Jazz Smugglers Master Workshop

Jazz Smugglers Master Workshop
Click on photo for Jazz Smugglers website

Friday 27 September 2013

Boxgrove gig Oct 18.



Jazz Smugglers bands West Sussex
Jazz Smugglers workshop, near Chichester, West Sussex

For the moment we are full, until someone drops out. There are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WEST SUSSEX BAND 
and LIKE our workshop page as well.
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.

Monday 23 September 2013

JAZZ PLAYERS FEEL LIKE MAKING LOVE



Let's do this fabulous song next week. This is the hit by Roberta Flack. Listen to those guitars, Dave. Wanna sing it Maria?

Good night last night. Well done everyone.
Next week, I’ve asked Maria if she can come. If she can, then she will give me some songs she wants to try out and we’ll do those. I'll mail you all.

Attached is Autumn Leaves in Ddm. You’ll love it, I promise. Where else can you practise your Dbm with others listening? I’m not going to bring Bb and Eb flat copies, trusting you can do it yourselves from this attachment. But if you get into trouble with it, let me know.

We might have another go at Afro Blue, with other folks hitting things rather than stroking them, just to get the right Latin feel. We need a percussion intro really.

We can also do the following, as practise for Terry’s session coming up on October 20th. It is best if we know the material already then we can get further with him.
Greensleeves.
Love for Sale.
So What

Let’s do Feel like making Love. Geoff says we have to sort out how to get into it, and we could do it with a funky sound. Good song for that.
Maria could you plan to do this one if you come?

John

The West sussex Jazz Smugglers bands
Jazz workshop, Chichester, Sussex

For the moment we are full, until someone drops out. There are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account then you can qualify for free tickets to our next concert if you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS SUSSEX BAND 
and LIKE our workshop page as well.
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.


Saturday 21 September 2013

NEW GOOGLE MAP JAZZ VENUES IN SUSSEX

You folks have got the very first look at this, a brand new Google map showing the main venues for jazz from Chichester to Dover. Can't get all the occasional and tiny ones in, obviously.

It has been produced by our jazz workshop member, Steven Gower


John




For the moment the workshop is full, until someone drops out. there are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide information about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 

and LIKE our workshop page as well.


In this blog we will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

THIS COMING SUNDAY. WHO SAID THIS WORKSHOP WAS GOING TO BE EASY?

I've brought in Afro blue because it is a 6/8 song, which needs percussion. We'll have to sort out who does what.
Can you try and have a glance particularly at this first video. I've got no idea of how to get a groove started. Steve T, would you have a think about how we can all do it? That's a tough one.


Simple stuff. ! We can copy elements of this on the hand percussion perhaps



More complex. Poor Bob doing this stuff. You up for a try Bob?



This is Freddie Hubbard with Little Sunflower. He composed it, a wistful little tune with odd timings.


The wonderful composer Mongo Santamaria plays his standard Afro Blue.


Autumn Leaves in (Dmaj) Bm

Lover  C Chromatic descending harmonies
Love for Sale  Eb Intro Superstition riff gtr. Swell long notes, stop dead, guitar fast fill
So what  Dm Use me gtr riff throughout. Jazz funk

Greensleeves F 1st time gtr, 2nd time tune funk, 3rd solos in dm, 4th gtr
Afro Blue Fm
Little Sunflower (new) Dm

John W. See you there.



The Jazz Smugglers bands in Sussex
The Jazz Smugglers workshop, Bosham, Sussex

The workshop will be opening again on Sunday September 8th. For the moment we are full, until someone drops out. there are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.


Friday 13 September 2013

JAZZ SMUGGLERS. OUR BEST VIDEO YET


Personnel are Andrew Batchelar, alto; Geoff Valenti trumpet; Dave Moore, guitar; Maria Ball, vocal; Vic Crowley, bass; Bob Savary, drums; John Winkler, keyboard.

We have honestly tried to make this one of the really good short videos you can find of a jazz band.

THE BRIEF
The brief to Callum Robertston was to make a video packed with movement. The sound is being heard only on a computer after all. The sound is a backing track.
Bands are notoriously difficult to film. There are amplifiers, music stands, mics, cables. They look a mess at a distance and the players are separated from each other. Ugh!
You can do it very well if you spend a lot of money on staging it, but we have only peanuts to spend.

HOW HE DID IT
Callum decided get the movement by using a lot of very short sequences, 1sec 2 secs with rapid cutting. He used close ups, reveals, he also added soft focus and slow motion to some sequences. It produces a huge variety of look. But he also showed one shot of the whole band at the end, and he got the front line smiling and enjoying themselves.

