
~TILL NEXT WEEK....Keep on.
Tim Price....
PS- - If your looking for some stuff to practice-look no further. Below is a few study's of mine to practice- - hope you like them.
" All a musician can do is to get closer to the source"....John Coltrane
|
|
