"Carrying the Torch" vs. "Hip and Modern"

Hey everyone,

I wanted to quickly talk about the divide in Jazz circles that seems to be going on forever. It's the divide caused by the crowd that wants to "carry the torch" (play only standard tunes, play only in 4/4 time, etc.) and those that want to be "hip and modern" ( play only originals, never play in 4 etc.). I feel that both these "camps" are illusions and can be traps as well. As far as carrying the torch goes, there's been original music written throughout jazz's history, from Louis Armstrong's Hot 5 on. From Ellington, to Monk, to Wayne Shorter and Steve Swallow and beyond, writing new music has and always will be part of the tradition. Conversely, I find I know run into people that almost brag that they don't know any standard tunes. How would you play with new musicians you've just met in Italy? Would you bring your books and teach them one of your own tunes? No, you'd use what Keith Jarrett calls "the tribal language" and play a standard tune. (This works even if the musicians you're jamming with don't understand english!)

When you actually look at a lot of the musicians that are out there really playing right now, most of them perform (and often record) their own tunes and standard tunes. I think it's incumbent for us to work on both types of vehicles. So if you're someone who only plays other people's tunes, try writing a contrafact. This is a fancy way of saying write a melody on an existing set of chord changes. It could even be a blues. Conversely, if you haven't dealt with learning tunes, get started. A lot of them aren't very hard and memorizing them will help your musicianship in general.

Thanks,

Ted

Stephen King and music.

Hey people,

Just heard a bit of the great writer Stephen King being interviewed on CBC and it reminded me of a book of his that I found very inspirational.

Here it is:

Here's the blurb about it:

In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft--and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever.

Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing. On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid memories from adolescence, college, and the struggling years that led up to his first novel, Carrie, will afford readers a fresh and often very funny perspective on the formation of a writer. King next turns to the basic tools of his trade--how to sharpen and multiply them through use, and how the writer must always have them close at hand. He takes the reader through crucial aspects of the writer's art and life, offering practical and inspiring advice on everything from plot and character development to work habits and rejection.

Right, so what does this have to do with music? Well, once you check it out, everything.

For instance, here's a quote from the book, regarding getting input for inspiration.

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."

If we substitute the words "listen" for "read" and "play" for "write" you'll see what I'm getting at. One of the things you realize from reading this book is what a voracious reader King was and is.He's getting input all the time. Same goes for us. If you want to learn how to trade 4s, play Ska, or anything else, you need to listen to someone do it well.

King also talks about inspiration from both sides. He mentions reading stuff that wasn't particularly well written and thinking to himself "I can write as well as that". That's also important for us to realize. There are some people playing that aren't that strong, and that may give us the courage to get out there and start doing it. He also talks about reading great writers like Steinbeck and thinking in that case, "I'll never be able to be able to write anything that great." Same for us musicians. Listening to Coltrane's 60s quartet make us realize how high the bar is, and what we should strive for, even if we don't make it there.

Read this book and you'll realize how the process of imitation and assimilation transcends all art forms. Highly recommended!

5 Beat figures in triplets

Hello people!

Today I made some video of me playing a groove I stumbled upon last week.

It starts by using this sticking in triplets: RLRLL, it's 5 notes long so it circles around the bar lines in a fun way. Then I started playing it as a sort of Afro-Cuban 12/8 with the right hand on the cymbal and the left hand doing cross stick on the snare and going to the small tom for the left hand double. The first version is with the hi-hat on all 4 beats and bass drum on 2 and 4. Like so:

Next, the same thing with the hi-hat opening on the last triplet of the bar and then closing on the first triplet (with the foot). All quarter notes on the bass drum.

Finally, here's the same idea but with open and closed jazz hi-hat pattern with the left foot.

Certainly there's many different foot combinations we can all torture ourselves with! :)

I think it's important to note that I kept the "voicing" with the hands the same because I tried different ones and that's what I liked the best. Whenever you're working stuff out, take note of what appeals to you and develop that further.

later,

(Mr.) T.

Odd groupings in 3/4!

