Bilbo

There is no quick route. Its practice, practice, practice (it shouldn't take very long to get a handle on it for bass lines. Its only usually solos that get so complex that they can't be played in one position).

Faithless - the convention when writing swing solos is to write them as even quavers/8th notes and then indicate 'triplet swing feel' at the start. It means you haven't got to spend so much time writing triplet figures (which are also very hard to read).

Fun is overated. Being a great bass player requires you to get off on making other people sound good. Once you get that and make it so, its the best fun in teh world. But getting to that space is not all 'fun'; it can be damned hard work. Satisfying? Rewarding? Yes, but fun? Not always. But what I will say is that, particularly in the early stages, it is when it is NOT fun that most of the learning is taking place.

Just listening to it and have to say, I had forgotten how good some of this stuff is. The time signatures are all over the place. The bit I think you are thinking is 15/8 actually a bar of 4/4 followed by a bar of 7/8 (8+7 is 15). So, yes, it is technically 15/8 although it can be broken down more easily. All they are effectively doing is dropping a beat every second bar (it gets more complicated than that as there are bars of 3, 4 and 7 alternating here and there). It is easy enough to count as they have a note on every sub-division (i.e. 15 notes across 15 quavers).

Which Genesis track (never heard of 15/16) - its about breaking it down to manageable chunks. 7/4 can be a 3 and a 4 or a 4 and a 3. 5/4 can be a 4 and a 1, a 3 and a 2 of a 2 and a 3. I would expect 15/16 to be 3 4s and a 3. To be horrible blunt. if its Genesis, its unlikely to be that complicated. They tend to think in one bar patterns and don't cross bar lines much.

I have transcribed the head and solos to this and want to complete the chart with the chords. In an effort to try to avoid having to spend the time going through it and finding each chord by ear (its taken a fortnight to do what I have already done), I am posting to ask whether anyone has the chords already? In case you're wondering. yes, its bl**dy hard!

[quote name='Golchen' post='722915' date='Jan 24 2010, 10:33 AM']Jeff Berlin: Bach - Beautiful fluid fingerstyle[/quote] In case you missed it.... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=73033&hl=jeff+berlin+bach"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...eff+berlin+bach[/url]

Heartbreaking. Profound condolences to all who knew him.

I saw Micael Janisch's band at Stoke By Nayland last year (Clarence Penn was on drums but I didn't know who he was until afterwards). I did a review for that Jazz Services writers course at the London Jazz festival. I got on the course but had to pull out because the dates were all over the place. Hopefully they will do it again next year and I will have more notice. My Paul Chambers book will be finsihed then as well so I'll get a better run at it. I will look up Berglund, Mehldau and Troyka up when I get a chance.

Play a double bass for 5 minutes at 240 bpm. That'll do it!

David Sanchez - The Departure. Marvellous stuff from Puerto Rican saxophonist (grammy award winning). Great rhythm sections with Peter Washington or Andy Gonzalez on bass. Some lovely Latin tinged jazz.

Some great new stuff I have picked up recently: Empirical - a British small group with something fresh to say Pianist Andrew Hill - Timelines - a true original, sadly silenced two years ago. Maria Schneider - Sky Blue - great large group arranger and protege of Gil Evans David Sanchez - The Departure & Melaza - great Latin influenced jazz from a Puerto Rican saxophonist. Both really strong cds. Kenny Garrett - Pursuance - Coltrane tunes perfromed by Garrett with Pat Metheny, Brian Blade and Rodney Whitaker. Moutin Reunion Quartet - Sharp Turns - great duo led by Moutin brothers. Francois, the bass player, is the stand out musician (David Sanchez is on this one too) Chick Corea - Return To Forever (1st) - I had forgotten how good Stanley Clarke was on these records. Anyone else recommend some new stuff they have found?

The chart IS in the Stern book I have but it is a guitar part and the intro presented is only Stern's part not the bass (which I recall is a lovely conterpoint high up the neck).

'FEVER'!!! Captain Smith and Pocahontas - what were they thinking!!!!???

I am not a total nazi when it comes to timekeeping but it is important that a band has some collective sense of what the organic time feel is. It doesn't have to be metromic but it does have to be musical. I usually only know one or two drummers in any area with whom I am able to lock in and groove with. The rest vary from ok to downright bad. IME, its as much attitudinal as anything. There is one drummer in Suffolk who is legendary amongst other drummers for his technical skills but I will never book him because he is so 'drum' orientated that his contributions to the music are completely destructive. He can speed up and slow down quite markedly but the man problem is he is so convinced of his own worth that he won't be told and consequently can't address the issue. The main issue is not his abilities, it is his tendency to be so into his own playing that he is not engaging in any musical sense with what anyone else is doing. That is bad enough but to react like a child when it is drawn to his attention (sulking!!) is a step too far. Life is too short to play with musicians who are making you sound like a git. Slowing down or speeding up are just one of many ways that a poor musician can undermine a performance.

I've never seen that before That was when I bought a couple of GK 112s off synaesthesia (still got them). I'm a popular guy, eh?

DON'T DO IT!!!! 'Fever' is a banned song on the Bilbo 'not jazz' jazz chart (no. 3, if I recall correctly)! It pretends to sound jazzy but, on the quiet, it sucks!! Just let it die. Its lived long enough and deserves to rest.