The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I was lucky enough to be asked to accompany 11 great local singers in a 3 hour concert a few weeks ago with my regular trio. The show turns out to have been video'ed, and with decent quality to boot! With so many posts and threads here discussing every aspect of comping, I thought I'd post a tune with my typical approach to backing a vocalist. I often favor the traditional 1 or 2 note style, but I don't stick to it exclusively and I try to drop in enough fills and stabs to make it interesting for both the singer and the audience. Because of the length of the concert and the need to get 2 tunes in for each singer, several of the tunes have no solos from the band and this was one of them.

    I'm playing my trusty Ibanez AF207 through my DV Jazz 12. This was before I swapped the stock DiMarzio pickup for a Benedetto B7, but I was pleased enough with the way this guitar sounds to use it stock for 25 years before changing the P/U to a top quality replacement. The strings are TI JS112s on top of an 0.076" nickel RW 7th that I didn't touch for most of the night because our bass player is so solid.

    The vocalist in this one is Denise King, a Philly legend and as fine a person as she is a performer!

    Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 04-13-2022 at 11:21 PM.

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  3. #2

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    Great job, N! Very tasty comping and some nice licks at the end. 10 stars!
    Marinero

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marinero
    Great job, N! Very tasty comping and some nice licks at the end. 10 stars!
    Marinero
    Thanks so much! Our regular vocalist put this benefit concert together in about 2 weeks, and none of the other 10 thought any rehearsal was needed. I’d backed 4 of them in the past, but I was surprised and thrilled with their confidence in me and the trio - we offered to practice or at least go over cues and quirks. There was a total lack of diva-ness among them, and I had a blast once I realized that it was going to be fine. Most had their own charts - there were even 2 originals in the mix!

    For me, accompanying a vocalist is a high art and a challenge that deserves a lifetime of study and practice. I love it!

  5. #4

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    "For me, accompanying a vocalist is a high art and a challenge that deserves a lifetime of study and practice. I love it!" Nevershouldhavesoldit
    This type of accompaniment gives the artist a great challenge since your goal is to understand that the vocalist is the star and your job is to embellish his/her performance. Again, very nice playing, N!
    Marinero.


  6. #5

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    Yea, that was some very nice guitar comping as well as singing and the entire band. I really like how the comping wasn't static (ok, something I tend to do!), but also never stepped on what the singer was doing. Like Marinero said the comping embellish her singing but could still be heard. It was still a solid part of the song. Very nice indeed.

  7. #6

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    I don't know if Pearl Williams is still performing but Denise is the best singer in town imo, a pro's pro
    She was "discovered" by my former bandleader the late great saxophonist Sam Reed, probably longer ago than she wishes to remember
    Nice backing Dave, George and drummer!

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    I don't know if Pearl Williams is still performing but Denise is the best singer in town imo, a pro's pro
    She was "discovered" by my former bandleader the late great saxophonist Sam Reed, probably longer ago than she wishes to remember
    Nice backing Dave, George and drummer!
    Thx! I love playing behind Denise. I consider Jeannie Brooks to be right there with her, but we couldn’t reach Jeannie. There were so many others I’d have liked to have (like Irene Lambrou). But we got a great group together, with Denise K, Geri Oliver, Jill Salkin, Wendy Simon, Gwen Jackson, Denise Montana, Lisa Chavous, etc. If anybody has a chance to hear these singers, any of them is well worth the effort.

    That’s Mike O’Rourke on drums. Our regular drummer is Bill Marconi, but he was out of town on a long planned family trip. Mike’s an old friend and very musical drummer with whom I’ve been playing for years. Fortunately he was already scheduled to play with us that night - the concert program was a surprise to us all.

    Dates like this one are one good reason to keep both our reading chops and our rhythm chops up. Comping over alien tunes and new charts with altered changes has to be second nature to read ahead and still keep chugging. For me, listening to great horn sections behind vocals helps to plant a bigger band framework in my head. I hear a bigger band in my head and try to add the fills that fit. This approach to comping may help those who haven’t found one that works for them.

  9. #8

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    I know most of those gals but shame on me for forgetting Jeannie, I've known her forever, yes she's right there w DK, the woman can sing beautifully and in any key. Same for Mike, couldn't make him out from the video but known him forever too, he dropped by when I subbed for you, we had a little reunion that night

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    I don't know if Pearl Williams is still performing but Denise is the best singer in town imo, a pro's pro
    She was "discovered" by my former bandleader the late great saxophonist Sam Reed, probably longer ago than she wishes to remember
    Nice backing Dave, George and drummer!
    fond memories of the the encounter expressed here
    starting around :40

  11. #10

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    Just right! That's the way it's done, when it's done right! Well done!

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    Just right! That's the way it's done, when it's done right! Well done!
    Thanks so much for the kind words!

  13. #12

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    That was nice indeed!

    Is it me being too tired to notice or is the public a bit slow here?

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by RJVB
    That was nice indeed!

    Is it me being too tired to notice or is the public a bit slow here?
    Thanks! If you're referring to the audience responses to Denise's o-de-o-de-o routine, the audio was recorded from a board feed and most of the audience response is uncaptured. The keys and bass amp go direct to the board, and my Jazz 12 (along with all of our backline and the Leslie) is mic'ed. There are several mics on the drum kit - one in the kick drum, 2 flying overhead, and at least 3 on the frame to capture the rest of the kit. But all of these are cardioid or hypercardioid, so they pick up almost none of the ambient sound in the room.

  15. #14

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    Yeah, I thought of that of course, but Denise stuck her mic "into" the audience, and wouldn't the stage mics pick up what *you* could hear on stage (assuming you weren't cut off from that because of headphones or hearing protection)? Not much behind you for sound to reflect off of?

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by srs
    fond memories of the the encounter expressed here
    starting around :40
    Wow,
    First class! I especially liked the footage of the people in the parking lot wearing masks and listening to her music. How often we forget the reason we play and why people come to hear us.
    Marinero

  17. #16

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    Yea... very cool. Looks like good time for all. (you can't hide it, LOL your an old Blues man). Personally that's a good thing.
    Love it, Thanks for posting

  18. #17

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    That put a smile on my face.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by RJVB
    Yeah, I thought of that of course, but Denise stuck her mic "into" the audience, and wouldn't the stage mics pick up what *you* could hear on stage (assuming you weren't cut off from that because of headphones or hearing protection)? Not much behind you for sound to reflect off of?
    The vocal mics our sound guy favors have tight patterns and are run at low levels for close-to-the-mouth use. LIttle is picked up beyond 5 to 8 feet away. Only those in use are live - the others you see on stands are dead. The club has a rather sophisticated sound system, and ambient sounds are almost inaudible in board mix recordings. I get more of it when I use the crossed stereo pair in my little TASCAM at the front of the stage, but even then it's pointed toward the band and gets little from the rear.

    Here's the FOH board (located at the back of the house...) -

    My take on modern comping behind a vocalist-jhom_board-jpg

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
    Here's the FOH board (located at the back of the house...) -

    My take on modern comping behind a vocalist-jhom_board-jpg
    right ... 8-)