Jazz Workshop

We had a great night at the Royston Jazzworkshop last night. I am not sure if it was the heat or the music but everyone seemed to be in the mood for a good blow. As we play our repertoire alphabetically we are currently ploughing through song starting with the letter 'S'. Last night was Satin Doll, Straight No Chaser, Song for My Father and Sidewinder.

I think I did fairly well. Satin Doll I have played a couple of times now and slowly getting the feel of how to change the rhythms so that they are interesting. I had never played Straight No Chaser before so just fell back on playing the blues scale. I would prefer to play something different but until I know the songs better it will do for now.

Song For My Father is a song I played for hours with my jazz teacher so am confident with it but still have lots of work to do.

Side winder was a new one too and just struggled through.

All in all I had a great night and felt very high afterwards. this is the music I want to play. The Harlow Concert Band is alright but it does not compare with improvising and jazzing like this. It may only be at an amateur level but it will do for me.

At the Jazz Workshop

Last night I attended the jazz workshop that I have recently joined and I had had another great night. I have been messing about with playing jazz for some time now but never had an outlet for my playing. I have a huge amount to learn but had nowhere to put my theory studies into practise.

This workshop has solved that. Don't get me wrong I am still struggling with the chords and sales but each week getting more and more confident to be experimental.

Last night we played, Summertime, Now's the Time, St. Thomas and Sister Sadie. Summertime I tried to play just the b minor pentatonic scale (I play alto sax) and it sort of worked but I did not quite like what I was playing. But it felt like good experience not just messing the melody.

Now's the Time was for my instrument a d blues which I am familiar with and had a good time with he d blues scale. But now I understand what others have said about too much use of the blues scale can get boring. I will find other scales that I can use to make it more interesting. Both St Thomas and Sister Sadie were a bit of a disaster for me as I had no idea what to play over the chord progression. But that is the value of a workshop like this. It shows your weaknesses and gives you something to work towards.

I drove home with a real buzz and sang along to the Miles Davis CD ' Kind of Blue'.

I love jazz.

MondayJam

One day whilst browsing the web I googled the keywords jazz workshop and came up with one not far from where I live. after a couple of e-mails to the organiser I got an invite to join them and last night I attended my first jam with them.

I have to say from the outset that i had a fantastic night. The people were very friendly and of about the same ability as me. There was a nice range of instruments being played with tenor and alto saxophones, clarinets guitars and a trumpet. The rhythm section was good with a very enthusiastic drummer.

We played a good range of standards and I think I improvised well on most. The songs I did struggle with were 'The A train' and 'Blue bossa'. But that is the point of a workshop, learning. There was no pressure to play a solo, it was left up to you and everyone was supportive.

This will be a regular thing for me and I hope that my jazz education will now flourish.

The White Hart Jam jazz

Well I have finally done it. After all the practise, studying and lessons from various people I have at last performed some jazz in front of an audience. This important event in my musical education took place last night at the White Hart Public House, Wimbish, Essex. To get there has been a long journey, rather like the trip we had trying to find the Pub. My jazz journey started a couple of years ago with a lot of enthusiasm but very little direction. After a while I started to find my way although very slowly. It helped to have a good map. I used the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long books a great deal and read them over and over again. I learnt how to practise my scales and arpeggios with a purpose in mind and with every turn and new road began to understand more and more. I played tunes at home and struggled to improvise over the chords. I studied jazz theory and tried to get my head around dominant 7th’s and ii-v7-1 sequences. I also attended a couple of jazz workshops at the Benslow Music Trust which were fun but really only highlighted my ignorance and what I needed to know to progress further.
Eventually I recognised the need to stop and ask someone the way. After a lot of searching I found a great teacher in Hannah Horton who has helped me enormously. She has given me better directions and taught me exactly which roads to take during my improvisation. I still have a great deal to learn but last night I was able to exorcise a ghost of the past (See Half Moon link) and now feel that I am on the right road to continue my mission.
The White Hart PH is in the wilds of the Essex countryside. It took us ages to find it. We seemed to be going round in circles in the dark looking for a sign. Backwards and forwards we travelled until eventually we gave up looking and asked someone the way. We discovered we were just yards away. This is just like my music; I was close but not close enough. But now I feel I am in top gear and on my way.

No more Ray's Jazz Cafe

Yesterday was a sad day for me. I went to one of my favourite places in London and found that it had gone. At least in the form that I loved.

Ray's Jazz cafe was a CD and Cafe located on the first floor of Foyle's Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, London. Whenever I descended the stairs from the street the smell of roasted coffee greeted me like an old friend. After passing through the grey double doors into the cafe the wonderful warm sound of jazz hit my ears. The combination of both of these delights seemed to transport me to heaven on earth.

Ray's was an independent record shop selling Jazz, Blues and World music. It was a great place to browse and look for discs that the mainstream shops like HMV did not stock. It sold jazz books and magazines, in was a place that if you looked carefully you always thought you might rub shoulders with a jazz great.

But sadly yesterday all I found was a larger cafe selling coffee but without the music. Signs on the walls directed me to the third floor for the CD's where, I found CD's but no coffee. The record store had been turned into a grey lifeless Cd's store. No warmth, no music playing and no place for me.

I left and will never return.

" thats why they call it the blues"

Me and the band at the Half Moon, Bishops Stortford

My First Gig

Have you ever thought it would be a good idea to do something and then wished you had not even got out of bed that day? That is how I felt yesterday evening. I went along to a blues jam session at the Half Moon PH, Bishops Stortford. I originally meant to go and just listen with a view to deciding whether to play at a later date but after a little encouragement from others on the Breakfast Room Forum (http://www.breakfastroom.co.uk/) I thought, what the hell lets have a go. It turned out to be a bad decision.

When I got there I quickly realised that this was not what I had expected. You see I did not think it through properly. This was an electric blues club. People come here to play electric guitar and as loud as they can. They were experienced semi-professionals. Not amateurs like me who was looking to gain experience after a one week jazz course. I knew none of the songs, I knew none of the chord progressions and I was bricking it. By the time I was called up, nearly two hours into the night, my ears were bursting and my mind was a complete blank. I had prepared a little list of blues scales that I intended to refer to when I needed it but the sound coming out of my sax bore no resemblance to what the other guys were playing. Indeed most of the time I could not even hear the sound coming out of my sax. I stood next to a very loud drummer and in front of an enormous guitar amp. There were so many distractions I could not even remember my own name.

Should I have just abandoned the idea and not got up to play? I did consider it for a long while. The biggest problem I had was that I did not know enough about the style of blues being played. Because of all the guitars this was more blues/rock than shuffle. I stood on stage with Led Zeppelin and went down like a lead balloon. Any small number of jazz licks I had learnt were absolutely no use at all. The rhythm and blues I had played at the improvising course was no use at all. I was out of my depth.

So, would I go back? Not on your life. Was it worth it? Yes. I got a great deal of experience out of it. Not in playing terms but knowing what it is like to play on stage in that type of atmosphere. And anyway I am 53 years of age and for fifteen minutes I was in a rock band, which alone was worth the £3 entrance fee. I gave myself 10 out of 10 for courage but nil point for musical content. I got home and had a very large scotch before going to bed with my ears ringing like a church on a Sunday morning. I felt embarrassed about my performance but proud I did not chicken out.

Next Wednesday I will go back to my nice quiet concert band with pages of notes telling me what to play. I can’t wait.

Pictures from Jazz Course at Benslow Music Trust

Just a selection of some of the shots I took at the Jazz course I attended at the Benslow Music Trust in Hitchen, Hertfordshire.

A mixed quartet check their tuning.

Viktor Obsust giving a lecture

A mixture of reeds and brass in this ensemble

Some students are getting ready to perform with Viktor Obsust supervising.

Victor Obsust

I got back yesterday from the Benslow Music Trust and had a fantastic week learning how to play jazz with Viktor Obsust. There were around twenty of us on the course with various kinds of instruments and levels of experience.

I was very impressed by Viktor’s approach to the subject. He told us that we should play the music that is within us. ‘Making the sound is first, and then comes the theory’ he said. This was very much the theme of the course. My first attempts at improvising sounded dreadful because I did not have the knowledge of what notes to play. I needed the tools to give me a better choice. That’s where learning chords came in. I did lots of work on chords beforehand but had not developed the skills required to use this knowledge whilst actually playing. Viktor coached us to just play and the right sounds would come. If we didn’t like the sound change the note until you did. It may only be a semitone away.

The course was structured in such a way as to allow as much time as possible for playing. At each session we were split into groups of five and given a book containing 557 standard tunes and sent away to a small rehearsal room to practice a couple of tunes. Once this had been done we then reconvened in the main hall and performed our choice of music o the other groups complete with a chorus or two each improvising. This is when I realised that whilst I had some ideas on phrases I had no idea what notes to play within them. I tried to just mess with the melody which is fine if the melody has plenty of notes per bar, but some were a bit simple and therefore I did not have many notes to choose from.

So I changed my strategy and just listened to the harmony and let the music flow. I can’t say it was good but I did feel a lot better and I felt that I was making better progress. The course did have a theoretical content. But it was more discussion than textbook work. We spoke about 3rds and 7ths and how they related to the sounds we wish to make. I must admit I found this all very inspiring and am determined to learn more about theory so that I can make a more informed decision on how to make interesting music.

