Bilbo

I have had a fallow Summer (1 gig in July, 2 in August and, last night, my first in September). I have done some home studio practice but no full band rehearsals or recording sessions etc. Last night, I played a gig and a couple or three of the tunes called were fast Latin or funk grooves. I dug in but found that myself tripping myself up on patterns that I have had under my fingers for decades and my stamina was poor. I only did a couple of solos but even they felt like I was running in treacle. Just not match fit, I guess. Pisser.

These just appeared on Facebook. An appearance with the Andy Hay Quartet at the Vienne Jazz Festival in 1994.I was 31/ I didn't wear glasses then, those are shades, and my shoes were purple!!! [url="http://s283.photobucket.com/user/bilbo230763/media/Vienne%20the%20band_zpseodzgvci.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s283.photobucket.com/user/bilbo230763/media/Vienne%20Rob%20and%20Andy_zpsvxoawsyl.jpg.html"][/url]

Here are the chords.... A section Fm//// Db7//// Gm7b5/// C7/// Fm/// Db7/// Gm7b5/// C7/// Fm/// Fm/Eb/// Db7/// C7/// Bb/// Bbm/Ab/// Gm7b5/// C7/// B section Bbm/// //// Cm7b5/// F7/// Bbm/// //// Cm7b5/// F7/// Dbm/// /// Cm7b5/// F7/// Bbm/// Gb/// Cm7b5/// F7/// C section Fm//// Db7//// Gm7b5/// C7/// Fm/// Db7/// Gm7b5/// C7/// Fm/// Fm/Eb/// Db7/// C7/// Bb/// Bbm/Ab/// Gm7b5/// C7///

DIT is a monster album. Trio Jeepy ny Branford Marsalis is another favourite of mine.

Here we are. My thoughts on the image are quite topical at the moment. What I saw in the image was the fact that the sea swallows things but, given the harrowing images that have been appearing in the media recently, it occurred to me that a lot of what the sea swallows is given up again some time later. The 'giving' here is no gift but a reminder of things lost. https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/the-giving-sea

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1441977817' post='2863471'] I was mentally prepared to accuse you of some jazz snobbery here, [/quote] It's still jazz snobbery. You just agree with it

Yeeuch. I always found Rich's big band a bit thuggish. This is too fast (as a lot of Rich arrangements were) and doesn't groove as a result. Great players badly utilised. I love the '8.30' version toneknob mentions. THAT swings like a mofo. Buddy Rich, for all his chops, thought Jazz was arm-wrestling (to be fair, so did Zawinul after Weather Report) Warrington does not need to worry about barnets nowadays. If you want to look at barnets, look up the youtube version of the tune by Manhattan Transfer (the band features Wayne Johnson on guitar) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxIo6nrgVa4

I kind of nailed that impossible guitar part last night by playing it on my seven string bass!! It is not perfect but it is close enough for the exercise and I have mixed it all. I will post it as soon as I can. I did learn a lot about recording this month. Every challenge has it's learning points but this month has been exceptional.

Nice work, James. A great album and I agree with you regarding the sax/bass/drumd trio format. My own band has that set up. Did you see my Pattitucci transcription 'Long Story' on here? http://basschat.co.uk/topic/141768-john-patitucci-transcription/page__hl__mistura__fromsearch__1

I have it in the 'Chalres Mingus: More Than A Fake Book' compilation (if you are interested in Mingus stuff, this book is a must have). I will try and copy the chords out for you when I can get to it but someone else may get to it sooner. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charles-Mingus-More-Than-Books/dp/0793509009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441958540&sr=8-1&keywords=more+than+a+fake+book+mingus

Wow. I could spend three months learning that. But won't

I would only ever tell ('educate') someone if their goods were dramatically under-priced. If it was over-priced, I would just walk away. I tried a secondhand red Epiphone ES335 out in Ipswich once and it was lovely but it was listed for literally only a £10 less than I could get it for from Thomann. I told them but the manager said he wouldn't move on the price so I walked away and paid the extra tenner for a new one. Cock.

