Every once in a while, I like to play over tunes I haven't worked on in a long time, to refresh them, make sure I really know the tune inside and out, and often times these practice sessions give me a completely new take on the tune. The one I randomly picked this time was Misty. The last time I thought of this tune was when I was listening obsessively to John Coltrane's I Want to Talk About You solo from Newport '63. His version of that tune makes me think of Misty, probably because the chords are similar, if not the same. His embellishing of the melody from the get-go, arpeggiating the chords and use of multiphonics, along with harmony I still don't understand, is so unique the first time you hear it, especially on a ballad.
When I think of a ballad, I think of absolute musical freedom. Ballads are my favorite thing to play, and the reason is just that-musical freedom. You have the world at your fingertips, really. You have the opportunity to play it poorly, play it just average, or play it remarkably. With this kind of song, you have the ability to make people feel every emotion: they may sob, they may feel sad, they may feel all mixed emotions, and your job is to convey your passion to the listener and make them overcome with emotion. Coltrane does it on I Want To Talk About You. I think if I had been given the wonderful chance to hear him play it live, two things would have happened: my mouth would've hit the floor in amazement, and I would have been overcome with emotion.
Back to the idea of musical freedom on a ballad, the player can state the melody simply or he can embellish it a little, or go to the other end of the spectrum, and embellish it wildly or more so than just a little. For me, it depends on my mood. I've experimented with tons of ways to approach a ballad, and sometimes I feel like playing very softly and not as much, and other times, I am wild. Nothing is wrong with either--all that matters is you are being honest with what you are playing, and some musicians will say, play the notes you hear in your head. Sometimes, it's blurry and sometimes, it's magical and the wheels are really turning.
On this day, I felt a little more wild, because I had been transcribing Just Friends, the Charlie Parker solo, and my imagination was all over the place and my fingers were moving faster--and therefore, my brain was moving faster and wanting to play faster. The following is my take on Misty, focusing on all but the bridge:
After another personal listen, one thing about the approach that I felt was good included an arpeggiation over polychords, or at least a descending bass line with chords on top. This is something I have been working on as of late, and there are so many ways to maneuver in and out of these chord progressions we all know and love. It's very noticeable in my playing over this that I am trying very hard to play outside the box that I am very much trapped in. I know where I'm at and what I'm doing, and very aware of stretching the chord, but just don't completely understand the chord I'm striving for. Hopefully this will come with time and more stretching of the imagination.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Advanced Transcription continued: The Next Step
The next step was implementing Bird's ideas into my own soloing. A lot of what I have been working on the past 3 years or so is playing solo saxophone and trying to reflect the harmony of the tune I'm working on, and/or be able to "perform" it almost like a pianist does. The saxophone is very capable of this, and the greatest alive right now are capable of being entertaining, astounding and creative playing minus the rhythm section. Practicing cadenzas and plotting them out is probably the most fun I have practicing today. It is also the most challenging practice technique I've ever encountered, and involves tons of creativity, especially if you have no exact target audience, and would be able to entertain any listener, from advanced to someone that may know very little or nothing about music, or just your average listener. The amazing John Coltrane and the living legend Sonny Rollins, Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Seamus Blake, the now unfortunately deceased Michael Brecker, all are amazing examples of saxophonists that use this technique and make the song sound like a rhythm section is there. You can hear the piano, the bass line, the harmony from every angle, the melody is always there...this is another level, but approachable if you try to connect it altogether and plot it out in the most musical way you can. I'm always having fun, experimenting with ways I can get better at this.
Some of my articulation is messy. Of course, it doesn't help that my saxophone neck is messed up, which is why the octaves aren't responding the way it should. But those are just excuses--working around the problems makes you better, right?! Bird could play on any horn, any mouthpiece. Gotta make it work, like Tim Gunn says, hahha. Back to the solo: My first goal is outline as many chords as I can remember and really try to connect the harmonies. The second goal is to make it interesting, and try to use the full range of the instrument, which I think is extremely, extremely important when being creative. The third goal is to split the octaves, using my lowest notes, like Cs, Bs and Bbs, to give it the appeal of the left hand on the piano. The fourth goal is how do I get from a starting free-time feel into an obvious swingin' time feel, where the 8th notes are really happening. On this take, it's developing, but the time feel isn't as clear as I would like it to be. The ideas aren't really bouncing off the way I would like, either. Here's the second take:
The plan is more coming together here. However, I feel I am not completely convincing of the pronounced bass line and should work to maybe even "walk" some bass lines to demonstrate an obvious difference of the bass vs. the harmony vs. the improvising and melody. I also noticed that after playing so many notes from the original Bird solo, that I am playing many, many notes myself. There's so much energy in me after working on that solo and the ideas flow more clearly because of it. It's Bird, the gift that keeps on giving. The third take is here:
Again, I didn't entertain enough to the idea of the walking bass line. I did start in the stratosphere of the saxophone, which gives it a different approach. I can hear the harmony a little better on this take, but I feel my energy dies towards the end too much and the ending isn't as pronounced as I would like.
