New masterclass video from Pasquale Grasso - single-note soloing

[christianm77]

I said I was the one who was young and stupid. Thought I made that clear. If I unwittingly insulted anyone else in a 'carom shot' I apologize.

Pasquale is 35 years my junior, and he and others his age have things to teach me, so I don't get your condescending reference.

Name dropping? I played with Jaki for 1 1/2 years. He taught me a lot, and I was just trying to pass a bit of it on. Maybe not in the most tactful way...

I didn't take it as being directed towards me actually - but what you said stuck a chord so to speak. Criticism is a tricky subject among musicians.

Guys like Pasquale - we're all in the same small jazz world - and it's likely I'll run into him in the flesh one of these days - I kind of wish I hadn't weighed in because it suggests that I am anything other than knocked out by his playing, however much I might choose a different approach in my own work.

In any case thanks for stimulating a bit of self reflection. I spend too much time on this forum TBH.

[fasstrack]

I didn't take it as being directed towards me actually - but what you said stuck a chord so to speak. Criticism is a tricky subject among musicians.

Guys like Pasquale - we're all in the same small jazz world - and it's likely I'll run into him in the flesh one of these days - I kind of wish I hadn't weighed in because it suggests that I am anything other than knocked out by his playing, however much I might choose a different approach in my own work.

In any case thanks for stimulating a bit of self reflection. I spend too much time on this forum TBH.

Nothing wrong with self-reflection.

I have a very different approach, too, and not those kind of chops. Just want to learn from anyone good without changing who I am...

We all spend too much g&*mn time on the Web. Don't sweat it, man. A real-life guy's coming over to play now, gotta go. Enjoy the day...

[targuit]

My comment here will, of course, be jarringly off the topic in a sense. But just an opinion.

As a technician, I think Pasquale is in a class of his own. How many guitarists do you know who transcribe Bud Powell?


I know Pasquale has an unrivaled technique. But what I want to hear more from him is not speed, not more technique, nor more Parker or Powell. I want to hear deep emotion and depth. This is not to suggest he is lacking in emotion in his playing. Just that I want to hear more heartbreak and less Art Tatum.

I want to hear him play a CD of ballads.

[Groyniad]

no-one is the same level player as pasquale grasso - not now and not ever it seems to me

even if you only cared about guitar technique he would be in a world of his own - surely!! he doesn't just play fast - flippin' john machlauglan played fast - he plays with extraordinary clarity (and often wonderful fluid speed)

but there is no hint of 'mere' technique here - i just don't get it. he is improvising - he's not playing composed stuff (as many many of the greats very nearly did - anyway)

and matt - no-one suggested that c77 was being heavy or inappropriately critical - at least i don't think so

i was the one who got a bit over excited about a comment or two from jonah

the important point is surely that his playing instantly establishes that he has a very distinctive set of aims - no-one has tried to complete the jazz-project this guy set himself at, what, 13? that alone is an incredible artistic achievement. its all really about what we're trying to do - what we aim at ... (that's neitzsche by the way)

[Groyniad]

I didn't take it as being directed towards me actually - but what you said stuck a chord so to speak. Criticism is a tricky subject among musicians.

Guys like Pasquale - we're all in the same small jazz world - and it's likely I'll run into him in the flesh one of these days - I kind of wish I hadn't weighed in because it suggests that I am anything other than knocked out by his playing, however much I might choose a different approach in my own work.

In any case thanks for stimulating a bit of self reflection. I spend too much time on this forum TBH.

its a pleasure to have you around so often man

[QAman]

Awww- and beautiful tone he achieves with his namesake Trenier.

[fasstrack]

How many guitarists do you know who transcribe Bud Powell?

To my knowledge, he's the only one. But there are so many players working on so many things---worldwide, so who really knows?

[christianm77]

Well I've transcribed bud powell..... Play it up to tempo? Now there's the rub....

[targuit]

Going out on a limb a bit here, but just an observation. I just played along with Pasquale's version above of the Kenny Dorham tune Blues in Bebop. Of note I used YT's tempo reduction function at what they term "0.5 speed". There is no other possibility besides an even slower tempo which is too much. I was not familiar with this tune.

In point of fact, slowed down half speed, the lines and phrases of the melody are not out of sight - this is a blues after all. Things I noted are that Pasquale and I take different approaches to playing the same melody in terms of position, transitions, use of slurs, etc. I don't find that unusual though I think his approach is harder to execute. Of course, I recognize that playing at half speed is not performance level, but it was my first approach to this tune.

