[Dixielandjazz] Swinging Prestissimo

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Jim et al,

Jim Wrote:
>snip
I merely have said it can be done, in a monster fashion by any band that has
its act together...that being a relatively equal level of musicianship
between members, and the fun & excitement to give it a try.
<snip

I heartily agree. It requires the musicians to have total confidence in each other's playing. The beats are flying past so quickly that only a split second separates down beats from up beats and, if anyone loses it, the whole house can easily come tumbling down. Back in the 1970s and 80s I played in the house trio at a jazz club near Glasgow where we had to accompany touring soloists on a weekly basis. One night we got roasted by tenorist James Moody, not intentionally I hasten to add - he was one of the nicest guys in the business. It had all been going swingingly and I suspect he must have thought we could handle Cherokee at what we used to refer to as "tempo de J.C." It all came apart after about 32 bars to everyone's embarrassment. James apologised and set a more achievable tempo and it went fine, but afterwards he said we really had to be able to play up there, so we started having rhythm section rehearsals where we just practised playing a blues as fast as was comfortable, then tried again a bit faster until that became comfortable and so on. Once we got comfortable at those tempos we'd rehearse tough tunes like Cherokee so that piano and bass were OK with negotiating complex changes at speed. We'd spend 3 or 4 hours just working at it together to build that confidence and stamina, but the real secret was working at it together. It just wouldn't have worked if we practised it separately on our own and then tried to make it happen live. Once we were on top of it as a unit, it ceased to be a problem, but my experience is you have to keep playing very fast tempos on a regular basis to stay on top of them. It also helps if you all play together regularly as you become confident of each other's ability to hold it together. A split second of doubt and indecision by anyone can cause chaos and, at those tempos, it's very hard to get back on board.

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson