Never played a Jazz gig before..

[Jayben]

HELP! I've been asked to do a wedding gig as part of a jazz band, it'll be a 3/4 piece setup, just playing standards. I have the lead sheets, and I can follow them easy enough with a bit of practice.. I'm just not sure about what I can get away with.. My knowledge of modes isn't up to scratch either, although that is something I'm currently working on.

Any tips or advice? Do's and don'ts? I've been through the pinned Wedding Gigs thread as well, so I sort of have an idea of how to behave with the guests and the B+G..

[JakeBrownBass]

What other instruments are you playing with?

If there's a keys or guitar player, your in an easier situation that if you were in a trio with just a drummer & soloist.

If your not comfortable with bein extravagant over the changes, stick to simple walking lines, it's a wedding so I doubt they want you to solo.

If you can, get old of Ed Friedlands walking bass book & start at the beginning

Also, post your set list up here and we can give some more advice how to approach the separate tunes!

[Jayben]

Uhh yeah, the setlist.. In no particular order:

All Of Me (Simone)
All The Things You Are (Hammerstein)
Blue Bossa
Could It Be You (Porter)
Cry Me A River (Hamilton)
Favela (Jobim)
Green Dolphin St. (Washington)
I Got It Bad (Duke)
It Don't Mean A Thing (Duke)
Lullaby of Birdland (Shearing)
Misty (Garner)
My Funny Valentine (Hart)
Night & Day (Porter)
Satin Doll (Duke)
Sunny Side Of The Street (Fields)
Take The A Train (Duke)
Watermelon Man (Hancock)
You Took Advantage Of Me (Rogers)

And it'll be drums and guitar, hopefully keys too although that's not set in stone yet.

[phil625sxc]

if you can get hold of some playalongs to practise with first that will help - I have some of the ones you're doing if you need them - just let me know.
Also, just concentrate on keeping it simple as per Jake's advice above - most importantly outline the changes and don't get lost on the sheet - if you're not familiar with the tune then follow it closely as you're probably the only player in the band who can't afford to lose their place in the tune !
Again, if you're not familiar with the tune make sure you know the tempo it's counted in at - saves you playing at half or double the tempo of the rest of them !! (i've done this with tunes counted in by singers at double tempo....)
it's normal play a two feel under the head then start walking under the solos - listen to what the drummer is doing.
Swing, and enjoy !! :-)

Good luck,

Phil

[Jayben]

Ok... so keep your place, keep it simple, know the tempos. Most importantly, keep the groove.

Gotcha. Cheers fellas, I reckon those play-a-longs would a great help, yes please!

[phil625sxc]

ok i'll see what i can dig out tonight for you - in the meantime there's some on spotify if you have that ?

[Jayben]

I don't, no - I will definitely look into that when I get home tonight too!

I'll zap you my email address too

[derrenleepoole]

Just keep it simple if you're doing a wedding gig. Weddings gigs can be great fun, but at the end of the day you're there to either a. be background music while people eat and drink or b. be the life and sole of the party after everyone has eaten and is getting blotto! Either way, there's no need for pyrotechnics on the bass. Let the lead singer and guitarist handle that and you just concentrate on delivering a solid foundation for the others to work against. The audience wont know or care if you're playing a clever 'jazz' harmonies. Keep it simple, keep it swinging and have fun.

[BassBunny]

I remeber my first Jazz gig. A posh Dinner-Dance.
Some great advice already. What i did was get MiDi files for the numbers we were playing, (pretty much the set-list above), and used them to learn the numbers. You can get virtually anything on MiDi for free.
You can download a MiDi player from VanBasco for free that allows you to "Solo" the Bass and slow the track down. Really helped.
Happy to send what I have if it will help.