Bilbo

Art Themen. Need I say more.

He is viewed with some ambivalence amongst Jazz musicians (as opposed to drummers); a great drummer but not such a rounded musician. His list of 'classic' credits in the Jazz world is minimal and I think he kind of fits in with those 'clinician' types who are unquestionably masters of the instrument they play but their ideas don't move very freely into the music of others (Wooten, Berlin, Manring etc). I think of these kinds of players are atheletes and acrobats rather than players. Joe Morello is a different kettle of fish. Much more 'musical'. As for that Bozzio/Wackerman thing; icky.

Hi, Pete. AER, Acoustic Image, anything clean. It all depends on the budget, I guess. A guitar amp would probably do it so, if you want to keep costs down, I would go for the Cube (I have one here if you want to try it)

His statement in that article is beautiful. I hope I can be that centred when my time comes.

I, too, have never even looked at Rhythm Stick. Like most players, I went through that 'play all the chopsy basslines' phase: Donna Lee, Teen Town, Silly Putty, YYZ, Wrathchild etc etc but, because I was not a fan of funk or pop music, HMWYRS was just never on my radar. I did pick up a few Jamerson lines when everyone was looking at the In The Shadows of Motown book and a few function gigs have forced me to deal with some other stuff but, to be blunt, I approximate rather than learn for no other reason that the gig I do are seldom important enough to warrant the investment to that level of detail. As long as it grooves, we don't seem to care whether it is the [i]right[/i] groove

'One Song' from Karl Jenkins' The Peacemakers. It was Laurence Cottle on the original recording. I had 6 weeks to learn it and didn't quite cut it on the night (with a 14 piece orchestra and 60 piece choir). Cottle [i]read[/i] it cold.

Jaco, everytime. Donna Lee Continuum Portrait of Tracy Kuru Suite; Golden Dawn (Al Di Meola) A Remark You made Teen Town Havona Palladium Young And Fine Night Passage Las Olas (Flora Purim) Its not just the noise, it's the definition.

Que? I don't know.

What war? Was there a war?

This is great stuff. Really useful insights. I book a lot a major (?) UK Jazz artists as guests for my local venture and they rarely get paid more than £150 (plus accommodation), some quite noted players even less. To make a decent living like that you would have to be out almost every night, driving around the country (and some are). To be fair, these same artists may be getting a LOT more for other gigs (Festivals, prestige London venues, foreign tours etc) but, generally, it all feels a little 'hand to mouth'. Like others here, a lot of pros will tell us semis that it is the semi-pros who have all the fun and none of the stress. I get why that would be.

There is also the Fake Book app which lets you download tunes etc but if you want to use customised charts you will need to find a way to upload them. Scanning would be one, copying them into something liek Sibelius or Finale would be another. Personally, I still ike paper and pen but that has its limitations as well.

This is something that is never really talked about for reasons that are obvious (would I want my personal financial business paraded around the internet/media)but it is something that has interested me a great deal for sociological rather than financial reasons. What does 'being a professional musician' mean in financial terms. We all see the major stars turning up in limos at premiier events and we all have a story here and there about this celebrity's drug bill, alcohol rider or guitar/car/helicopter collection. Nevertheless, there is a surprising lack of information out there about the kind of earnings that a musicians can attract. I am less concerned about the Macartney's of this world and more interested in what kind of living is made by, say, a Guy PRatt or Leland Sklar, or the bass player in Kasabian or Elbow or Magnum or the Uli Jon Roth band. Jazz musicians are another closed book; what does Wynton Marsalis get per gig, or Keith Jarrett or, more importantly, what do Jarrett's sidemen get. And what about clincians like Wooten and Berlin? It's all a mystery but I would love to know what kind of living these guys make. I know a lot of the 1950s guys (Paul CHambers etc) were pretty much living hand to mouth most of the time and thise sessions they all did for BLue Note etc were for $50 a shot or something like that. Paul Chambers/Jimmy Cobb etc got £300-400 odd for Kind Of Blue, a multi million selling LP by THE Jazz artist of the day. We often hear of US musicians who, late in life, need money for operations/treatment because of the crippling cost of medical interventions in the US but there are also stories of UK musicians who are in difficulty because they can no longer play for some reason. We all know what we earn but I get the impression that, with very few exceptions, most of the musicians we admire are on their proverbial arse most of their lives.

Yes. The playing what you are thinking thing is very important. Wiggling your fingers will get the attention of some adolescent fan-boys (some well into their 80s ) but will not fool any real Jazz afficianados. Your solos need a context and understanding how Jazz works is an important part of understanding how to get something creative going. A great example of this is Branford Marsalis's soprano solo on the tune 'Sister Cheryl' from Wynton Marsalis's first LP. (It is available on SPotify so you can have a listen). If you listen to the performance, Wynton Marsalis opens his solo with a three note phrase. This phrase appears throughout Wynton's solo and throughout the subsequent solos of Herbie Hancock and Branford, sometimes as a rhythmic motif, sometimes as a quote. The most wonderful bit for me is the way in which Branford uses the closing phrases of Herbie's solo (around 3.53) to define the main motifs throughout his own solo to the point where the final phrases 4.57) almost mirror Wynton's like bookends. Also, listen to Herbie's comping and the way in which this informs and is informed by Branford's soloing. It is so beautifully done. If you spend time with a performance like this, you will start to get a sense of the ways in which good Jazz is layered and how every note is informed by every other.

