[Dixielandjazz] practice

[Jim Kashishian]

All the latest chatter on practising and how/where to
practice...............
 
For individual practice I have always suggested the way I practiced while
still in High School....playing along with the few Dixieland LPs I had then
(Firehouse Five + 2, Teddy Buckner, Turk Murphy, Lu Watters, Kid Ory, Dukes
of Dixieland, and even one I picked up at the Famous Door in New Orleans
when I was 17...trombonist Sharkey Bonano).  Now that was a typical Southern
California mix for those years (late '50s), but I hung closer to the style
of the Dukes then the 'Frisco sound.  got knocked for that by my
friends...for being too commercial!   :>
 
Someone said playing along with records doesn't work.  It did for me.  I was
able to follow the bass line at first, playing the trombone as though it
were a tuba one octave up.  Then, once I could hear the changes, I mentally
blocked out the trombonist, and did my bit in his place.  (The mind can do
that!)  I also listened to what the trombonist was doing sometimes, and
began making up my style from all those I was listening to.
 
I, of course, had the luck to be in a band at that age, and was able to put
my practice to work within a band format.
 
Still, today, I will enjoy having a blow with any new recording I get.  For
example, I've been enjoying my free evenings lately playing along with the
John Allred Quartet album that Bob Ringwald recommended recently on DJML.
It's just a good way to have a good workout.  In the early days, it was a
perfect way to train my ears.
 
Our band works a lot these days (10 to 20 nites a month), so we don't
actually have practice sessions.  New tunes are introduced "on the fly"
sometimes, with chords & a simple leadline discretely placed on the
stand...if there are no tricky endings or breaks, etc.  (Of course, you can
do that with a band that has a 40 yr history, and everyone is a good
reader!)  More complicated "tricks" (breaks, rhythm changes, etc.) happen as
we play the tune over several nites, and eventually a "head chart" is formed
(things that worked stay in, things that didn't are left....sometimes the
whole song 'cause it just didn't work for us).
 
So, I guess we could be categorized in those that advocate "practice in
front of an audience", only the audience should never be aware that anything
unusual is going on.
 
More complicated tunes will get a quick runover during a soundcheck, or
whenever we all have our horns & spare time before a gig.  Then, we do the
tune live.  One would get the impression that most of our songs would be
simple 32 bars, ensemble, solos, ensemble....but, although that is true on
some tunes, many get very intricate over a period of time.  Good musicians,
years of playing & listening, etc., are the key in our case.
 
And, although we are all in our 60's & have been playing daily for ever &
ever, private practice on a daily basis when not gigging is a must!  When I
travel for pleasure, my mouthpiece is always in my pocket for the daily
buzz.  Almost as good as actually blowing the horn.  That way, I can fall
right into a 7 niter just after a long trip & have the chops to get through
it all.
 
Just a few personal thoughts on the subject.....
 
Jim