[Dixielandjazz] FW: Young Cats

[Jim Kashishian]

More young musicians...an improvising trumpeter at age 6!!!....from the same
school in Barcelona as previously seen.  When I say "school", I believe it
is something like a county sponsored "out of & after school" type of
situation, rather than part of the school system as such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTW9EsHH5_M

Note the vocalization of the band toward the middle.  I find this
particularly interesting as the "older style" of musicians that I recorded
with from the 70's to the 90's were all graduates of the official Music
Conservatory where solfeo was taught for a solid two years before a student
even picked which instrument he would like to learn!  

They worked on the theory that C is always C, not on the "floating C" we use
(where C is the root of the scale).  Therefore, they spent 2 yrs singing
like these kids here, but actually saying the notes (so, The Saints they
would sing fa, la, si, do.... Fa, la, si, do.... Fa, la si do la fa la
sol...), and they could all do that at breakneck speed on any sheet of music
in front of them. These kids are not saying fa, la, si, they are just
bebopping along! 

The old guys also all subdivided all the times with tremendous accuracy.
Therefore, if you wanted them to play something that had swing, you had to
write in the anticipation.  That would create what were some very, very
complicated scores to read, when all I ever craved was the tiny words
scribble above like "play with swing", or "anticipate".

None of these old school techniques seem to be apparent in these videos
coming out of Barcelona, and I for one applaud the practice of making
playing FUN.  It shows in their playing! It's organized & dilligent fun, but
it is fun!

Even if none of these kids ever get into music as a profession, it will
enlighten them for their future listening!

Added note:
Spanish education is a strict thing, throwing up what the professor has said
word for word, even at the University level.  

My eldest daughter when she first went to school at 3 yrs of age was scolded
for drawing in her coloring book & not copying the picture on the left of
the page.  The house in the book was brown & the grass was green, for
example.  My daughter had painted the house yellow, and the grass blue, or
whatever.  Where did our Picassos, Dalis & Miros come from? How did they
break that strictness? 

Just another of my never solved questions I've had about the always
surprising Spanish people...& I've lived, fully integrated with them for 45
yrs now!!

Jim Kash