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

Thu Sep 20 17:55:49 PDT 2007

Elazar,

Try using a click track.

--Bob Ringwald

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ministry of Jazz" <jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
To: "Bob Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 4:31 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Who puts the "jazz" in 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
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