[Dixielandjazz] Peterson and Other People's Licks.

[Steve Barbone]

OP, though he liked to hide it, had both perfect pitch and a very retentive
memory. And he mastered his instrument. So it is not surprising that he
could play what others already played. But he did not, like some teach,
slavishly copy others solos, or licks. Because he also had great ears, he
retained the music of others. But when listening to OP's output, very little
playing of other people's music is present, mostly a quote here and there.

Many jazz musicians have that faculty. Who among us clarinet players cannot
reproduce exactly, the Larry Shields breaks on "Original Dixieland One Step"
after one or two hearings. No need to write it down, analyze it and
slavishly seek to copy it. Chance are if you can't hear it and immediately
play it, you are not a jazz musician.

Just about all jazz musicians make use of quotes. The danger therein is
overuse of the device. And making the leap that; because OP (and others) can
do something quite easily by ear, others who can't, should strive to do it
through concentrated study and analyzing. Better to learn how to hear.

The man was a genius player who also knew quite about about things other
than music. (like Artie Shaw). Few of us will ever get close to that state
of mind, so what's good enough for OP, may well be disaster for us.

Examples of OP's musical outlook and talent:

His father, a train conductor, insisted that OP and his sister practice
while he was away on his two week train schedule. He gave them lessons to do
and would check them both when he got home. Peterson says of this; "Daisy
always used to practice the lesson hard the day before my father returned.
So I would sit on the stoop and hear what she played, and get it down that
way, by listening without practicing. That worked fine until Dad found out
what I was up to and began giving different lessons to each of us."

And when studying classical music with Paul de Marky at age 14 OP said: "I
was already drawn to improvisation. I studied classical music, of course,
but I liked the idea of creating something new each time I sat down at the
keyboard, I still do."

When auditioning singers for the Johnny Holmes Band, one was tone deaf. She
sang, constantly changing the tonality of the song. Holmes said: "Oscar
would follow her wherever she went, whatever key she wandered into. And
never cracked a smile. It was positively surreal." Oscar said he was afraid
to look at Holmes during the song because he would have cracked up.

In a CBC interview OP answered: "Do you spend much time practicing?"

"Well no Ginny, I don't get very much time to practice. If I do I usually
cram it into 3 or 4 hours and then other times I go without. It's tough
keeping up on the popular songs. The only way I can do that is by buying
records. I find it a lot easier to just listen to someone else's ideas on
them and formulate my own opinions on what the other person has done.

When asked if Classical Music had been open to black players during his
early years whether he would have gone that route OP replied:

"No, I'd still have taken the direction I did. Because of the creativity in
jazz."

You can hear classical quotes in his music. Like Beethoven's "Moonlight
Sonata" in the middle of" My Funny Valentine." It is a form of humor of
which OP says: "I like to venture out. Like with 'Funny Valentine' it came
to me that there is a similarity between those chords and Beethoven's. I
ventured out, it worked."

It all comes down to "ears". OP had monster ears. He did not copy someone
else's chorus for the sake of emulating that person. He did not re-create
anyone else's work. He was certainly a derivative player. With those ears,
how could he not have been? He could play exactly what he heard Nat Cole or
Lester Young, ... or countless others play, BUT, had the good sense not to.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone