humm..
ok.. is everyone feeling better now and ready to talk Jazz again on this Thread. Gee, I hate being the one that has to keep order but Paul is right here. Sarcastic 'sniper'-like remarks do not go unnoticed in print by the average reader.
Richard, Paul had asked me about you as your replies seems a little strange so, I told him to read your 'Down Here' postings to get a better picture of what to expect. Now that Paul has a better picture of who or what he's dealing with there might be less surprises.
About Jazz, it's almost like an expensive restaurant. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. If you have to ask how, perhaps you can't do it.
Look back a jazz players for a moment and look actually at their lives, not their notes. When I was young and starting out I was standing outside a rehearsal studio and waiting for the door to open as it was still locked. There was an old bass player standing outside and in talking I mentioned I wanted to play jazz. He replied, "if you wanna play jazz, you have to pay dues". I looked up and smiled and said, "I pay dues. I've been in the Union for over a year". Well, that wasn't the kind of dues he was referring to.
Richard, a school teacher from NZ will not feel the 'life pain' it takes to pull the notes out from your gut to play jazz. The notes come from your gut and THEN thru your fingers. To me, it seems that your mind is more of the organizer than the creator in this sense.
Just playing a lot of cool sounding jazz-like riffs does not mean you are playing jazz.
Paul and I share something very special. We both got to play with the great Bill Evans Trio. For me it was only sitting in at the Blue Note in NYC for one song. For Paul, it was his gig for awhile and was not the only gig he had with such notables. I too played with a few others and many famous singers as well. The great Yusef Lateef was the Tenor soloist with Johnny Mathis when I was on that gig playing Bass. The gig was about a month long in NY including a big concert at MSG. Just a couple years earlier while still in School (High School of Music & Art), Yusef came in as a student teacher while getting his degree. It was such a pleasure to actually work with him on stage. Sitting in the Pit with Al McKibbon was another great week. I have 20 years under my belt playing in the big Apple and it was not easy.
When you ask people with real professional experience like I just mentioned and get an answer, please don't take it light or challenge that persons 'life-experiences'. It comes off as a total disrespectful insult.
Experience does not come cheap Richard so please don't take for granted those that take the time to share or explain things from their heart.
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