Here is the "going out on a limb" part - given that there is just percussion and bass without a piano, I think Pasquale lingered too long on the single note part from around 1:00 minute in or so without adding much harmonic content. He does provide more of that when he plays the head itself which he does repeat, but the bass as recorded (relatively low volume) did not provide enough harmonic content in my opinion.

Obviously Pasquale is a schooled and technically super adept player. And his speed of execution is remarkable with some very complex parts. However, I get the impression that he scores out his arrangements with precision and that he practices them in depth. Like an Olympic athlete, he isn't reinventing the 100m dash, he is just the fastest.

[fasstrack]

Going out on a limb a bit here, but just an observation. I just played along with Pasquale's version above of the Kenny Dorham tune Blues in Bebop. Of note I used YT's tempo reduction function at what they term "0.5 speed". There is no other possibility besides an even slower tempo which is too much. I was not familiar with this tune.

In point of fact, slowed down half speed, the lines and phrases of the melody are not out of sight - this is a blues after all. Things I noted are that Pasquale and I take different approaches to playing the same melody in terms of position, transitions, use of slurs, etc. I don't find that unusual though I think his approach is harder to execute. Of course, I recognize that playing at half speed is not performance level, but it was my first approach to this tune.

Here is the "going out on a limb" part - given that there is just percussion and bass without a piano, I think Pasquale lingered too long on the single note part from around 1:00 minute in or so without adding much harmonic content. He does provide more of that when he plays the head itself which he does repeat, but the bass as recorded (relatively low volume) did not provide enough harmonic content in my opinion.

Obviously Pasquale is a schooled and technically super adept player. And his speed of execution is remarkable with some very complex parts. However, I get the impression that he scores out his arrangements with precision and that he practices them in depth. Like an Olympic athlete, he isn't reinventing the 100m dash, he is just the fastest.

Jeez. Why not just put him under a microscope and be done with it? You may be over-thinking a bit, my friend...

[dasein]

Yeah, isn't it really in the ear of the beholder. I hit him up for a lesson while in NYC. Interestingly those vids he has released don't even address some of his contrapuntal approaches. He's a really deep musician. I sat 5 feet away from him in mezzrow and yeah, his music is bursting with vitality.

How is he as a teacher?

[targuit]

Why would you say that, fasstrack?

I am a great admirer of Pasquale and recognize his potential as well as that of his brothers who are also superb musicians. Btw, I lived in Italy for over a decade. I loved it and long to return. My wife is Italian and my son a dual citizen. Mi piace Italia!

What I did say along with my compliments is that I get the impression that he works out his arrangements with great precision. That is not a negative and far more prevalent than many think, though that is merely my opinion.

No microscopes necessary. Just a good bottle of Pinot grigio or Chablis and some Amatriciana pasta! I would love to have the chance to play with Pasquale or just to have dinner and a drink or two.

[dortmundjazzguitar]

In other words, Grasso sounds like Bud Powell/Barry Harris on guitar.

i believe that when i hear it

[christianm77]

They are already getting to work, you know.

[fasstrack]

Why would you say that, fasstrack?

I am a great admirer of Pasquale and recognize his potential as well as that of his brothers who are also superb musicians. Btw, I lived in Italy for over a decade. I loved it and long to return. My wife is Italian and my son a dual citizen. Mi piace Italia!

What I did say along with my compliments is that I get the impression that he works out his arrangements with great precision. That is not a negative and far more prevalent than many think, though that is merely my opinion.

No microscopes necessary. Just a good bottle of Pinot grigio or Chablis and some Amatriciana pasta! I would love to have the chance to play with Pasquale or just to have dinner and a drink or two.

Guess it didn't sit right with me at the time. Sorry if it hurt your feelings. I guess I need to work on my 'webequette', and be less confrontational when I feel strongly about something. Definitely not cool to make someone uncomfortable. Probably I'll just 'stroll' from now on.

I think many very bright people overthink at times. I believe it can get in the way of being in the moment (sounds like a Buddhist-wannabe cliche, I know) or enjoying something for what it is. I guess it's hard to stop our brains from looking at things in-depth. That definitely has it's place, too---but like anything else can be taken too far (well, not sex).



You are lucky. Never been to Italy, but would love to go.

Please call me Joel...

[Hupia]

As a technician, I think Pasquale is in a class of his own. How many guitarists do you know who transcribe Bud Powell?

Not meaning to derail the thread, but I can think of one other:

Interesting how great music can inspire such different players (Miles Okazaki's music is very different from Grasso's).

