Ted's Warren Commission Jazz Bistro Dec. 6

Here's the first set from a recent performance Ted's Warren Commission did at the Jazz Bistro. Happy Holidays everyone! 

….And Because I'm still trying to make a hit out of this thing, back by NOT popular demand, The LEANING TOWER OF TREE ZA!

Podcast interview: Suicide Zen Forgiveness

About a year ago I gave an interview to host Elaine Lindsay on her Suicide Zen Forgiveness podcast. I thought this might be a good time to post this. It can be a very hard time of year for those who struggle due to suicides in their family or their own suicidal thoughts. In the interview I discussed my sister's suicide in summer 1991 and its effect on me and my family.  I am currently aiming to be more forthcoming about my family's history of mental health challenges, as well as my own. We have to end the shame and stigmatization about this! Finally, if you need to talk to someone, help is available. 

Please enjoy your holidays and let's take care of each other……..

More make-work brush projects….

 I think I posted this in 4/4 but here's a 3/4 brush pattern where the RH taps out the standard 3/4 ride beat and the LH slides in quintuplets , making a star shape.

One time, when I showed this to a student, he remarked, "You must have a lot of time on your hands." He wasn't wrong…… See last week's post on perspective for balance! 

Perspective

 So, the other day, I was working on playing triplets of 5 and 7 note length stickings w/ my right foot playing with my right hand. I was working on this in 3/4 with hi-hat playing the Viennese waltz ( + of 1 and beat 3) thing. The actual idea I was working on isn't important. What's important is I started thinking about this tune after the practice session…..

                                                          

While it's true Don Henley's performance here won't get him invited to any drum festivals, I WOULD VIEW THAT AS A POSITIVE! As someone who has had to work very hard to play on the back of the beat and leave space, this is some serious drum concept! If you don't think it is, try playing along with it!

So, this is a good reminder for me about the beauty of simplicity and eloquence! Thank you Mr. Henley.

Also, if the video gets taken down later ( Eagles tend to be a particularly litigious bird) look up "I Can't Tell You Why" by the Eagles off of "The Long Run". An album that simply hasn't gotten its due because it was preceded by "Hotel California".  Have fun and see you soon.

Tomorrow Night! (Dec. 6th!) The Triumphant Telltale Tremendous Tones of Ted's Warren Commission

 NOTE: Just because I said it was triumphant, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll play any Triumph tunes. (although anything is possible.)

Okay! The deets….

THE PIZZA DEBATE CONTINUES!!!!!

Tuesday Dec. 6th, 8PM

Jazz Bistro, 251 Victoria St., Toronto

$20

Allison Au- Alto (Obviously an "A" student)

Ted Quinlan- Guitar (With many Quinlans of pedals)

Mike Downes- Bass (From the land of K-Tel and Pic-a-Pop)

Ted Warren-  Traps (All kinds) 

C'mon out and avoid Holiday Shopping (Unless you're shopping for an earful of delight!) 

King Crimson in concert 29th September 1982 , Munich,

 Just stumbled on to this. I really feel that Robert Fripp and his various incarnations of King Crimson haven't gotten enough credit for creating such interesting and innovative music for (with a break or two) for almost 50 years. I'm posting this live concert from the '80s of my favourite version of the band, with Fripp, Belew, Bruford, and Levin. It's been said that this is the most commercial of the Crimson line-ups, but in Fripp's world, I think that commercialism is pretty relative! Dig this…..

                                                                                            

I always love the way they play together. Even the contrast between Belew's extreme engagement and Fripp's distant, almost dour demeanour is something I've always found compelling. Throw in one of the best and most creative bass players, and Bruford, well, he's Bruford! He's a musician that never takes the safe, easy route.

I have been checking out the most recent Crimson stuff with the 3 drummers, and although I don't like it as much as this (and I realize I'm not immune to nostalgia in my music tastes) it certainly is creative and interesting, and I'm going to keep on listening! Also, try to check out the Crimson doc, if you can.  I believe it's available via streaming,

P.S. Here's the same band 2 years later in Japan! :) 

Haphazard?

 Further to most post last week about looseness, I'd like to talk about something regarding a conversation I had at my side hustle gig recently. The subject of Jazz came up, and this individual stated he didn't like it because he found it "haphazard". Now, I understand to a new listener, the music must seem random and people just "play anything", but as one acquires more knowledge and experience, it becomes very clear how many obstacles one navigates to even create a mediocre performance. To demonstrate, I thought I would list just a few of the things I am thinking about and mentally juggling while playing improvised music….

As a drummer…

-Making sure the tempo is steady (if the tune isn't rubato)

-creating a beautiful cymbal and drum sound

-trying to create and maintain a pleasing groove with the bassist and rest of the band

-remembering and relating to the form

- "" "" "" the melody 

- interacting with and supporting the soloist

-constantly accessing my dynamics, both as a whole and each limb individually 

- figuring out how I can represent the different sections of a tune's performance (e.g. Head vs. Solos, differentiating between soloists etc.) and what the trajectory of the whole tune will be

-and much more….

As a pianist/soloist

-representing the tune's harmony accurately 

-deciding on comping rhythms/voicings

-deciding on whether to comp at all

-playing correct notes on the chord changes

-hearing and relating to the melody

-supporting and reacting to other soloists

-what rhythms and articulations to play during a solo

- deciding length of solo

-gaging relative volume

-and much more…..

In conclusion, when improvising, one is making split second decisions that will affect the success of the performance constantly! Just because one doesn't know exactly what one is going to play, doesn't mean there aren't infinite high level decisions going on based on years of practice, listening, and development of taste! Happy listening!