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Getting into Jazz - where to start


thepurpleblob
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[quote name='synaesthesia' post='456604' date='Apr 7 2009, 05:28 PM']Marienthal.

I guess saxophone players don't matter much in the world of electric bass players for whom Mike Stern is so high up on a pedestal. Good player, but it quite obvious where the slant is on this forum. FWIW, I have been listening to Mike Stern since he was with BS&T, and I've met the man with Dennis Chambers in '93. Again good player, but all this "you don't like or don't know Mike Stern?" bashing is amusing to say the least in the face of 'Eric someone.'[/quote]

Go back and reread my post. I praised the whole quartet for great playing. I've known Mike Stern's playing for a long time too, and merely commented that I don't like his sound. Such a heavily effected sound tends to grate over a long period of listening, especially chorusing.
I also am very well aware of who Eric Marienthal is, just didn't have his name at the tip of my tongue. This is all opinion, so why not think before writing condescending posts, as if you're the only one that's ever listened to Mike Stern?

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='456217' date='Apr 7 2009, 10:41 AM']It is not that they are inately crap - it is that there are 53 million songs out there and everyone playes those 5.

Punters like them because they are passive consumers not because these compositions are particularly good. There are literally thousands of tunes that have equal levels of immediacy and are easy to play but, because people can't be arsed to look for them or to transcribe them/prepare charts, they never get an airing.[/quote]

I should have added earlier that we also play 'Come together' by the Beatles, a couple of Coldplay songs, and a bit of a tribute to Lalo Shiffrin including the theme from 'Bullitt' and 'Dirty Harry'.

All transcribed and arranged by our trombone player.

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I saw a quartet do a jazzily arranged version of the Men Behaving Badly theme once, it was cracking. :)

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='456942' date='Apr 7 2009, 11:04 PM']I should have added earlier that we also play 'Come together' by the Beatles, a couple of Coldplay songs, and a bit of a tribute to Lalo Shiffrin including the theme from 'Bullitt' and 'Dirty Harry'.[/quote]
How about doing a bit of a Maurice Jarre tribute too, as I understand he's just passed away.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='456217' date='Apr 7 2009, 09:41 AM']It is not that they are inately crap - it is that there are 53 million songs out there and everyone playes those 5.

Punters like them because they are passive consumers not because these compositions are particularly good. There are literally thousands of tunes that have equal levels of immediacy and are easy to play but, because people can't be arsed to look for them or to transcribe them/prepare charts, they never get an airing.

Re: your two graduates from Birmingham conservatoire jazz course and the trombone player on the classical music course - in my experience, this is no guarantee of anything. People who get qualifications as players can be superb but they can also be pretty average if they lack the passion. As a self-trained musician, I am sometimes stunned by the poor playing of conservatory trained musicians.

Re: snobbery - it is not the elitist in me that makes me dislike most jam sessions, it is the unwillingness of the British musicians to say 'go away and practice some more' to the more dysfunctional attendees. If someone plays like Sanborn, I will play with them, even thought he is not my favourite player. It is when they play like Sanborn's dog that I get hacked off. I suspect the standard in London is higher than it is in Ipswich :)[/quote]

I've not heard Sanborn's dog so I can't comment. Is there a You Tube link?

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I give up.... you're all weird and I don't know what you're talking about - Canteloop?? Are you seriously suggesting that I go to a Jazz jam and ask to play? I'm a covers band player for gawds sake. I've never played a note that I haven't copied off a record in my life :) (no, really!!)

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[quote name='Hutton' post='456104' date='Apr 7 2009, 08:51 AM']Jams are a great way for musicians to enjoy themselves in a social and informal setting. Therefore, it doesn't matter if you are Coltrane or just a beginner. It is also an excellent opportunity for more experienced musicians to share their ideas with beginners, unless of course they are elitist and only want to play with "proficient" musicians.[/quote]

+1.

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[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='464353' date='Apr 16 2009, 08:04 PM']I give up.... you're all weird and I don't know what you're talking about - Canteloop?? Are you seriously suggesting that I go to a Jazz jam and ask to play? I'm a covers band player for gawds sake. I've never played a note that I haven't copied off a record in my life :) (no, really!!)[/quote]

Then you have a way to go before becoming an out and out jazzer. There are, however, several riff based tunes that you could play be learning the two/four bar riffs/ostinatos that constitute the arrangement; Canteloupe Island, Watermelon Man, Sidewinder, Song For My Father, Chameleon etc. You could easily sit on on those tunes without looking like a idiot. You just start there and build. The fact that these tunes bore me beyond belief isn't your problem; it's mine.

For me, if someone has the core skills; time, intonation etc, then they are welcome at jam sessions and I agree they are a great place to start. My beef is with people that come along and take up valuable 'stage' time who actually can't really string three notes together that are in tune or in time, never mind play anything genuinely worth hearing. Sadly, it is often the case that these 'non-starters' outnumber the more credible contributors and, for me, can undermine the potential of the occasion. This is not about elitism but about saying there are some basic principles that you need to deal with as a player before you go on stage in public.

There is another side to that as well. Some of these people are so bad that all we are really doing is allowing them to make fools of themselves in public. X Factor auditions at a local level.

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='464700' date='Apr 17 2009, 09:26 AM']Then you have a way to go before becoming an out and out jazzer. There are, however, several riff based tunes that you could play be learning the two/four bar riffs/ostinatos that constitute the arrangement; Canteloupe Island, Watermelon Man, Sidewinder, Song For My Father, Chameleon etc. You could easily sit on on those tunes without looking like a idiot. You just start there and build. The fact that these tunes bore me beyond belief isn't your problem; it's mine.

For me, if someone has the core skills; time, intonation etc, then they are welcome at jam sessions and I agree they are a great place to start. My beef is with people that come along and take up valuable 'stage' time who actually can't really string three notes together that are in tune or in time, never mind play anything genuinely worth hearing. Sadly, it is often the case that these 'non-starters' outnumber the more credible contributors and, for me, can undermine the potential of the occasion. This is not about elitism but about saying there are some basic principles that you need to deal with as a player before you go on stage in public.

There is another side to that as well. Some of these people are so bad that all we are really doing is allowing them to make fools of themselves in public. X Factor auditions at a local level.[/quote]

I seriously think that I would fall readily into the latter camp. The idea of turning up and "just playing" without having spent a couple of nights learning something fills me with dread - not going to happen, nope, no way. I'm used to playing songs that bore me to tears - we play Green Day songs for example :) I guess I'm really looking for songs that I can learn and analyse and get a different perspective from the usual rock stuff where a spot of Mixolydian mode is about as exciting as it gets (a bit unfair but I'm sure you know what I mean).

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