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Hey Chris, I was going to post an intervallic version of Giant Steps...but my keyboard got sold. I'm getting comfortable with this in intervallic style. Next step is to do it with some subs.

I didn't realize that I had it in me already. I only practiced it once.

You should give it a try too.

Put down Brad? Oh no. Got me wrong there matey!
I got the Art of Trio albums when they arrived in the shop, I admire his virtuosity, and his lyrical quality (his version of Blackbird is great) and I think that Trailer Park Ghost is a hoot.
And I love the fact that he uses his classical training to the max.
But still . . . Keith is Keith.
Book of Ways, Spirits, The Gurdiejff album, the American Quintet (one of the best quintets ever), the Scandinavian Quintet, Sunbear, Bremen-Lausanne, Staircase, Fort Yawuh, Treasure Island, Expectations, Facing You, the Standard's Trio . . . ahh well.

.......................................
As to the other matter, kbk in all his earnestness has got it slightly wrong.

I saw Brad live a few years ago at my local jazz festival. Honestly I wasn't that impressed. He likes to play intricate arrangements on pop tunes and such, and does have great rhythmic feel, but the music wasn't moving. It didn't have the same emotion as others I've heard.

I had listened to John Scofield a few days earlier and was blown away by the sheer command and power of his music.

Same with Tomasz Stanko, the Polish trumpeter. Brad gets almost too "fancy" for me.

No problem. Everybody has different tastes. He moves me a lot actually. I'm drawn to the rhythmic overlaying and the uniqueness of his lines. It doesn't sound like bebop.

While KJ is strongly tied to bebop roots. So I look at these two as two separate forks, with Mehldau being a new direction in jazz.

I already have a Mehldau ticket for January so it will be my first time to see him. If he plays anywhere near any of the videos I've seen, I'll be quite satisfied.

He has a very unusual piano tone BTW. It's a sound unique to him.

It's interesting having both of them around to listen to.

hi there, new to your group

i think brad is great but his latest is a little over the top. he is at his best in a trio.

Which latest is this Bill? I believe the concert I'm booked to go to is the one featuring his new album Highway Rider (sax and chamber orchestra).

Probably not regular jazz. I don't even this album yet so I should be surprised.

I wish I could go see Wayne Shorter and his quartet, with Danilo Perez, Brian Blade, Patittuci....that's real jazz. They extend the boundaries of the music so much, taking huge risks. That's how jazz should be, not the Wynton marsalis preservation of things 100 yrs old.

I hear you.

But I also wanted to know what Wynton Marsalis has to say so lately I'm been getting videos of him teaching and the biggest take-away I have from him is rhythm and syncopation.

I don't care how "modern" your jazz is, it benefits from syncopation. Otherwise, you're doing cocktail, or classical.

As modern sounding as Brad is for example, I learn from his syncopation of his 5/4 stuff.

Swing may change from the traditional, but there's got to be some rhythmic aspects or it isn't jazz. Look at afro/cuban or bossa. Not swing, but we incorporate it into jazz.

+1

My set list for the jam this Monday...

God Bless the Child (Vocalist)
Lullaby of Birdland (Vocalist)
500 Miles High
Blue in Green

I've never played any of these before until I prepared for the jam so we shall see...

I'm noticing it's taking less and less time to prepare.

and this just in: I will see Keith 6th row center at Carnegie Hall in 4 weeks

And shortly after that, I will see Mehldau in L.A. I'm still mad about my KJ paid ticket early this year. I forgot about and remembered the DAY AFTER! GRRRR.

You guys are so blessed in the US with these regular KJ and Brad concerts.
How can you forget about a KJ concert lolololol ???!!

That is pretty embarrasing Cus But I got busy...

Jam today -- I did fine as far as soloing but there were 'communication problems' like vamps, and soloing (two guitar players chickened out on the solo). I have to listen again but on one tune, the bass player got lost (but he is always right...) and at one time I got lost. Another time, the singer didn't know when to come in.

Well they were all new tunes to me so it was more difficult. But that's what helps us grow I guess.

But here's the rub. Because I'm the pianist, they expected me to lead. A little hard with tunes I've never done before.

The randomness in tunes and who you play with is actually quite challenging. But other than the 'form' issues, I think I improved another notch. I didn't particularly feel inferior to the other piano players.

Good thing this jam is at my level. Our host was in another jam where the piano players included Eldar! OMG!

Here's another set of Jam recordings (some). I excluded the major train wreck one Good thing it's only a jam. But each one has a story.

