Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Wilbur Sweatman- That's Got 'Em!

Wilbur C. Sweatman (1882-1961) is one of the most important, yet unheralded musicians involved in the transition of ragtime into jazz in the early twentieth century. In That's Got 'Em!, Mark Berresford tracks this energetic pioneer over a seven-decade career. His talent transformed every genre of   advent of rock and roll- circus sideshows, vaudeville  night clubs, and cabarets. Sweatman was the first musician to be offered a long-term recording contract, and he dazzled listeners with jazz clarinet solos before the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's so-called "first jazz records." Sweatman toured the vaudeville circuit for over twenty years and presented. His bands were a fertile breeding ground of young jazz talent, featuring such future stars as Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, and Jimmie Lunceford. Sweatman subsequently played pioneering roles in radio and recording production. His high profile and sterling reputation in both the black and white entertainment communities made him a natural choice for administering the estate of Scott Joplin and other notable   performers and composers. That's Got 'Em! is the first full-length biography of this pivotal figure , providing a compelling account of his life and times. hIs playing was one of a kind world class, and still to this day fresh.



YOU NEED THIS BOOK!
 More important than anything, this is the place where the rubber hit the road.

That's Got 'Em!: The Life and Music of Wilbur C. Sweatman....t

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Remembering John Coltrane

As I've said before one of the fascinations, and inspirations I've always had has been John Coltrane work ethic. He played who he was-he never tried to be someone else. The work ethic he had and the commitment to knowledge took him to a level unto itself. You might research his solos on standard tunes, Then research how his blues playing expanded over the course of his career. Like any artist the blues is the real thumbprint of an improviser. Coltrane also had a lot of work he did many times he went to multi instrumentalist Yusef Lateef to gain insights into scale usages and also scales like expanded Phrygian expanded Dorian and also Greek and Persian scales. At some point of course these are modes. Please check my enclosed handwritten PDF here with a Persian scale and expanded Phrygian scale.The scales and chordal matrix I added for the harmonic usage of these scales- check it out. This is some serious business-in my opinion of course what equipment Coltrane used is interesting to a degree, too many times people are spending far too much energy worrying about that which is of course personal-and they are not hitting the work ethic which is what made this man such a brilliant player. Even back to the early days you could hear all his bebop language-approach notes-scale displacements. Far more important than trying to find a five digit serial number on our favorite French saxophones

Many times since the 70s I took apart Trane solos and searched for parts in the Slominsky book- if you look in the Slominsky book at pattern 30… You can hear portions of that symmetric progression in Tranes solo on " nature boy". The same can be said if you look at the implied dominant seventh cycle in the "Thesaurus the scales and melodic patterns" -pattern number 372 you could hear the complete cycle and dominant seventh chords. This type of shape showed up in Tranes solo on Brasilia! As train plane and got deeper into something that he was hearing there's a pattern Number 182 that is an obvious not on the Trane composition-"One down one up".

Take some time and study this man's music from the side of enjoyment and reflection-and also the study aspect. People always say to me what's a great solo to start with to transcribe- I always say what started me in 1969 at Berklee was Andy McGee getting me into playing one chorus of his solo on " Oleo"... That's a great place to start get that in tempo. There's always something in this man's legacy and recorded career to be inspired by-search it out and pursue it. But remember being who you are that's one of the greatest lessons that we can learn from this man-and study and look for things lifelong.

For more info on Coltrane via my blogs- go here-

Tim Price Bloggin' for D' Addario Woodwinds- Coltrane / Prestige 7105

http://ricoreeds.blogspot.com/2016/03/tim-price-bloggin-for-daddario_28.html

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- The pantheon of great jazz masters- and like minds. Trane & Slominsky.

http://ricoreeds.blogspot.com/2016/03/tim-price-bloggin-for-daddario_28.html

THANK YOU....  Tim Price


PS- FYI-

The "Coltrane at 90" event info that I'm playing in Philadelphia, Pa is listed below; please read, there are details- if you plan on attending. The 2 events I'm playing are listed as well; Thanks so much! Grateful to be chosen for this.

Saturday, September 17th, 2016 
Jazz Walk – Giant Steps

East Park Reservoir/Fairmount Park

33rd and Diamond Streets, Phila., PA 19121

Site C:
12:00pm - Tim Price Trio with; bass- Mike Boone, Rob Martino- drums

4:00pm - Tenor Madness Ensemble / featuring Sam Reed, Larry McKenna,Tim Price and others.

Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- Most important part of constructing a improvised solo.

Some of the most important aspects about improvising and playing jazz and also just plain improvise sol be the big band, playing in a jazz quartet, free playing, or behind a female vocalist or playing eight measure solo are rock 'n' roll gig.

This is one of the most simplistic things to learn but something that you have to really concentrate on to get internalized so you can apply it. Each of your solos in the matter what the idiom… Should have a beginning… A middle and an end.

That's one of the age-old aspects of why something sounds good and has a focus personally. How somebody constructs that is as important as what notes they play and any other aspect that they apply.
Very simply-if your solo does not have a shape that includes a beginning middle and end-you're missing a very important part of your message.

If you take yourself and record 12 bars or eight bars and listen to it and listen to that shape you'll hear it right away. You can also use a solo transcription and graph it, if you do a solo by somebody like Cannonball Adderley or Louis Armstrong you'll see what I'm getting at immediately just take your pencil and graph out to solo.

You can hear this type of sound in anything from Louis Armstrong solos, Steve Douglas solos on early rock records, Steve Lacy solos and of course Monk solos. Of course Lester Young and Bird!


The point of his blog today is very simple use your ears, listen to what's going on around you give yourself some where to start when you start improvising. Remember-the beginning-a middle-and an end.
Hope this helps.
~ Tim Price