JGBE Virtual Jam (Round 1) - Whisper Not

[TOMMO]

Nice playing and sound.Nice jazz feel.

Agreed - plus: cool hat!

[John A.]

Here's my attempt, trying Mr. B's notion of basing my improvisation around 3 blues scales. I think I actually set the tempo too slow, and I think that hung me up a little, which is odd, but I feel "out of the pocket" with this. I was impressed at how much those blues scales could do! Also guys, this is unusual for me--this was totally improvised, spontaneous. No sitting down trying to work out things to use. I played over the changes a couple times to feel out when the scales would shift, but this is just what came out when I hit "record."

Sounds good, Lawson. Yes, I agree about it being better bit faster. And rpjazzguitar, look out! The hat battle has been joined!

John

[ragman1]

Jens is not saying "don't use backing tracks" there.

I know, I've watched it. But there are good reasons I don't use them. Actually, that's not true either, I have used them occasionally.

First, my electric archtop is in storage somewhere. These days I just sit in my room. I have no fancy equipment. Even if I amped up this one I'd have to use an interface... it's all a bit of an effort just to do a forum, to be honest, so I do what I do. I definitely need a backing of some kind, though. I've done tracks with just bass and/or sporadic comping but it has to suit the tune. The sound of the acoustic, even with reverb, doesn't really go well with those recorded tracks.

So it's not a question of 'don't want to' but rather what works in my situation. I wouldn't mind playing to something more dynamic, as you suggest, but it wouldn't really change what I do and it's that I'm interested in. The backing's definitely secondary. As long as it provides a harmonic background I'm happy.

There are other subsidiary reasons. These tracks are recorded and, I suspect, aren't live. I tend to 'psych in' with what I'm playing to. It's different with real people, I tune in to them. With my own tracks, there's zero problem, of course. With mechanical tracks I feel mechanical too... not good for expression :-)

So I'm not disagreeing with you or being stubborn, I'm well aware that the whole quality is lousy. It could all sound much more professional, but there we are. But thanks for your comments anyway, they're appreciated.

[fep]

Weird guitar face and all. Not much of a one and done guy...

[John A.]

I know, I've watched it. But there are good reasons I don't use them. Actually, that's not true either, I have used them occasionally.

First, my electric archtop is in storage somewhere. These days I just sit in my room. I have no fancy equipment. Even if I amped up this one I'd have to use an interface... it's all a bit of an effort just to do a forum, to be honest, so I do what I do. I definitely need a backing of some kind, though. I've done tracks with just bass and/or sporadic comping but it has to suit the tune. The sound of the acoustic, even with reverb, doesn't really go well with those recorded tracks.

So it's not a question of 'don't want to' but rather what works in my situation. I wouldn't mind playing to something more dynamic, as you suggest, but it wouldn't really change what I do and it's that I'm interested in. The backing's definitely secondary. As long as it provides a harmonic background I'm happy.

There are other subsidiary reasons. These tracks are recorded and, I suspect, aren't live. I tend to 'psych in' with what I'm playing to. It's different with real people, I tune in to them. With my own tracks, there's zero problem, of course. With mechanical tracks I feel mechanical too... not good for expression :-)

So I'm not disagreeing with you or being stubborn, I'm well aware that the whole quality is lousy. It could all sound much more professional, but there we are. But thanks for your comments anyway, they're appreciated.

Kumbaya

John

[mr. beaumont]

Weird guitar face and all. Not much of a one and done guy...

Frank this sounds great! I stand corrected, it can work just fine at a slow tempo.

Shades of Abercrombie here, in tone, approach, and thumb

[rpjazzguitar]

Weird guitar face and all. Not much of a one and done guy...

Soulful!!! Sounds great.

[kris]

Weird guitar face and all. Not much of a one and done guy...

Very nice blues feel.I like it.
Jazzingly
Kris

[fep]

Frank this sounds great! I stand corrected, it can work just fine at a slow tempo.

Shades of Abercrombie here, in tone, approach, and thumb

Soulful!!! Sounds great.

Very nice blues feel.I like it.
Jazzingly
Kris

Thanks for listening and the encouraging words. Mr. B, thanks for starting the thread and picking this tune. The tune, not sure I've heard this one before. Slow tempo for my slow hands.

Cheers All

[fep]

This weeks jam will be "Whisper Not," by Benny Golson.

Attachment 78339
The goal here is to improvise. Take a chorus or 3. Play with a track, or not. Don't overthink it. Everybody's cool here, and if they're not, we kick their ass out.
If you want comments and criticism on your playing, say so in your post. If someone doesn't ask for critique, don't critique their playing.

Keep it fresh. Don't spend all week working out a perfect chord melody. No need to play the melody at all. Let's just say its a given that knowing the melody is important.

Let's talk shop on the tune as we go. Talk about approaches, whatever. Ask players questions.

I'll start us off this week, ill try and post a new tune every Thursday night (yeah, I put Friday's date, it is Friday already in Belgium)

Have fun with this and keep it loose. All levels welcome. Make fun of a beginner and I'll harass you on every post you make here for the rest of your sad, pathetic life.

Here's one bluesy chorus on whisper not. Comments and criticism always welcome.

