[Dixielandjazz] Sitting in

[David Gannett]

One of the biggest problems for aspiring jazz/commercial musicians is 
finding a place where they can SUCK until they learn the ropes!  Vaudeville 
and the endless road bands provided just such an opportunity to crash and 
burn, pick yourself up, fix the mistakes and keep at it.  In my day there 
was Nick Fink's in Mesa, Arizona and Rosy O'Gradys, Orlando, where I could 
work 7 nites a week for years on end, learning tunes, doing my 
(considerable) share of sucking, all the while absorbing the masterful 
playing of Bill Allred, Don Lord, Jim Maihack and the like.  That was an 
amazing luxury in retrospect and one increasingly rare today.

In the World Band at Disney, we'd get all these hot shot jazzers out of 
North Texas State who could play every modal scale, every bop head and burn 
through Donna Lee at 144 bpm while waiting to go on set.  Then we'd get out 
to play and they didn't know the tunes, couldn't swing, were enmeshed in the 
"dig me!" world instead of reaching out and entertaining families and kids 
and had a prevailing attitude of "Man, I am TOO HIP for this gig!  I'm just 
here filling in until my (full time jazz gig, recording contract, etc. etc. 
fill in the blank) comes along."  Literally only one in a hundred "got it" 
by watching, listening, learning and experimenting.

That brings to mind World Class monsters like Danny Jordan (sax, Maynard 
Ferguson), Dave Trigg (trpt, same), Stan Mark (trpt, same) came in, knuckled 
under, played the music and were never too proud to play "The Saints", while 
swinging and playing their asses off.  Know what?  They sucked while they 
were learning the tunes, but they still "carried the mail".

The way I "sat in" was by listening to every single Firehouse Five Plus Two 
album and playing along until I knew the songs cold.  But without the 
patience of certain band leaders over the years, I never would have been 
able to hone my skills into something useful and entertaining.

With so few venues today, perhaps the best advice for aspiring players is 
KNOW the tunes, KNOW the keys and practice w/a metronome on 2 and 4 until 
you acquire some time.  That'll make it easier to train drummers later on. 
At least then when you sit in you'll make a positive impression (if you 
don't upstage the leader or go after the trumpet player's chick).

Dave Gannett
TUBAGEAR.COM