All of the above is massively important but, at the core of your learning is the need to LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Stepehn King, the author, always says that, if you want to be a writer, you need to read; a lot. When I say listen, I don' trust mean putting some sounds on whilst you peel potatoes. I mean REALLY listen. Transcribing is a great way of focussing in on detail and that is why most teachers advocate it but writing the notes on the page can be a distraction if you forget to listen. If I want to transcribe a solo, for instance, I can quite easily import it into Transcribe software, slow it down and write out the notes. The fact is, however, that there is NO music in the written notes themselves and it is important to PLAY the solo you have transcribed, not necessarily at the speed at which it was originally played but in a way that lets you explore the phrasing etc. There are so many details that you need to explore in addition to the harmony, melody and rhythm. Use of space, dynamics, playing ahead of and behind the beat, beginning a solo, ending a solo, building a solo, thematic development, where to start a note and where to end it etc etc. All of this takes time to develop as you learn new concepts and start to incorporate them into your playing. You will learn more from listening to soloists who do not play your instrument as this will force you to think about the notes and the music as opposed to the bass. An exercise to start you off: Find a solo you love (the shorter the better and preferrably with very few 'fast/clever bits' that will trip you up - part of a solo is perfectly acceptable. You will benefit from every bar you learn), listen to it several times preferrably to the point where you can sing it, then either write it down or learn it by rote so you can play it. Then repeat the exercice 1,000 times Regarding the 'fast/clever bits'; when you are starting to learn, it is always easy to get distracted by the intense bits of solos where the sixteenth notes flash by like s*** off a stick. The fact is that 'fast/clever bits' are only ever slow bits speeded up. If you focuss on learning stuff slowly and well, the 'fast bits' will come. It is the musical version of 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves'.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1422873265' post='2677669'] Ouch! Is that the event you run? If so, could you ban him? (least he deserves)! [/quote] Yes - the other musicians were thrilled...

I had an older guy (60+) come up to me at a Jazz gig I do regularly, just before I was about to play with Alan Barnes, and say ' your bass was too loud last week, mate. Can you turn it down? After all, the bass doesn't really do anything, does it'? 'No, it doesn't' I said.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1422866732' post='2677586'] Any Stephen King fans about who are also now thinking about "Blaine the mono"? [/quote] Yup.

Will bear that in mind next months. Many thanks for the supportive comments!!

I love it. Most meaningful thread for me. Makes me work at composition and develop my writing chops.

Just cos my Mum, Wife and Plumber voted for me I won't let it go to my head

I love that Sei.

Start by transcribing bits of lines; two bars here, four bars there. Build to solos, 12 bars, 16 bars, 32 bars and so on and then, eventually, try complete performances.

The SeventhString Transcribe software is brilliant and very affordable (I paid about £40 but that was years ago). It has got me out of a million transcribing holes with fast/complex parts. Working with a tool like Transcribe does improve your ear and you find you need to slow things down less and less as you transcribe lines more and more. I guess it is a question of clarifying what it is that you are looking for and what problems you are trying to solve for yourself. Transcribing the notes is one thing but creating a readable score with appropriate accents, grace notes etc or for another instrument other than the bass is another and that only comes with practice both in terms of writing out parts AND reading them/getting others to read them.

I think there is a lot ot be said for the sheer physical pain of playing and how this will impact upon the decisions older musicians make regarding their career paths. Having read most of his books, I am always interested to hear what he says about drumming, technique etc and comparing his approach to the work of other drummers who play into later life such as Buddy Rich or Art Blakey. On of the Peart books references the pain he gets in his hands, arms and legs and I recall mention of blisters etc. He obviously plays hard which will have an impact upon his body, particularly as he gets older and the healing process is slower (imagine STARTING a gig with a blister). I do gigs on double bass about once a week and am still quite sore afterwards, hands and fingers. Thankfully, it calsm down overnight mostly and I don't need to do any playing until the next gig a week or even two weeks later. If I had to do several gigs a week, I would be in trouble. If Peart is playing hard night after night, week after week, it's probably gonna hurt. I actually think the obvious reponse would be for them to play differently, to find a way of expressing themselves that doesn't require them to be faux-teenagers 'rocking out'. You don't need to play that hard to play that music, you just need to play smarter. And as for his level of playing excellence. He is arguably (one of) the worlds greatest rock drummer(s). That is, however, being damned with faint praise. The one thing that his books do tell us time and time again is that Peart doesn't practice/play at all for months and sometimes years at a time. That is going to impact upon his stamina and muscle tone etc. Interesting stuff.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49bNg1ZC8rM[/media] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fow0xvE6Uo4[/media]