Bilbo

[quote name='jakesbass' post='596433' date='Sep 12 2009, 11:27 AM']listen to Oscar Peterson or Keith Jarrett, while improvising they sound like they are mumbling, manic, toilet strainers, but the music is awesome.[/quote] Paul Chambers did it, Wynton Kelly, Slam Stewart, Chick Corea (who does it so badly, it is brilliant ), George Benson, of course. Its actually quite common but some people are just a little more discrete about it.

There is a lovely anecdote in Bull Bruford's autobiography where he is playing with Tony Levin in King Crimson. Early on, Bruford tried to get Levin to 'play more' by playing more but, the more Bruford did, the less Levin did. Bruford finally figured it out. Its an interesting point but are some of the criticms for busy drummers about busy drumming or is it about drummers not allowing us bass players to indulge ourselves unabated (16th note grooves sound far better over a straight groove than a busy one). Personally, I don't care how busy they are if they are musical. Regrettable, busy doesn't usually serve the music. I never really thought of Peart as busy. He just plays the parts he has written. Like it or not, its him. I also think that, whilst he is a very good and creative player, he is entirely overrated (ducks......).

Couple of things, Steve. You have a problem with your double bass tone. It needs filling out; a lot of the swing is in the tone and you need to build some sustain. You will hear it more in slower tunes like MO&OL and the two feel sections of Celia, where the notes are not ringing like they should. It’s a stamina thing that will improve with time (it’s not a problem on the Nature Boy track because the sustain is there). Your lines are logical though, as Jake says, and you obviously know what notes to play (and what order to play them in), it’s just a question of dealing with the instrument (the easiest bit to address). Also, Hamish has some timing issues of his own and is really cramping your style on ‘My One and Only Love’, playing the root notes as well as you so the timing issues Bassace mentioned are highlighted. The drummer is not great on the ballad either and his ‘touch’ is a bit laissez faire. To be fair to the guy, some of that may be the recording (one mic or two?). Your solo on Minority shows me that you have the core skills you just need to tighten them up with practice. One of the things I find if I go away from jazz for too long (and I am talking weeks not years) is my MIND slows down and I can’t think fast enough at high tempos. If you haven’t played jazz for a while, you will need to spend some time with the music to get back into it mentally. Oh, and your dynamics are great. But, in terms of your ambitions, I think you are a whole lot nearer where you want to be than you think. There are a lot of DB players out there who you could cut today in terms of basic musiciality. Of course, this is all the opinion of someone who bottled the upright because of CTS.

Yes, its Sibelius (I think its version 2 - I have had it for so long but I have never felt the need to upgrade (or had the money ). I had another notation software before but it was a bit naff as it didn't play your charts back to you so its value was limted. I think Sibelius is marvellous and would recommend it to anyone.

[quote name='lowdown' post='594726' date='Sep 10 2009, 01:32 PM']Cheers Bilbo.. But i do think Dm6 on a B bass is Bm7-5... Sure Matt will put us right. Good one Garry[/quote] Doh! - It a good job I don't do these for a living

My recollection is Karn is completely untrained and doesn't know what he is doing, he just does it. Or was that just 'anti-establishment' posturing? Who care? He pushed the envelope and that is always a good thing. I'll read it. And he had great taste in basses

My money is on Rainy but I am open to challenge. This one is harder to read but there is a lot of repetition so that helps. My chords are also probably iffy (Mat?) but I do try....

I was working on my book all day today and needed to unwind so, with Basschat learner readers in mind, I transcribed Will Lee's bass line of Fagen's 'Walk Between The Raindrops' off his classic 1982 recording 'The Nightfly'. The chart is fairly easy to read but it is the groove that carrise the learning opportunity. The chords are mine so, if I am wrong, please let me know. The second chart is amended to include Mat's changes....good call, Mat.

Dave Holland, Marc Johnson, Renaud Garcia Fons, Miroslav Vitous, Scott Colley, Milt Hinton.....

As you have probably already found, displays of technique are pretty unsatisfying. They fool some people all of the time but they won't fool you and you are the one who has to live with it!

I am loving that first one, faithless. The simplicity of the arrangement vs the complex lines. Marvellous.

I am loving that first one, faithless. The simplicity of the arrangement vs the complex lines. Marvellous.

The Blues is everything in jazz. It is where you will start and where you will end. Its all in there. A jazz blues is different to a rock blues. F7/// Bb7/// F7/// //// Bb7/// //// F7/// D7/// Gm7/// C7/// F7/// //// I would recommend you start with listening to some other people play the blues, the people who define the genre. Charlie Parker, Miles Davis (No More Blues, Straight No Chaser, Walkin'. Sids Ahead), SOnny Rollins Tenor Madness, John Coltrane Blue Train. There are 1,000s of them. Learn some other peoples solos. The blues scale is important but there is more: mixolydian scale (major scale starting on 5th), chromatics etc. I recommend you follow Jakebass's advice and sing your solos as you play them (Keith Jarrett does it, Chick Corea, Paul Chambers sis it). It helps you connect with the relationship between your ideas and the music. Have fun

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nsys9d99HY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nsys9d99HY[/url] Here's that opening track of the dvd. Its called Incompatibilidade De Gênios - Ney's bass solo starts around 2.35 but its the feel of the hole thing that I love. I would love to have this gig!

