[Dixielandjazz] Exceptions

[Patrick Cooke]

>>>Chords? Notes? Bechet just didn't need them. He immediately heard them
and his fully developed ear didn't lie very often. And how difficult that
must be, to play night after night, without a safety net under you.
No chord signature, or note to refer to if you get stuck somewhere in the
tune.<<<

      Ray Burke was another one like that.  Couldn't read a note as big as
the planet Pluto, but he could play anything in any key.  Beautifully
executed ideas on an old Albert system clarinet held together with rubber
bands and paper clips.
Phenomenal musician!   Nice guy....funny guy.
   Pat Cooke



----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 12:03 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Exceptions


> To every rule in music, there are exceptions. Yes, as Jim Beebe pointed
> out, Louis Armstrong couldn't have made all those beautiful records
> without being able to read. And as Paul Edgerton pointed out. Analysis
> of the chords and melody is very important for most of us in order to
> play jazz and that was followed by several messages of analysis
> detailing all the things one should think about when seeing a 13th chord
> written, or some of the really exotic ones.
>
> True enough, just read "Lost Chords" by Richard Sudhalter to see lots of
> analysis.
>
> But we might also remember, and I think Paul Edgerton also made this
> point, that some players don't have all this theory in their conscious
> minds. They do, however, have it in their ears, they hear it.
>
> Sidney Bechet was one who had it in his ears. Couldn't read notes,
> didn't know chords, but still made some beautiful music. (Chet Baker
> too) My favorite Bechet story is a personal one from Paris circa 1955.
> He was talking about a tune, "Salty Dog" that was very popular around
> the tonks in early New Orleans.
>
> I asked what the chord changes were. His answer was to put the Sop Sax
> to his lips and blow the full chord arpeggios from bottom to top of the
> horn. I in turn, copied them by ear on the clarinet and later wrote the
> chords down. I analyzed them as a circle of 5ths in F, but he didn't
> need to.
>
> Chords? Notes? Bechet just didn't need them. He immediately heard them
> and his fully developed ear didn't lie very often. And how difficult
> that must be, to play night after night, without a safety net under you.
> No chord signature, or note to refer to if you get stuck somewhere in
> the tune.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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