Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario- SOUND ; The importance of Roscoe Mitchell.

This music ranks as one of the holy grails of free jazz, like the iconic recordings from the '60s of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Trane ,when that style of playing was new, fresh and not cliched. Just exquisite. Yes, this is a historic recording--the first AACM recording, but more importantly, Mitchell's record is an amazing set of music by some very original and creative musicians.There are two versions of "Ornette", an aptly named short piece.Although the title is "Sound", silence is equally important here, as the musicians examine the notes and the spaces between them. The ensemble playing shows some traces of free jazz, some traces of third stream, but ultimately is a highly original work that continues to fascinate four decades later.For any lover of creative jazz players of this era, this album is no less than essential. Personnel..... Roscoe Mitchell – alto saxophone, clarinet, flute, recorder Lester Bowie – trumpet, flugelhorn, harmonica Malachi Favors – bass Maurice McIntyre – tenor saxophone Lester Lashley – trombone, cello Alvin Fielder – percussion Arrangement-wise, it employed a number of instruments largely foreign to avant-garde jazz -- not just cello and clarinet, but the AEC's notorious "little instruments," like recorder, whistle, harmonica, and assorted small percussion devices (gourds, maracas, bells, etc.), heard to best effect on the playful "Little Suite." Structurally, Sound heralded a whole new approach to free improvisation; where most previous free jazz prized an unrelenting fever pitch of emotion, Sound was full of wide-open spaces between instruments CHECK YOU TUBE ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJST92-UNVE...Listen and learn. After the energy of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, and the late Coltrane, SOUND introduced an entirely different approach to the developing free jazz avant-garde -- the deliberate use of space and the elimination of the pulse.This recording of Roscoe Mitchell's compositions was the first recording by the new AACM. IMPORTANT AND VITAL MUSIC...that should be listened to by all.So, I have been a fan of Mr. Mitchell for a long time; the melodious writing is in a category by itself! Love this music!Check it out....it sounds so modern and fresh to this day. ~~ Tim Price / Blogging For D'Addario//

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Goals and a professional mindset.

We are thrust into life having to make decisions of all sorts. Most likely the one who doesn’t have a good understanding of certain things in a particular area will not make the best decisions there. When it comes to making progress in your life, you have to know what you actually want and don’t want. Of course there’s going to be times when you sometimes don’t know what you want, at that time you need to research and/or explore some things to find out what it is that you actually are looking for. But even before you start the process; it would be very beneficial to you if you have your goals in mind clearly noted before you go forward. A lot of times what happens is, we get lost in the middle of exploring and researching and forget why we started the pursuits in the first place. Of course we are going to get new ideas, get inspired, and increase our understanding as we go, but we just have to make sure we organize our thoughts so we’ll be able to make the next logical step to stay on course. New options will even come about as we go but we have to make sure we don’t get lost in the shuffle and get deterred in other directions that are not consistent with our original goals. Maybe our original goals do need to change a little bit, and that’s cool too. We all project things based on our knowledge and understanding at the time anyway but we can see the heart of what we were doing if we clearly documented what our goals were at the time they came to us. Action Steps 1. Think of one goal you want to accomplish in a particular category in your life, your career, family. 2. Think about what it will take to reach that goal. 3. Spell out the steps it will take to get there 4. Underneath each step put what type of questions that need to be asked in order to make that step happen. 5. As you get your questions together, make sure you research and ask others who are experts in the particular area so you’ll even know what questions to ask to get answers you really need. 6. Converse with people about your goals and your steps towards those goals. People always have resources that you’d never discover unless you talk to them. 7. As you get your questions and answers, start implementing what you receive and move accordingly to walk out every step towards your goals. You can follow these 7 steps and apply it to anything you want to accomplish no matter what category.

Tim Price Bloggin' For D' Addario Woodwinds- - COLTRANE SUBSTITUTIONS AND MORE!!!!

