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I think it is very important. Really good players have a crispness in their lines that is only achievable with amazing control of the articulation.

I once had a teacher who had studied for a while with Charloff. He showed me what he called the the 'Charloff pinch' which seemed a bit weird to me but I practiced it anyway and still do occasionally.

jjo -- I realize that explanation of providing "entertainment". By the same token, does your band talk a lot when you gig? I've tried it a couple of ways and am settling into a "serious musician" kind of outlook. I don't talk much and don't encourage the singer to engage in audience participation. It doesn't seem to have a negative effect (since we are booked far in advance) and I felt it increases the musical experience.

And no, I don't think looking unhappy when one plays is a good thing. I'm only thinking about some artificial "game on" face. If I happen to feel happy, then I'll show it. Mostly we're just concentrating.

In all the big jazz concerts I've seen over the years, I can't recall anyone taking it lightly like a rock or pop concert. Must be a genre thing.

Knotty - how about your band? You guys talk a lot? In your case it's purely instrumental so maybe you don't even have a mike. It's the singers that want to talk.

I think that's what it offers, a crispness in fast lines. I was just doing simple hanons today but with finger articulation (using light finger pulling -- sounds like that pinch). Boy, it felt like I was doing something completely different. Evenness was lost.

I think to maintain a smoothness to our lines, I'm guessing that sometimes we have to change articulation because our hand/finger position at a particular moment may not allow an alternative.

It's going to take a long time to accomplish this...

I was watching some classical pianists and some of their "pearly" lines require extreme curls in their fingers. Something you hear should be avoided all the time. But obviously used extensively at the higher skill levels.

>> Knotty - how about your band? You guys talk a lot? In your case it's purely instrumental so maybe you don't even have a mike. It's the singers that want to talk.

No mic. I keep one in the bag just in case but we never use it. Once in a while a drunk couple will come up and ask to sing with us. I just pretend I don't have a mic ...

I'd like to pretend I don't have a singer When they mess up, they bring the whole band down. And then they talk too much, mostly about what pertains to them, not the band. Sigh...

But no singer, maybe no gig.

Jazzwee: I agree you shouldn't put on a game face. I think its more internal; Ii try to keep remembering that this is hard, but also a lot of fun and music is to be enjoyed. Then that will show. If the audience thinks I look too serious, it may be that I'm forgetting about the joy of music.

jjo- someone took a picture of the band and looking at the players, our bass player had a big smile on his face (it's just the way he always is), everyone else had a serious but happy disposition that implied concentration. And no one had a head down like Bill Evans, nor was anyone shaking their head and groaning loudly to the music ala KJ. We all looked -- "natural"? Now we are really happy playing (unless we can feel a train wreck coming) so I'm going to assume that that shows somehow.

Now I admit to be looking at my Ipad at the changes of the tunes a lot; half the stuff we play are unfamiliar tunes or in some strange key (for the vocalist).

To me anything beyond this is a game face.

You didn't answer my question though before. Do you engage in a conversation with the audience? This is what the guy told me to do aside from having the game face and attitude. Entertainment included "small talk". If I did that, I would fail.

I could use some advice on buying a fakebook and was hoping the folks on this thread might help me out.

I've read elsewhere the "The Real Book" is one of the best, but when I look online I realize there are multiple versions of The Real Book (for C instruments, Bb instruments etc.) and that there is a "The New Real Book" as well as some vol 2's and 3's. I'm confused. My primary interest in this area is jazz standards, great American songbook type tunes, and maybe some pop from the 50's through 70's.

Can somebody point me in the right direction? (not looking for online download sources - I've got lots of individual lead sheets - find it too much of a pain to always sort through this mess -looking for one book that will have most of it).

I appologize for hijacking your discussion, but maybe there are others who are interested reading here too. Thanks.

Jim

>> jo- someone took a picture of the band and looking at the players, our bass player had a big smile on his face (it's just the way he always is), everyone else had a serious but happy disposition that implied concentration.
could we see that picture

Jim,

Get the realbook volume 1 in C.
Then get volume 2 in C

Where I live, EVERYBODY uses this. I hardly ever see any other book at all.
The question that always comes is "Which book, 1 or 2?" when calling a tune.

JimF - when you see reference to "C", "Eb", "Bb", those refer to instruments. I think Alto Sax/Trumpet is Bb, and Tenor Sax is Eb (for example). But you must ignore all that since a Piano is a "C Instrument". So you must only get something marked "C".

Now as far as Real Books go, the one you can buy at the store is Real Book 6th Edition and there's also Real Book2.

However, there's an underground supply of ALL the Realbooks going up to RealBook 5th Edition. In professional circles, you'd have to have all of them. Unfortunately, there's no way to buy these as they're not legal.

So I would start with Real Book 6th Edition 1 & 2. Then there's "Just Jazz Real Book" that has different tunes from "Real Book". That's a beginning right there.

That should cover a lot of standards. And if you have a musician friend somewhere with the PDF of the "old" real books, you are really covered. It's gigabytes large though.

Lots of stuff missing from this though. For example, "Whisper Not". Most people only carry Vol 1 and for the rest, one should carry copies of the Lead Sheets.

Absolutely Knotty! I didn't realize we ALL had a game face on

...and we were well dressed.

awesome!

Notice I always set up a mike for myself but I seldom use it.

I did not notice. I didn't know you were a singer!

Jazzwee: As for talking to the "audience" (most times we don't have one!), if we're playing just instrumentals, we don't. We'll announce at some point who we are and when we're playing next. We might do more, but usually don't have a mike set up. I think we should do a bit more. Our singer (who usually does half a set), says a few things, such as which tune we've done, and thanking people for being there. So she does talk to the audience, but it's quite brief. I see smiles when she talks.

I've heard Roy Hargrove's fabulous band, and he doesn't say a word. One tune ends and he starts the next. I've had several people comment to me who've seen him that "man, he doesn't talk at all." While they still love his music, it seems they'd like to hear from the person just a bit. I just heard Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier, and they started out by playing 4 or 5 very intense tunes with no break. Then Metheny broke to chat a bit with the audience, and you could sense the audience relaxing a bit, taking in the fabulous music they've just heard. There is something about hearing the musician talk (are they shy; are they jokesters) that adds a welcome element to any show I've been to.

I don't think bands need some extensive patter; just a word or two can do the trick.

C: Piano, Guitar, Bass, Trombone, Flute
Bb: Trumpet, Tenor and Soprano sax
Eb: Alto and Baritone sax

Hey something I've been working on lately is slow medium swing bpm: 110 - 120
This is an annoying tempo because the eight notes feels so slow. Have you guys deployed any strategies for mixing up it up with double tempo and triplets? I tend to drift into triplets and becomes a mess. How does triplets and double tempo runs works within the bigger picture of tension and release?!

Thanks Knotty, Jazzwee and Chris. The Real Book (in C, sixth edition) it is. And maybe Vol. II after that.

You guys are great. Wanted you to know that I think lots of people like me follow your discussions with great interest even if we don't participate. What prompted me to get the fakebook is that I've been listening to so much jazz piano over the last few years that now when I hear a melody I start to hear where some more notes and chords would sounds good to me. I've stayed away from trying to improvise at all because I think I just need to focus on learning how to play the instrument and read music first. Maybe its time to expand my approach a bit.