[Dixielandjazz] Cloddish MUSICIANS?

[Patrick Cooke]

Dave McCartney said:
>My amp allows the E string to be heard. My amp allows
the strummer and the drummer etc to play along with
my solo instead of leave town. I don't wish to overpower
or offend anyone, but I like to be part of the sound.

    Hooray!  I also like to play those big notes on the bottom strings, but
without an amp you can mostly forget about them.  This is why so many
players without amps rarely play on the E string.  With an amp and a good
equalizer, those big bottom notes have definition, instead of sounding like
gas bubbling out of a mud puddle.  I knew of a bass player(?) who used to
play something on the E string when he didn't know the tune.  He called it
his 'thud' string!  It was like a bass drum with a big soft muffler.
    Without the amp, the E string is useful for bowing, or could be why a
lot of the old timers slapped.  Slapping was the most definition they could
get.  This is just speculation, of course. I remember when I was just
starting bass in my teens, there were no amplifiers.  I was playing with big
bands, and the idea was to get enough sound to be heard over a drummer and a
brass section.  Slapping was just not done in a big swing band, and in order
to pull the strings hard enough to be heard without slapping, bass players
had their strings set high off the fingerboard.  One soon developed fingers
that looked like clubs.

     I have just returned from the West Coast Jazz Party in Irvine, CA.
This is the first festival I have ever attended that wasn't primarily dixie
or trad, or whatever your favorite label for it is.  There were a number of
excellent bass players, but the one that was the most dazzling was Jennifer
Leitham.  Now, Jennifer was playing with Jack Sheldon's quartet.  She had
technique to burn, played a solo on each tune of at least one chorus, and
one tune all by herself.  Not only was she the fastest bassist I have ever
heard or seen, she played double stops and triple stops like it was a
guitar.  She played a 3 part line all the way from one end of the
fingerboard and back again at blinding speed...all with excellent
intonation.   But wait......after the set, I was talking to another fan, and
she said Yes, Jennifer plays even better than she did before she was a
woman.  I'm not telling anything she is trying to keep a secret, in fact I
bought two CDs made when she was John Leitham.

      This festival was billed as Mainstream, Straight down the middle jazz.
I expected the audience to be younger than the audiences at trad festivals;
but no, they were mostly an older crowd.  And you won't believe it, but
their concern was that the audience for their stuff was dying off....Sound
familiar?
     Today's younger crowd (wherever they are) thinks traditional jazz is
what was played by Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis.  Lord only knows what they
call modern.
      I heard a few OKOM standards, but not in trad style.  I heard Rob
McConnell and Bill Watrous do a duet on Louisiana.  The singer with the
Count Basie Band sang All of Me, and somebody did Sweet Georgia Brown.  I
Talked to Bill Watrous, he showed me his horn...a Bach that somebody found
in an attic that was over 50 years old, and hardly ever played. It had a
phenomenally smooth slide and looked brand new.  It was stamped "New York
67"  He said 67 was the zip code!  I talked to Scott Hamilton, Clayton
Cameron, and a number of others.  There was no shortage of top drummers
there.  The aforementioned Clayton Cameron had the night off from playing
with Tony Bennett, and gave a dazzling display of his masterful brush work.
The drumming for the Basie Band was done by Butch Miles.  Butch had played
with the band some years back and has played off and on with them.  He knew
all the charts, and caught every brass lick like he was part of the section.
I could not take my eyes off Butch the whole set.  He looked like he was
having more fun than anybody in the room.  And he brought the house down.
      Among the drummers there was also Jeff Hamilton and Ray Brinker.  I
truly enjoyed the festival.  The level of musicianship was outstanding!  My
only complaint was the sets out by the pool and on the boat were hot.  I
mean we were sweating.   If I ever go again I'll bring shirts and underwear
for two changes a day.
    Pat Cooke

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David McCartney" <yup1275 at earthlink.net>
To: "dixieland jazz mail list" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 12:39 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Cloddish MUSICIANS?


>
> As a bassist, with an amplifier, I need to speak up here.
> I resent any musician that gives others a bad name,
> including too-loud bass players. They hurt ME.
>
> Thanks Bill Haesler for the gr8 example of the banjo player.
> All of us are sposed to be part of a team and if anyone
> throws it off balance, there is a problem.
>
> We can whine about each other, but that is where the
> leader comes in. If the leader can't/won't communicate, he
> isn't leading. If he rehires the jerk who is out of phase
> with the rest of the band, maybe he/she doesn't care.
>
> There is a local guy here and we agree to disagree and
> I don't play with him. He wants a distant thumper on
> a trailer behind the trailer, not a musician. Too bad.
>
> My amp allows the E string to be heard. My amp allows
> the strummer and the drummer etc to play along with
> my solo instead of leave town. I don't wish to overpower
> or offend anyone, but I like to be part of the sound.
>
> The modern listener expects to hear a bass line because
> that's what our sound systems give us now,  the full
> spectrum of sound. Some folks 80 years ago did get
> the full sound - if they sat near the bassist.
>
> So I say it is a matter of balance, cooperation, and leadership.
>
>
> D a v i d   M c C a r t n e y
>      A real standup fella
>
>
>
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