ANOTHER PROBLEM
The band plays a range of different styles, so we started with a full on jazz song by Bill Evans, called Funkaleroo, then we switched the sound track to our Maria singing a cool soft jazz version of a standard "It Could Happen to you"
We were worried about the rough jump, but I think the tension caused by this brings attention back to the video.

HOPE YOU LIKE IT.
We think that Callum did a brilliant job with this. An original talent. If you email me then I can give you his contact number. jazzsmugglers@yahoo.co.uk

John Winkler, Jazz Smugglers


THE JAZZ SMUGGLERS BANDS
The Jazz Smugglers WORKSHOPx

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band PAGE on Facebook please,
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS SUSSEX BAND 

and LIKE our workshop PAGE as well.
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM


In this blog We will produce playing tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

HOW MUCH PRACTICE DO YOU NEED FOR JAZZ? INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE AND PAUL DESMOND




If you practice like Charlie Parker for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week you'll have completed 12,000 hours of practice in about 4 years. Do it for much longer than this and you are an idiot. There is no need. It is OTT. We revere Charlie Parker for his fluency, speed and technique. On a personal note, he is too much for me (but you'll have different views, I know, says he, duckling head)

Oscar Petersen practised for an average of 5 hours a day. He said, "You need to do enough practice to get your technique to the point where you can express your ideas. It depends how heavy those ideas are."
Later in life he halved his practice routine. Sensible chap.

Most professionals I know do practice, and practice much more than amateurs. Quiet Paul Desmond seems to be in awe of Charlie Parker in this interview.

John

The Jazz Smugglers bands in Sussex
The Jazz Smugglers workshop, Bosham, Sussex


For the moment the workshop is full, until someone drops out. there are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS SUSSEX BAND 

and LIKE our workshop page as well.
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.




Monday 9 September 2013

WHAT WE'LL DO NEXT SUNDAY. THIS WILL KEEP YOU OUT OF MISCHIEF.



This is what I'd like to do next Sunday
Autumn Leaves in Gm (lets call it Bb maj), We'll do it in Dmaj (Bbm). This is part of our doing songs in unusual keys. Just 30 minutes on it.

Lets try out three things led by Dave's Guitar. The Use me riff for Lullaby of Birdland So What also the Superstition riff for Love for Sale. Dave can you just run through a mediaeval version of Greensleeves for us.
You are trying it out I know.

Geoff will try out something he has been working on (six or so songs, Geoff, ok?)
Can we also try out just one new song, Lover. BIAB file attached to email

CAN YOU FOLKS PLEASE PREPARE A PAD WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS WHICH WE DID LAST YEAR. ADD NEW ONES AS WE GO.
We will select songs from this list for working on. Sometimes the key may have varied from the standard because of the vocal need. Add Autumn Leaves Gm please. We'll use it as a practice piece for more difficult key.

A beautiful friendship C S
Close to you C B
Darn that dream  G S
Dindi   L (vocal 8 bar intro out of time+bass)
Feel like making love Eb S
Green Dolphin Street  C J
Greensleeves F    B
Here's that rainy day F S
I remember April G   S
Love for sale Eb (not F, no vocals)  Gtr using Superstition riff.
Lullaby of Birdland Ab J Gtr using Use me riff
Mash  theme Am S
The look of Love F S
So What. Dm Use me riff on guitar
Sunny  Am and Bm S Switch Am to Bm, back to Am. (?Reverse this?)
Wave C L

During the season we will select from these songs we have not done before. I have in mind building a song list from the 70's for the new jazz show next year.
I'll circulate them on BIAB files when I get them all. One or two we have done years ago. I've also got in mind some of these for vocals.

TO DO
Afro blue L
Almost like being in love S
Cantaloupe Island J
Chameleon       F
Four     J
Get me to the Church on time   S
How long has this been going on S
Just friends   J
Ladybird   J
Little sunflower   J
Lover
Show me  S
Smooth operator L
What's new?   B
What are you doing the rest of your life G  B
Wouldn't it be lovely S

OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Ain't no sunshine B
Home Cooking L
Just the way you are G  S
Mambo inn L

CHARTS FOR THE NEWCOMERS
We have a problem. We have three newcomers trying us out for the first time. Music sheets for them. Geoff has kindly arranged to have three copies of BIAB software for them. In a couple of weeks' time we'll have a 30 minute session about how to use BIAB.

