[Dixielandjazz] Too many notes / dissing musicians

[Rick Knittel]

Steve Barbone wrote;

Amen Bob:

The pity of it is that the above musicians were dissed in front of 400
list mates, most of whom have never heard them. Yet perhaps they will now
carry a "too many notes-no soul" label because of one opinion.
 
Randy Sandke et al? Who are they? Some of the BEST OKOM musicians on the
scene today, that's all. Definitely not the usual suspects.

Cheers, 
Steve Barbone 

I have listened to some musicians who seem to play as many notes as they
can to dazzle listeners with their facility on their instruments, whose
solos did not seem to have any sense of the song being played. I found
those solos a lot less exciting to hear than those played by musicians
for whom the melody and the words formed a basis for their solo and who
seemed to be expressing their thoughts and feelings in the notes they
played. Kenny Davern said, "Learn the words to the song and think about
them when you are playing your solo."

There is the story about the two tenor sax players sitting in the front
of a big band after one played a solo with essentially only one note in
it but very rhythmically expressed, and the other having played every
phrase he knew in one chorus. The second asked the first "how come you
played only one note?" and the first replied "You're searching for that
note and I found it."

My favorite pianist, Oscar Peterson has often been accused of playing too
many notes. My impression of his playing is that the facility was there
and what he played what he felt. To me, his solos are very melodic,
rhythmically exciting and harmonically beautiful. 

Kind Regards,


Rick Knittel - JAZZBONE 
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