(1) Blue Bossa - The story on this is that a new guitar player showed up and we couldn't decide on tunes we both knew so he suggested this. Except, I didn't remember how to play the melody. So I didn't (but he was supposed to but didn't either). The problem was that he didn't solo anyway so I actually had to solo twice, though this is just the first. I NOW know how to play the melody Lesson learned.

http://www.box.net/shared/3vq778p5p5

(2) All the Things You Are - I asked to play Blue and Green but the guitar player didn't know it so we did ATTYA uptempo. It would be interesting to compare this to when I first did this tune at a jam some weeks back. The memory of that sort of affected me here but I think I recovered.

http://www.box.net/shared/ls1rto9eb6

(3) God Bless the Child - (never played before) now this has a lot of drama that I snipped out. The singer didn't know when to come in so we did chorus after chorus. And the finish was just as confusing. The guitar player here (different from above), didn't know the tune so I carried most of this. What was interesting was that they were all looking at me to lead, but being new at comping singers, I was just as confused. So note this: Pianists are supposed to be musically smarter and are expected to LEAD.

http://www.box.net/shared/bcli1ac98n

(4) Lullaby of Birdland - (never played before) Challenging tune because we did it in a different key and the changes go very quickly. So there's a little confusion when there are different endings at each repeat.

http://www.box.net/shared/7gvcy92a28

The train wreck was 500 Miles High by Chick Corea. I was nervous enough since I've never played it. But the guitar player was supposed to play the melody and he didn't. Then he was lost in his solo. He was not in synch with the form. So when I soloed after him, I started to waver and it took me one chorus to recover. I think I can handle this better next time. The tip I learned was "THE BASS PLAYER IS ALWAYS RIGHT (even if he is wrong)". Or maybe the alternate lesson of this jam was that the guitar players are ALWAYS wrong.

Overall, after the jam, I felt like I really screwed up everything. After listening again. I remember what I was thinking and the distracted moments where I kept playing. I realize now that if I just slowed down and gave it space, I could have recovered more effectively. Learning a lot here.

So it's your turn (anyone) to comment and critique. I'd rather learn now than keep sounding bad for the rest of my life, so believe me, criticize strongly. I don't mind.

Hey wee ! You played ATTYA with a very nice groove but the mics may have been too close to the drums IMO.

>> The tip I learned was "THE BASS PLAYER IS ALWAYS RIGHT (even if he is wrong)". Or maybe the alternate lesson of this jam was that the guitar players are ALWAYS wrong.

Well I don't know about that. Our guitar player in one of our evenings is the strongest. He doesn't get lost. The bass follows the piano. I get lost, he does
The soloist is funny becasue sometimes will start playing the melody in unexpected places. So we all kind of skip to that point.

>> I'd rather learn now than keep sounding bad for the rest of my life
Can I criticize you for saying that?

I preferred your Blue Bossa to AATYA. But it was slower and it's an easier tune. Also, your style is to play straight, so I thought you connected well on BB. On ATTYA, I would say all you need is just let go and dig in, like you would at home with BiaB. Don't think too much. You had trouble locking in, but I think it's just a focusing issue.

I don't know if I mentioned that but I had a professional recording crew come out last Monday. At times, the camera was coming real close and I just could not help but notice. The time slipped, I was fighting to stay on the bull (Someday my prince). Other than that though, I can't wait for the mix to be done. We had a quick preview and these guys did an amazing job. Was fun to see my living room transformed in a recording studio, too

Well I agree with you that Blue Bossa was more relaxed. I don't know if you noticed the solo break in the middle of BB. It was because the guitar player shook his head and said he wasn't taking a solo. So the break, and some time issues came because we were signalling.

As ATTYA started, I started remembering the first time I played it and I was distracted. My phrasing was all wrong too. It's like panic sets you back a year or two in playing style. What was missing here was syncopation. BB doesn't need it but ATTYA does.

Here the bass player was kind of forcing me to do the intro and I said I wanted to skip it at the fast tempo. Well he proceeded to do it anyway.

It's like you're expected to lead and then they push you around anyway. Shows my inexperienced. But the bass player was huge so I'm not going to argue

Cus - you think the groove was ok on ATTYA? I thought it may be been pushing a little. That's what tension does to me.

Here's the reason for the Bass player always being right. (I'm talking about an experienced bass player). First he's setting the groove. If he strongly suggests the form then I can't fight him. It doesn't matter who got lost.

In this case, I was following the guitar player who was clearly lost. But I never played with him before. He just sounded outside for many measures. Since the bass player is not soloing, he's the more stable source of the form in my case.

Knotty - you'll have to tell us the whole story here because you're just giving snippets and I don't know the context. Obviously you've been busy if cameras and such are in there. Pray tell or retell.