If you aren't critical of yourself when working towards certain goals (in this case, playing a solo unaccompanied and making it both rhythmically and harmonically interesting), you are limiting yourself to the possibilities you have of getting increasingly better. Also, you should constantly be recording yourself and listening back and just being honest on the things you would like to do better. Articulation and an obvious time feel, and the splitting of the octaves are my most wanting-to-improve points here.
I had a lot of fun working on this, and will expand later. Thank you for reading and letting me share! Any thoughts and/or critique is strongly welcomed!
After working on the Charlie Parker Just Friends solo, I just wanted to play over Just Friends all the live-long day. It was challenging and fun, and this is what I came up with--3 different practice examples of plotting out what I wanted to do if I were performing a "solo saxophone" concert, or just cadenza playing in general. You will probably see that by the third example, I have it mapped out a little better, but I'm not quite where I'd like to be in terms of the whole story. I'll follow this with some explanation.
Some of my articulation is messy. Of course, it doesn't help that my saxophone neck is messed up, which is why the octaves aren't responding the way it should. But those are just excuses--working around the problems makes you better, right?! Bird could play on any horn, any mouthpiece. Gotta make it work, like Tim Gunn says, hahha. Back to the solo: My first goal is outline as many chords as I can remember and really try to connect the harmonies. The second goal is to make it interesting, and try to use the full range of the instrument, which I think is extremely, extremely important when being creative. The third goal is to split the octaves, using my lowest notes, like Cs, Bs and Bbs, to give it the appeal of the left hand on the piano. The fourth goal is how do I get from a starting free-time feel into an obvious swingin' time feel, where the 8th notes are really happening. On this take, it's developing, but the time feel isn't as clear as I would like it to be. The ideas aren't really bouncing off the way I would like, either. Here's the second take:
The plan is more coming together here. However, I feel I am not completely convincing of the pronounced bass line and should work to maybe even "walk" some bass lines to demonstrate an obvious difference of the bass vs. the harmony vs. the improvising and melody. I also noticed that after playing so many notes from the original Bird solo, that I am playing many, many notes myself. There's so much energy in me after working on that solo and the ideas flow more clearly because of it. It's Bird, the gift that keeps on giving. The third take is here:
Again, I didn't entertain enough to the idea of the walking bass line. I did start in the stratosphere of the saxophone, which gives it a different approach. I can hear the harmony a little better on this take, but I feel my energy dies towards the end too much and the ending isn't as pronounced as I would like.
If you aren't critical of yourself when working towards certain goals (in this case, playing a solo unaccompanied and making it both rhythmically and harmonically interesting), you are limiting yourself to the possibilities you have of getting increasingly better. Also, you should constantly be recording yourself and listening back and just being honest on the things you would like to do better. Articulation and an obvious time feel, and the splitting of the octaves are my most wanting-to-improve points here.
I had a lot of fun working on this, and will expand later. Thank you for reading and letting me share! Any thoughts and/or critique is strongly welcomed!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Advanced Transcription: Charlie Parker's "Just Friends" Solo
In January 2004, I transcribed Charlie Parker's Just Friends solo, probably the hardest solo I've ever worked on. It's also my favorite! The way his ideas are so effortless, it has always boggled my mind! Back then, I was a transcribing machine, and nowadays, I transcribe less and less, at least when it comes to doing complete solos from start to finish. This solo has always stayed with me, though, because it enabled me to work on so many things simultaneously, but over the years, parts of the solo have drifted away from my fingers.
...Which leads me to now, September 2011, almost 8 years later, and really missing being able to play this solo. I've also been studying a ton of Charlie Parker over the last 3 years, and I feel it does an incredible job of improving my ears and improvisation. He's my idol, of course, and has been since I first heard him on one of my first jazz CDs back in 1997. His recording of Just Friends is nothing short of magnificent, and I really wanted to relearn it. Piece by piece, it came together over a short couple of days, mostly because I had played it so many times and learned it so thoroughly all those years ago. Still polishing it, though. Here's what I have so far:
Just a thought that I feel is very, very important when it comes to transcription: When you transcribe something that is very fast and difficult to catch everything, such as this Just Friends solo, or any other Bird w/ Strings recording, where he plays line after line of very melodic, but very articulate (which is extremely creative articulation!) ideas...try doing the solo without assistance, which would include something like Transcribe (a program which slows down the recording), or the sheet music, if you can find it. This may seem overwhelming at first to not be able to slow it down, especially with the first line of the solo in Just Friends. This is an advanced concept, obviously, but no beginner or even intermediate player would attempt this solo as one of their first transcriptions, most likely, and should start with something a little easier. In other words, transcribing at the original speed, no matter how difficult the solo, is your best bet to improve your ears and musicianship significantly. I've never used Transcribe, but will if I want to write a book and get the notes 100% accurate on paper--that's a different kind of accuracy. But for style, articulation, and better flow of the idea you are learning, and connecting it all together, the original speed (although tortuous at times) is the way to go for the best results in terms of being a better musician and improviser.
