Bilbo

[quote name='BIG.J' post='1171551' date='Mar 21 2011, 11:36 PM']I play in a Tribute and things are not easy these days for Tribute Acts.[/quote] All them damn originals bands taking all your gigs, eh?

Musician's Union Casual Gig minimum rate is currently set at: For engagements of up to 2 hours = £65.00 Over 2 hours and up to 3 hours = £78.00 These rates are, of course, unenforceable but they are a useful guide as a starting point. Don't forget to take into account how far you have to travel, late night gigs etc, all of which can up the price.

You're getting older and the number of age appropriate musos is decreasing annually. What you need is some blokes in the middle of a mid-life crisis!!

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='1167007' date='Mar 18 2011, 12:53 PM']That's an excellent article, and bizarrely, is similar to something I've been working on recently. My new year's resolution was to improve my jazz soloing, and so I took an inspiring lesson with Joe Hubbard, and began transcribing and analysing one of my favourite solos - Chick Corea's solo on 'Spain'. So far I have transcribed the first chorus of Chick's solo and learnt it. In doing so, I found some melodic ideas that were confusing. Some research was needed in order for me to understand what he was doing, but once I had uncovered the [i]concept[/i] behind the lick (rather than just the notes), I had a new piece of vocabulary to incorporate into my own playing. I studied every idea in that one chorus of the solo and uncovered so many ideas it was unreal. Using these ideas, I began to improvise my own lines on the form, taking it a few chords at a time - I looped a backing track in Transcribe for this. The result is that I have written a few pages of new licks and have begun combining them into some etudes. I'm really enjoying playing these now, and feel that having taken the time to analyse just a few bars of Chick's playing, I have learnt an incredible amount. Once my etudes and accompanying explanations are finished I will upload them for you all to check out. Great article! Stu[/quote] Great post, Stuart. It really crystlises the benefits of properly [i]studying[/i] the music we learn rather than just reproducing it.

My condolences, Darth Telebass

[quote name='molan' post='1170894' date='Mar 21 2011, 04:52 PM']Brilliant, thanks Bilbo - I did think of contacting you first but thought this was a bit of a distance off your 'patch'. Should have known you'd be 'connected' all over the country when it came to all things jazz [/quote] Used to live in Farnham and played in Dorian Kelly's band, with Pete Billington, Dave Horniblow and Simon Allen, all of whom played with Pendullum at the time. Also played a lot with trumpeter Paul Tungay (ex Ronnie Scott, Tom Jones and Bill McGriffe) who is also now with them and actually got to do a couple of rehearsal with them a few times (but no gigs. Pat prefers double bass and I only played electric at the time) There also used to be a jazz jam at the South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell. Jamie Cullem used to go there. It may no longer run..

Learn to read music. I am not necessarily suggesting that you write out every note you ever play but, if you can read short passages of a couple of bars and read rhythms in particular, you can write out a single sheet that contains all of the cues you ned to nail a tune everytime. I did a rehearsal and gig with a blues trio over a year ago and was asked to dep again a few weeks ago. Because I had made some notes on their charts, I was able to recall all of the significant kicks, stops and starts, the main impeteus of each groove and all the changes without much difficulty.

I figure we just have to build up the callouses? Its definately getting eaiser as time passes.

Contact these guys. Pat knows everyone and everyone knows Pat. His son, Dorian Kelly, is also over that way. All great players. [url="http://www.pendulum-byjo.co.uk/education.htm"]http://www.pendulum-byjo.co.uk/education.htm[/url]

Did a two and a half hour rehearsal yesterdaay with a sax/trumpet Jazz Quintet playing standards and bebop and came away without any aches or pains other than a slight tingling in the tip of the middle finger of my right hand. Blister avoided and its ok this morning. Am getting a Fisman Pro Platinum any day now so that will help to manage my sound and help me pace myself better. Ironically, because the next gig is on a boat and space is limited, I have been asked to bring the electric not the double bass. Still loving it.

I get that they are to stop scratches appearing on your bass but I just find myself asking, who plays that chaotically that they hit the bass hard enough to scratch it there as opposed to anywhere else? Even if I played with a pick, I would still struggle to scratch a bass there. Now, if I played with a Black and Decker a la Paul Gilbert, then maybe there would be a chance of a nick or two but, in 25 years, my scratchplateless Wal has managed to avoid being scratched where the scratch plate would have been had mine been a Fender or a Musicman. Who are these scratchy bass players out there causing choas and the need for flat bits of plastic protection? We should be told.

Learn to read music.

Not my bag but this is so 'on the money' in terms of professional production values, tight, flawless playing and interesting compositions. You have every reason to be proud of what you have achieved.