We need charts for Eb and Bb instruments, and one is a Bb bari part. We probably have some music in the Bb and Eb boxes at present. If we select some other songs to do then, they can share existing charts.
I'll bring the charts for these.
Autumn leaves in Gm and Bbm
Lullaby of Birdland  Ab
Love for Sale Eb
Greensleeves F
Lover C

John


The Jazz Smugglers bands in Sussex
The Jazz Smugglers workshop, Bosham, Sussex


The workshop will be opening again on Sunday September 8th. For the moment we are full, until someone drops out. there are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS SUSSEX BAND 

and LIKE our workshop page as well.
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM



In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.







Saturday 7 September 2013

LETS PLAY TOGETHER




 THE WAY YOU LOOK TO-NIGHT. LISTEN TO THE EXCHANGES AT THE END.

I copied the Blues in Time CD for everyone, without explaining why. I've got spare copies for the newcomers.

This is why.
These two do and their backing section do nearly everything that we plan to do in the workshop. Have a listen. They are listening closely to each other while they play. For example, on track 4 Mulligan plays a little quote in his solo. Not to be outdone Desmond then plays a quote in his. They are just having fun with each other. Behind Desmond's solo is a soft descending harmony which is Mulligans trademark in all his arrangements. Its soft, quiet and cool. On other tracks listen to the way they copy each other exchanging 4s, sometimes they use a counter point harmony.

Desmond's solos are full of little playing patterns transposed, Mulligan too plays patterns but with a more flowing line. We'll have a go at this.


WE DID IT ONCE. BRILLIANTLY.
there was a supreme moment in our last jazz concert with the big band at Hillier. It lasted for 32
bars.

Andrew and Geoff exchanged 4's, and they really played off each other, they copied, they drove, they played fast and slow, loud and soft but they had a huge amount of fun playing for each other. It made them laugh together, it made the audience laugh, and it was totally musical.

For me it was the epitome of what a band should be about. It was a team game with the two forwards exchanging passes in the box.

That is part of what we are going to strive for in the new workshops.


We are going;
TO MAKE MISTAKES
TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE OTHERS ARE DOING
TO PLAY OFF EACH OTHER
TO EXPERIMENT
TO TRY THINGS WE DO NOT NORMALLY PLAY

We are all at different standards but there will be no

judgement, no criticism, just fun.

THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE'LL WORK ON.


  • PRACTICE THE REMOTER KEYS
  • ADD SILENCE/SPACE LESS IS MORE
  • DRAG A NOTE/ PUSH THE BEAT
  • FAST AND SLOW / LOUD AND SOFT/ 8TH NOTES
  • ADD A TUNE REFERENCE TO THE SOLO/ EMBELLISH TUNE  
  • PLAY WITHOUT MUSIC!!
  • PHRASE LENGTH SHORT/LONG
  • STACCATO/LEGATO
  • JAM SECTIONS
  • REPETITION OF NOTES/PHRASES
  • START PHRASES ON DIFFERENT BEATS/DISPLACE PHRASES
  • PLAY SCALE/ARPEGGIOS
  • PLAY BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL THEN GLOOMY AND SAD  
  • QUOTE FROM OTHER SONGS
  • FRONT LINE LEADERS TO INVENT VARIETY, melodies/melody plus solo/sharing/ensemble/ backing/breaks/ 8’s 4’s 2’s hand overs, harmonies, jamming, codas, intros all sorts of stuff.
  • RHYTHM SECTION TO ADD VARIETY


The workshop will be opening again on Sunday September 8th. For the moment we are full, until someone drops out. there are about 10 of us each week.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please, 

and LIKE our workshop page as well.

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.




Tuesday 3 September 2013

SO YOU WANT TO BE CREATIVE IN JAZZ?



This is what some of our country's top professionals have said about the following issue.

Alex Eberhard

Hi John, I see Jazz as a language. You have to learn grammar and expand your vocabulary,listen to to people who speak that language well and eventually get to the point, where you don't have to consciously think about grammar etc, but it becomes second nature. So being creative in playing jazz is very similar to speaking a second language: the more words you know, the more articulate you can express yourself. There is an excellent Youtube clip (more than 2 hours long) by Gary Burton: Gary Burton video clip (2 hours) Have a look if you have time - very interesting! Thanks, Alex