Who's in? Who's next? Post below!

Really, really good. Nice ebb and flow to the solo, great rhythm, I like how defined the A A B A is in your solo, especially like the start of the B section. I think it's both the way your lines breathe and the harmonic content.

[ragman1]

Fep -

Great, I did like that. Deceptively simple :-)

[fep]

Thanks. Well, I've done it while you've been posting.... Played the melody because I think it helps 'cement' the feel and done some improv. The tag ending is too fast for my thumb so I've simplified it and faded out. Hope that's all okay. It is what it is :-)

Cool gypsy vibe, sounds great

There is my 2 choruses solo over Whisper Not.
Hope you like it.
Coments welcome
Box

Great, high quality recording and playing. Hard panned guitar, that's a very different tonal landscape.

Digging these versions. Such different approaches...

[fep]

Nice relaxed vibe, you do make it look easy. Am I hearing a bit of octave pedal,? it seems there is just a hint of one.

[PickingMyEars]

Longtime lurker, but I miss jam sessions.

Still not crazy about this take, the notes aren't crispy enough.

Warts and all:

Dipping my toes in, hope they don't get bit off

[TOMMO]

Dipping my toes in, hope they don't get bit off

No worries - it's a friendly crowd here for the most part. Welcome!

[rpjazzguitar]

Nice relaxed vibe, you do make it look easy. Am I hearing a bit of octave pedal,? it seems there is just a hint of one.

Thanks. That's right. It's a patch on an ME80. Octave lower, but only a little bit. I think there's some drive in there too but, again, only a little. The idea is to give weight to the higher notes. I'm not thoroughly sold on the tone, but it gets me closer to the way I hear it in mind.

[lawson-stone]

Here's my first run at the tune+improv chorus. This tune was new for me, though I'd heard it before, so my phrasing on the tune is possibly not as natural as it should be since I mainly read it from the lead sheet. Good backing track through from Hal Leonard.

I like how the ES165 sounds through the Polytone MBII. Just sitting here playing it feels good. I hope some of that comes over in the clip.

Advice and wisdom is appreciated.

[PickingMyEars]

Lawson-stone,

"my phrasing on the tune is possibly not as natural"

Actually, no! I really enjoyed your phrasing here. You paid attention to note length, accent, rhythm, dynamics, and phrase length. Yupe, you did.

Your solo was grooving too. I gotta work on compin' for myself, especially when I'm not playing with anyone live these days

Your playing was "crispy". Crispy makes people stop, listen, and dance. I gotta work on my fry batter

I think this tune is challenging because it plays tricks on your ears if you aren't careful. That said, it's Benny Golson--so it's listener's gold in my book.

[mr. beaumont]

Longtime lurker, but I miss jam sessions.

Still not crazy about this take, the notes aren't crispy enough.

Warts and all:

Dipping my toes in, hope they don't get bit off

I think plenty of crispness, and lots of nice cliche free lines.

[mr. beaumont]

Lawson, something I've noticed about your playing for a while-- when you relax and just be you, you play your best, and thats what's happening here.

[lawson-stone]

Lawson-stone,

"my phrasing on the tune is possibly not as natural"

Actually, no! I really enjoyed your phrasing here. You paid attention to note length, accent, rhythm, dynamics, and phrase length. Yupe, you did.

Your solo was grooving too. I gotta work on compin' for myself, especially when I'm not playing with anyone live these days

Your playing was "crispy". Crispy makes people stop, listen, and dance. I gotta work on my fry batter

I think this tune is challenging because it plays tricks on your ears if you aren't careful. That said, it's Benny Golson--so it's listener's gold in my book.

Thank you for such gracious comments. Very encouraging, and seriously, I think at least once a week very seriously about quitting jazz guitar. I feel like I'll never get it. So this is encouraging.

[lawson-stone]

Lawson, something I've noticed about your playing for a while-- when you relax and just be you, you play your best, and thats what's happening here.

L

Likely here it's the blues scales. Hard to make a mistake, and a lot of overlap among the 3 main scales so it's possible to slip-slide into a better note if I hit a clinker. There is one, in the last A section, that was unrecoverable! But I actually was happy. I played the head, I thought pretty nicely, and I took a solo that wouldn't empty a room. Win-Win!

Thanks for all the great encouragement and solid advice you've given me over my time on this forum. You're a solid guy. Hope we can meet sometime.

[rpjazzguitar]

Here's my first run at the tune+improv chorus. This tune was new for me, though I'd heard it before, so my phrasing on the tune is possibly not as natural as it should be since I mainly read it from the lead sheet. Good backing track through from Hal Leonard.

I like how the ES165 sounds through the Polytone MBII. Just sitting here playing it feels good. I hope some of that comes over in the clip.

Advice and wisdom is appreciated.

Nicely done! I particularly what I hear as a kind of stretching and compressing the note placements, ahead, on and after the beat at different times.

[TOMMO]

Very nice playing, lawson! Enjoyed it and it's very encouraging to a jazz guitar hack like me.

[Lobomov]

Just so it has been said .. This Jam format has been a great success and definately brings something else to the table than the monthly standard thread .. Great to see spontaneous clips from what is normally very prepared monthly standard players