Look for Mark Levine's 'The Piano Book' as a starter...

Like others, I cannot read the article as our internet blocks it but, IMO, the reality is that, in order to become a musician in the 21st Century, all you need to do is to [i]say[/i] you are (that'll get you into the MU, at least ). If you think of the people who are collected under the umbrella term of 'musician', it can include a whole load of people who can't actually [i]play[/i] anything. So the 100,000 hours is arbitrary. Is there room for quality control in terms of entering the world professional music? Can we decide who can call themselves a musician and who can't? Of course not.

'Bumping' - not heard the term in this context. Can you explain?

Gary has just spend three weeks messing about with a bass he sold to me for my nephew in Wales. Not only did he sell it to me for a bargain price, he took it apart, boxed it up and waited in for a courier to collect it as I am in Suffolk, he is in Herts and the bass needed to get to Wales! All for a cheap beginner bass that noone has made much money on. Some little kid in Wales is going to wake up tomorrow with a bass he didn't know was coming and with a big smile on his face. Gary made it happen and should be given credit for all his efforts. Muchos Gracias!

And a lovely player to boot. I used to book Dafyd for Jazz Attic jam sessions at the Four Bars Inn in Cardiff in the 1980s/early 1990s and he was 100% reliable and a lovely player (I recall he had a Warwich Thumb then or am I imagining that?). We have touched base a few times since and he has always been a nice and honourable guy to deal with. Would trust him with anything.

I think that it is likely that most people who do backing vocals in bands don't spend any time at all working on it and expect it to fall into place quite easily (which it does on some tunes). Its bound to depend on the complexity of the bass lines etc but, in my experience, its a case of some parts are easy, some are hard, the harder the parts are, the harder you need to practice the dual role before you can pull it off.

'Definition of swing - any two successive notes played by Paul Chambers' - Martin Williams, IIRC.

Got some real gems recently. Saw them on e-music and thought I'd give 'wm a punt. Really glad I did. SF JAZZ Collective | Live 2010: 7th Annual Concert Tour - featuring Avishai Cohen: Trumpet, Stefon Harris: Vibraphone/Marimba, Miguel Zenón: Alto Saxophone/Flute, Robin Eubanks: Trombone, Edward Simon: Piano , Matt Penman: Bass and Eric Harland: Drums [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-2010-Annual-Concert-Tour/dp/B004ISGWMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300280978&sr=1-1-catcorr"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-2010-Annual-C...;sr=1-1-catcorr[/url] Really stronmg arrangements and really strong performances from all. Miguel Zenon is a revelation and I found he is also on another 'find': Antonio Sanchez Live in New York - a four piece harmony-less quartet featuring Sanchex with Scott Colley (bs), David Sanchez (ts) and the aforementioned Zenon on alto. Major league stuff. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-New-York-Antonio-Sanchez/dp/B003VC8TYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300281229&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-New-York-Anto...1229&sr=1-1[/url] Also found a hidden gem in Muhal Richard Abrams 'Colours in Thirty Third', a 1987 album that features Muhal Richard Abrams: piano, John Blake: violin, John Purcell: soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, Dave Holland (tracks 5, 6 & 7): bass, cello, Fred Hopkins: bass, Andrew Cyrille (all except track 2): drums. Its 'kind of' free jazz but its not chaotic at all and there are some beautiful written passages. Challenging but in a really good way. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_in_Thirty-Third"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_in_Thirty-Third[/url] This stuff is all really life affirming. All three are highly recommended.

I will try and record the gig but reserve the right to destroy the tapes if I sound like a complete tit.... The big issue is the choice of material. The big 'killer' is the fact that there will be no rehearsal!! The sax player lives about 80 miles away. I will get a couple of sessions in with the drummer but that's it. What am I thinking?

47 and I ache....

I like her music but find her voice irritating so shes a no go area for me, I am afraid.

Standard size for most musics is 3/4 so bear that in mind (this one is a 3/4 I assume because the others are labelled at 1/2 or smaller so the absence of a size would indicate it is standard). There is a lot of competing advice out there and the more I researched, the more I found it unhelpful - not because it was inherently wrong but because the available advice generally offered solutions that were always outside of my budget. This is worse for you because you need a certain sort of dealer to take advantage of a particular scheme. My advice is to go for it. A reputable company like Moseley's are not going to sell you a total dog. Its probably a trade in someone swapped for an upgrade and you may find you do the same over time. I say go along and play it - if it feels exciting, go for it. They have agreed to set it up so that's half the battle. As you know, you aren't going to get an Italian hand made bass - this is a 'let's get going' bass. Just get one and get started. Good luck.