A few jazz standards: criticism needed

[hktenorsax]

Hey guys, my band and I recently came out with a few new recordings. We are all 16 year olds and love jazz

http://www.myspace.com/thesofttonejazzquartet

Criticism is very, very welcome guys!

[clifford_thornton]

You are young and have long lives ahead of you. Keep doing what you do. If your hearts and spirits are in the right place, you will make good music. What's clear from the tracks you've posted is that you play well together, and what a start that is. The rest will come in time, with practice and dedication. Good luck and welcome!

[AllenLowe]

"You are young and have long lives ahead of you"

I dunno- don't forget what happened to Mozart. And Bird. And Bix. And Sonny Berman. And Serge Chaloff. And Prez, Billie Holiday, and Alan Sherman. And Jim Morrison. Mike Bloomfield. Roy Buchanan. Emily Remler. Phil Ochs. James Dean. And Dean Rusk.

Edited July 21, 2010 by AllenLowe

[JSngry]

Y'all need to work on your time. That shit's all over the place.

A not uncommon issue at age 16, I hasten to add, lest you think I'm just being an asshole. I'm just saying, in order to swing, there must be an acceptance of where the pulse (which is not the same as "the beat") is, not a quest to find it. That's a function of both confidence and awareness, so be aware, be humble, but know it when you get it.

It's a lot like making love. Hell, it is like making love. The more you know, the more you grow. The more you live, the more you grow. The more you grow, the more confident you get, and the more confident you get, the more fun you can have doing instead of trying to do.

So hang in there, don't half-ass, and maybe play some tunes that, uh....make you wanna cop a feel instead of gaze admiringly.

[carnivore]

I wish we'd sounded that good at 16! The recordings show that you have a good conception of how to perform as a jazz group - you've obviously listened widely and well and the tenor player in particular has the makings of an interesting soloist. In spite of all the other stuff people will tell you, mainly what you need to do is play, as a group and individually with as many other groups as possible in situations where it's real and it matters - as opposed to the necessary rehearsing and practising. But you know that I'm sure.....congratulations and thanks for keeping the flame!

[AllenLowe]

"The more you know, the more you grow. The more you live, the more you grow. The more you grow, the more confident you get..."

so eat beans at every meal.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Nice one guys! Since you asked for feedback, a few things to think about...

1) I like the tones of all the lead instruments a lot

2) cool that the tracks are short...this is the way to do it to start with...lots of guys need too much time to say something!!!

3) one thing to think about might be the rhythm of the guitar comping - no harm in varying it a little more!

4) in 'All of Me', maybe think about leaving a little space in the head...no need to jump in with fills all the time!

5) something in particular for the piano and guitar - just occasionally you're treading on the bass player's toes...no need to double those root notes - it risks sounding like you're trying to show him where he is

But really good - keep it up!

[papsrus]

You're getting some very good feedback from folks who know.

As a listener -- not a musician -- I just want to say that I really enjoyed listening to all three tracks. Thank you.

And don't be a stranger 'round here.

[hktenorsax]

Thanks for the criticism guys, this is all really great stuff, keep it coming!!

[clifford_thornton]

We will if you will.

[JSngry]

You know, eve if you're playing with a soft sound or whatever, you still need to get the sound all the way out of the horn and into the air. Tenor player sounds like he's leaving some of his sir/sound inside the horn. Use your diaphragm better & you can still have the tone you want without the awkward "stuffy" sound. BEsides, your fingers move better when your air is flowing properly, for reasons both mental & physical.

[AllenLowe]

"Use your diaphragm better"

this also will prevent unwanted pregnancies.

[Rosco]

Really nice stuff guys. You can obviously all play and the more you play together the tighter and more cohesive it'll all get. I teach at some jazz workshops and there are guys 2 or 3 times your age who would be pleased with this standard, so keep at it! (Especially on Miss Jones, whose bridge causes abject terror in less confident players)

Just going to echo a few of the comments already made, really:

Time. Concentrate on getting a solid concept of time, individually and collectively. Practice with a metronome, and really get a feel for those eighth notes- swung and straight. I don't want to get all Wynton Marsalis about it, but if you're playing the kind of material you are you really need to swing hard (which is not the same thing as playing hard). Even with the lightest of touch, you should feel the groove. The Modern Jazz Quartet or the Jimmy Giuffre 3 could be feather-light and still make you bob your head.

Get some space in there. It's one of the hardest things to do, but what you don't play is as important as what you do. For instance, the guitar player doesn't need to lay down a full voiced chord on every beat. Let the bass player carry some stuff. Break it up, get some air in it. Again, this comes down to having a solid sense of time. Listen to the guys who use space well- Miles, Monk, Chet, etc. When you break up the rhythms you can get more of a dialogue going on between the instruments, rather than just a 'soloist' playing over a 'rhythm section'.

I'm going to focus on the saxophone in particular (as it's my instrument). I'm curious as to the different sound of the saxophone on the two tracks- it could just be the recording of it but Miss Jones sounds fuller, more controlled and more confident than All of Me. Is it a later recording? Anyway, I'm going to echo what JSangrey said. Pay attention to your sound and control. Make sure you're pushing the air through the horn, rather than just blowing into it. Again, this doesn't mean playing harder, just having more control over it.

At the moment your tone is a little 'recital'-y (if you know what I mean). I don't know what your practice regime is, but here's an excellent exercise for building tone and control that really helped me a lot (and still does) and I force onto all my students: Start at the lowest note of your horn, Bb, and play a long note. Start it softly, then build in volume(making sure you keep dead on pitch- many players have a tendency to go flat the louder they play). Then decrease in volume again. Do this same exercise going up in minor 3rds- Bb, C#, E, G until you get to your high E. Then go back down to the bottom of the horn and start again at B. Then again starting on C (you'll finish on your high F#). It can be a little boring to do- it takes me about 15 minutes to cover the whole horn- but the results are more than worth it. If your budget allows (16 year olds have tons of spare cash, right?) try out a few different mouthpiece/ reed combinations. Your sound is your personality on the horn- make sure you have the set up that allows that to come through.

As a band, just keep playing. The more you play- and experiment- the better it will get. Play with other people too. Play with people who are better than you are and steal mercilessly from them.

And listen. Listen to as much as you can, in all styles and all eras, on CDs (or mp3s or whatever you young folk listen to these days) and live. That's where all the answers are.

Finally, it's great that you're all wanting to get involved in playing jazz. There are some marvellous young players around- in fact, the piano player in my current band is 16 years old and is the best pianist I've ever played with. Scary.

[JSngry]

Yeah, long tones will turn you more into what you want to be than anything I can think of. Physically, it's essential to do this, and mentally, it gets really Zen if you do it right, seeing how long and slow and completely you can taper a note louder and then softer (and how soft is soft? You'll be surprised!). Doing long tones, you really get to feel each note, and you become really conscious of just what it is you are doing by playing the instrument - you are moving air - your air - to turn it into something that did not exist before, creating, not just esthetically but literally. After a while, it becomes apparent ( ok, might become apparent, gotta remember where we are here, no "absolute opinions" allowed...) that "making the changes" is just part of the game, the easy part, really, in some ways. It's the sound that can get you into the mystical/scientific/whatever realm. Vibrations, pure vibrations. Everything else spins from that. Everything.

Yeah - do them long tones. Absolutely and always.