It’s a strange phrase, that people are fond of repeating: serving the music. Me, I like to serve the music, I’m different that way. It sounds good, very pious. And unnecessary. Most people are already […]
Category: playing
Very occasional quote of the day: mistake
“Make a mistake and make it loud.” – Art Blakey, 1978 Modern Drummer interview with Howard Howland
Impure
I am interested in helping you keep your practice from becoming impure.– Shunruyu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind At the same time, they praised him when he didn’t deserve it. “I’d have games when I’d […]
Conductor of form
The general topic here is jazz comping— some general concepts thereof, getting into what I think is missing from a lot of students’ playing, even as they do the basic thing pretty well. The following […]
Expanding a concept – 01
This is connected with all the fill related jive we’ve been dealing with lately. I share it with you to illustrate a thought process, not a particular set of licks. These are some things I […]
Very occasional quote of the day: go ahead
“Don’t be afraid. Go ahead and play.” – Charlie Parker, quoted by Miles Davis, interview by George Avakian
Reading a lead sheet
Some notes on a chart I had to play yesterday, on a festival gig with a pianist I’ve worked with quite a bit, Jasnam Daya Singh. He’s Brazilian, and quite a heavy composer. For a […]
On weird gigs
Having just played a weird gig, let’s talk about weird gigs. The kind gig where everything seems basically in place, but for whatever reason, nothing is happening. There’s nothing grossly wrong, but nothing feels right […]
Very occasional quote of the day: play what you hear
“Play what you hear, and if you can’t play it, then practice it.” – Barry Altschul, Modern Drummer interview by Rick Mattingly, November, 1982 Periodic reminder that, creatively, the fundamental equation is real simple. Of […]
How to stop – 01
Kind of a mundane item here— a multi-parter, believe it or not— mainly for teachers, about handling ordinary materials in a more real-life musical way, including how to stop in the conversation. Younger students and […]
What it is: reading music
The world is teeming with resources. I was just involved in an extended, very contentious online discussion on the topic of reading music— Is it good to be able to read? Is it better to learn, […]
Categories of what we’re doing
Following is a very half-baked item that has been in my drafts for a long time. It’s a broad-ranging subject, and not the kind of thing you can just bang out, and have it be […]