The first line of the solo probably took a week when I tried it the first time to get it flowing the way it should. That was an extreme amount of work. I compare it to memorizing a poem by Shakespeare: If you memorize maybe 4 or 5 lines at a time, and work really hard at it, you will nail those 4 or 5 lines during your memorizing session of let's say, 30 minutes. Then you come back maybe 2 hours later, and try it again, suddenly...you freeze...it's gone. It's kind of there, but you must relearn it. Then it starts to flow. Now you have completed phase one of memorizing the poem. When you recite the poem the very next day, you can do it with much more ease. Phase two is memorizing another set of lines in the same fashion, but then connecting it with the part you had already learned. Connecting both newly learned parts can be very tough, especially when you are aiming for perfection. This is the same process I go about when transcribing a Charlie Parker solo, or any solo for that matter.
When you transcribe, you should be the biggest stickler in the world towards detail: blending with the solo (playing softer underneath it), articulating the notes the same way, shapes and phrasing, etc. It's beyond the notes, really...it's how he plays them. Sometimes you can get crazy and try to relate to his emotion, which Bird w/ Strings really in my opinion is Bird's best, simply because I know that he loved the strings the most.
I remember watching Bird, the fantastic Clint Eastwood film based on Charlie Parker's life, as well as Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, and both films displayed Charlie's love of the strings, especially in Celebrating Bird, which is a documentary rather than a movie. I don't remember the details or exact quote, but it was something similar to, when they took the strings away, he was devastated.
When it comes to picking a transcription, you should pick the solo that is challenging for your current level, whatever that may be. It shouldn't be extremely more challenging, but should be a challenge. It should serve the purpose of making you a better player. I pick Charlie Parker solos most often because they are extremely challenging to emulate, and I feel that even after a lifetime of doing them to completion, I still could learn more. That's incredible!
...In the next blogpost, coming very shortly, I will discuss my next step in the journey, which is taking what I learned and using it for improvisation on a tune, and in this case, Just Friends.
...Which leads me to now, September 2011, almost 8 years later, and really missing being able to play this solo. I've also been studying a ton of Charlie Parker over the last 3 years, and I feel it does an incredible job of improving my ears and improvisation. He's my idol, of course, and has been since I first heard him on one of my first jazz CDs back in 1997. His recording of Just Friends is nothing short of magnificent, and I really wanted to relearn it. Piece by piece, it came together over a short couple of days, mostly because I had played it so many times and learned it so thoroughly all those years ago. Still polishing it, though. Here's what I have so far:
Just a thought that I feel is very, very important when it comes to transcription: When you transcribe something that is very fast and difficult to catch everything, such as this Just Friends solo, or any other Bird w/ Strings recording, where he plays line after line of very melodic, but very articulate (which is extremely creative articulation!) ideas...try doing the solo without assistance, which would include something like Transcribe (a program which slows down the recording), or the sheet music, if you can find it. This may seem overwhelming at first to not be able to slow it down, especially with the first line of the solo in Just Friends. This is an advanced concept, obviously, but no beginner or even intermediate player would attempt this solo as one of their first transcriptions, most likely, and should start with something a little easier. In other words, transcribing at the original speed, no matter how difficult the solo, is your best bet to improve your ears and musicianship significantly. I've never used Transcribe, but will if I want to write a book and get the notes 100% accurate on paper--that's a different kind of accuracy. But for style, articulation, and better flow of the idea you are learning, and connecting it all together, the original speed (although tortuous at times) is the way to go for the best results in terms of being a better musician and improviser.
The first line of the solo probably took a week when I tried it the first time to get it flowing the way it should. That was an extreme amount of work. I compare it to memorizing a poem by Shakespeare: If you memorize maybe 4 or 5 lines at a time, and work really hard at it, you will nail those 4 or 5 lines during your memorizing session of let's say, 30 minutes. Then you come back maybe 2 hours later, and try it again, suddenly...you freeze...it's gone. It's kind of there, but you must relearn it. Then it starts to flow. Now you have completed phase one of memorizing the poem. When you recite the poem the very next day, you can do it with much more ease. Phase two is memorizing another set of lines in the same fashion, but then connecting it with the part you had already learned. Connecting both newly learned parts can be very tough, especially when you are aiming for perfection. This is the same process I go about when transcribing a Charlie Parker solo, or any solo for that matter.
When you transcribe, you should be the biggest stickler in the world towards detail: blending with the solo (playing softer underneath it), articulating the notes the same way, shapes and phrasing, etc. It's beyond the notes, really...it's how he plays them. Sometimes you can get crazy and try to relate to his emotion, which Bird w/ Strings really in my opinion is Bird's best, simply because I know that he loved the strings the most.
I remember watching Bird, the fantastic Clint Eastwood film based on Charlie Parker's life, as well as Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, and both films displayed Charlie's love of the strings, especially in Celebrating Bird, which is a documentary rather than a movie. I don't remember the details or exact quote, but it was something similar to, when they took the strings away, he was devastated.
