Bilbo

I can't tell the difference and have neither. That's me done.

Barry Green - The Inner Game of Music http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Music-Timothy-Gallwey/dp/0330300172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407419544&sr=8-1&keywords=the+inner+game+of+music

I have always loved Beardsley's stuff and have a book of his illustrations somewhere. Good choice. Hopefully I can get something happening this month.

The above is by no means the best Maria Schneider arrangement but I added the video on the fly and didn't really get a chance to find the best ones. I would recommend anyone who is interested in large ensemble writing to listen to Maria's work. She learned her craft at the feet of Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer but has long since found her own voice as an arranger so any of her stuff is worth seeking out. She is one of those artists who has got the measure of the 'industry' and runs her own lebel/distributes her own stuff via her website. The Pretty Road is a favourite of mine from her 'Sky Blue' album. Her use of voice and accordian are a specific texture that marks a lot of her recent work. If I wrote one piece as good as any of hers, I would die happy. http://www.mariaschneider.com/

Aubrey Beardsley, huh? This could go anywhere!!

I did a gig recently where I had to reproduce some Laurence Cottle lines and I nailed 90% of it but the 10% has revealed some shortcomings in my playing (as well as my reading). The question is, do I now spend months trying to get the chops I need to nail that three bars I blew on the gig? Frankly, I doubt it. I woudl love to nail it and all that but the investment required may be too much, given the other things I could do with that time. It's always a tough call.

If I knew what this was about, I would moderate it's ass!!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1406729848' post='2514153'] So you just play the opening riff to 'Watcher of the Skies' on C for the entire gig? [/quote] It kinda works.....

There is an interesting point here that is seldom talked about. The general view is that we all need to be fully rounded players who have mastered all aspects of bass playing, be that electric or double bass. There are a few who seem able to do anything (John Patitucci comes to mind but there are many others) but, depending on your preferences, areas of interest and personal motivations, it is easy to see why people no longer seem generally able to 'keep up'. I am thinking about those players who cannot slap, who cannot improvise, who cannot use a bow, who cannot really play in thumb position, cannot do the two-handed tapping thing, cannot play with a pick, cannot play without a pick etc. The reasons for this may be many and varied; a late start on your instrument, a lack of opportunities to explore certain genres, very narrow set of preferences for a certain genre etc. I think this is a particular issue for non-pros as they have less time for music and maybe need to focus their efforts and to prioritise. As a non-pro myself, I learned a long time ago that it is perfectly sensible to 'leave things' out of your basket of skills, particularly if you are not likely to use them. I can slap on electric but quite poorly as I have never really got into the music where it is appropriate and, as a dedicated fretless player, it doesn't sound that good anyway. I cannot slap a la rockabilly etc. I don't do two-handed stuff although I did spend some time on it around the time Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan appeared on the scene and have a couple of 'party pieces'. I don't really play reggae, bar a few Bob Marley covers here and there, don't play with a pick (although I can because I play guitar), don't play punk or ska etc and my bowing is shocking. Like many of us, I have not got time for all of it and have to target my efforts on those aspects of playing that are pertinent to my gigs/composing/studio work. Everything else is just not a priority.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHQpjs8kkc

From last weekend's gig with pianist Ivo Neame (from Phronesis). It is always a strange experience enjoying playing as well as you can and really getting that buzz whilst also knowing your not even close to the level of Jasper Holby or many of the other people your frontline players regularly play with.

Depends on the band. I have long enjoyed larger ensembles including Kenny Wheeler's stuff, Maria Schneider, Gil Evan's stuff with Miles, some of Bob Mintzer's stuff, Loose Tubes, Delightful Precipice, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Bob Brookmeyer etc etc but some of the older swing band stuff leaves me a bit cold. Big Band is like any other genre, chock full of good and bad. I have played with big bands in the past and really enjoy it but it's been a while.

NBD!! NBD!!

