Free For All

Buddy Tate Larry Tate Elizabeth Montgomery

I gotta rent that.

Umm....Jim, out of respect to the Missus I believe I'll just leave this one alone.

This is the big one. This is what turns off a lot of younger players. I can only address this as a brass player, but I have to practice every day to keep in shape. It's just become a part of my life- once you establish a certain standard anything less is unacceptable. In this time of instant gratification and shrinking attention spans, the commitment to learning a craft can seem overwhelming. Improvement is sometimes dramatic and sometimes agonizingly slow. There are good days and bad days. The rewards are minimal at times, and monumental at times. I often say "I hate to practice, but I hate sucking just a little more, so I'll keep practicing".

"Self-taught" is kind of a misleading term. I think it's a mistake for anyone to think that they can learn about jazz (or any type of music) by simply taking a course or reading a book. I think (and I tell my students this) one has to become obsessed with and curious about the music to the point they will seek out answers to their questions in multiple ways- by "apprenticing" (creating relationships with mentors), by doing research on their own (studying scores, music theory, styles etc.) and of course by listening to live and recorded music. Much of this won't earn them any college credits, but it will be a large part of their musical growth. That being said, in college I learned a LOT about playing my instrument and learned a lot about music in a relatively short time. I'm glad I studied with an experienced teacher- he busted me on some bad habits, and I'll forever be grateful for that. Teaching is not easy- just because one is a good musician doesn't necessarily make them a good teacher. I think the benefit of going to college is not only WHAT you learn, but also LEARNING HOW TO LEARN (i.e. think and create for yourself). Some people achieve that w/o going to college, of course- some of my greatest musical epiphanies came from contact with musicians who had no "formal" education. I know what I learned from them as well as in college to this day helps me to help myself. That is where the term "self-taught" fits in for me.

Robert Chisholm Oral Roberts Bleeding Gums Murphy

Dick Rambone Jamie Gillis Harry Reems

Sturm und Drang Richard Wagner Lyle Wagonner

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but I am a musician and I'm curious as to what your question is.

"Are you self-taught at creating poll questions or did someone teach you to do it this way?" 1.) Orange 2.) 567.93 3.) The trains would arrive a half-hour apart

It's really a very fun hang. I hope more members check in when possible!!

What I can foresee happening here is an eventual pissing contest between Miles and Woody fans, to no good end. Comparing these two is, to me, an "apples and oranges" scenario: both are deserving of a great amount of respect, neither deserves any derision. I love them both for different reasons. Why do we have to always "choose"? There's PLENTY of love for ALL THE CATS in our big music world!!!

I've heard both terms "refrain" and "verse" used (and I've always used the term "verse") but "refrain" is probably less confusing and more accurate.

Had there been no Trane, I think Wayne Shorter would be an entirely different player.For that matter, many others as well. I think that without the major influences of Pops, Bird, Trane and the others jazz would still have evolved, just on a different plane. There would have been others put on that pedestal, others who would be widely emulated. Hard to imagine the art without those guys, though. Some kind of Bizarro world.

The bird flu might not be "the one", but it will probably happen eventually and I doubt there is much than we can do to prevent it. I'm concerned and want to stay informed, but I'm not going to worry.

I just had a bout with these the other day. But that's another story. I think this belongs in the farting thread. That's what I thought at first, too. Then it took a hard left.

Referring to Louis Armstrong, didn't Dizzy once say "No him, no me!"? Did I get that right?

I just had a bout with these the other day. But that's another story.

Yes, and he plays in major keys as well. What about Barbara Dennerlein? Hank Marr?

I've been doing hardly any gigging. That's why I can go to the gym so much.

Thanks for the support guys. I offer my support in return. I'm doing strength training too. It's actually not too bad- some of the ab exercises are a little rough, but it's all slowly improving. The holidays weren't all that bad for me food-wise. I don't do a lot of parties, and since both my parents have passed on, the holidays (which have become less of a sentimental event for me) consist of a little time with the in-laws and most of the time off hanging out at home- Mrs. FFA and I catch up on movies and otherwise just enjoy a little downtime. Not yet. More like a firm pudding.

I was talking to my trainer yesterday (I'm hanging in there- down 25 pounds to date) and we were talking about weight gain after quitting smoking, which was part of my problem. I didn't realize that smoking accelerated the metabolism as well as acting as an appetite supressant, so it makes sense that one would have a tendency to gain weight after quitting. I guess I'd assumed the problem was an oral fixation that replaced cigs with food, but there seems to be more to it than just mental issues. I mentioned before about how much I've been enjoying using the elliptical as the main device for my cardio, but I've discovered that the body adapts and the challenge diminishes, followed by diminishing benefits. My dramatic beginnings have tapered off a bit and I've had to move to some other machines. The ones currently kicking my ass are the Stairmaster and rowing machine. I'm focusing now more on getting the heart rate up to the desired level for 40 minutes or so- before I was going more for quantity than quality (obsessing on the calorie consumption), which worked for a while. Changing my goal a bit has gotten me back on track and the weight loss has resumed. It's funny, after the first of the year you see all sorts of new faces at the gym, obviously due to newly made resolutions. The place was packed most of this month, but the folks who work there say this always happens and will eventually taper off as people's resolve diminishes. They come, they go. My resolve is strong.

The slower tempo is precisely what I like about this version. Lee really has time to build some great melodic ideas and he plays several great bridges! The slower tempo also allows the rhythm section to double up the feel (as they do during the piano solo). It certainly has its own merits.