When it comes to picking a transcription, you should pick the solo that is challenging for your current level, whatever that may be. It shouldn't be extremely more challenging, but should be a challenge. It should serve the purpose of making you a better player. I pick Charlie Parker solos most often because they are extremely challenging to emulate, and I feel that even after a lifetime of doing them to completion, I still could learn more. That's incredible!
...In the next blogpost, coming very shortly, I will discuss my next step in the journey, which is taking what I learned and using it for improvisation on a tune, and in this case, Just Friends.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Playing Trumpet
Wow, I love to play the trumpet! It's a daily thing for me. There's a few reasons why:
1) It's not the saxophone, my main instrument and the one I've played for 17+ years, so it's fresh and it's new.
2) It's challenging, and fun.
3) It punishes you severely if you don't play it every day, forcing you to be more disciplined.
4) I think it makes me a better musician.
5) It definitely makes me a better improviser.
#5 is really important to me. I think that playing trumpet makes me a better improviser because I'm so limited. Range-wise, I'm only up to halfway decent As (above the staff), and pretty rough Bbs. One time, I hit a D. And I think I hit a pretty bad C three or four times. I'm still not sure how I hit the D. As far as playing low, I practice down to very low F# in my daily chromatic workouts, lip slurs and little exercises I made up or heard somewhere.
Did I mention how much I love trumpet?!!
Other than the range limitation (below staff F# to above staff A and Bb), I'm limited by versatility. Obviously you can't be a virtuoso on trumpet in 2 years and 3 months of playing. Probably not in a lifetime, either.
With the trumpet in my hands, I feel like a true improviser. My real voice is saxophone, mostly alto these days, but the trumpet offers me something the saxophone cannot: remembering what it's like to be a beginner. Ideas pop in my head while I'm playing that never would have on saxophone. I just feel on top of the world every time I play it. The fact that I can't do what I can do on the saxophone on the trumpet drives me crazy and keeps me motivated!
Here's a few things I should add as well:
1) I started playing trumpet as a teaching tool for beginner bands. Saxophone is not only intimidating-looking but is a mess to try and hold and play (since you need a neckstrap and 2 hands!) while you direct. It also projects so well and the brassy sound spreads through the band so there is absolutely no doubt what the rhythms and notes are that I'm trying to teach.
2) I was also very terrible from the get-go sound-wise. While I learned the fingerings and some basics quite quickly (since I think it's very similar to the right hand on the saxophone), buzzing into a mouthpiece and getting a good sound was a nightmare for months on end. It still can be some days.
3) I have developed some not-so-good habits, like puffing my cheeks when I play and overblowing. When I practice alone, I play dynamically and mostly softly, but occasionally go for it and sometimes have no control. I get this strange buzzing or even splitting sound sometimes. This is the main reason why I have implemented the daily practice of slow chromatic warm ups no higher than middle C down to low F# below the staff and lip slurs. I also really try to control the puffing-cheeks thing. Maybe one day it will get better. I also adjust pitch with my mouth and don't move the tuning slide. This is partly a habit I developed due to having a stuck valve for the first year and a half of playing it and never getting it repaired. I just felt like I could adjust like I do on the saxophone and could overcome it. Playing super sharp and adjusting for that long must've really damaged my progress. Then again, maybe it didn't. Not really sure on this one! It's fixed now, though.
With all of those factors in mind, trumpet is such a great instrument for me. It's also something I wish I could really get good at, but I know it would take years and years and years and some serious private study. For now, it's just fun in the sun for me. I just eat it up. I try to play like Clifford Brown, I try to play like Lee Morgan and I really, really try to play like Miles Davis. It's kind of like when I play alto saxophone, I really, really try to play like Charlie Parker. I can only hope that somewhere down the line all these different influences and approaches will turn into playing like a very honest soul. For now, it's a lot of fun though, and that's something I really needed in my musical life was just pure and honest enjoyment, fulfillment and satisfaction.
Learning tunes on trumpet is a blast. While I spent a long while learning Cherokee in all 12 keys on saxophone, trumpet has been another story. I sure have trouble with fingering combinations in a few of the keys, like F# and Ab, but especially in C#. Eb, F, G and of course C all just make so much sense to me on the trumpet, as the fingerings make a lot of natural sense. Here's kind of what I mean:
C# Major Scale fingerings on trumpet consists of: 123, 23, 1, 2, 23, 1, 0pen, 12
Ab Major Scale ": 23, 1, Open, 12, 2, 1, Open, 2 What a nightmare!
Now compare to G: Open, 12, 2, Open, 1, Open, 2, Open
With saxophone in mind, this is a piece of cake: The open fingerings are G, C, E and high G. F# is 2nd and on saxophone, that's 2nd in the right hand. Low E is 1 & 2 on trumpet, and that's the same on saxophone in the right hand, and so forth and so forth.