There is a monster player born in Malaysia, riased in Australia and now based in New York called Linda Oh. I have two of her cds downloaded ('Entry' and 'Listen Here') and she is a great player with great ideas and great compositions. As a player, she towers over Tal but is less well know because she has no high profile gig. Her website is www.lindaohmusic.com. It is also unnecessary to pre-fix her with 'female' bass player. She is a top drawer Jazz musician with chops, ideas and soul. Also worth checking out is Melissa Slocum who (quoted from her website) 'has worked with such legends as Art Blakey, Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Woody Shaw and Hank Jones. Comfortable in genres ranging from duo to big band, traditional to avant garde, she has performed and recorded with Charli Persip and Superband, Ralph Peterson and the Fo'tet, Avery Brooks with Craig Harris, Howard Johnson and Gravity, Dakota Staton, Kevin Mahogany, the Firey String Sistas and the all woman big band DIVA, among many others. She has worked with bandleaders Eddie Chamblee, David "Fathead" Newman, Frank Wess, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Byron, Jay Rodriguez, Frank Lacy and Nioka Workman; pianists Walter Davis, Jr., James Williams, John Hicks, Kirk Lightsey, Cyrus Chestnut, Roy Merriwether, Henry Butler, James Weidman and Darrel Grant to name a few. She has played for numerous vocalists including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nnenna Freelon, Michelle Lee, Maurice Hines, Jeannie Bryson, Leon Thomas, Jon Hendricks, Michelle Hendricks, Ann Hampton Callaway and Dianne Reeves. Television appearances include Newport Jazz Festival 1999, Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary Gala, BET Interview, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN with the Kevin Mahogany Quintet and CBS News with Lionel Hampton. Ms. Slocum holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Manhattan School of Music. She studied jazz bass with Lisle Atkinson, Stafford James, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid and Ron Carter. She received an NEA grant for jazz study in 1986'. www.melissaslocum.com

I now have an ear-worm. Thanks for that.

2 x 5:4 bars and a 7:4 bars 12345, 12345, 1234567

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1406819343' post='2515011'] Search 'Daniel Romeo - Getting Into The Details' at YouTube [/quote] Will do! Thanks.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1406819249' post='2515009'] Can you see this..? [[/quote] Nope

What is it (link on my computer doesn't even show an image, let alone play any video)?

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1406650163' post='2513448'] Surely not Bilbo. [/quote] Damn right it's not me. I love Chuck Israel's playing.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1406626586' post='2513060'] Last Sunday with Ivo Neame. Bad hair (it was really hot) and bad left arm technique!! I need to watch that!! [/quote] Many will observe the similarity between my photograph here and my avatar. This is not a coincidence. I really like the sound of one particular note on the C string and only ever play that note. It is my gig so no-one complains but I never get booked anywhere else.

CH161 is right but there are Blues standards, Rock standards, Folk standards and Reggae standards etc. It is all about having a generally recognised set of tunes that 'most' people know. There is no absolute consensus and, as a Jazz performer who works with different artists every week, I can tell you that not everyone knows the list of tunes that everyone is supposed to 'know' and every little clique of musicians has its own list. A handy fake book or ireal book covers a multitude of omissions but, for rock, pop etc, these are harder to come by as charts are less common and you really are expected to know the tunes.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1406586679' post='2512873'] 1e+a 2e+a 3e+a 4e+a, [/quote] I always thought that was the most clumsy, complicated way of 'simplifying' a bar of music. You need to concentrate more on this 'paradiddle from hell' AND read the music in front of you I intially found it easy enough to read quarter notes and eight notes but got lost on sixteeths. I made great progress when, in study (as opposed to when reading 'for real'), I broke everything down into four beats. A bar of quarter notes is four beats, a half bar of eighth notes is four beats and a quarter bar of sixteenths is four beats. That way, everything read the same, it was just a case of learning the 'shape' of each bar in it's entirity so you can read it properly. An example would be a single bar of sixteenth notes would be 'read' as four bars of quarter notes. Now I can 'see' a rhythm much more easily and, if a bar causes me a headache, I can 'talk' my way through it very easily.

I have had some exciting new finds recently including a Joachim Kuhn CD with Daniel Humair and J.F. Jenny-Clark - the tune Heavy Birthday is absolutely stunning; piano trio at it's best. If you like the energy from Hiromi's trio or Michel Camilo, this is like this but with three astonishingly creative musicians taking it to another level. Also a lovely Paul Bley solo cd, 'Play Blue', Mirsolav Vitous' newly re-released cd with Jon Surman and Kenny Kirkland and Arild Andersen's trio with Tommy Smith. Have been revisiting Charlie Haden a lot since his passing and rediscovering the majesty of his playing; his discography is astonishing. Much music to enjoy.

Talking of compensation; apparently, there is £2,649 waiting for me in compensation for that accident I had last year. I was hoping for more, being as how the injuries incurred have wiped all memory of the incident from my mind. No wonder I can't remember the middle eight on All The Things You Are.