Hello! For the keyboardists out there, here's some Monty Alexander performing at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival. This fantastic trio includes John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums. They're performing Duke Ellington's tune "Satin Doll" - but they do all kinds of interesting things with it.
Check out how this performance uses lots of dynamics - everything from whisper-quiet, especially in the stop-time sections, to rip-roaring shout volume. Changes in dynamics are a great way to develop tension and release in a solo, and rhythm section players absolutely have to be paying attention to make these contrasts work. If you're practicing for a solo with a big band or other large jazz ensemble, do you get a chance to work with just the rhythm section on dynamics?
Beware that not every big band arrangement lends itself to lots of dynamic change in the solo section, so be sure those changes work musically. Experiment!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Dexter Gordon - Tenor
Hello! Tonight I've got a YouTube link to some live footage of the legendary Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone. He's performing at the famous Montmartre jazz club in Copenhagen Denmark, and this film is from 1971. After Dexter warms up and heads onstage, the band plays "Those Were the Days," a pop tune of the day (Yikes! I can remember when it was on the radio!).
Check out Dexter's enormous sound and his use of lots of simple lines (just a few notes) mixed in with much longer, more complex lines. He uses plenty of sequence (short but repeated ideas) to tie everything together.
Here's another video of Dexter and quartet (Rufus Reid, bass, Eddie Gladden, drums, and looks like George Cables on piano) playing the standard "It's You or No One." This is from another live performance in 1979, at the Maintenance Shop music club on the campus of Iowa State University.
Listen to how Dexter uses a great variety of rhythms - he doesn't just play long strings of eighth notes, but really shapes the lines as he plays with different rhythmic values. Do you use lots of rhythmic variety in your own playing?
Dexter also spends a lot of time repeating short ideas, kind of like riffs, as he develops his solo around halfway through. It's OK to repeat stuff! Just make sure what you want to repeat is worth repeating.
Check out Dexter's enormous sound and his use of lots of simple lines (just a few notes) mixed in with much longer, more complex lines. He uses plenty of sequence (short but repeated ideas) to tie everything together.
Here's another video of Dexter and quartet (Rufus Reid, bass, Eddie Gladden, drums, and looks like George Cables on piano) playing the standard "It's You or No One." This is from another live performance in 1979, at the Maintenance Shop music club on the campus of Iowa State University.
Listen to how Dexter uses a great variety of rhythms - he doesn't just play long strings of eighth notes, but really shapes the lines as he plays with different rhythmic values. Do you use lots of rhythmic variety in your own playing?
Dexter also spends a lot of time repeating short ideas, kind of like riffs, as he develops his solo around halfway through. It's OK to repeat stuff! Just make sure what you want to repeat is worth repeating.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Tonight Show Band
Hello! How about a blast from the past tonight? Back in the day, "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson was the top-rated late-might TV talk show. Johnny was a very funny host...and he had the most killer band on TV performing live every night.
The big band was led by lead trumpeter Doc Severinson, and was staffed by many top Los Angeles and Hollywood studio musicians. You could say it was kind of a precursor to Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band nowadays. The band would accompany Johnny's guests if they were singers, or would play a 10-15 second intro for each guest as they came onstage. Once in awhile, though, the show would feature the band, and some of the hardest-swinging charts you'd ever hear.
So have a look at this clip, featuring trumpeter Snooky Young singing and soloing on "T'ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)." This is a great example of a "commercial" arrangement played superbly well by a pro-level band. Listen to how clean every section sounds and how well the band plays together, especially during the shout chorus. Does your band pay that much attention to the details?
There's plenty of The Tonight Show Band on YouTube. See for yourself!
The big band was led by lead trumpeter Doc Severinson, and was staffed by many top Los Angeles and Hollywood studio musicians. You could say it was kind of a precursor to Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band nowadays. The band would accompany Johnny's guests if they were singers, or would play a 10-15 second intro for each guest as they came onstage. Once in awhile, though, the show would feature the band, and some of the hardest-swinging charts you'd ever hear.
So have a look at this clip, featuring trumpeter Snooky Young singing and soloing on "T'ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)." This is a great example of a "commercial" arrangement played superbly well by a pro-level band. Listen to how clean every section sounds and how well the band plays together, especially during the shout chorus. Does your band pay that much attention to the details?
There's plenty of The Tonight Show Band on YouTube. See for yourself!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Jazz trombone quartet!
Hello again! My son's trombone teacher, Chuck Wiese, is always suggesting terrific recordings for us to check out, and that reminded me I should have more stuff for trombone players here on the blog. So here's a YouTube video of a trombone quartet playing an original composition by Jon Welch. And what a quartet! - Jiggs Whigham, Alex Iles, Vincent Nilsson, and Bill Reichenbach, four of the best players on the planet. Check out "Sanibel Sojourn" to hear how four pro trombonists sound on their own. The recording is from the 2009 International Trombone Festival.
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