Anyway--this gets me to my point. Cherokee's bridge forces me to solo in my trouble keys on the trumpet. It makes my mind stretch A LOT. I believe this is helping my saxophone playing immensely. With a stretched mind, suddenly saxophone is a little bit less complex and easier. With limited abilities on the trumpet, I feel like I can do so much more when I pick up the saxophone. Of course even after a nice practice session on saxophone, the saxophone is one of the most humbling of all instruments. It tends to kick you square in the face. It's mean and evil. But then it's sweet and apologizing sometimes too. It's funny how after playing this long, you can sound like devil's stepchild with just one bad reed. Guess trumpeters don't have to worry about that. That's a nice change. However, saxophonists don't chop out quite as severely. So we are blessed in that department. Never did I understand that until I started playing the trumpet. Man do I feel bad for jokingly ragging on complaining trumpet players in the past, even for the most gentle of ribbing. Now I know the truth:
"Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins."
Dizzy Gillespie on playing the trumpet
1) It's not the saxophone, my main instrument and the one I've played for 17+ years, so it's fresh and it's new.
2) It's challenging, and fun.
3) It punishes you severely if you don't play it every day, forcing you to be more disciplined.
4) I think it makes me a better musician.
5) It definitely makes me a better improviser.
#5 is really important to me. I think that playing trumpet makes me a better improviser because I'm so limited. Range-wise, I'm only up to halfway decent As (above the staff), and pretty rough Bbs. One time, I hit a D. And I think I hit a pretty bad C three or four times. I'm still not sure how I hit the D. As far as playing low, I practice down to very low F# in my daily chromatic workouts, lip slurs and little exercises I made up or heard somewhere.
Did I mention how much I love trumpet?!!
Other than the range limitation (below staff F# to above staff A and Bb), I'm limited by versatility. Obviously you can't be a virtuoso on trumpet in 2 years and 3 months of playing. Probably not in a lifetime, either.
With the trumpet in my hands, I feel like a true improviser. My real voice is saxophone, mostly alto these days, but the trumpet offers me something the saxophone cannot: remembering what it's like to be a beginner. Ideas pop in my head while I'm playing that never would have on saxophone. I just feel on top of the world every time I play it. The fact that I can't do what I can do on the saxophone on the trumpet drives me crazy and keeps me motivated!
Here's a few things I should add as well:
1) I started playing trumpet as a teaching tool for beginner bands. Saxophone is not only intimidating-looking but is a mess to try and hold and play (since you need a neckstrap and 2 hands!) while you direct. It also projects so well and the brassy sound spreads through the band so there is absolutely no doubt what the rhythms and notes are that I'm trying to teach.
2) I was also very terrible from the get-go sound-wise. While I learned the fingerings and some basics quite quickly (since I think it's very similar to the right hand on the saxophone), buzzing into a mouthpiece and getting a good sound was a nightmare for months on end. It still can be some days.
3) I have developed some not-so-good habits, like puffing my cheeks when I play and overblowing. When I practice alone, I play dynamically and mostly softly, but occasionally go for it and sometimes have no control. I get this strange buzzing or even splitting sound sometimes. This is the main reason why I have implemented the daily practice of slow chromatic warm ups no higher than middle C down to low F# below the staff and lip slurs. I also really try to control the puffing-cheeks thing. Maybe one day it will get better. I also adjust pitch with my mouth and don't move the tuning slide. This is partly a habit I developed due to having a stuck valve for the first year and a half of playing it and never getting it repaired. I just felt like I could adjust like I do on the saxophone and could overcome it. Playing super sharp and adjusting for that long must've really damaged my progress. Then again, maybe it didn't. Not really sure on this one! It's fixed now, though.
With all of those factors in mind, trumpet is such a great instrument for me. It's also something I wish I could really get good at, but I know it would take years and years and years and some serious private study. For now, it's just fun in the sun for me. I just eat it up. I try to play like Clifford Brown, I try to play like Lee Morgan and I really, really try to play like Miles Davis. It's kind of like when I play alto saxophone, I really, really try to play like Charlie Parker. I can only hope that somewhere down the line all these different influences and approaches will turn into playing like a very honest soul. For now, it's a lot of fun though, and that's something I really needed in my musical life was just pure and honest enjoyment, fulfillment and satisfaction.
Learning tunes on trumpet is a blast. While I spent a long while learning Cherokee in all 12 keys on saxophone, trumpet has been another story. I sure have trouble with fingering combinations in a few of the keys, like F# and Ab, but especially in C#. Eb, F, G and of course C all just make so much sense to me on the trumpet, as the fingerings make a lot of natural sense. Here's kind of what I mean:
C# Major Scale fingerings on trumpet consists of: 123, 23, 1, 2, 23, 1, 0pen, 12
Ab Major Scale ": 23, 1, Open, 12, 2, 1, Open, 2 What a nightmare!
Now compare to G: Open, 12, 2, Open, 1, Open, 2, Open
With saxophone in mind, this is a piece of cake: The open fingerings are G, C, E and high G. F# is 2nd and on saxophone, that's 2nd in the right hand. Low E is 1 & 2 on trumpet, and that's the same on saxophone in the right hand, and so forth and so forth.
Anyway--this gets me to my point. Cherokee's bridge forces me to solo in my trouble keys on the trumpet. It makes my mind stretch A LOT. I believe this is helping my saxophone playing immensely. With a stretched mind, suddenly saxophone is a little bit less complex and easier. With limited abilities on the trumpet, I feel like I can do so much more when I pick up the saxophone. Of course even after a nice practice session on saxophone, the saxophone is one of the most humbling of all instruments. It tends to kick you square in the face. It's mean and evil. But then it's sweet and apologizing sometimes too. It's funny how after playing this long, you can sound like devil's stepchild with just one bad reed. Guess trumpeters don't have to worry about that. That's a nice change. However, saxophonists don't chop out quite as severely. So we are blessed in that department. Never did I understand that until I started playing the trumpet. Man do I feel bad for jokingly ragging on complaining trumpet players in the past, even for the most gentle of ribbing. Now I know the truth:
"Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins."
Dizzy Gillespie on playing the trumpet
Monday, February 14, 2011
Fun with Facebook
We definitely live in a great time! It's so great to have so many learning tools for music and other things of interest in life available. I really enjoy the communication I can have with people all over the world, both musically and personally. Of course both music and communication really go hand in hand.
Living in this day and time, we can connect with old friends in a single click of a mouse. We can communicate instantly, and it's so neat that I can be in Texas and talk to a friend living in Japan anytime I want, without having to worry about an expensive phone call!
Of course there are a few bad things about all this: no one calls anyone anymore (and if they do, they aren't calling me!). And if you use your phone, it's for texting or Facebook or some other means of communicating, besides the actual phone call itself that I so dearly miss! With Skype or IChat, this has been countered in that you can see and hear the person you are talking to. What a great combination. What a great time we live in!
Another downside is.....how does one stop using computers and take a walk or do something constructive, when it is so much fun, sometimes profitable and even educational, to sit in front of the computer instead? I recently used my undiagnosed but almost certain obsessive/compulsive disorder to my advantage, and made a chart that managed my time for me on the computer everyday! The site I was melting my brain at the most was Facebook. This is my chart just for managing my daily time on everyone's most favorite time-waster (I actually don't consider it a waste of time, if managed correctly--Facebook is quite the innovation and a huge necessity and just great in every way!):
Living in this day and time, we can connect with old friends in a single click of a mouse. We can communicate instantly, and it's so neat that I can be in Texas and talk to a friend living in Japan anytime I want, without having to worry about an expensive phone call!
Of course there are a few bad things about all this: no one calls anyone anymore (and if they do, they aren't calling me!). And if you use your phone, it's for texting or Facebook or some other means of communicating, besides the actual phone call itself that I so dearly miss! With Skype or IChat, this has been countered in that you can see and hear the person you are talking to. What a great combination. What a great time we live in!
Another downside is.....how does one stop using computers and take a walk or do something constructive, when it is so much fun, sometimes profitable and even educational, to sit in front of the computer instead? I recently used my undiagnosed but almost certain obsessive/compulsive disorder to my advantage, and made a chart that managed my time for me on the computer everyday! The site I was melting my brain at the most was Facebook. This is my chart just for managing my daily time on everyone's most favorite time-waster (I actually don't consider it a waste of time, if managed correctly--Facebook is quite the innovation and a huge necessity and just great in every way!):
FACEBOOK | Frequency | Frequency | |
Add Friends | once a week, Mondays | Add Photos | once a week, Fridays |
Happy Birthday | Every day | What are my friends up to? | 3 x's a week, Sat, T, R |
Private Messages | once a week & when needed, Wednesdays | Post Favorite YouTube video (not of you) | once a week, Saturdays |
Public Messages | 3 x's a week & when needed, R, Sat & T | Post something from other sharing site | once a week, Sundays |
Update Status | 3 x's a week, Sun, W, F | Post new YouTube music video (of you) | once a week, Sundays |
Add Blog Notes | once a week, Thursdays | Website Update Notice | once a week, Mondays |
Check General News Feed | 3 x's a week, M, W, F | Facebook Music Page Update Notice | once a week, Tuesdays |
What's great is that it will force me to get off the social network and do something constructive. I watched Family Guy last night (Sunday 2/13) and the point of the show was DO EVERYTHING IN MODERATION! Simply giving up something will drive you crazy (and I can't give up Facebook!), and overdoing it will too, but if you do things in moderation, you will find that you can have your cake and eat it too! Especially on a day like Valentine's Day, when you need to get off the computer and spend some time with your significant other.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Music in Japan July & August 2010: A dedication, past and present
The following was originally posted as a note on Facebook:
Music In Japan July & August 2010: A dedication, past and present
by Matt Sawyer on Friday, August 13, 2010 at 3:12pm
It was great seeing some old friends in Japan! Ami Hirai and Kazuki Nagashima were two of my college friends now living in Tokyo. The first night we were there, it was late and we crashed, but the second night, we met up with Kazuki and went to see our Denton friends at a small jazz club called Strings. The group was YT-Little D, headed by bassist Yuka Tadano. With her were old friends Brian Girley (from way, way back!), his wife Maiko--which is how I met my wife Yukari, as she was friends and worked with Maiko and then Brian and her started dating. Also there were some Denton friends of theirs and one I knew, Kana Tamura. Then Roberto Verastegui on piano, amazing as always. It was a special night, because our trips coincided, by complete coincidence. As Kazuki put it, a miracle! But really, it's not often that you meet your friends on the other side of the world at the same time, not planning the trips together, or even knowing we were planning! The music was great, and everyone played very well, including the rest of the band, Li Xiaochuan on trumpet and Japanese drummer Ko Omura, whom I met that very night! Li and I just missed each other, as I left North Texas in Spring 2007 as a full time student (although I wouldn't call "full time" lab band and saxophone lessons!), but knew of each other through our mutual friend Brian. It was really great seeing all these guys and girls and hearing them play on the other side of the world. This note acknowledges my happiness to be their friends and be a part of their music--support is key to keeping our music alive!!
