Bilbo

Try the singing along with your solo idea; it will slow you down at first but you will find it more melodic. Also, someone once said to me 'deny yourself twice'. Play a phrase and then, when y9ou want to play the next one, don't. Then, when the next one comes into your heard, don't play it. Play the next one and you will have edited 60% of your 'diarrheoa' and it wil sound more melodic (this is all in the practice room, not on a gig )

Listen to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Reginald Veal Playing wise, play 4 beats to the bar and rarely stick any rhythmic kicks in. Too much 'fiddling' undermines the swing.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jtlnUUdhvU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jtlnUUdhvU[/url]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6RqT5xxXUA[/media]

Sounds great, Mike. Every time I hear that Sei bass, I want to get a fretted one myself (if I played that many notes, my intonation would let me down big time ). Always fancied the Flamboyabt 6 and even played one once at the Gallery but it never appeared!! Sounds like the hours of shedding have paid dividends.

I have old cassettes from years ago that reveal that offer irrefutable evidence that I was always crap

That went well

Pat Metheny - guitar Lyle Mays - piano/keyboards Michael Brecker - but, if the dead thing is a deal breaker, Chris Potter Don Alias - oh, he's dead too, so we'll have Eric Harland on drums Joni Mitchell - vocals and songwriting Bilbo - bass Oh - its Joni Mitchell's Shadows and Light band! How did that happen? Try again: Ultimate Jazz ensemble Me on double bass Jeff Watts on drums Joey Calderazzo on piano Branford Masalis on saxophones Oh b*gger. I did it again. If death was no barrier to regular rehearsal.... Me on bass Billy Higgins on drums J.R. Monterose on tenor BIll Evans piano

Hand injuries take forever to heal because you use them all of the time. I have had pains of one kind or another for years but you can manange a lot of difficulties by being aware of how you use your hands and by improving their grace and efficiency. Alexander Technique is useful as a starting point but also things like ergonomic keyboards and vertical mice can be helpful if you use computers a lot (a lot of hand pain is actually wrist trouble).

Someone heard one of these tracks yesterday and said it sounds like....... Sonny Rollins. It doesn't, of course, but, hell, I'll take it

....any Prog Rock tribute band is playing 'Regressive Rock'?

George Martin was, I understand, also responsible for ironing out a lot of the kinks in Beatles tunes!

I woudl recommend an approach along the lines of... 'Hey, Fred, you are not going to like what I am about to ask but do you know how uncomfortable your approach makes it for the rest of us and for the other people we have to deal with?

My action has been tweaked three times in 26 years... Pick-up height seems to get more attention in my universe, for some reason.

I have no problem with people drinking, I just find talking/reminiscing about it dull! (if you think about it, as a non-drinker, it would be like me talking about Jazz at a Folk club). I remember as a much younger man, going to the pub with the 'lads' and listening to them talk about how many pints they had and how sick Fred was and who did what stupid things.... it got [i]really[/i] dull after a while. I have been thinking about the 'other' potential angles and have some things I can explore if I can get the time (Christmas don't half eat into your free-time, doesn't it?).

I have an idea or two but am not sure if I can be arsed (it would be something I wouldn't actually like). Problem is, as a life long teetotaller, I don't like 'drunk' stories and alcohol and its associated activities bores me rigid ('oooh look, he did something stupid when he was drunk; - the anecdotal equivalent of 'You've Been Framed' - 'ooh, look. He fell over!!). I guess I could think of something left field as a 'critique' of the pictured behaviour?

You all realise, of course, that, as a moderator, I decided early on that it was inappropriate for me to win so whenever anyone voted for me, I deleted the vote. I left a few in there because I didn't want to draw attention to my ploy. I actually got 207 votes but am sworn to secrecy..... I shall never tell.

Patience!!

I have seen people running home from a venue to get their guitars/bass/sax to sit in for someone who failed to arrive or got waylaid. I did one this year where I had to get a sax player 10 minutes before we were due to start. Got him out of his dressing gown, dressed, driven across town and onto the stage to lead a sax/bass/drums trio

Am an interested bunny! Can't do it now but three Christmas gigs could leave an adequate surplus!! All I need now is talent!

Where did you get the bargain on Miroslav software, Walman? I have looked at that before. I currently use a really old version of Edirol (I think? It was written before Bach died) and it is ok but I know the Miroslav stuff is better. I am also thinking of working on full orhestral composing in future but it is hard, not only because of the complexity of the arranging but because getting the software to work is a nightmare.

I am not a pro, Joe. I can see what you are trying to do and you have nothing to worry about in terms of being judged as a player. It is just that for people to hear what you are doing, they need a context. If the harmony instrument is clear, it is possible to hear the musicality in your ideas but, because the audio on your videos is low grade, it is difficult if not impossible to get a handle on what it is you are doing. Record it again with the head and you will get a better response. I suspect the people who have listened but not commented are a little at sea with where you are coming from.

Play the head. As the backing track is poorly reproduced, this is meaningless to anyone who doesn't understand the tune intimately. You are better than this and deserve to be represented more favourably.

I had 5 last time I looked, which, IIRC, put me in joint 19th piosition. Seriously, though, it is lovely to see that at least 5 people 'get' what I was trying to do. Winning has never been the issue for me; I jsut love the learning that I get from each composition. It's probably as good an experience as you would get in the average UK university in 2012. It is time well spent and really life affirming to see everyone getting a buzz out of a genuinely creative process that isn't necessarily a quick win or an easy path.