[Dixielandjazz] Beginner sit ins

Tue Jul 10 09:17:23 PDT 2007

SNIP - even on a simple blues like C Jam Blues, they come apart. Last year, one young trumpet player played the heck out of a difficult Myles Davis tune, but then sounded like a beginning freshman when it came time to play along with a group - no ideas, no tone, no feel for chord changes, etc. We were all embarrassed for him
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This comes from trying to memorize solos.  Not terrible but if you get off you are dead in the water.  It also comes from ignoring the basics and going for the glitz.  A lot of musicians want to be the guy that plays clouds of notes real fast and real high.  Then they get a little off the track and they don't have the compass to get them back on the track.  Usually they just aren't listening.  It can happen to anyone.  

I was playing an unfamiliar arrangement of Kansas City.  There was a key change as we went into my solo.  I don't care a lot for that especially if I'm sight reading or don't know the arrangement.  Well knowing the tune and being just about a no brainer I was using my ear for the modulation.  One problem, the bass player was asleep at the wheel and didn't make the modulation.  Hearing the wrong modulation I was off and running in the wrong key and really screaming too.  When I woke up a couple of bars in I was lost.  Now a great piano player would have recognized that and lead me back in easy but no such luck.  So the result was about 8 bars of total nonsense until I was able to relocate the key and where I was in the phrase.   My problem was overconfidence and relying on my ear more than looking at the changes on the paper.  I wouldn't make the same error again but when you are pulling up tunes and sight-reading a new book you just don't get second chances.  If I had stayed with the basics instead of going for the slam dunk it wouldn't have happened.  The bass player still would have been wrong but it wouldn't have left me out in the musical boonies.

I also think as I mentioned before that the stress of the situation just adds a dimension.  Fear of crashing, fear of what the other players will think, fear of  getting lost or missing changes, stage fright all play a role.  A musician has to be able to keep a bunch of balls in the air at the same time such as interpretation, phrasing, style, dynamics, tone, playing off of other players, the changes and probably a lot more then add stress.  Unless you have the basics under control to a point you don't have to think about them you just won't be able to keep all the balls in the air.  That stress can cause even good players to look bad.  Some musicians turn to alcohol or other substances to get them over it.  They think it makes them play better and it might but overcoming the problem is a whole lot more productive than masking it.

One of the stumbling blocks for young musicians is running across other musicians that are nasty and condescending.  I have run across many of them over the years and early on it wasn't fun.  I sat next to a woman who was a most wonderful bassoon player.  She played like a machine and never missed.  She only spoke to musicians on her supposed level and was in short a musical snob.  People like that can destroy a young musician with just a look.  Me? I think that people have sex like they play.  In her case like an overly wound up mindless machine that can only do it with other mindless machines.  It takes the edge off and lets me ignore them.

It's like taking a test in school.  If you know the material cold and you are sure that you will get an "A" you most likely will but if you don't have it down cold then the stomach churns and the palms get sweaty to the point that some people actually get sick.  The problem is that if you are in that condition how can you do well?  If you do the basics and do your homework then when the rubber hits the road you will have no problem.

The more often you get to play with good musicians in good groups the better you will get and the less it will scare you.  That's the best advice and explanation I can give for what you mentioned.
Larry
St. Louis
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Edmetzsr at aol.com 
  To: larrys.bands at charter.net 
  Cc: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
  Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 5:42 PM
  Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Beginner sit ins

  In a message dated 7/9/2007 1:11:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, larrys.bands at charter.net writes:
    We have had Jazz Big band contests but has anyone else done this before on an individual or small group basis?  
  Larry, each year, the Treasure Coast Jazz Society awards substantial cash prizes ($ thousands) to the "best" High School Jazz Musicians to apply toward their College Treasure Chest.
      For the past two years (in late March or early April), I've been asked to serve as a judge for the "auditions", along with another local musician more oriented toward the more contemporary forms of jazz. 
      The award(s) can be made to one, two or three of the students at the discretion of the judges, with a review of the liaison person from the TCJS.
      In the two years of my term, the decision of the judges has not been terribly difficult. No more than 6 students show up although they are encouraged to do so by their band directors. The band directors seem to know which kids have the kind of skills necessary to compete, at that age group. So far, we've had graduating seniors only to judge. 
      The real talent jumps right out, because the kids have to play at least one number with some local pros. This year we had Red Hawley on drums, the other judge on guitar and me on piano, and a local bass player, often Rabbit Simmons. This was something that Parke Frankenfield was heavily involved with for many years before his passing.
      Although the students get through their rehearsed selections quite well (allowing for some jitters), like a Coltrane tune or a Bossa Nova, when it comes time to play along with the pros, even on a simple blues like C Jam Blues, they come apart. Last year, one young trumpet player played the heck out of a difficult Myles Davis tune, but then sounded like a beginning freshman when it came time to play along with a group - no ideas, no tone, no feel for chord changes, etc. We were all embarrassed for him.
      So there you are. They all practice, practice, practice or their band leaders wouldn't send them (more than a dozen High Schools are invited - private as well as public) and they come in being able to play at a relatively skilled level. However, most of them really fall down when it comes for knowing how to play with a group, how to support other members of the group, and as for repertoire - wow!!! Myles, Coltrane, are well represented. As for Bechet, Louis, Bix, et al, WHO ARE THEY? That's a teacher problem in this day and age in my opinion. 
      When my son Eddie (who is well known to folks on this list) did his senior recital for his Jazz Performance degree more than 20 years ago, he asked me to join in and we did a bunch of obscure Benny Goodman things. The faculty was astonished. In his 4 years at the school which included his stint with Count Basie, never did any of his course work include taking a look at pre WWII jazz. Imagine, a degree in Jazz Performance with no exposure to early jazz, ragtime, or swing. Little wonder that today's high school teachers are not passing along our great legacy. They don't have a clue!!!
      Time to quit!!
  Ed Metz (Sr.)

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