[Dixielandjazz] Re: Strange Blues - indeed

Mon Mar 6 12:49:08 PST 2006

> Bill wrote:
> Why, oh why, do so many of the US musicians on this list need a lead sheet
> and chords for every tune/song before they even attempt it?

Jim Said:  Of course that works well with steady personnel in a steadily
working band.
> If you rely more on a long list of musicians that you can call for a gig,
> it  is less likely to work.

If you are blessed by musicians that are proficient and have worked together
for a long time you can fly without a net.  I have done several such gigs
this past week and one turned into a real circle jerk when a singer came
into the mix.  This vocalist was particularly good but totally ignorant (
also a ditz ) so far as keys and music is concerned.  The three tunes she
did all started and were stopped about 8 bars in because it was in the wrong
key then she and the banjo player rehearsed for a minute or two before
kicking off the tune again.  While this may be common with singers it does
happen with other musicians too.  This offends my sense of professionalism
and the leader and I had a discussion about it.  We were stuck with her when
the woman who hired us wanted her to sing with the band..

I have been on countless jobs where there were endless discussions before
the tunes about key, tempo, choruses etc.  Then someone says I don't know
that tune or I can't remember the bridge. All of this is solved  with fake
sheets.  I think all of this should be worked out somewhere else other than
on stage.

The real problem is that the number of musicians that can arrange on the fly
seems to be declining rapidly and keeping a cohesive group together can be
very difficult.  One of the trombone players who plays very well and is
approaching 85 announced his retirement a couple of weeks ago.  He just 
can't
be replaced with someone who has had little experience.  This is happening
at a rather rapid pace as the proficient players die and quit playing.  I am
on the young side of this group but I look at musicians that are younger
than I and the prospects are dismal.  OKOM music business is changing
rapidly.

How are young musicians to learn this music?  Playing several gigs a week is
just no longer possible in most cities.  The only way this is possible is to
use charts of some kind.  Many of the younger musicians read very well and
are weak in improvisation and style.  The only way they can learn is by
doing it and I for one don't expect one to just jump in and be successful.

I was asked to sit in with a group one night. (Tuba, Banjo, Trombone) The
banjo player who runs the group and asked me to sit in was using chord /
word  sheets.  Believe me he really doesn't need them.  The trombone player
knew all the tunes they played and the tuba player was also using chord
sheets.  The tunes that they were playing were really off the beaten path.
I'm a pretty quick study and can pick up a tune and do a solo without
knowing the tune beforehand but still I was at a disadvantage in the group
because I didn't "know" the tunes.  The tuba player after about a dozen
tunes announced to me that he was used to playing with professionals.  I was
pissed to say the least.  I packed my horn and told him I wasn't either and
left.  What a jerk especially since the group was for the most part using
chord / word sheets and I didn't have the same advantage.

The reason why I brought this all up is to show the attitude of many
musicians and Jazz societies.  If you have a fake sheet or arrangement on
the stand you somehow aren't as good. ( Bill said: > Why, oh why, do so
many of the US musicians on this list need a lead sheet > and chords for
every tune/song before they even attempt it?)

My opinion is that if you can fly without a net and do a professional job
then my hat's off to you but having the chart up there eliminates a lot of
headaches for the leader and generally makes the performance smoother,
provided it doesn't deteriorate into endless shuffling through paper to find
tunes.

I have found that most Dixie musicians in this area don't read music very
well and tend to put down those who use fake sheets.  It's a whole lot
easier to put together a band and not have to handle a library too.  As Jim
said it really doesn't work if you have to rely on a large group of
musicians as I do.  When we work more or less with the same guys we can get
away with just a tune list but that depends on if you can put the same band
together two times in a row.  I just can't.

By the way the music should only be a road map, even arrangements, and
should not be played in the classic sense, that is every dot and tittle in a
row.  I like some of the more obscure less well known tunes and just don't
expect all my musicians to be on the same page.

I prefer arrangements that are sketches rather than full blown, everything
written out, arrangements.  To understand what I mean you need to be
familiar with the Hal Leonard library and the Black Swan band Library.  The
Hal Lenord arrangements, while nice, lack spontaneity while the Black Swan
arrangements require it and yet provide enough glue to hold things together.
IMHO the Hal Leonard charts are perfect examples of over arranged Dixie
tunes.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 7:53 AM
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Strange Blues - indeed

>
>
> I will let the U.S. based musicians answer your question, obviously.
> However, I do have one comment to make.  I find that myself & our
> trumpeter
> are more happy to play a melody "by ear" than are the chord guys in our
> band.  They prefer a written sheet.  From that sheet, the bass & pianist
> often restructure some of the chords to their liking, using the written
> score as a type of basic guide.  "Oh, no", some will shout!  "That's
> tampering with the original tune!"
> Yeah, that's what jazz is about, isn't it?  Anyway, who says what's on the
> paper was the original bit?  Or, even what is on that famous recording?
>
> The new "improvised bit" fits the style of the band, fits the style of the
> player, makes the band happy, doesn't clash with the melody line?  Ok!
> Where the so-called original came from, be it a recording or a paper sheet
> doesn't really matter.
>
> We like to try out a new tune on the stage.  Pass the chord sheet around,
> the horn man that knows the melody will do the major honking (we will use
> a
> written sheet for anyone not so familiar with the song).  If the tune
> "clicks" with the band, then we get into it more deeply, and rely heavily
> on
> things that happen while playing the song to mold those good bits into a
> head arrangement.  "Hey, that ending (or intro, or break) was
> great...remember that for the next time!"
>
> Of course that works well with steady personel in a steadily working band.
> If you rely more on a long list of musicians that you can call for a gig,
> it
> is less likely to work.
>
> Jim
>
>
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