Playing Jazz

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by Richard Prowse

I've been working on her 'chord scales' - I've put in quite a few hours on them already. I'm doing them on the DB and the EB.
Are you a jazz player Dave?

That's an interesting question, Richard...

Yes, I've played more than my share of jazz gigs, but in the last couple of years I've done a lot more swing-era stuff than I have bebop, post-bop or contemporary jazz. As to whether a jazz snob would consider what I do with my western swing band to be 'jazz', probably not. But since it swings and it's improvisational solos based around a consistent form, I don't think it's unrelated.

See for yourself; here's a link to my wife's last record (the new one won't be available until the middle of January). I'm playing double bass on that one.

[Richard Prowse]

Dave,
I just had a quick listen - I love it! I've always been a huge fan of Texas Swing. You're wife has a great voice and I love that fiddle playing.
I'll listen more once Christmas lunch/day is done.
Thanks for sharing that. I'll look forward to checking out the bass playing too. Hey, this is definitely jazz in my opinion!
Great stuff Dave!

[Richard Prowse]

I've just watched the Ken Burns jazz series. I haven't watched the last half hour yet, but I watched the first eleven and a half hours in three days. What sticks in my mind is the huge aray of styles - Louis Armstrong, Count Bassie, Bird, , Trane, Miles - all quite different, but getting to the same thing. It was also interesting how most of these guys often struggled to get work many times throughout their careers. I thought it was just a New Zealand thing. Jazz has a small audience Down here (NZ). Thanks to visits by Yankee jazz musicians over the wears we now have some very good players and young people are studying jazz at at least three different universities. Wellington is awash with jazz students.
There's a great story in the series where Andre Segovia supposedly asks Django if he has a transcription of a solo he just played. Django replies,
"No, I just made it up."
The series talks a lot about the risk taking in jazz and the strain it puts players under to live up to expectations - theirs and others. I think improvisation suits a certain type of personality - as does the accuracy required of classical music. I don't think the risk taking really bothers a jazz musician.
Jazz is indeed, as Bobby Shew once said, a noble calling. Well, I don't remember his exact words, but he said something like that.

[Richard Prowse]

I've just been browsing through a book aof transcriptions by Todd Coolman. He put the book together in 1985 and I found it in one of my music cupboards a few weeks ago. I looked him up on the internet and see that he's still going strong. He visited New Zealand twice in the early 80s.

[Paul Warburton]

I've come up with a new version of "teaching". Particularly in terms of "jazz".
I've taken the concepts of Victor Wooten as "shown" in his little book "The Music Lesson" and kind of custom fit them into a "program" that works wonders for all instrumentalists (even.....singers )
If you haven't checked it out, please do yourself and/or your "students" a large favor and do that.

[Richard Prowse]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

I've come up with a new version of "teaching". Particularly in terms of "jazz".
I've taken the concepts of Victor Wooten as "shown" in his little book "The Music Lesson" and kind of custom fit them into a "program" that works wonders for all instrumentalists (even.....singers )
If you haven't checked it out, please do yourself and/or your "students" a large favor and do that.

Where do we check it out?

[Richard Prowse]

I'm practising with a really bad band that is playing a set next Sunday at an outdoors concert. It has been quite depressing because these chaps never seem to pick up the can and practise what they need to do to improve, and make the band work better. I've shown the guitarist how to play the chords he didn't know and I've told the sax player that he plays sharp all the time and that, when he is adding little backing bits, it's a good idea to not play just root notes all the time.

In everything there is a lesson. I've been thinking about these guys lately and it has made me think about my shortcomings and what I need to do to improve. In everything there is a lesson. Life is a lesson.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Richard Prowse

Where do we check it out?

Any good book store, Library, Amazon......
As far as the rest of your words, I am confused why you would play with what you call "A really bad band".
I guess I'm pretty confused about many of your statements, Richard. How can you sense that they're using you as a "scapecoat" and be worried about "letting them down" at the same time?