[Dixielandjazz] Thanks to all who responded

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Actually you have touched on two subjects the first one is how far out 
should you go and the second is what should a piano player do?

I personally prefer playing off of the melody and I always try to bring the 
listener back to it if I have moved very far a field.  I think how far off 
you get depends on your taste as well as your proficiency and knowledge of 
the tune.  I think be bop type solos or very modern shouldn't be a part of 
this kind of music but on the other hand I get a little tired of endless 
eighth note patterns too.

As a Soprano Sax player (formerly clarinet) in the head of the tune I am 
playing off of the Cornet player.  In counterpoint each line should be able 
to stand on it's own as a melody.  So too should whatever  I just played 
against the cornet.  My solo will be based on what I just played against the 
cornet line with variations.  It doesn't always work out that way but often 
it does.  It's particularly handy if I don't really know the tune.

The second part is, should the piano player play the melody behind you? 
Most soloists dislike a piano player doing this but there are times it has 
it's place.  One example is if the piano player senses that you are off in 
seventh heaven somewhere and wants to bring you back to earth.  In this case 
a couple of hints won't hurt.   Hey stuff happens!  Too many piano players 
(drummers too) don't phrase and a soloist can get off.  This doesn't happen 
too often in OKOM because the chord lines are much more to the point but if 
you are playing more modern stuff it can get pretty bland like 32 bars of 
the same chord.  A good piano player will lead the horns through a solo by 
phrasing and melody hints.  The same holds true of singers.  A good piano 
player won't let a singer get off in left field.

There is a lot of difference between good and just OK piano players.  Having 
said all that there are some piano players who just want to keep that melody 
going and I don't particularly care for that.
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russ Guarino" <russg at redshift.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 3:58 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Thanks to all who responded


> Thanks to all who responded to my "What do you play question"   The many 
> comments were
> very helpful.  Is this a great list or what?
>
> A few days ago one of our "mates" wrote an e-mail that  said  " I play a 
> note and then
> go to where it suggests".  Or something like that.
>
> I can't find the e-mail, but I would like to explore the concept a little 
> further.
>
> This comment encapsulates how I jam.  I seem to play a note or a few notes 
> and then the
> ideas flow within the chord structure of the tune.  The only thing that 
> holds me back
> is I sometimes can't find the finger positions on the clarinet for the 
> sounds that I
> hear in my head.
>
> My mentor, now deceased trumpeter Joe Ingram, said to never stray too far 
> from the
> melody or you loose your listener.
>
> He would roll his eyes if I really got out in left field.
>
> Mary, his keyboard playing wife, would softly play the tune melody as 
> background as I
> took off.   I always know where I am however, and I don't need to have the 
> melody
> behind my jam.  [ I just need the chords to be clearly stated ] She does 
> it for the
> audience, and, maybe, for the rest of the band.
>
> I can play improv independently of the melody line or I can wander off, 
> come back,
> wander off and back, etc.
>
> I wonder what other successful players do or recommend?
>
> Russ Guarino
> Clarinet Guy
>
> PS:  There is a section in "Limehouse Blues" [ which we play very fast - 
> not much time
> to think ] in which my band takes its solos.  I played a certain improv 
> theme first
> time I played the section.  A month later, much to my surprise, 
> unconsciously, I played
> the same theme again almost note for note. Very unusual, as if my brain 
> fell into the
> same vacuole.  Kinda scary.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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