Hey,

This is something I've been working on as part of my commitment to get more odd groupings into my playing. I wrote about doing this in 4/4. It's in The Jan. 2010 and March 2010 issues of Percussive Notes and can be ordered here. (BTW, I have an article on crossovers in the current issue.) Although we're dealing with waltz time, the concept is the same. Take rhythms you're familiar with in 3/4 that are 5 notes long (a quarter note triplet and two 8th notes, for example) and after you've played that for awhile, start working towards slightly slowing down the 8th notes and speeding up the triplets until you have 5 equidistant notes in the bar. Now I had one fellow who worked with me who preferred to figure out where each note of the quintuplet worked out in 16th notes in the bar, and probably for some folks, it's a good method. I found for myself however, if it got too "mathy" it was hard for me to access and I also didn't think subdividing 16ths helped the feel too much if it was a swing setting. The same individual tried to tell some folks later and out of my presence (I know, classy huh?) that my way of doing this was baloney and I was just guessing at the grouping. Nothing could be further from the truth. As drummers, we're always working on ideas that are based on equidistant beats in the bar (Quarter notes in 4/4 time anyone?) so all I've done is worked on hearing this with 5 and 7 note groupings to find the groove in them and be able to play them as naturally as possible.

Here's me first counting in 3 and playing 5, then counting 5 and playing 3, then I repeat the whole process with 7.

Now I sing "Someday My Prince will Come" while tapping out 5 and then 7. Hollywood is going to be calling. I can feel it!

Finally, here I'm trading 4 bar phrases in 3/4 using only 5s and 7s in the trades. (Near the end I'm leaving more rests for extra wackiness!)

I have also sometimes doubled and tripled the odd groupings, BTW.

So... you may not use this stuff tonight, next week, or next year even. But I have found all this stuff has improved my time immensely. If you can divide 3 into 7 equal parts, dividing it into 3 is like a vacation!

Ta!

Inside the drummer's studio, Installment 6!

Hey,

Today I'm extremely pleased and proud to present a mini-interview with the great Adam Nussbaum!

He looks like this:

....And here's just a few things that he's done.......

Nussbaum grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut and started to play drums at age 12 after studying piano for 5 years, also playing bass and saxophone as a teenager. He moved to New York City in 1975 to attend The Davis Center for Performing Arts at City College. While there he began working with Albert Dailey, Monty Waters, Joe Lee Wilson, Sheila Jordan and he played with Sonny Rollins in 1977 in Milwaukee. In 1978 he joined Dave Liebman's quintet and did his first European tour with John Scofield. During the early eighties he continued working with John Scofield in a celebrated trio with Steve Swallow. In 1983 he become a member of Gil Evans Orchestra and played with Stan Getz as well. He later joined Eliane Elias/Randy Brecker Quartet, Gary Burton, and Toots Thielemans. In 1987 he began touring with the Michael Brecker Quintet. In 1988 they recorded the Grammy winning "Don't Try This At Home" During 1992 he was part of the Carla Bley Big Band and that same year John Abercrombie hired him to complete his organ trio.

Since then he has kept active in a wide variety of groups. Among them a recently formed quartet 'BANN' with Seamus Blake, Jay Anderson & Oz Noy, A co-op quartet "NUTTREE" with Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi & Gary Versace, The James Moody Quartet, 'We Three' w/ Dave Liebman & Steve Swallow, Eliane Elias Trio, 'Playing in Traffic' w/ Steve Swallow & Ohad Talmor and also busy maintaining an active freelance schedule. Adam has taught as an Adjunct professor at New York University, the New School and State University of New York at Purchase. He also does clinics and master classes around the world.

I'd also like to thank Adam for doing this interview while he's on tour in Europe. He's currently playing with The Impossible Gentlemen. Do yourself a favour and check out this band. Great music! Once again this is a case where the artist's responses are very much like their playing. Adam Nussbaum is known for playing in a direct, empathetic, and above all passionate way and his answers definitely reflect all those qualities.

Anyway, on to the questions......

