[Dixielandjazz] Chet Baker and Lack of Melody???

[Steve Barbone]

Hi Bob:

Heck, they grow what I'm smoking right around the corner from you in Lodi.

Last time I listened, Louis, as great as he was, was not the, last word in
jazz. Surely he and KO set the bar, but they did it by modifying existing
"rules" and my guess is that they never considered themselves as "artists"
who musical ideas must be followed in knee jerk fashion.

Listen also to his solo (Ambassador Satch) on Muskrat Ramble. His string of
Operatic quotes has nothing to do with the melody of Muskrat Ramble, but it
surely follows the chordal structure. :-) VBG.

Yes you should be able to follow the melody in soli if you choose, but you
have a choice not to also . . . which he proves on that record.

Or, dig out the Smithsonian Classic Jazz records of several decades ago
(since I figure you don't have a lot of Charlie Parker records) and listen
to the two takes of Bird's "Embracaeble You". I think you will hear two
beautifully constructed "new" melodies that follow the chordal structure. I
also think you will be able to recognize and hum the original melody of
Embracaeble You while listening to Parker's new compositions.

Best of all, the two takes, which are quite different, were "composed" by
Parker about 10 minutes apart and are beautiful additions to the original
melody of the tune.

IMO, there is a lot of confusion about improvisation. Melodic Improv is the
construction of a new melody around the chords of a tune. Bechet did it
early in his career. Hear his solo versions on Tiger Rag. Armstrong did it
on many occasions.

Also, IMO, most OKOM soloists today improvise on the chords, not the melody,
while some improvise melodically. And some do both.

Perhaps it depends on the audience? I try and improvise melodically creating
a new one 8, 12, or 16 bars long, but with a older Dixieland audience I
always restate the original melody here and there so they can hear what's
going on without too much intellectual activity.

Please folks, if this does not apply to YOU, don't run me over the coals for
speaking plainly. IMO it does speak to a large segment of the Dixieland
audience today. Those 30 million people or so in the USA who like the music,
but do not attend festivals.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

on 12/2/06 12:50 PM, Bob Romans at cellblk7 at comcast.net wrote:

> Hi Steve...please send me some of the good stuff you're smoking...seeds and
> all! :~)
> Imagination can be a wonderful thing...at times!
> Louis Armstrong said once that you should be able to follow the melody in
> your improvised solo...quoting Oliver I think...
> I always thought they set (especially Louis) the bar for all of the jazz
> musicians that followed...
> My thought was instead of taking a beautiful tune like "My Funny Valentine",
> and camouflaging it with dozens of extemporaneous notes, just say, "Here
> folks, is a jazz exercise I'm having fun with, playing as many notes as I
> can, on the interesting chord changes to a well-known tune".
> Don't ruin "My Funny Valentine".
> Bob Romans
> 
>> As for me, I hear the melodies in all of Baker's playing.