Bilbo

It is an interesting phenomenon though, Mr. F. I have noticed since taking up the double bass and entering a new phase of consistent practice, that I clench my teeth when I practice. As a result, my jaw also aches and I have to make a concerted effort to relax my facial muscles. I believe that the best playing takes place when you are relaxed so feel that this is something that genuinely needs attention. So let's all RELAAAAAAAAAAAAX!

Emperor Jones by Joe Lovano Lotus Blossom by Duke Ellington (a solo piano performance played after the And His Mother Called Him Bill session. The LP was dedicated to the recently deceased Billy Strayhorn. If you listen, you can hear the band packing up to go home and Duke was playing his own tribute to Strayhorn. The engineer kept the tape running and captured a very moving ballad performance by the Duke. Its imperfections add to the magic).

I have never found an effect that adds to my sound but only detracts from it so I don't bother with them.

I forgot this but an early tonal influence for me was Jack Bruce on Cozy Powell's 'Over The Top'. It has stayed with me as a tone to go for.

Nymans - works for me but I am new to this also.

Well, its a year on from when I got hold of a double bass and six months since I got my own. I did a function gig with a quintet at Emanuel College, Cambridge, last Saturday. Straight crotchets all night but it was so in the pocket it came out stuck to an Everton mint and some lint. The drummer and I just locked in and stayed there swinging all night at tempos from slow blues to be-bop to great shuffles and one bossa. No Scott LaFaro licks, no flash and absolutely NO solos from me but swingadoodledo...... Got through without picking up the Wal and no blisters.....felt marvellous. For one night only, I WAS Ray Brown....doom. doom, doom, doom, doom, doom.............

All smacks of derivative blues licks played very loud and with a very clumsy technique. Sorry but I don't rate Entwhistle at all and didn't even when I was into rock music as a teenager. The Who had their good days but Entwhistle was, for me as a developing player, pretty irrelevant. The videos embedded here offer nothing to challenge my view. Another one of the 'greats' who is only great because they played with one of the more popular bands and not because they offered anything particularly interesting. At best, it could be argued that his was a unique voice but, frankly, like Lemmy, that would be because noone else would actually want to play like that. And I can't believe anyone actually [i]wants[/i] to get that tone? But what do I know?

I always take the Wal when I do a double bass gig because I am still not 100% confident in my staminaso this is not a problem for me. I also don't consider myself to be anyone's first call guy so I tend to be put forward by players that know me as an electric player who has recently picked up the big fella.

There is a lovely story where an old big band jazz saxophonist (who I can't name) heard himself on a record in a bar and then heard the record again straight away and then a third time. He approached the guys who were playing it and asked why they kept playing it. 'Because we love the saxopnone solo' He smiled and walked away without telling them....how cool was that?

You have no idea how much I am struggling to even begin to do this. I have always considered myself to be a b-lister. I can do everything I set my mind to to some extent but, although I am thought of as a good player, I always fall short of being one of the best. I get plenty of calls but I am noone's first call guy. I can read but I can't read as well as I would like or should be able to. I write/arrange/record stuff that makes some lay people say 'wow' but, in my opinion, is a bit weak/flawed. I have an audio engineering qualification but my recordings lack any real presence (decent recording equipment would help) and are certainly not at what I would call a professional standard. I have written a book but its not out yet and, whilst it has merit, I will always know that it could have been better had I been able to focus on it more. I have done hundreds, if not thousands, of gigs and have always done a journeyman job, sometimes excelled and often been praised by peers but I know I have gaps in my technique and theory that mean I am not there yet and can fall on my a*** mid gig if the going gets tough. I have played with Jim Mullen, Stan Sultzman, Iain Ballamy, Roy Williams, Hank Shaw, Janusz Carmello, Nick Page and a good few other great jazz musicians; my ambition would be called back to do a second gig with any one of them What's lacking? Time. I have not got the time to do anything well and have to snatch time for any of this activity when I can, the economics of contemporary life being what they are. I know this approach results in consistent mediocrity but I do what I can. But I do hold onto the fact that, in terms of the resources available to me, I have done a lot with my life and continue to do a lot. A few appearances on national TV and radio, appearances at the Brecon Jazz Festival for 9 years running, one appearance at the Vienne Jazz Festival, the ebb and flow of regular gigs throughout the last 30 years etc. I keep plugging away and have my highs, the most recent being a gig with my own band 'Whither Then'? (who have recorded recently; I am waiting for the final mix) so I can't complain. I have learned to be satisfied with quiet victories.