Tristan Banks

Interesting topic, most music that I've come into contact with has genre specific vocabulary, that's to say that each style of music has its own peticular rhythmic, harmonic and melodic structures, licks and cliches.
it's very important as a contemporary musician to be aware of what these are so the layman and scholars alike can identify what kind of music they are listening to.
As a drummer I'm happy to say that my instrument (the drum kit) was being developed at the same time as jazz music was one of the most popular music forms, so you could say that jazz music is inherent in everything that is played on the drums up to this day, but you would be wrong as various technical and stylistic advances have been made since the 1970s ( ie linear patterns, hybrid rudiments) from where jazz music's major developments have been through mixing it with rock, world and other musical forms.
So being creative??? Or improvising within a recognised musical framework or instant composition. Like any part of music the more you practise improvising the better you will become, but soloing isn't just wiggling your fingers or noodling. It should be based on phrasing, rhythmic and melodic development. I personally only use practised patterns or licks as platforms to start with or to refocus a solo if I feel that it has become too abstract. This of course is down to personal taste which gives my solos the stamp of my own musical identity.
So this leads to my question, which is: how creative can you be if you are restricting your solo to fit within a certain genre? I personally feel that you should express your full experience and artistry in all scenarios, even if it means playing some Lydian dominant quintuplet arpeggios on a gypsy jazz gig. If you can hear it play it, but don't try and crowbar the latest lick you've just been shedding.
So in conclusion, learn the history and the vocabulary of the music (and your instrument), listen to how the greats do it, don't be afraid to experiment, don't be a jazz snob. John Coltrane was the best at being himself and you will never be a better John Coltrane than he was. Enjoy yourself.

Paul Richards

Hi John, thanks for your question! Well I believe that if you actually use a creative approach to your practice sessions thinking of as many creative, fun and exciting ways to work on a concept then this will come out in your playing. So basically taking a concept or idea, working on it to get it under your fingers & in your ear then the next step practicing it in as many crazy ways as you can come up with. This is what I do with my students at Sussex Jazz Guitar School. The blog attached describes the Creative practice process we will be exploring in our next class 28/9. All the best..
Paul Richards Practice regimes at his guitar school
September 28th class will be taking a jazz standard tune and tackling it using a multitude of approaches, expanding on concepts from previous classes plus new ones.  We will be developing Creative and fun approaches to practice specific material because if we practice at home in a fun, creative way.

.Paul also wrote: "Thanks John, on this other blog here there's a section "exploring concepts" which explains it a bit. If you practise creatively you'll play creatively.

Julian Nicholas 

said this in response to the creative question and sent in this brilliant clip of "Elvis" discussing atonality. You must look at it.

"John I really like it - and I like the idea of making a few provocative statements to get the juices flowing! I must find the Elvis extract for you - it is about this!!

"Also I think it is always worth emphasising how life-changing this music can be, and how that is reinforced when we get together and exchange knowledge and enthusiasm for artists and recordings that we know and love... listening is the key!!"





James Wheeler 

I really enjoy Eric Dolphy and I think it takes great skill to know which is the most "Out to Lunch" note to pick. I think you can't create in a vacuum, you need to draw on inventive influences, a bit outside the box. A lot of other art forms can inspire you also, not just music. There's a great feedback between art and jazz music. Check out Broadway Boogie Woogie. It's not a tune, it's a painting by Mondrian. Final word: synesthetics. (Editorial note:is a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway)

THE ORIGINAL POST THEY ARE RESPONDING TO.
CREATIVITY IN JAZZ

Oooh! Hot topic. I can feel the coals about to be dropped on my head.

Who is this guy who can't play, doesn't know anything much, to put forward a view on creativity in this highly specialised field?

Well, no more than the average viewer in the Tate Gallery who likes/dislikes a painting even though they can't draw.

Personal comments these, but they relate directly to our workshop and what we plan to do. These are not your views maybe, there as many views on this topic as there are players. Start heating up the coals now. Comments welcome.

Jazz musicians are improvisers by nature. We constantly explore the unexplored, experiment, and try new things. That is what we do, once we have our technique established and even before then. From the start we'll be encouraged to do our own thing.

But look at the notes below. You notice how many of these great innovators did their best work with others. They feed off their rhytm section, they feed off each other. Without their favourite playing partners they were often a bit diminished.

Scientific studies, carried out in  laboratories show that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those areas that let self-expression flow.

To develop creativity you take big problems and then break them into small tasks.

It takes a lot of courage to be willing to sound awful from time to time in order to develop. Everyone is scared of making mistakes. If not, we are not trying hard enough.

You learn more from mistakes than you ever learn from success. Some of the best musical ideas have come from what originally were “mistakes.”