My Coltrane inspiration is HOW he did what he did, the pursuit of being inspired from the WHAT AND HOW of the knowledge, as well as the velocity of his genius. The man was one of the hardest workers.Check his six-box Prestige collection, in only a year and a half--the first session being in May 1957, the last in December 1958, he recorded ALL those recordings while touring and playing gigs. Coltrane chord substitutions of a basic ii-V-I with movement in major thirds creating an augmented triad. This is also know as "Coltrane Changes," etc. I'll post one of my favorites at the end here as well. Coltrane first introduced this on Blue Train on tunes such as Moment's Notice and Lazy Bird, and later on took things further on Giant Steps.The B section from _Have You Met Miss Jones_ served as inspiration for Coltrane because of the major 3rd modulation from D to Gb to Bb. Coltrane Substitution: 1) Here is a normal ii-V-I in C major: | ii | V | I || | dmin7 | G7 | Cmaj7 || 2) Now with the Major 3rds Cycle: | ii V** | I* V** | I* V** | I* | | dmin7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 B7 | Emaj7 G7 | Cmaj7 | This cycle has been used in many re-harmonization, far to many to even list! Here are some of the most accessible- and also the sky is the limit. With some creative ears and imagination they work in rock and pop too. Standard ; Dmin7- G7- CMaj7 Trane sub ; Dmin Eb7 Ab B7 E G7 C Standard ;Fmin7- Bb7- EbMaj7 Trane Sub ;Fmin F#7 B D7 G Bb7 Eb Simile rest of page. Abmin7- Db7- GbMaj7 Abmin A7 D F7 Bb Db7 Gb // Bmin7- E7- AMaj7 Bmin C7 F Ab7 Db E7 A // Gmin7- C7- FMaj7 Gmin Ab7 Db E7 A C7 F // Bbmin7- Eb7- AbMaj7 Bbmin B7 E G7 C Eb7 Ab // C#min7- F#7- BMaj7 C#min D7 G Bb7 Eb F# B // Emin7- A7- DMaj7 Emin F7 Bb Db7 Gb A7 D // Cmin7- F7- BbMaj7 Cmin Db7 Gb A7 D F7 Bb // Emin7- Ab7- DbMaj7 Ebmin E7 A C7 F Ab7 Db // F#min7- B7- EMaj7 F#min G7 C Eb7 Ab B7 E // Amin7- D7- GMaj7 Amin Bb7 Eb F#7 B D7 G // If self expression is the pinnacle of art and if you desire (and attempt) to express yourself in music, you are an artist. In the past, I would not have used the label "Artist" to describe anyone that was not already great at creating genuine art. I typically reserved the words, art, artist and musician for only the highest levels of excellence. But as a teacher of saxophone, bassoon, flute, clarinet, and the many forms of jazz I have changed my use of these terms for the benefit of all who study. SO..... I believe "Self Expression" is the pinnacle of all art. Anything less, "is less" in my opinion. I'm not going to debate that view or try to persuade any of you to also believe it. Instead I am going to assume you already hold that view and discuss ways in which I may be able to offer you both philosophical and practical advice. Street sense, if you will. The first step is to stop thinking of yourself as merely a musician. I'll take this one step further and recommend against thinking of yourself as a musician! You are, an artist. Music just happens to be your medium and oboe just happens to be your instrument, but YOU are the artist. From this day forward when someone asks you what you do or who you are, don't reply by saying you are a saxophonist, clarinetist or musician. Tell them (in a non-arrogant way) you are an artist. If they want more details than that, go ahead and tell them music is your medium. I guarantee you will put an entirely different impression in other people's minds than if you were to. But beyond the impressions of others, you will begin to put stronger impressions in your own mind that you are in fact an artist (even if you are still in the learning stage of fully becoming one). The way you view yourself (as an artist and not merely someone who owns a guitar and plays it sometimes) is very important to the way you will think about what you are doing musically. The way you see yourself will also effect the results you will get as you are expressing yourself. To be truly self expressive one must actually know what one is trying to express! Did you ever look back on a conversation you had and fantasize about talking to that person in a more authentic way than you did? Perhaps it was someone who mistreated you and instead of telling them how you felt about it, you walked away feeling dis-empowered and wishing you had stood up for yourself. For some of us, speaking our truth, in the moment, may be difficult because of fear of confrontation and lack of confidence, but not speaking our truth can have damaging effects on self-esteem and even health. “People often say that this person or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something that one finds.When we think about ourselves, we tend to think in a certain way about our skills, strengths and talents. We narrowly define ourselves, meaning we live life from a certain way of thinking and being, which limits our experiences. We can re-create ourselves at anytime and choose to define ourselves in other ways. Explore new ways of thinking and being, and you may discover that you have talents and passions you never knew existed. THINK ABOUT IT. We can help birth ideas and create new possibilities for our life with creative techniques. Some creative techniques to try include: writing daily about anything that’s on your mind, keeping an idea book that you can carry with you, using mind maps for creative problem-solving, brainstorming, and creating vision boards. Many of us rarely, if ever, take time out from our harried schedules to become an observer of our own life and who we are being. We get so bogged down in daily activities and obligations that days, months, and years fly by. Take time to step back from your life and see whether you are truly happy, fulfilled, using your talents, and pursuing your passions. You can even hire a life coach to help you with self-exploration to gain knowledge that can open up new possibilities for you. ~ These are things that are on my mind. Thinks like self expression, finding better ways to open the channel. TILL NEXT TIME........Work hard and live well- Tim Price

