[Dixielandjazz] Resting Chops

Russ Guarino russg@redshift.com
Tue, 24 Sep 2002 12:01:32 -0700


Following up on Jim's comments, "I miss playing less and less".

It has been my observation that musicians want to play.  I will talk
about some issue to the band and after about 1/2 minute, they are
itching to play.  "Let play" the banjo player with say.  Heck, I feel
the same way.  We all want to play

My question is what part of the brain do all musicians share that puts
them into this mode?

I am convinced that it is the left hemisphere that deals with playing
the written notes and the right hemisphere  deals with the creative
soloing.  But were does this deep impulse to play come from?

Russ Guarino

JimDBB@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 9/24/02 6:17:36 AM Central Daylight Time,
> dingle@baldwin-net.com writes:
>
>
>
>> In my time in the house band at Chicago's Jazz Ltd. we played five
>> night a
>> week, six hours a night. we had Thursday and Sunday off (with an off
>> night
>> band led by Lil Armstrong or Art Hodes on Thursdays).
>> I had chops of steel in those days. So did Jim Beebe who worked in
>> the band
>> with me.
>
>    LIke you say, Don..."then was then and now is now."
>
>    My 'chops' are well rested now.  I haven't played my horn in over a
> year and half.  It sits on a stand over there and is getting dusty.  I
> probably ought to clean it up and put it away.  I actually find that I
> miss playing less and less.  It's nice not having all of the
> hassles...with the instrument, the chops, getting to the gig, getting
> a band together, getting subs, picking tunes and on and on.  So many
> weekends blown that I could have spent with the family.
>
>    Jim Beebe