SO WHAT WE WANT TO DO IN THE NEXT WORKSHOPS FROM SEP 15TH IS TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO DO THEIR OWN THING
  • TO MAKE MISTAKES
  • TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE OTHER ARE DOING
  • TO PLAY OFF EACH OTHER
  • TO BREAK DOWN WHAT THEY DO INTO SMALL BITS
  • TO EXPERIMENT
Is that so wrong?

MY PERSONAL SELECTIONS OF JAZZ CREATIVES

THELONIUS MONK Known to his wife as Melodius Hunk. 
Who were the creative jazz people of my generation? Thelonius Monk - a legend in his time for his unusual harmonies and soloing style, his chord voicings, his timing, his original songs, copied by everyone in his day. Self-styled founder of Bebop. Some top jazz players would not play with him. I can take him in small bites, but I don't want a full evening of him. He hasn't been copied. Notice that. Genuinely creatively people leave a legacy, if it doesn't last it is more likely to be a novelty. Thelonius Monk was hospitalized twice for what was probably bipolar disease. Notice how some disability can lead you into original directions.

THE MJQ, Modern Jazz Quartet. 
They made a genuinely, long lasting impression on the music world as a whole. They were probably the foundation of much of the more melodic contemporary jazz style of to-day. They made jazz acceptable to classical musicians who recognised some of their baroque influences. I could listen to them all night. John Lewis plays the simplest of solos, spare, and open, a perfect counter to the powerful Milt Jackson on the vibraharp, with Percy Heath the driving force on the bass.

GERRY MULLIGAN AND CHET BAKER
Mulligan and Baker in their pianoless quartet. The pianist forgot to turn up one night. They found that this enabled them to free off from the harmony more easily. For me they were really original in the way they harmonised behind each other. Sometimes they did not even discuss the songs before they played them but they achieved wonders just playing off each other Their quartet only last for 9 months but they left a long lasting impression on the jazz world and helped to set up the West Coast movement. 

DESMOND AND BRUBECK
Their original work in using different time signatures is what they are known for, but I loved their Jazz at the College gigs from their early days. Desmond's fluent patterns, Brubeck playing chords. Interesting point here. He had to play chords at this time because he had an accident that stopped his fingers from soloing. Wonderfully original and musical were these tracks. Later he dropped the chord playing, when his fingers got better. Pity. Notice how some disability can lead you into original directions.

ERROL GARNER
Going back a bit now, but his trademark was the heavy block chords. Self taught, he sounded like a one man orchestra. Lovely sounds. He couldn't read music. Notice how some disability can lead you into original directions. 

GEORGE SHEARING quintet. 
A lot of argument here. He was put down by jazz musicians for being a Hotel pianist. So much of a hotel pianist he outsold nearly all the others with his records, with very sweet harmonies. This is George Shearing speaking, "Your intent, then, is to speak to your audience in a language you know, to try to communicate in a way that will bring to them as good a feeling as you have yourself" Notice his concentration upon the audience result. Lesson there for some players.
He was blind. Notice how some disability can lead you into original directions. 

BILL EVANS and his trio. He changed the style of piano playing more than any other. Introspective, deeply thoughtful, amazing range of different ideas which all fitted together somehow. He developed rootless chords and relied hevily on chords tones. First man to rely heavily on the bass player so heavily.

CHARLIE PARKER. He might not have started bebop but he and others pushed it to its limits. His trademark was unique phrasing and complex melodic lines. This, for me, is jazz musician's music. I can understand its brilliance, the technique but it does not sit easy on my ear. That's just me. I don't like Tracey Emin, but I do like David Hockney.

ATONAL
The atonal movement which followed Bebop, wrecked jazz. It was not creative, it did not have a long lasting effect it was nothing more than a novelty. For my ear it sounded awful. A disastrous novelty.
John
References
Research into jazz creativity, using brain scans.
Guide to creative jazz practise
= = = = = = = =

THIS IS US

The Jazz Smugglers bands in Sussex

The Jazz Smugglers workshop, Bosham, Sussex

The workshop will be opening again on Sunday September 15th. For the moment it is full, until someone drops out.

This site is to help the Jazz smugglers workshop group and provide informtion about the following weeks work. We will be working on widening our range of playing styles as individuals, working together in a band, and practising the more difficult things. You need to be able to read.

If you have a Facebook account can you LIKE our band page on Facebook please,
FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS SUSSEX BAND 

FACEBOOK JAZZ SMUGGLERS WORKSHOP BOSHAM



In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation. you can sign up directly to this blog site as a FOLLOWER, bottom rh side panel, you'll get all the posts.