[quote name='JPS' post='587685' date='Sep 2 2009, 04:53 PM']Can you recommend any other versions of Bye Bye Blackbird out of interest?[/quote] There is a great version on Keith Jarrett's Miles Davis tribute cd 'Bye Bye Blackbird'. Coltrane did a version. Rickie Lee Jones did it, Joe Cocker, Ben Webster, Oscar Peterson. There are loads out there. The trouble with fake books is that the chord name is sometimes too simplistic as the tendency is to go for a default chord shape where a specific voicing is required. You'll probably find that the chord is correctly name (most Sher charts are pretty good) but you need to find which voicing creates the texture you are looking for. I wish I could give you a better answer but I am very busy at the moment and can't get to spend time with the charts and the original recording. I will try to get to it when I can but can't promise.

Which real book? These are substitutions that Davis didn't use. I think it is in F as I recall (not 100% sure and am not at home). If you let us know which fake book you are working to, we may be able to help explain what's going on. I picked these up off the net. Your chords are a common variation but, rather than starting on an F7 and descending chromatically, they start on the third of the F7b9, the Am7b5. The Abdim7 in the 6th bar is a tritone substition for the more diatonic D7b9. F --- l ----- l ----- l ----- F---- l Abdim7 l Gm7 l C7 Gm7 l ----- l ----- l C7 Gm7 l C7 l F l ----- F7 l ---- l Am7b5 l D7 Gm7 l Gm7 l Bbm Eb7 l Gm7 C7 F l ---- l Am7b5 l D7 Gm7 l C7 l F l ----- I think there is a good chart in the Chuck Sher Real Book.

Maybe you're a git? Seriously, tho. Is there something about your approach that undermines your credibility as a potential band member? Do you have any demos of your stuff that you can play people to get past any prejudices? Are you under-selling yourself or over-selling (streching credibility, coming over as arrogant etc)? Hell, you may be too short for some people, too ugly, too whatever (I lost out at an audition once because I was too tall! Absolutely true!! Apparently the bandleader was 5' 2'' and didn't want attention drawn to that fact by surrounding himself with tall blokes). It may be worth thinking about how you approach people for an audition and considering whether there is something that you can change.

I think a lot of players work with a pick early on because it is quicker to get off the ground. In the long term, it is less versatile but, for beginners, it gets you playing 'fast' almost on day one. It doesn't sound better for rock, just different. There isn't much you can't do with an eq to cut through. A lot of wannabe musos can't think past things sounding like the records they buy and want the pick simply because the players in their fave bands use them.

You can use a horse for all I care, as long as you get the sound you are looking for. An important part of learning, of any kind, is to develop an advanced critical sense that allows you to recognise b***s**t when it is presented to you as fact. You no more need a pick to play rock bass that you do to play rock guitar (Jeff Beck......)

Cubase has never not been able to do what I want it to so I am perfectly happy with it. I know Pro-Tools is the industry standard but, for home recording, Cubase delivers although I would argue that a lot of IT based systems are more sophisticated than the people using them and that many of the shortcomings that are revealed are as much to do with those people as the technology.

I have mixed feelings about jam sessions. I started out playing jazz at jam sessions at the Four Bars Inn in Cardiff and got my first jazz gigs off the guy who ran it (Dick Hamer) so to complain would be disingenuous. I guess we have a real problem in this country with telling people who have not repertoire that this is a problem and they should deal with it. In fact, we have a problem telling people who are crap to go home and practice some more before they do it in public (trust me, the Yanks would tell you ). We are actually letting people make fools of themselves. I also think people should be told (shown?) how to prepare charts (not dots, just a grid/list of the chords) so that people have a chance of nailing something more sophisticated than a 12-bar. Most good rhythm section players can play almost any popular song if you just give them the chords. At the same time, I sometimes like it that people who are never going to play in a proper band get to 'have a go'. Maybe some of us (including me sometimes) should get off our high horses and let beginners be beginners. Its as if we want to show ourselves in the best possible light and are aggrieved that others stop us from doing so. Is it really that important to look that good to a crowd of punters in the Grinning Rat in Ipswich?

I don't know but I guess the £50 tag is because it is an academic book, unlike the cheaper popular titles?

I was on my publishers website earlier and saw this! [url="http://www.equinoxpub.com/books/showbook.asp?bkid=240"]http://www.equinoxpub.com/books/showbook.asp?bkid=240[/url] Can't wait for it to come out!!!

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='581547' date='Aug 26 2009, 04:12 PM']How does that work, then? I'm genuinely interested, cos I've been able to read notation since I was 6, so anything else is pretty alien to me.[/quote] Music theory has moved from beign a way of explaining the sounds that are made to becoming a set of instructions on how to make the sounds. Using music theory to develop compositions could be seen as derivative. In reality it works both ways. The road from total tehnical musical knowledge to total intuitive technical ignorance is a continuum not two absolutes. Same with total reader (can't play without a score) and total improviser (free player) - most people are a bit of both.

[quote name='Wil' post='581535' date='Aug 26 2009, 04:04 PM']I should also add, you'll [i]never[/i] beat my high scores with that attitude [/quote] Damn them pesky kids!!