Just re-read Lowdown's post. Its interesting that the rehearsals were so extensive. We had onw rehearsal and then the gigs - sounds like we had no chance!! It goes to show, doesn't it, that the reason the professionals sound good is because they put the hours in, not because they are sprinkled with the magic fairy mojo dust. I have no doubt that we woudl have sounded much better with that kind of preparation.

Frankly, in the absence of anything concrete, I would maintain your own practice routine in order to keep your chops at the best level they can be and make suer your gear is good to go but, after that, relax and take it all as it comes. If they are not expecting you to prepare anything specific, they can't expect you to have anything prepared, can they Don't build this up to be anything other than what it is; a meeting to see if you can play and if they like you. If you are relaxed, you will be as good as you can be and will get the gig or not on that basis.

Two nights in and its coming together nicely. A strange experience as half the band are pros and the other half kids from the school. But the music has come together, despite the 5/8 bars and the occasionally squeaky horn!!

Hal Williner - Weird Nightmare: The Music of Charles Mingus

I just worry sometimes that people (noone in particular) are always looking for shortcuts when the best way of learninig to do something is the tried and teste method of long, drawn out repetition of small details that, over time come together to deliver a level of competence that is of more use that a bag of tricks that are not really that transferable.

Another plug for Neil Tarlton's 'Beginning Scales' and 'The Essentials of Sevcik' (put them into google and you will find them). The second of these is dedicated to bowing and I a finding it really useful. Also, bow wise, I have a French one of these and I love it. [url="http://www.stringemporium.com/carbon-fiber-upright-bass-bows.htm"]stringemporium carbon-fiber bow[/url]

I agree, J. I also think that the nature of the double bass finger board increases the reliance on open strings as a tool and reduces the tendency electric players have of playing set patterns and just moving them up and down a fret to change key. I am finding that the position playing really starts to open up the neck and to reduce the reliance upon licks and learned habits. I think also that there is an element of trust here. Fatback has posted a couple of times questioning 'sacred cows' in the practicing of double bass and, whilst I have no problem with attacks on the status quo, I do feel that this can be a potentially, and I stress potentially, negative approach to utilising a learning method that has a well established record of success. I woudl suggest you work with the established methods and see where they take you. They certainly won't hold you back and may take you to places you would not go otherwise. I would also recommend Neil Tarlton's two books 'Beginning Scales' and 'The Essentials of Sevcik' (Google them) - the second of these is for arco work but I am finding them both to be very useful in breaking down your basic techniques to the essential parts. Not a replacement for Simandl but a valuable supplement.

There are several options and some are likely to be better than others but I would argue (and I am no expert) that whatever you get, for £1K it is not going to be a top class instrument but a useable introduction. If you spend £1K, you will soon hanker for a £3K bass, if you spend £3K, you will want a £5K bass and so on up to five figures and beyond. My research tells me Stentors, Christophers, Thomanns , Zellers, B&H etc are all credible starter instruments and all of them have models in your proce range. I bought my 5 string from Gedo Musik in Germany (£1500) and its working for me. Its not the bass of anyone's dreams but it gigs well and I have no real complaints. Lots of people have tried all of the above models and noone has really trashed any of them so, for my money, I say get one and get playing rather than spend months trying loads out but not getting started (you can hire them for £30 a month, by the way - another option to consider). Is Paula teaching you?

I once read that very young children respond identically to all sorts of music, irrespective of its so called sophistication but, as they develop, we, as a society, unconciously condition them to 'hear' simple stuff more readily than the complex stuff. My advice is to play the most radical extreme stuff of all genres to them so, whatever else happens, they won't have prejudices but informed opinions based on experience.

I've never been to prison.....

Tough one for me as I would have to pick a jazzer and there are so few that actually make a living Guess it would have to be Dave Holland (your own music and all that other fantastic stuff) or John Patitucci (same)?

Three works performed at a PRS licenced venue would, I assume, include three tunes played at any old pub in any old town as long as it is PRS registered? Is that correct? I t may be worth me registering (and would be a massive boost to my ego even if I never earned a penny )

[quote name='Earbrass' post='1050341' date='Dec 7 2010, 11:25 AM']Hmmmm.....how fit are these teenagers?[/quote] Thunk (Bilbo's forehead hitting the desk.....)......

I am the only one who noticed that Sentric is an anagram of Cretins?

I have never worried much about PRS as I write jazz tunes that noone ever plays but me (and then noone is listening so who cares). But, when it did matter (in 1981), I was led to believe that there was some rule about having had to have had 30 minutes of your music played on the radio or tv to make you eligible for membership of PRS or something like that. Is that not the case? (I got that piece of advice off a wino outside a pub in Pill, Newport - it was called The Frontline because of the drive by shootings)