[Dixielandjazz] le deluge

Tue Jan 12 13:15:17 PST 2010

I know Brett - His solos are usually very nice - I still don't think you can 
teach it even if you are Brett Stamps.  I have only heard a couple of good 
jazzers come out of SIUE but then again I haven't heard everyone there.  I 
also haven't heard him with Cornet Chop Suey but I would imagine he does a 
great job with them.

When I first heard he was playing with them I sort of wondered if his style 
would fit with a trad band.  He does great with big band solos but since I 
haven't heard him with CCS I really don't know.

At this point I would much rather hear Joe Thompson play a (Trombone) Trad 
solo that just about anyone else around.  Joe is an exceptional Player - not 
as many notes as Brett but very tasty.

I play with Brett in the Gary Dammer Big Band and I am very familiar with 
his style.  I think Brett is a case in point.  He is very capable of 
composing on the fly in the style that he is playing in at the moment.  By 
the way Brett and Gary are close neighbors in Edwardsville and both are 
exceptional jazzers.  Brett is one of the few non Air Force musicians in 
Gary's band.

I think that a teacher can give pointers and teach technique and play some 
things and hope the students learn by example.  The better the teacher the 
better the pointers.

In a way it's unfair to single out Brett because he is IMHO an exception to 
most teachers even on the college level.  Certainly head and shoulders above 
anyone at the school I went to.  If you compare him to the average High 
school teacher there just isn't any comparison.  Honestly I think I could 
count on one hand the high school teachers in St. Louis that are good or 
even pretty good jazzers.  High school teachers today just don't have the 
time to become proficient jazzers.  Teaching high school band is an 
incredible time suck.  There is another thing too.  H.S. band directors have 
football and basketball games along with tons of other stuff which makes 
them unavailable for gigs.  Then there are wives that like to see their 
husbands occasionally.  It's tough to be a good jazzer and teach at the same 
time.

I still believe that jazz is learned on the stand with other musicians and 
not in a classroom.  You can teach someone to paint like Picasso but you 
could never teach a Picasso.  Technique is one thing and art is completely 
another.  There is a time when technique must turn into art or you have 
something akin to watching weight lifting contests or foot races.  BORING!

One of the big problems that students have today is that there are few bands 
and gigs.  Learning on the stand is much more difficult that it was 50 years 
ago.  Students today have to depend on lab bands to get their feet wet.  In 
my case I was playing regularly when I was 15 and just never stopped.  Young 
people have to be very, very aggressive today if they want to be an active 
musician.  Most don't want to work that hard.

I will say it again.  You can teach the mechanics but you can't teach the 
art and I would imagine that Brett would agree with that.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Beth Schweitzer" <beth at portafortuna.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 2:13 PM
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] le deluge

Larry - what about Brett Stamps for example?

He's director of jazz studies at SIU Edwardsville and is one of the best
jazz trombonists in the business (if you believe Brian Casserly when he
introduces him at every concert Cornet Chop Suey plays). He certainly
knows how to play jazz, even if his personal style might not be
everyone's favorite.

I wonder what he would say to your assertion that jazz can't be taught.

Just wondering...

Beth

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] le deluge
From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis"
<larrys.bands at charter.net>

Steve: > How can we expect anyone to learn anything if there are no
teachers?

Actually teachers are a problem in jazz. You can teach jazz progressions

and all sorts of technical things but you can't teach art.

You can teach an artist how to mix paint but you can't teach someone how
to
use colors and if you try you end up with copy's --- not art. The same
holds true with music.

I would say that 95% of the music teachers that are teaching today
haven't a
clue as to how to play jazz themselves. I would also say that almost all

of them have never tried to play on a pro basis or spent any amount of
time
on the stand. If you can't do it you can't teach it.
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