[Dixielandjazz] Who puts the "jazz" in jazz?

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

I have already mentioned on the DJML that I am recording a CD project that I
have dreamed of for many years. Over the years I have developed some level
of skill on various instruments. My main axes are slide trombone and tenor
banjo, both of which I've been playing for some 40 years. The last 7 years
or so I have branched out in many directions, and now play tuba, trumpet, F
mellophone, slide trumpet, and most any brass instrument with 3 valves
except for the French horn (that's why G-d created F mellophones). I have
also amassed a collection of these instruments so I have them available to
play as opportunities present themselves. Washboard and high hat cymbal
found their way into the mix too. And this past year I took on clarinet,
which was the first instrument I wanted to play when I was 9 years old. But
I digress ...

So I got this idea to produce a CD on which I play all the parts in various
styles of OKOM and various combinations of instruments. To date my engineer
(magician might be more appropriate) and I have recorded and mixed 9 songs
for 35 minutes of playing time. It is a grueling and humbling process. I get
to hear all the mistakes I can so innocently overlook in live performances.
And playing in the groove with yourself is not an easy thing to do. You need
something to build on. Which instrument does one lay down first? Try playing
6 choruses of Bourbon Street Parade on a banjo while desperately trying to
remember who is soloing when, how loud to play, where the breaks are ... Try
playing lead with no accompaniment, or accompaniment with no lead track yet.
Or polyphonic improvisation with nobody to play off of. Or when the banjo
and tuba stop so you can take a brilliant break on the trumpet, try taking
that flying leap into the unknown, and see if you can guess where they come
back in so it sounds like you played it together. Try keeping the energy up
with no audience and no other players for support. So many things we take
for granted as we play in ensembles where we can see and hear one another
all at once.

There is a point in each song where I have been ready to throw up my hands
and say that this one will never come together. It's happened every time so
far. But invariably by the end of the day, another polished jewel emerges
from the confusion. So I began to wonder how this happens. I've been doing
it now for 2 weeks, and I can't figure it out. I am the first to admit that
I am not a genius or a virtuoso on any instrument. I do well on bone and
banjo. On the others I can play the basics, and I have my moments of glory,
but shall we say, Louis has nothing to fear from me. My Dixieland playing is
for the most part very basic, just playing with scales, chromatics and
arpeggios to dance around the melodies. My arrangements of brass ensemble
pieces are sketches I worked out in an hour or so each, writing parts that
are not very difficult so my students can play them, but the resulting
ensemble sound is still interesting and pleasing, sometimes even exciting.

Then comes the fun part, trying to execute all these years of ideas and
average abilities track by track without mistakes, and get them to come out
swinging and in the groove. When I listen to each track as it is recorded, I
don't see how this is going to become a song someone wants to listen to,
never mind buy. Then after much persistence and patience, the tune begins to
emerge, and where there was a seemingly average motley collection of parts,
they come together into a whole piece that I dare say sparkles, each one
with its own personality. The engineer is a minimalist when it comes to
electronic processing. Both of us want to preserve the natural sound of the
instruments and the live feel of the playing. So he just does a few tricks
to get rid of extraneous noise, then we meticulously balance the tracks, and
maybe a touch of reverb or extra bass to add a bit of fullness.

My point is that after taking the music apart and putting it back together
again, I have not found that elusive ingredient we call jazz. It just seems
to happen when everything comes together. Parts that don't swing by
themselves can be downright exciting when they are put together. Simple
improvisations, like the baby steps I'm taking on my clarinet, which I have
not even performed with yet, weave together and form a sound that conjures
up images of the French Quarter, and you can almost smell the jambalaya and
mint juleps. I am guessing that this is similar to trying to dissect a body
and find the life in it. There is a mystery to our music, and perhaps to all
music. We who love to play and listen need to take care not to lose sight of
the magic and the mystery that brings the notes and chords to life. It goes
way beyond technical skill, and it is my profound hope that my present
project will be living proof of that.

Anyone who missed my previous posts linking to a few samples of our work can
find them on You Tube at:

"When My Baby Smiles At Me" (banjo band):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vERnm726CmQ
"Carolina in the Morning" (brass band):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfDKvId3kLM
"Bourbon Street Parade" (Dixieland band):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toAVp_Qt_mI

These are mixed but not yet mastered and not final versions of the songs,
with video slide shows added since You Tube is a video site and I don't know
any similar audio sites to post on.

Just some musings of a very tired Israeli/American jazz musician with a
little too much time on his hands ...

Elazar
Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Brass Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537