Free For All

Well, that's how I interpreted this statement. How did you mean it? As far as where you should go to learn theory, ask a question here and you will get many responses. While there are many excellent books available, I personally think that it's important to hook up with someone so you can ask specific questions- learning by yourself from a book can be pretty dull and dry. I also think a big part of learning jazz theory is ear training- connecting chord symbols and scales to actual sounds. There must be someone you could approach about helping you- either local musicians or someone at a high school or college in the area. At the very least there are many here who can advise you- just ask.

Anthony Braxton Creative Orchestra Music (1976) Is it true that it has never been out on CD?

If you're talking about Black Renaissance, I found it in a local record store, and I don't think it was an import. I could be wrong though. It is a good'un.

I listen to and learn from all types of instrumentalists and vocalists (I play trombone). I've learned a lot about phrasing ballads from listening to singers and also from listening to Miles, Ben Webster, Lester Young, etc. I've learned about playing with good time from Clark Terry, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt, Bird etc. I've learned about motivic development from Sonny Rollins, Bob Brookmeyer, John Coltrane etc. I've learned about swing from Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Smith, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Gene Ammons, Wes Montgomery, Lee Morgan etc. I've learned about harmony from Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, Thad Jones etc. I've learned about soul and sound from all of the above and more. This list just barely scratches the surface, but I expect you get my point. One other thing JazzKat- instead of finding ways to get around learning jazz harmony and theory, you should just jump in and deal with it. And how can you say bass players don't need to know about harmony? There is a lot to learn, but you will find that just a little information will immediately start expanding your musical vocabulary. Sounds like you've got good ears and that's important, but it's only part of the game. I came into jazz like that- good ears and minimal understanding of harmony. I found out real quick that I needed both skills to function.

Lee is much greeeeeeeeazier!

Billy Harper?

Don't sell yourself short! BTW; Osby?

YOU GO GIRL!!

Thanks folks!

Hadi Birthday!!

I saw Marion recently and was very disappointed. She obviously hadn't done much playing with the bassist and drummer, and the performance was quite tentative. In addition Marion, who I love on her radio show, sounded really weak. I can certainly overlook the physical limitations/chops issues given her age, but my main beef was that she was just calling tunes and the format for each tune was indentical- head, piano solo, bass solo, drum solo, head. There were NO arrangements, no tight trio playing. Given the cost of tickets, it was a drag. I would have rather she just talked about her life, about Jimmy and shared anecdotes from the radio show. Still love the woman, though.

Shut yo' mouth!

Additional thanks yous- Ubu and DizzySpells: love the trombone humor! Weiz, thanks for the Bryant's sauce- it's really hard to find around here! Maren, thanks for the cake! Catesta, thanks for the beer/babe combo! Rooster, good to see Joel and the cats as always! Lon, thanks for the giant beers! Sign me up! (great avatar, BTW ) Chuck, thanks for the abuse! BTW, this is my 2000th post- I am now a "Master of the Groove"! Wow, that took awhile...... If only I was "master of my domain". I DECLARE THIS THREAD KILLED!!

I do pretty much as Phil (Trumpet Guy) does. For brass players (at least for me) there are basically two kinds of practice- what I refer to as "maintenance" and "constructive". Maintenance consists of all the long tone, intervallic, scale, flexibility etc. exercises that are required (on a daily basis) just to stay in shape. These require focused attention to be sure, but I will admit I frequently do some of these things while watching sports (or something where I can have the TV sound off). Constructive practice usually consists of more developmental concepts- working on new *shit* (and various aspects of improvisation) by playing with and without accompaniment (the accompaniment usually being some sort of play-along). When I get busy with teaching or other things it's often all I can do just to keep the maintenance stuff together. I tend to practice for shorter sessions spread over the entire day, although it is important to get some longer sessions in to improve endurance. There is a book that I use for teaching as well as my own practice; it's by Hal Crook and it's called How To Improvise (Advance Music). Hal Crook happens to be a trombonist, but it's by no means a *trombone* book. Crook deconstructs the elements of improvisation and creates exercises to work on very specific things. I tend to jump around in the book- I just pick the thing that I'm most bored with in my own playing and attack it. That's enough of that for now.

I would have thought Rice Krispie treats might have made a more viable vehicle, although the requisite additional quantities of the key "ingredient" required (to create appropriate levels of chewiness) might have proven to be an insurmountable issue, at least on a short-term basis. At which point it might be preferable to go to plan B- fudge.

Yeah, I heard his knees are shot. It's a brutal sport. B-)

Thanks Joe and everyone for all the kind words. You folks are the best. Thanks for putting up with me. I really enjoy hanging out here- talk about your book/street smarts! Amazing knowledge, musical (and other) insight, humor (both light and dark), conflict, newbie abuse; this place has it all! I've discovered so much great music from hanging out here. I hope to meet some more of you at some point. And thanks to our gracious hosts as always- long live Organissimo!

I just heard that trombonist Jerry Johnson passed away from leukemia this week. Probably a name not known to many, but he was a hell of a player. I first heard him w/Maynard's band in the 70s. He played on Maynard's Chameleon album- he played the famous bass line to the title tune, which is not such a big deal save for the fact he did it on a tenor trombone (with no additional attachments). He played those low notes by "faking it' with his embouchure, no small feat! He also played with Rob McConnell's Boss Brass (he was Canadian). He was a very nice and approachable guy- he spent a long time talking to me at a clinic when I was in high school. He was encouraging and I'll always remember him for that. R.I.P. Jerry

You know, he wrote the tune "Dlorah". Like in "Dlorah is a face in the misty light...."

Lucky Charms of the Night Sky? Also, Itsbynne Reel from the Michael Brecker CD Don't Try This At Home. Not an Irish tune, but definitely has an Irish "flavor" in a *Breckerian* sort of way.

Richard Kiel aka"Jaws" in the Bond films. He also had a great part in "The Longest Yard".

Pete, I think you're thinking of the duet recording that Carter did w/Jim Hall.

I dunno, it feels hipper somehow. B-)

or perhaps............

After reading the shop class-related experiences in another thread, I thought it might be fun to share some stories about various projects (both successful and unsuccessful), brushes with danger etc. I'll start with Cub Scouts. I remember a project where we nailed a bunch of bottle caps to a board, spray painted it and called it a foot-scraper. And then we ate a bunch of sugar, which was typical for a Cub Scout meeting. I never did build any of those cool Pinewood Derby cars- anyone remember those? Jr. High shop class was interesting (this was where I had the shop teacher who was missing fingers). I never created much more than a lame wooden candy dish. I sanded that sucker FOREVER and it never looked right. I remember they had an injection molder and we made plastic poker chips and golf tees by the thousands. I never took the high school auto-mechanics class (I wish now that I had). At that time this was where all the school "thugs" hung out. B-) I really liked the class where we did mechanical drawing- you know, making drawings of nuts, bolts, building plans, etc. on that cool graph paper. I'll bet we have have some shop class geniuses (and the opposite ) around here. Show yourselves! ( <--- severed hand missing four fingers )