[Dixielandjazz] Re: Winging solos

[Charlie Hooks]

on 6/28/03 10:30 AM, willc at willc at nova.edu wrote:

"I am in total awe of musicians who know what they're going to play in a
solo
before they play it. I don't have any consciously "preset" choruses
because 
I can't remember exactly how I played the tune the last time.

I have a feeling that my solos are shaped by how I THINK (but do not
know) I 
acquired the ability to improvise."


    What fascinates me about this thread is how differently we each come at
the theoretically similar act of improvisation.   And the more I think about
my own playing, the less sure I am that I ever do it exactly the same way
twice.  I will never play any tune the same way twice, nor will I ordinarily
recall how I played it before; but on the set of Ab chords that comprise so
many songs--like the last strain to "Tiger Rag," and all of "Bourbon St."--I
gradually over the years found things that worked and that were memorable
enough that I found myself playing them each time, and it made sense to
select the best order for those phrases.   I did, and it worked, and I kept
it in the act: it sounded flashy and got applause.  I still recall that the
most applause I got when Itzes Tamas toured me through Hungary was from
that stupid pre-composed couple of choruses.

    Of course, when I play that chorus, I'm not improvising.  I'm performing
something that worked when I improvised it previously.  Now it depends on
your personal purpose: if you're moved to "tell all' and bare your soul on
every chorus, then this won't do it.   But if you're out to entertain
people, give them pleasure from hearing something that has given pleasure
to others, then it makes a certain amount of sense.   I'd get bored doing it
all the time, so I don't.  The guys think it's funny--I think: Tom Hope used
to play part of it along with me on piano.

    Pee Wee Hunt was fond of telling me, "Benny Goodman told me once: when
you play something good, remember it."  And Pee Wee certainly did that--so
much so that most of his choruses became pat choruses.  And very memorable
to everybody on the band.   Once Smokey Stover went to the mike just ahead
of Pee Wee and played note for note a couple of Pee Wee's pat choruses.  The
band went down, and the audience hadn't a clue what was cracking us up.  Pee
Wee took it well, just looked around and said, "NOW what the hell am I gonna
play?"

    Interesting thread.

Charlie