[Dixielandjazz] Improvisation

[john petters]

Brian said
> One of the problems about improvisation seems to occur when a musician has
an over abundance of technique over what I might call 'soul' or creativity.
This leads to the objectionable exhibitions of pure technique which have no
>place in jazz.
I completely agree with Brian about this. My cornet player, Ken Sims, said
he heard Louis Armstrong warming up before a gig, playing very differently
to what the folks would hear and technically challenging. He came on stage
and played the show as people expected. So here is an example of a player
with more technique than he chose to use.
 
Jazz is not all about technique, it is about soul and emotions and
entertainment. It is often the case that less is more. 

I was travelling home from playing a Hoagy Carmichael show on Friday with
trombonist Mike Pointon. We were listening to a Rudi Blesch This Is Jazz  CD
with Wild Bill, Albert Nicholas, Jimmy Archey, Ralph Sutton, Danny Barker,
Pops Foster and Baby Dodds.  This was very exciting traditional jazz, I
can't define it better as it contained New Orlean players, Chicago style
players, etc. The improvisation was wonderful - but economic. Bill's soaring
punchy lead leaving plenty of space for the clarinet and trombone. The
rhythm section driving the whole thing, with Baby's snare, tom and block
accents. All of the musicians were capable of using more technique but chose
not too. Many musicians today who play in traditional style bands use
harmonies and phrases that were used by the boppers and beyond and as such I
would say that is an over use of technique. A musician should ever strive to
improve his mastery of the instrument, but he should have the good taste to
know how much he should use when playing the earlier forms of jazz. Of
course some players are unable to do this because their jazz vocabulary may
begin with Charlie Parker or John Coltrane, so they would not have the basic
foundation of phrasing like Bechet or Noone or Dodds. 

I recorded a CD with John Wurr, Chez Chesterman, Martin Litton and Annie
Hawkins recently with the music of Johnny Dodds as the theme. We played
tunes like Bohunkas Blues, Heah Me Talkin' Piggly Wiggly, Oriental man etc.
For me, this meant trying to create a feel for the period, so, on many
tracks I played press rolls, rims, and choke cymbal, with ride and hi-hat
used only sparingly. Martin played in his best Morton-esqe style. I've just
put a clip of the trio playing Jelly's Wolverine Blues on my website
www.traditional-jazz.com/sound/wolverine.mp3

All of the musicians on the session are capable of playing more advanced!?
Styles of jazz, but we set ourselves a specific stylistic goal and played
within the idiom. Yes it was improvised, but I will leave it to others to
judge the soul and creativity.
John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com