The importance of listening!

[boofredlay]

By the title, I am not going to preach. I am just making another observation as I learn more about improvisation.

I am in a Jazz improv class now and I am learning quite a bit. As many of you know, I am a comeback player and I am in my thirties. So I am a little distraught that I am just now learning how to create a decent solo.

However, the most important thing I am learning now is to listen and emulate. You know when somebody beats an idea in you head that finally you get it.

Well I am finally starting to get it.

I have always listened to Wynton, Clifford, Miles (Kind Of Blue only) , Ken Watters and a couple of others in limited fashion.

My solos have been reflecting these artists and I did not even know it. I was just trying to play something that sounded good. Well it was suggested that I listen to artists who's playing was considered "out of the box" I.E. not so structured harmonically and rhythmically. Not to say that the artists listed above are labeled this way. "Just branch in what you listen to!"

Suggestions were made that I listen to Freddie Hubbard, Tim Hagans, Woody Shaw, Dave Douglas… So I am on the hunt for some new music.

Well, to get down to my real message here, I got Dave Douglas’ “The Tiny Bell Trio” from Amazon today. I placed it in the CD tray of my computer while I was balancing my checkbook and working on my taxes. After a while, I decided to play some with the Abersold play along CD.

I had only listened to “Tiny bell trio” twice and I found myself playing some really weird solos. I can only deduce that I had absorbed some of what I heard and started to use it. I honestly don’t know what I was trying to accomplish with my solos today, but I like what I heard… most of the time.

Observations from a comeback player… be good.
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[jazz_trpt]

You are what you eat!
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Jeff Helgesen
Free jazz solo transcriptions!

[IndianaGlen]

This I think is related and interesting (at least for me). Mike Brecker (the other --sax Brecker brother) did an afternnon clinic the same day of a show he did with Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove and others (great show btw) about a year ago here in town.

He talked about improvisation his life etc. One thing he did was demonstrate doing a "lick" on his sax and he went flying through all 12 keys cromatically and then in the cirlcle of 5ths playing it. The interesting part is that he said he has to be really careful when he thinks about this demonstration, because if he doesn't "file it away" it always comes out in the evening performance.

Similar situation, well sort of...