1. Can you name a live performance and/or recording that has had a particularly profound affect on you?

Countless hours of listening to recordings and absorbing the music when I was able to be in the room with it and feel it.

Right now I can mention seeing Dizzy when I was eight. Hearing the original Tony Williams Lifetime. Digging Monk and so much great music at the Vanguard. Going to Boomers. Lots of great music in NYC!

2. As a younger player, did you do specific things to develop various types of feels (e.g. Playing on the back of the beat for some medium tempos) or did these things more develop through osmosis from careful listening?

Osmosis would be it. also playing with great players. I'm always trying to stay balanced with focus and relaxation. Intensity, not 'tense-ity'

3. Do you feel there are certain elements of the music that younger players of today might be missing?

There are so many adept young players now. If anything, with all the information so easily available there seems to be a lack and belief in the importance of some of the primary foundational basic elements.

4. How much preparation goes into the average recording session you do?

Sometimes you get a short rehearsal, sometimes not....

For example, did the band the played on Steve Swallow's "Deconstructed" get a chance to play any gigs before you recorded?

Yes. We were fortunate to have done a short tour before that date and it was wonderful to have that opportunity.

5. Do you have a favorite recording of yours and/or a recording you've done that you wish more people have heard?

This is a hard one to answer. I can't really think of one off hand..... mmmm.

Some have a had more visibility that others. I generally feel good about the projects that are musically honest valid statements. It's nice when the music, the band and the sound are all happening. I always try to do my best with what the music tells me to do. You have to play well with others (-:

I can't think of a better way to conclude except with some footage of the man himself.

Here he is playing in a killing trio with Dave Liebman and Steve Swallow. (If I ever win the lottery I'm hiring these guys to play at my birthday party!)

Enjoy!

The gig triangle

Hey folks,

I'd like to talk about a concept around deciding what work to take as a musician. This comes from great sax man and educator Dave Neill. Dave talks about the "gig triangle". Basically there are three points (or corners) to consider when taking (or not) a gig. The first corner would be good, satisfying music, the second is decent people you want to be around, and finally the third is money. The concept is that after a certain amount of professional playing ( when you're young and inexperienced, you should take EVERYTHING that comes along, and this wouldn't apply to you) two of the three corners should be present for it to be worth your while to come out and play. For example, if you're getting to play interesting and challenging music with people who are fun to be with, then it's probably still worth doing the gig, even though it probably won't make much of a dent in your retirement fund. or, if you're with nice folks and you're making a decent taste, you can probably live with the fact that the music is a little wanting in quality. Finally, if you're getting well paid and it's good music, you can probably put up with almost anyone (especially if it's only one night!)

Occasionally you run into a gig that satisfies all the corners of the triangle. I ran into one of those tonight. In fact, it was extra cool because it was a quintet, and that particular 5 people had never played together before, but almost from the first note there was a very great vibe about that combination of people. A great feeling, almost a bit like a first infatuation with someone. We'll definitely work together again!

Thanks!

Yet another rant!

Hey folks,

Just something quick I've been thinking about. I like to think I'm quite generous with whatever knowledge I've gained (I like to think about the blog as an extension of that spirit.) Yet occasionally I sometimes feel like people are trying to get something for nothing. I remember a friend of a friend coming by and casually asking me to "show him some licks and stuff on the drums". I told him no and said if he wanted to hear me he could come by a club I was playing and check out that. Maybe that seems harsh but it felt like he wanted a free performance or clinic. Musicians struggle to make money, so for someone who I have no relationship with to ask for me to basically dole out stuff at will, well, that doesn't seem reasonable to me. I certainly will chat about ideas with students and peers etc. when there's already a rapport either professionally or in an already established learning environment. If however, I'm made to feel someone's trying to get a free lesson or performance, I will definitely take umbrage!

Okay, I don't want to end on a grumpy note so here's the great Howlin' Wolf with "Smokestack Lightning". (One of my many harp heroes!)

....and here's some music that Tony Williams once remarked about, "Now THAT'S drumming!"