But what of the man himself? Viktor Obsust is a classically trained pianist from a very strict eastern European background. He taught piano and double bass at the Bratislava State Conservatoire. He told me that he started to learn piano at a very early age but taking up the double bass was his act of rebellion. He is now runs workshops on jazz improvisation and world music. I found his teaching methods both fascinating and enjoyable. As one might expect his knowledge of harmonies and jazz chords is extensive and he passes on this knowledge with a smile on his face and a passion that is contagious. Added to which he has one of the most remarkable goatee beards I have ever seen.

If you want to improvise and want to learn in a fun and supportive atmosphere I would urge you to take this course.

My Jazz Course

Well now is the time. Tonight I am off for a three day jazz course. I have worked hard on my theory learning scales, modes and chords. I have listened to hours of jazz music and now is the time for me to have ago. My saxophones and I are off to the Benslow Music Trust. Viktor Obsust is the principal tutor who apparently is very good and very supportive. I am quite nervous but looking forward to it immensely. I just hope I know enough to join in and not find I am out of my depth.

Wish me luck!

Scales and Chords

My study of jazz theory continues with learning the various scales/chords on a single root. I have found this good fun and after testing myself have become proficient at recognising the name of a chord by its component parts. I cover the chords on a play-a-long book and look at the full scale notes below and then work out the chord. I hope this helps me when I play as I will slowly learn where the flattened notes are and use them in my playing. It is also helpful to ingest the differences between a major seventh, dominant seventh, minor Dorian and a blues scale etc. Each day is a different root note and a further set of new chords.

Learning all the scales and chords in all the keys looks daunting so by doing it this way I am hoping to make it a little easier to remember. I lived in the days of learning times tables parrot fashion, maybe I can do this the same way.

Modes, modes and more modes.

I have been off work this week with a bad cold. So, I made good use of the time with studying jazz. My head is full of dorian modes and dominant 7ths and augmented 4ths I have big headache and it is nothing to do with my illness. However, I did get a chance to play for a couple of hours and all my reading has helped. The chord symbols at the top of the music did not look so daunting and I felt that with the extra knowledge I was able to simplify some of it and concentrate on playing. I have got prior experience of the simple chords like the major's and minor's but what frightened me was those that were altered and had extra bits like +9 or b7. I knew what they mean I just did not grasp how to play them. I am not sure what my music sounded like but on the whole I just ignored them and if my fingers got close I would put the note in and see whether it sounded out of place or not. I did feel very happy after my practice. I am sure it was not up to performance standard but I had great fun playing 'Call me Irresponsible' and 'Impressions' although the latter a lot slower that Coltrane.

"do it"

This is a message I got from a fellow music lover. I thought it was worth putting up on the blog.

‘Hi Jeff, me again I was just checking your Blog, - although I've played now for about forty years many of them pro, it wasn't until my 50th that I decided to really get serious, - you sound like you're in a similar situation - I can only say do it! - and with a vengeance - you won't regret it, I knuckled down for about three years and improved my playing in leaps and bounds. It's now over ten years later and my only advice is "do it" and don't listen to old has beenz. The carriage gets older and the paint flakes off but as long as you keep your motor running . . . anything is possible’.
gruss – spike

Thanks for the advice spike

Learning to Play Jazz

I have not made any serious resolutions for the New Year. Except the annual ones that I never complete like, going on a diet or not touching the hard stuff anymore. But I have got a music project for 2008. I have decided to have a serious go at learning to play jazz. I have had a half-hearted attempt before but got dazed and confused and gave up. But I do love jazz and the more I listen and watch the stuff the more my desire to play increases. I have been told by a Jazz musician of 50 years experience that I am wasting my time. His point of view was that at the old age of 53 it is too late to learn and I should have started in my youth. Well that is only an opinion and I think I will have an attempt to prove him wrong.

So, my initial strategy is to read and digest the Jamey Aebersold book ‘How to play Jazz and Improvise’. My brother bought me a great book for Christmas on how to phrase during improvisation so the two9 should go well together. I know I must concentrate more on learning scales and chords and should practise these more than I already do, but now I have to look at the different jazz scales and how to use them. Listening to others is important and I already listen to a lot on CD, radio and live at the club so that is covered. But instead of just listening with a tapping foot I will need to try and analyse the music more, maybe even remembering some phrases that I could use.

Next is formal education. I will try and find a tutor but in the meantime I have signed up a week’s course at the Benslow Music Trust in February. This will give me a target to aim for and will hopefully give me enough incentive to study every day so as not to look a complete idiot in 6 weeks time. Finding a tutor who is prepared to give me an hour’s lesson on a Saturday afternoon is going to be hard but I will research it and see what I can find.

So, here goes it. If any reader has any tips on how they learnt please post a comment. I have a big point to prove and I need all the help I can get. I will of course post my progress on this blog.