A new year for jazz

Enough with the resolutions, already. Just make music!

I find it interesting that one of the greatest living jazz pianists thinks Art Tatum was the best jazz pianist ever, that Bill Evans was the last jazz piano innovator, and that Thelonious Monk, as genius as he was, simply wasn't all that good. These are sentiments that I have shared for years, basically since I took up jazz piano, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see them confirmed by a great like Dick Hyman. But don't take my word for it: listen to some recordings, read this article from the Wall Street Journal, then listen some more. You'll see what I mean.

I like that I'm able to look back and see that I've made some progress, or at least, have some awareness of things I didn't before. May 2010 continue the trend.

A book review

In case you haven't read my review on Amazon.com, here's what I wrote about Terry Teachout's new book, Pops, which is about Louis Armstrong. Teachout is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal who doesn't write specifically about jazz, but often touches on the world of jazz in his cultural musings column, Sightings. This book was really interesting, had a lot of previously unpublished photos, and was a really keen look at the inside of the jazz world in its formative years. The sections about Louis and Miles Davis are strangely compelling and scary (they didn't get along), but cast in the light of one generation leading to another, jazz fans will see they should be thankful for both of these trumpet greats in the context in which they played and developed their own music. Anyway, it's a very good book and I highly recommend it to any jazz aficionados looking for a good way to kill a few hours of free time over the coming holidays.



"Among regular contributors to the Wall Street Journal, there are a number of jazz writers who are almost legendary in the jazz world. That makes this book by Wall Street Journal columnist Terry Teachout all the more extraordinary, as Mr. Teachout is not specifically a jazz critic. Although his "Sightings" column has been known to cover many jazz subjects, one wouldn't necessarily expect the level of scholarship and depth that Mr. Teachout achieves with "Pops". But for me, what makes this book so good is that he is able to relate the life of Louis Armstrong through the music that Louis made. Not only the when and where, but the who and the why are covered in no small detail. (If you are a fan of Armstrong or jazz and don't have his recordings, you can pick up something like The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings to listen to the songs that Mr. Teachout documents so well.) It makes for fascinating reading (and listening), and yet, the information is contains is enough to qualify it as a textbook on jazz history. Anyone who reads this book will definitely come away with a great respect and awe for Mr. Armstrong, but that reader will no doubt also have a better light shining into the dark closet of jazz that allows him to see the evolution of the music as well as the development of some of the legendary jazz performers (and producers, and wanna-be's) of Armstrong's time. Being "late to jazz" as I am, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do to learn more about jazz music and history, but after reading this book, I feel like I not only caught up, but I might be ahead of quite a few individuals as well. Anybody who is looking for an interesting biography, or a window onto the world of music entertainment in the 20th century, or of course, jazz, would do good to buy and read this book. Mr. Teachout has written a great book that I'm sure will be enjoyed by many."

Next project

The critical listening project has not been going well. That is to say, it hasn't been going at all. I've been forced to reconsider how to approach listening to my collection of music, a problem compounded by the fact that it is constantly growing, and will continue to grow over the holiday period, since I will have more time to listen to music. So, I've decided to abandon the CLP. My new project, which will get me to sit at the piano longer, is considerably less time intensive (I think), and far more practical and achievable.

I'm going to start transcribing songs from recordings.

This is something I know I'm not very good at, having never been able to do it back when I was in rock bands in my teens and twenties. With jazz, I haven't actually attempted transcribing yet, despite reading in multiple places that this is a great way to learn jazz, improve hearing ability, improve compositional ability, improve understanding of chords and voicings, in short, improve everything and anything having to do with jazz music. The main reason I'm going to attempt this is that there are several songs I want to be able to play but I can't find the sheet music for. (At least, it's not in any of my three real books.) I doubt I will be able to reconstruct the chords and voicings just by listening to the recordings, but I did get some hints from my jazz theory class, so I might be able to come up with some. I think by putting forth some effort, I ought to be able to come up with something. Hopefully.