[targuit]

Another great Miles in jazz?

Btw, Joel, don't fret about stuff! I believe you mentioned playing over fifty years. Sorry to say I'm in that club, too, and perhaps that is why we state our opinions forthrightly but without malice. We don't have time to waste explaining....

[christianm77]

Not meaning to derail the thread, but I can think of one other:

Interesting how great music can inspire such different players (Miles Okazaki's music is very different from Grasso's).

Oh yes, I forgot about that.

[Jazzism]

How is he as a teacher?

Yes, very clear and articulate, bearing in mind english is not his native language. he has quite a large vocabulary of devices, so he was very kind to allow me to record on my phone the concepts he was demonstrating. If you enjoyed his released vids, they are close to what he is like in person. Unfortunately i coudnt say the same for Mike Moreno. I think his My music masterclasses vids must have been heavily edited cuz i just spent a week with Moreno in korea in early august. While it was great to hear him, the teaching component was quite painful to experience!

[NSJ]

Yes, very clear and articulate, bearing in mind english is not his native language. he has quite a large vocabulary of devices, so he was very kind to allow me to record on my phone the concepts he was demonstrating. If you enjoyed his released vids, they are close to what he is like in person. Unfortunately i coudnt say the same for Mike Moreno. I think his My music masterclasses vids must have been heavily edited cuz i just spent a week with Moreno in korea in early august. While it was great to hear him, the teaching component was quite painful to experience!

I would love to hear some of his contrapuntal ideas as they apply to improvisation. I got an intellectualsense of that when I was studying with my teacher , Who is a master jazz and classical musician, but I was too green and too much of a beginner to really implement it. There is a lot to be said for the classical technique and its use in solo guitar: many decades ago, my teacher convinced Jimmy Wyble that he had studied classical guitar formally in order to advance his ideas on to aligned movement.

A lot of the philosophical discussions on how to place Pasquale music is pretty much above my pay grade . I think I finally entered the realm of the "beginning intermediate player". I'm here for the nuts and bolts, how to steal integrate ideas and concepts and woodshed them.

His 4 note chromatic runs in this lesson associated with each scale degree of the major scale and differentiated between those scale degrees associated with major and those scale degrees associated with minor , I have already stolen and begun to woodshed seriously.

So, right if you associate these 4 note chromatic runs, one beginning of the note E and the other beginning on the note A in the KEy of C, what do you get? "Blue Monk".

If you could summarize some of his contrapuntal ideas here, I would really appreciate it.

[fasstrack]

Not meaning to derail the thread, but I can think of one other:

Interesting how great music can inspire such different players (Miles Okazaki's music is very different from Grasso's).

Wow. Good job. He digs in nicely, too, attack-wise.

There's a guy in Holland, Dick Ontsenk, who takes off all kinds of Bird solos and makes videos of him playing them. Very perspicacious of him. He's a good guy, and I wanted to meet him when I was living there. Alas, I did not...

Me, I'm probably too lazy to transcribe (though I transcribe tunes all day and write copious amounts of lead sheets), but I also just want to study the essence of what someone's doing, and not cop the whole thing. Maybe just a few key phrases that are appealing. Kind of traversed a different path...

[fasstrack]

Another great Miles in jazz?

Btw, Joel, don't fret about stuff! I believe you mentioned playing over fifty years. Sorry to say I'm in that club, too, and perhaps that is why we state our opinions forthrightly but without malice. We don't have time to waste explaining....

Why be sorry? We may have figured a couple of things out.

Remember that debate between Reagan and Mondale where Reagan's writers gave him a one-liner about Mondale's 'youth and inexperience'? Mondale had to be 60...

[fasstrack]

In other words, Grasso sounds like Bud Powell/Barry Harris on guitar.
.

He really doesn't at all, except for the content he took. Much lighter touch (than Bud especially) and his articulation (RH) is right out of Chuck Wayne, whose prize pupil he studied with, Agostino Di Giorgio. To me Pasquale sounds so much like Chuck (especially with that dark, close to muddy tone) that, tongue-in-cheek, I call him Chuck Jr. when I see him. Then he smiles...

[christianm77]

His content sound like straight bud to me. Those whole tone runs and chords.

His comping also sounds uncannily pianistic to me. As in actually like a piano, an upright one to specific, not a grand.

That's a pretty big except in my book.

Plus there's no way you'd be able to play those runs without a highly optimised and rather light/modern right hand technique. You ain't going to be able to alternate or rest stroke pick that stuff.

[fasstrack]

Content, yes. Sound and attack pure Chuck...