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For me it is making a point of communicating, not performing, not playing, not improvising...just communicating, expressing not impressing. I used it to make a point of playing the most wrong note on purpose first and then recovering into a good note just to get over the fear of playing the bad note. I also sometimes play one note rhythmically to just get the band listening and get my feel together. The other thing is paradoxical but it's like I'm trying to get out of the way of the music, on a great night I feel like I've disappeared, and just come back when it's amp hauling time.
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02-18-2016 08:07 PM
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Gggomez, I believe it was Charlie Parker himself that said something to the effect of, after two choruses you're just practicing. I too believe in structure and repetition along with stream of consciousness and improvisation. Give the listener something to latch on to for god's sake man. lol...
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I think he's speaking only of those who play well.
Originally Posted by drbhrb
Anyone who thinks that drugs and alcohol "make you play better" should give up their instrument and simply focus their life on drugs and alcohol.Last edited by whiskey02; 05-01-2016 at 08:15 AM.
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It's interesting to think that the epic multi chorus solos were part of a cultural movement that existed within a period of time and not just one style of music. You hear it in Jazz really coming into its own during the post-bop era (but certainly before). Not sure if it's coincidence but other styles of popular music were doing the same thing. Rock had its Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd. The Beatles were getting into Indian music. The blues had Buddy Guy and Freddy King rev'ing up the crowds with long building solos. Within all these styles the goal was to induce a kind of musical mantra with rhythm and repetition. The Jazz wasn't polite. It was more in your face and aggressive. Players wanted to blast out the cobwebs and create a higher level of consciousness through music. Not surprisingly, alcohol and drugs were part of that stylistic and even cultural experience. Music and ideals have changed since then. Some people like to still carry that torch and that's cool, but I find people are mostly getting back into song form and minimalism. Again you can hear it across different genres (trance might be the exception). Drugs and alcohol aren't so much in vogue anymore. Even cigarettes have become taboo. We've generally grown out of that self-harm model of musical expression. Are we in a better place? Probably. Sometimes I like to put on a Pharaoh Sanders album and appreciate how intense music used to be. We have more virtuosos now certainly. Between music schools, better educational methods and clean living there are many monster players out there. Personally I think we are currently in a bit of a lull musically. Commercialization and short attention spans has sucked some of the life out music today, but I'm digressing so I'll stop.
The takeaway from this is if you're going to do a Sonny Rollins tribute gig then it's appropriate to extend solos but otherwise it's probably best to stick with a couple choruses and move on to somebody else.
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In my experience, pianists almost always overplay. If you can, have him give you just a sketch of the chords. Maybe even lay out completely on the first half of the first chorus. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
(Talking about piano players - I used to go to this one session, and this one older guy would always show up. I always dreaded playing with this guy because A) as another cat said, "He uses all eleven fingers" and B) he had no rhythm at all. I guess he always practiced rubato or something, because he could never stay on the beat. I used call him "Captain Trainwreck." Generally, a tune would break down and one by one people would stop playing. He'd be playing by himself for a couple of minutes sometimes before he'd notice.)
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