Anyway, that is my next project, which I will begin to tackle, probably starting this weekend but definitely in earnest over the holidays. I'll let you know how it works out for me.

Freedom from the tyranny of jazz theory

Yesterday was the final exam in my jazz theory class. I feel like I did solid 'B' work and I feel like a B is what I will get in the class, but I have to say, I worked harder in that class - far harder - than in any class I took to earn my BSBA (which was a finance minor for a while). Part of that has to do with the fact that I have a solid financial background just from having read the Wall Street Journal basically everyday for the last 23 years, but certainly a large part of that has to do with the work ethic I was able to apply to my music. I like music more than I like, say, economics or accounting, so naturally, I was willing to expend more effort in its pursuit. The other drawback though was that I don't have a very solid theoretical background in music. Sure, I've been playing for thirty some odd years, and sure, I've studied with private teachers and read books and looked at websites and whatnot, but formal training is a whole other kettle of fish.

If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't. I'd probably find some way to take a regular music theory class first, then tackle the jazz after I got those real pre-requisites out. That would have made the going much easier and would have reduced the time factor involved. So, my advice to this blog's readers is simply, get the basic music theory out of the way before trying to study jazz. (Go ahead and play as much jazz as you want, just don't study until you've done the foundation work.)

With the end of that class, I am now completely free. No songs to learn, no parts to practice, no rehearsals to rush through, no homework to polish. I can just play tunes that move me, or that don't, and listen for pure enjoyment. It's bliss.

Next semester is jazz arranging, if we manage to get some more students signed up. That was actually my forte in the jazz theory class, and even knowing how hard I'll have to work, that I really am looking forward to.

But for at least one month, FREEDOM!

Another concert down

Our semester ending concert was last night on the UAH campus. It was a lightly attended affair, but the crowd was enthusiastic and very much into it by the end of the evening. Our band played the most songs and so we were able to show off our chops a little bit more than the other bands, as we also had a broader selection of songs. Our tempo was off on one or two of the songs, and we got desperately lost twice but made good recoveries both times. I acted as emcee for our band and I think if nothing else, I was the best emcee on the evening. It was fun.

Now, with that out of the way, I've got to concentrate on my jazz theory class and start studying up in that, making sure I understand every Aoelian, flat 2, sharp 5, pentatonic, harmonic, 13th, etc. I've already decided to take the test day off, and that should allow me to cram everything I'll need to get a decent grade on the test and hopefully pull myself up to a secure B, if not an A. I'm also going to jump start my critical listening project, which has been languishing these last few months. I picked up some new CD's which will have to be added to my database, so while I'm listening to them, I can also be advancing my CLP.

It's a delightful kind of euphoria when the concert is past, the obligation to practice is gone, and all that's left is the music and the memory of its performance. As tired as I am, I feel good about the whole thing. An hour before the concert, if you had asked me, I'd've told you that I'm not so sure this playing and performing jazz is a good thing. During and after the concert, I'd've told you there's no greater feeling in the world.

I still feel that way.

Busy, busy, busy

I've been so busy at work and getting ready for the jazz combos concert, my blog has fallen into cobwebs. Sorry about that. The good news is, after tomorrow, I won't have any music that I'm rigorously practicing or working on, so I'll be freed up to do some listening of new music I bought, and some reviews of jazz books I've got on hand. I plan to use the four day holiday weekend to accomplish that and hanging the Christmas lights, since Mrs. S will be away visiting her family.

It's a good feeling the day before the concert, because there's no going back.

By the way, saw "Mamma Mia" live last night. It was fun, but I felt the music was dragging the whole time. I guess having grown up listening to ABBA sort of jades me when it comes to remade versions. Plus, since it is a traveling Broadway show, they have to have some recorded stuff instead of live. Still, I recommend that show (the movie not so much) if you haven't seen it yet.

Something always worth reading...

Something always worth reading, besides this blog, is any Wall Street Journal article about jazz. Here's a link to the latest:

Terence Blanchard

Thanks for stopping by today.