[Dixielandjazz] melody vs chords & the importance ofwords

[Charlie Hull]

Hi, Luis

A good resource for learning to improvise but not get too far away from the
melody is to listen to singers like Sinatra, Torme, and such who took little
side trips but came right back to the melody.  There's usually no doubt what
tune they're singing.

I've played brilliant (my opinion) improvised solos and been very
disappointed at the lack of audience response (maybe they were stunned?),
then later in the day played the straight melody with feeling and received
applause.

I'd much rather hear the song played straight with feeling than a mechanical
solo.

Charlie Hull