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LOL -- maybe it shows that Kenny Werner is right. It's the self censoring that's the issue.

unfortunately I may have misconstrued the study and we're back at the beginning.

Too bad. I thought I was into something.

Very good gig tonight. We were very well received. I may have a short video clip. Nothing special on my end but the group was solid. We continue to be booked regularly so we must be entertaining them.


We didn't play Naima though. Crowd was upbeat and wanted swing and we even had the audience dance.

In order to let the subconscious go and do it's thing (performance)
one has to fill the conscious mind with information (practice)

The subconscious needs to have paths to move through.

There's a reason why we need; mantras (II-V-I 1,2,3,5,7 - move to the dominant, bring in the half/whole tone, directions to the mind: play slower, play less, play more, repeat and play again . . ), mudras (finger excercises, hand patterns . . ) mandalas (graphic representation of music), slow focused breathing, inner directed movements - we need the aid of a disciplined consciousness in order to be able to allow (let) the sub-conscious roam free.

I've been practising an esoteric martial art since 81, a part of the school is a improvisational part called "Henka" which is literally free improv, no defense nr 54 against attack nr 47- but rather: no mind, no intention: just do whatever happens - let the inner mind/ear/body decide. But in order for my Henka to be 'good' or rather; a appropriate response to a situation I need to practice the basic forms (Kihon) again and again so that my body will 'know' what to do and when to do it.

So, I'll end my riffing here with a quote from Enter the Dragon (yeah I know ):
Lee: [a student approaches Lee; both bow] Kick me.
[Student looks confused]
Lee: Kick me.
[Student attempts kick]
Lee: What was that? An Exhibition? We need emotional content. Now try again!
[Student tries again]
Lee: I said "emotional content." Not anger! Now try again!
[Student tries again and succeeds]
Lee: That's it! How did it feel?
[Student thinks; Lee smacks his head]
Lee: Don't think. FEEL. It's like a finger pointing at the moon.
[Looks at student who is looking at the finger; smacks student again]
Lee: Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!
[Student bows; Lee smacks him again]
Lee: Never take your eyes off your opponent... even when you're bowing!
[Student bows again this time keeping his eyes on Lee]
Lee: That's better.

Nicely in a nutshell.

Here are a few samples from one my gigs this weekend. This was my 8 piece band (Piano, Bass, Drums, Sax, Trumpet, Guitar, Percussion, Vocals). Forgive the loud background noise. There was a lot of people and some chose to hang out near the Zoom H4.

As usual, we don't rehearse any of these and many of the people in the band are new to each other. Seems to work out though.

There Will Be Another You
http://www.box.net/shared/r6sfx9atki1uf3ukzk9l

All Blues
http://www.box.net/shared/7erii8hlsrpu97lg0cza

Girl From Ipanema
http://www.box.net/shared/5oqc3fpfs74af4r2vzih

Canteloupe Island
http://www.box.net/shared/ey6zjaivbzzz5fm1h1tq

Mr PC
http://www.box.net/shared/zds558fv2us7u2x3l9kk

On Green Dolphin Street
http://www.box.net/shared/2utlv3qvx3u3bbok22z7

Sounds good!

yeah sounding good jw
you should get a trio together to give you more of a chance to stretch out on the tunes

Hey jazzwee, nice stuff from the gig! I especially like your solo on Canteloupe Island. Overall it sounds like a good group, and the vocalist sounds good too, which in my experience is always the weakest link . It's interesting because to me the group sounds better on the straight stuff... Girl, Canteloupe, Mr PC. The swing just feels a little squishy at times particularly in the solos, but it is harder to do I guess. I second beeboss's suggestion to try out a trio. It's a great way to really get into the tunes more and it sounds like you're ready for that. Have you thought about giving more space when comping? I think your solos were the strongest in the group, particularly the rhythm. Nice work!

Thanks guys. You guys are right, there's not much time to stretch when there's 10 million soloists and you only have a chorus to play. But this has given me the confidence now and this light kind of jazz appeals to the audience.

In the meantime, I going to be able to build my skills.

Actually this is my band. I'm the leader so obviously I can just cut everyone out and leave it as a trio. So I'm not making money since I'm paying so many. If I do a trio though, I'd like to have an acoustic bass guy instead. I might think of that on some of the gigs.

