[Dixielandjazz] Jazz is Alive and Well - In the ClassroomAnyway

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

I'm sure that's the way to go.  Jazz is a hands on art.  I just don't see 
how you could learn any other art from a book.  Yes you can get ideas and 
the basics but you can't as they say "swing".  The worst thing that a good 
friend of mine could say about a musician or band was they didn't swing.

Everyone has a different technical ability and understanding of jazz but I 
will also go out on a limb here and say that no matter what those two levels 
are I can tell if the person swings or not.  I also include music and 
musicians that are not "swing" musicians.  I can hear it in some students 
from a very early stage and I can also hear the opposite.  Some people just 
can't and I don't know exactly why.  Maybe they are just too conservative. 
Some people can't public speak either.  I remember when I was just a 
beginner in about 6th grade trying to improvise on a tune.  I didn't even 
know what improv was or that it was OK.  My old Italian teacher who was very 
traditional didn't think much of any pop music and I'm sure he would have 
consigned me to hell if he knew I was playing pop tunes and changing them 
around.  Heresy!!!

I'm sure that this is the very best advice that a musician can give to a 
young musician who wants to learn jazz.  With the technical advances we have 
now you don't have the handicaps we worked under but then they don't have 
the advantages either.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>; 
"DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz is Alive and Well - In the ClassroomAnyway


> Larry Walton: larrys.bands at charter.net wrote: (polite snips)
>
>> This is what comes from
>> trying to teach jazz in colleges and High schools.  There is a 
>> prestigious
>> college prep HS here that has an excellent stage band.  Perfect in every 
>> way
>> except one.  The soloists totally suck.  Their training is rigid and
>> textbook like.  There is another school in the same system that had an 
>> only
>> fair stage band but produced outstanding soloists and professionals.  The
>> difference was the teacher in the second school is a jazzer who knows how 
>> to
>> inspire and lead kids into jazz the first is a textbook teacher.
>>
>> I maintain and will continue to maintain that you cannot teach jazz in a
>> classroom anymore than you teach any other art.
>>
>> There are many colleges turning out teachers who think they can teach 
>> jazz
>> and you get phony jazz that doesn't go anywhere which is then in turn 
>> taught
>> to the next group of students and so on.
>>
>> It's no wonder that no one knows what jazz is.
>>
>> The Jamey Aebersold series gives the students the basic outlines and 
>> tools
>> then says here try it.  They do not give the student note for note 
>> outline
>> as to what to do.  With the difficulty of finding good rhythm sections I
>> think that the series is a very good thing.
>
> Yep, I agree Larry. I did not learn jazz in high school or college any 
> more
> than Kenny Davern did. I did learn "music" by joining the high school, 
> band
> and orchestra. Classical & Light Classical.
>
> I learned jazz by listening, humming along, singing, etc., to ALL FORMS of
> music. Then concentrating more on listening to jazz, then going around and
> sitting in where ever I could until I was able to get paying jazz gigs.
> Luckily I lived a block away from Hank D'Amico and he helped with some 
> jazz
> basics and introduced me to almost all of the great players on the New 
> York
> scene in the '40s & '50s. Other than that, I taught myself to play jazz.
>
> Not that I am any Kenny Davern, far from it, but he taught himself jazz
> also. In fact, most of the old timers were really self taught with a 
> little
> help from their friends and mentors who were jazz players.
>
> IMO best way to learn jazz is the first listen, and then play it. After
> you've become familiar with the elements of "music" on you axe, like all 
> the
> scales, chords, triads, turnarounds etc. Difference between me and the 
> kids
> who have better technique today is simply 10,000 gigs, an innate sense of
> knowing how to swing, and how to generate gigs.
>
> After my 30 year hiatus, I got 10 Aebersold play along's and proceeded to
> woodshed. Then I sat in with the kids playing straight ahead and bop at 
> the
> local jazz clubs on open mike nights. Then 15 years ago, I formed a band.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>