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- The music chose me.

It's easy, the music chose me. When somebody has a situation where they're playing music at an age like I was in 8th grade. At that particular time there were only 3 TV stations. I had no distractions, I had already gotten the sports bug out of my system due to a bout with scarlet fever I had as a kid. So for a few weeks I was restricted from sports, at that same time I had started saxophone lessons in 8th grade. A woman who worked with my mother at the telephone company was a Gerry Mulligan fan, she had given my mom a Gerry Mulligan record for me with Chet Baker and Chico Hamilton. My attention span was captured by that music. A few days later I found a radio station in Philly that was on all the time. I heard Lee Morgan play the " Sidewinder" . I had no idea who Lee Morgan was and no idea that I was listening to Joe Henderson until I saw his name. Something in the music, whether it was the freshness of how Mulligan or Lee Morgan played or something else that I couldn't put my finger on drew me in. From then on I was listening to the radio, taking my saxophone lessons, and playing in school bands in Junior High. I saw an ad for Berklee in a Downbeat. I realized that at that particular point in time I had to go there. From then on I realized where my path was. This question could be answered a number of ways. I'll be blunt-THERE'S NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD! There's a euphoria and a feeling of deep interaction with what you're creating. You're inside something. I'm not standing there trying to be someone else by playing someone else's style or licks. My goal is to start from zero and try to add something to the music. This is something I've learned and been influenced by studying with masters such as Charlie Mariano, who has a great internalization of not only saxophone command but commitment to creativity. You have to understand even if you're playing simple triadic rock n' roll or the most harmonically ad vanced stuff. You're going for a groove. I have an unreleased CD that's called " Bombay Bar Walking" , and the vibe is no matter if you're at a corner bar in Philly and you're playing tenor in the pocket or you're sitting crossed legged with a tabla player to your right-no matter what you're going for that zone. I also stay neutral to all musical appetites.It's a personal thing.Personal is of supreme importance to me. That means to be oneself in any given setting.I am an unabashed eclectic, meaning interested in many different musical idioms.This goes back to my formative years, when I was exposed to all styles of music which I was involved in. Great rock & roll bands, playing creative jazz everyday at Berklee where I graduated from,playing organ group funky jazz in the " Combat Zone",backing "soul" acts and big bands. Also sitting in the same room with my mentor Charlie Mariano playing, studying and getting life lessons from that master innovative genius. I was always attracted to many diverse areas of music and when I began to construct my own musical landscape I found a "zone" within' the path I was seeking. That's where its at. That zone that everyone looks for is as important as anything. That is my spring board. ....thanks - TIM PRICE