The following night, I performed with Ami and her group of extraordinary musicians at a jazz club called MEG-Jazz. I'll be posting some videos soon, but it was a night to remember! Thank you so much Ami for letting me be a guest and perform on the spot like that! The tune selection was great, and I was very honored to be a part of it. They performed creative originals and standards with nice arrangements, including Lover Man and Summertime. She allowed me to play a song without her singing, and I chose Time After Time (not Cyndi Lauper!), always a favorite of mine since hearing Sonny Stitt's version w/ strings (it's beautiful if you haven't heard it)...I couldn't find on YouTube, but did find a few nice Stitt solos, including this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOOJPyYkRY4
Ami's group consisted of Yoshio Taniguchi on piano, Koji Tetsui on bass (a UNT alum! I had just missed him--came to UNT in Fall 2000 and he was a 2000 graduate!), and Ryo Shibata on drums. By the end of the night, I was really aching for more and wished we had more time to play, but was off to Osaka soon. Thanks guys for letting me create some music with you and it was a pleasure meeting all of you. At the end of the night, I got to sign the bathroom wall (the owner lets all musicians who perform in his club sign his bathroom wall) and just like everywhere I went in Japan, you are treated with respect and kindness.
After arriving in Tokunoshima, Yukari and I had a busy schedule of trying on and fitting into our clothes for professional pictures and a wedding reception, where we would re-celebrate our marriage (done privately with only my close family and Best Man Charles Tabangcora, middle school-high school friend--so don't feel bad if you missed it! It was in Paris, TX, where I went to school from childhood)...this time it was done Japanese style!
I performed solo alto saxophone (literally with no other musicians) the song "Shima Uta" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsKuLO0LPV0 --a very famous island song in Japan--and then, improvised alone over Time After Time, concluding with another solo performance of one of my favorite Japanese pop songs, "Itsuka kaze ni naru hi" translating to "a day you(or I) become a breeze". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTzGUIFq3cc
I performed it somewhat fast, in 3/4 alternating w/ some 4/4 on the chorus.
It's literally been years since I had performances as meaningful to me as the ones I had in Japan. I can literally make a list of the ones that stand out significantly, and these were at the top of the most meaningful. I think it has something to do with audience reception, and it is not something that comes very often to the musician that improvises. You can just feel it in the air--it's like you died and went to Heaven. I haven't felt like that in years. It's like playing alone on the beach near a beautiful ocean and beautiful view--you are doing what you love and only the ocean can hear. The ocean is always responsive with its waves. You experience all 5 senses and what you feel beyond that is a sixth sense. This is what I felt while performing in Japan.
One of the times in my past that I felt like this was very early on, performing in Kenton Hall at UNT in a quartet setting, with old friends Chris Hill (drums), Michael St. Clair (bass) and Andrew Page (piano). We were part of the Black History Month music celebrations, and John Murphy (Jazz Chair at UNT now following then Neil Slater) had organized it so all four groups performing that night would play John Coltrane's music. We opened the show, and I was pretty young at the time, 20 going on 21. Not that I'm old now at 28, but it feels like ages ago. I felt this sense of nervousness, which is what I got recently performing in Japan. I was nervous and excited and felt the audience giving off a feeling of "really eager to hear what we were going to do." Prior to our first note, John Murphy had put on an introductory video clip of Coltrane playing "Impressions"--it may have been something else--but his vibrato and passion set the standard for the night--I mean, it's awfully hard to follow Coltrane, even though he is not alive, but you could literally feel his spirit in the room. If you've ever been in Kenton Hall at UNT, and I'm sure most of you have that are reading this, you know what it looks like--well, it never looked like this before. It was lit up with candlelight, and posters, sort of like a shrine to John Coltrane. When we played, we had to be ready to bring it!! And I did more than I ever had in my whole life up to that point--and my fellow musicians certainly did. I wish I could do that again. It's one of my fondest musical memories. We played "Syeeda's Song Flute" and "Dear Lord." I remember it like it was yesterday. That's why I'm so passionate writing about it.