Wynton Marsalis tells a lovely story about a gig he did (why do I think it was in England?) where this happened. The audience of square White Anglo Saxon Protestants were all clapping on 1 and 3 whilst this 7 year old kid at the front, who clearly had not yet been inducted into the world of English Folk music, was clicking his fingers on 2 and 4 and nodding his head like a brother

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1441710815' post='2861030'] I can' t play it. It is too hard. [/quote] Nigtmare. I have basically finished the recording and now need to mix it but I have ended up with a real electric guitar and a VST nylon acoustic guitar that should quite nice when playing is unison (a kind of chorusling effect) but the middle eight section sticks out like a sore thumb so I need to find a way of tempering it to make it sit more comfortablly in the mix. Learned some new stuff about my VSTs, though, which is useful.

I have been working on something that has merit in it's own right but probably won't win many votes as it's relationship with the image is not readily apparent. This month, I have written a guitar trio piece (gtr/bs/dr). In terms of process, I wrote the piece on Sibelius, saved it as a midi file and transferred it to Cubase. In Cubase. I then re-recorded the bass as a real double bass and the guitar as a real guitar, leaving the drum part as the only VST in the final recording. The guitar melody and chord parts are easy enough to play but there is a middle section. And here is the problem. I can' t play it. It is too hard. I am trying to play each phrase and cut and paste them in but, so far, it's a bit sh*t!! If anyone knows Allan Holdsworth, can you ask him if he is available next week?

Just found this. I had seen it before but had forgotten about it. You have to watch it to the end for a little bit of Dudley Moore mischief!! https://youtu.be/CS8Va_z-2bA

Several and it's the best fun. Your reading improves exponentially and you get to play stuff you would otherwise never get anywhere near. I envy you.

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1441555930' post='2859767'] But in jazz , does anyone know where the end is When everyone stops. Isn't it? [/quote]

I play Jazz. No-one stays 'til the end.

I just wanted to point out that my thread title was ironic. There is nothing wrong with the production values of modern pop music. I just wanted to register how hard it is for the little guy to keep up with the technology used in producing it. I guess a parallel would be a local group trying to put on a gig in a pub versus a full-on Iron Maiden stage/lighting set up.

I think I saw Saxon at Bristol Colston Hall. Then again, I am old enough to remember when they invaded......

I saw Motorhead in 1981 at Port Vale's Heavy metal Holocaust festival (Motorhead, Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhodes, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Triumph and Vardis - what a line up!!. I think I remember the Bomber lighting rig but that might be a false memory. I remeber Marino as I was massive fan but I have no recollection whatsoever of Triumph.

I had a Motorhead fest yesterday and revisited Overkill and. Bomber. Fcuk me, they were loud.

There are increasingly a number of Jazz musicians who also play commercial music more than convincingly (Jason Rebello with Jeffe Beck, for instance). All it requires is discipline and some knowledge/insight into the musics being performed. My point is that, nowadays, this remains exceptional. I have to admit that I am part of the problem and recent events in my own career have brought this home to me. The problem is that to create a polished commercial product of any description takes time that, to my mind and that of many other Jazzers, is not really worth it 'emotionally'. My thinking recently is that surely a polished product will be more satisfying that the thrashing around / that'll do / nearly but not quite approach I have taken for the last two decades!! The idea scenario is properly produced charts (did a wedding last month where this was the idea and it was much better). I can play most genres convincingly and quite quickly if the dots are there but sometimes even that is not enough.

It's aproblem with Jazzers. We know all sorts of stuff about music and have an appalling attitude to commercial musics of any kind. The philosphy seems to be that 'it's pop, it's mostly sh*t and we can play it standing on our heads and probably better'. What they do badly is, for a start, sound. They just turn up with their 'portable' gear and don't really consider the timbre of their instrument as part of the ensemble sound. They see a chord and play 'their' version of it without any insight into voice leading aspects of the [i]song [/i](as opposed to the harmony). They miss out details that are often definitive; riffs, licks etc (I do a commercial gig where they do 'I WIll Survive'. When it comes to that wonderful 'solo' (the one Robbie WIlliams nicked for Millenium), the keyboard player blows a solo - it just sounds so wrong) and are often quite uninformed about genres and sub-genres. They are very casual about starts and endings and can be appalling at 'stage craft' (lots of standing around deciding what to do next). They have their strengths as well; they tend to be better at dynamics and their tempos tend to be a little more centred but, fundamentally, the average Jazzer's attitude to the integrity of commercial music is s***. When they get it right, when they have a respected MD etc, these players can be the absoute best but, being absolutely honest about it, Jazz musicians can, if not 'contained', be an absolute nightamre