Scott - swing definitely needs work. I didn't realize how hard it was to switch from latin to swing, which we did on several tunes (Green Dolphin, Invitation). Sometimes I don't feel like I was convincing in the change of feel. Typically the swing is overdone when it shifts. I need to listen to some records again to compare

In any case, this group is getting the gigs. We're pre-booked ahead for months. It's light jazz and the crowd loves it. The measure is always the bar sales We've been so successful at increasing the bar sales that they've kicked some other musicians out and put us in their place.

Scott, tell me more about what you mean by more space when comping. Which tune was I over comping? There's a guitar comping too and he's a bit of a problem.

Nice JW! Really really cool that you've made it this far!
That vocalist is a treat, make sure you keep him. To be blunt; fire the guitarist, you don't need one - and he does tend to get in your way. Nice rhythm section, not bad indeed.
Some tunes needs a horn arrangement, especially if they aren't playing unison - those trumpety: ba ba baah! got on my nerves a couple of times and reminded me how I dislike brassy showmanship, I'm much more for the mute or the softer, sexier sound of the trumpet.
Your comping is so much better, way to go! I enjoyed the solos. I also agree with maybe a trio setting per tune, now and again. Or just piano, vocals and a sax solo . . . on a ballad.
Next song maybe start with only the bass walking, perc and the vocalist doing the first verse, then bring in the whole band in the refrain.

Chris, I really appreciate the specific advice. And it's really funny to see me grow as a jazz musician right here in this thread.

The vocalist btw is someone seen on TV a lot. I don't watch a lot of TV but he has a lot of screen and TV credits. He's really quite a professional to work with.

My sax player BTW is a petite young woman. She's quite a hit with the crowd.

How about the percussionist? Any comments on that? I just added that for the first time this gig. This is why we did more latin. Does it work negatively in swing tunes?

On these particular gigs, ballads don't seem to go well. They apparently like the energy of the full rhythm section going. I usually do 2 ballads and I end up doing double-time feel on them. This is why Naima didn't get played.

Notice there really isn't any quiet moment in the audience. The place is packed and some listen more seriously than others. One of these days, I'll have to shoot for a true concert setting.

The percussionist was a great addition I think, I love congas in swing tunes (I'm a huge fan of percussion). But maybe not every swing tune?

Cool, more women in Jazz! When the sax started the solo in "There will be . . " wow! I dug that.

I find that sometimes ballads in busy crowds can work if they're sung.


Keep sax, drums, perc, bass, vox . . ehh and the pianist.
They are the more musical of the lot.

Well I'm not sure about the pianist, I may have to dump him...

BTW I was playing solo piano the next day at the restaurant and I was ignored (as expected). The vibe and enjoyment of playing with a group is so different. It's hard to ignore a band. I will probably do less solo piano.

Solo piano can be pretty hard work especially in a restaurant but it was definitely useful for me years ago when I was racking up about 12 hours of solo gigs a week. It forced me to play in a solo style which is something you can miss out on with a band. It gets the left hand really working. And gigs are always good experience even if they are not always enjoyable.

Well that's the point. It's so much work but no one's paying attention. So it's emotionally draining. At least I got to practice 'Very Early' in public. I hardly ever get to do that.

Truly, every gig teaches something. On this one I realized I needed a larger list of solo piano tunes. Although my tune list is getting big now, solo piano needs a little bit of planning/arrangement to be convincing.

I was on a Cruise (Cruise Ship), a little over a week ago and I felt sorry for the Lounge pianist. It's a tough job. You put so much energy into what you do and nobody cares.

Well they do care because everyone likes the ambience of a piano playing. But they just like to hear the non-specific tinkle-tinkle of the piano. For part of my gig, I was having a conversation so I just doodled around for awhile.

I don't think you're over comping... I just think for variety you could leave more space sometimes by not playing every chord or only stabbing a chord once.

Here's an example of what I mean over the first few bars of There Will Never Be Another You:

Ebmaj on "1" and "and of 2", nothing in bar 2, D-7b5 on "and of 1" in bar 3 and G7 on "and of 4" in bar 3 held into bar 4. Nothing in bars 5 and 6. Bb-7 on "1" of bar 7 and "3" of bar 7, then Eb7 on "and of 4" in bar 7 held into bar 8.

Hope this makes sense .

I remember I used to improvise all the tunes together freely but it is really hard to get variety into the set. Tunes with a repetitive groove can be good for a bit of a change.

On that note here is my weekly youtube upload

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Siqh2s2TY0s

Blackberry Winter by Alec Wilder, with a groove section towards the end

Oh yeh ! Everything was beautiful about it, the tune, your touch, your improvised inner lines and the bluesey flavour. Have favourited it. Thanks for sharing Dave B.

my pleasure custard apple