This musical energy is so hard to come by that I have only experienced it sparingly. I write this as a dedication to all the musicians I have played with, past and present. Despite all the practicing musicians do, a lot of the growing is done in the performance aspect, I believe. The groups I had formed from years past helped shape me into the critical music thinker I believe I am today, and want to go beyond. I want to have more performances like the ones mentioned above, and am grateful beyond belief. This note is long overdue. I wanted to tag as many of you as possible, and it will be tough not to leave someone out. You were all special to me, and still are. My teachers and colleagues are in there, too. Thank you for your generosity and for giving me lots of information to absorb. I am working on a dedication website past present and future with every project I was involved in between 2000-now along with future involvements. It's not for the world to know--it's for you guys' eyes to see. Anybody that has performed music in any setting knows the relationships that come and build and continue to get stronger, even during periods of falling out. We never forget these friendships and musical relationships, and to the MUSIC--that's this dedication.
Two quotes I remember strongly about our music (jazz) from when I was in school were: "Hey Matt, Keep It Goin'!"--Jimmy Heath to me and "Be a musician!"--Phil Woods, indirectly to me. He said it many times though. Phil Woods meant that you can't just play jazz, that's truly one dimensional thinking. He said "be a musician"..."write something," "play your doubles," "play classical..." He said dammit a lot, too. I can't give an exact quote to the money, but think about it: you are so narrow-minded if you believe you just play jazz. There is obviously something we each specialize in, or are better at than other things. For me, that's playing jazz saxophone. But when he said that, I knew that I had to really work hard at all other musical aspects. I came from a family of a deep love of rock n roll music--classic rock and anything good that rocked since. I had a deep love of classical saxophone and its rare use in an orchestra setting when in high school, and all my lessons in high school were classical, from my teacher Roy Allen. When done very well, it can be as beautiful to my ear as the most wonderful Charlie Parker solo, like the one here on Just Friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlkiz6r5Hb0 Parker was inspired by classical music, and the best musicians I know all play it and/or love it and have a respect for everything. Those are such powerful words, Mr. Woods! Hopefully it will inspire everyone else, too. Before this quote was given to me, I had thought I was just a jazz player. Now I realize I was giving up too much, and even with the practice you miss not practicing jazz, you gain so much more in musicianship it should eventually overcome this. Mr. Heath's quote was meaning to say, keep it goin--as in keep jazz alive. Keep our music alive. To do that, you have to reflect on the past and change the future. I sure respect all of my friends out there playing on a daily basis and making a living. It's a hard thing to do, and you don't know how hard until you have tried!
If you know me now days, you know I can't get away from Lady GaGahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3R3KqrJAI4 and KISS FM. There is much passion in that woman, and you could argue, but you can't dispute her talent and ability to mesmerize people. I wish I could sing and play piano. I play more piano than saxophone these days, not to get good at it because I feel that is too impossible at this point to "start over"...but I feel that the chordal aspect is too good to pass up. I sure was stubborn back in the day, believing I could hear it all without the piano. I just practiced jazz alto saxophone--transcribing, listening to jazz, improvising and learning tunes, and used my previous classical experience and fundamental study as my musicianship qualities--including scales, sound and just technique in general. With this idea to open my mind up musically, and to play the saxophone as if it's not a saxophone anymore, it becomes just good music. It's all good music then!! I believe my buddy Clay Pritchard said that, play it like it's not a saxophone. It's just like any other instrument, and can be...so vocal and beautiful, and it's my instrument. Just like some people play the piano. With all that prowess!! That's the goal.
I've learned so much from everybody and hate that I kept it so bottled up all these years. It's a lot to chew on, I know. Music is so powerful that you lose your head in it. It's a good feeling. This is what I have reflected on while finally visiting my wife's country. It has brought me a sense of peace like never before. She hadn't been home in 5 years, and it was all because of her decision to marry me. When I finally visited and met her entire family (literally!) it was then and there what I realized I had deprived her of. She had me, but missed her family dearly. They were wonderful people and I can't imagine not being home in 5 years. For this I owe my wife, forever. It's a good thing we are married!
15 Albums
The following is from a Facebook "game" where you had to think of the 15 Albums that most inspired you, even still today. This is my list: (only change was the Nirvana album--I originally chose In Utero, but decided recently that Incesticide was much sicker!)
1. A Kind of Blue Miles Davis
2. A Night at the Opera Queen
3. Appetite For Destruction Guns N' Roses
4. Bang! Zoom Bobby McFerrin
5. Bocelli Andrea Bocelli
6. Charlie Parker with Strings Charlie Parker
7. Chega de Saudade João Gilberto
8. Dookie Green Day
9. Incesticide Nirvana
10. Newport '63 John Coltrane
11. Nomad Soul Chitose Hajime
12. The Fame Monster Lady GaGa
13. The Professor Jimmy Heath
14. The Shadow of Your Smile Astrud Gilberto
15. Transition John Coltrane
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