[Dixielandjazz] Too many notes / dissing musicians

[Steve barbone]

on 4/4/05 9:45 AM, Rick Knittel at knittelsportland at juno.com wrote:

> 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."

Good advice for soloists, as well as for leaders picking the tempo. Perhaps
the bottom line is that music is either good or bad, depending upon both the
player and the listener, and has nothing to do with "notes."
 
> 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."

Or about the young alto player on the Duke Ellington Band bus who stood next
to a dozing Johnny Hodges, tried to impress him, and blew every up tempo
Bird lick there was. Hodges opened one eye and said: "Yes, but can you sing
me a song?"
 
> 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.

Or hear Peterson on Green Dolphin Street circa 1950s (I gave the record away
long ago but still remember it vividly) with Milt Jackson added to the trio.
Absolutely gorgeous melodic, single note solo improvisation. OP Creates a
new melody line on it, around quarter notes. Swings like crazy. IMO, both
Peterson and Tatum played a lot of notes. Both are/were also great players.

My vote for clarinetist with the most "soul" is Sidney Bechet. E.G. "Blue
Horizon". 

Cheers,
Steve Barbone