Django Reinhardt

DELAY: Sorry about the delay, this weeks Jazzblog entry (on Pat Metheny) is going to be delayed by 24 hours. Many apologies.

[NOTE: The seventh post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]

Link (Red Hot Jazz Django Site):
http://www.redhotjazz.com/django.html

Name: Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt
Born: January 23, 1910
Died: May 16, 1953
Instrument: Guitar

Django is pronounced "zhane-go":
Django was born in Liberchies, Pont-a-Celles, Belgium, but grew up in a gypsy camp just outside of Paris, France near the Choisy gate. His childhood would have been a strange contradiction, as the French gypsies had a very arhciac value system but they were located in very close proximity to the big, bustling city of Paris.

When Django expressed an interest in music, at a young age, he was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour. (A banjo-guitar is a banjo that has six strings and is tuned like a guitar.) He quickly became proficient at this instrument by watching the fingers of the older musicians as they played. It is also said that Django started on violin and was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour when he expressed interest in that particular instrument. I'm not sure which is actually correct. Either way, on the first recordings of him made in 1928, he plays banjo.

Before the age of thirteen Django was a gigging musician, playing at the dance hall on Rue Monge with accordionist Guerino. He became a very talented player, yet at the time he appeared on his first recording he still couldn't read or write and his name appeared as "Jiango Renard".

Fire and Web-fingered Guitar:
(Well, okay not quite web-fingered.) On November 2, 1928 Django returned home to his caravan after playing a gig in Paris. It was 1:00 in the morning and his caravan was filled with cellophane flowers that his wife had spent the day making to sell in the market the next morning. Either Django or his wife spotted a mouse, and when Django attempted to corner it, candle in hand to light the chase, he accidentally touched the flame to one of the flowers. Of course being good old-fashioned flammable cellophane, the whole caravan lit ablaze. Somehow Django managed to wrap himself in a blanket and rush his wife out of the inferno caravan to saftey. He badly burned his right knee and his left hand, fusing several fingers together. This would be a devistating injury to any guitar player, but for Django simply adjusted his technique.

He could still manage to play the closest two strings with the ring and pinky finger, but couldn't extend them past that due to tendon shrinkage from the heat of the fire. This meant from that point on, Django had to solo with his index and middle finger only. All his fingering had to be reworked to accommodate these limitations, making Django a very unique player.

Probably one of the most distinctive things about Django's playing is the feel. As you listen to the files I have posted below, the chug-chug-chug-chug-chug feeling is very distinctly Django. He is a very driving guitar player. Whereas Bob Marley is a good example of a guitar player sitting behind the beat, Django is an equally good example of sitting in front of the beat. Just ever so slightly, without losing time (although that can't be guaranteed in either case). As you listen to Harlem Swing hear how he accents the beats 2 and 4. It has been said you can pick the musicians out in a room of people that are clapping along to music by watching who claps on 2 and 4, and who claps on 1 and 3. Besides the feel of his rhythm, Django plays some wonderfully lyrical lines in his solos. The man knew his Jazz changes, even if he just learned them by ear. Fabulous improvisation, and flawless for only two fingers.

Django Referenced:
References to the great Django Reinhardt are everywhere, particularly in film and television. The opening sequence to the very strange animated Les Triplettes de Belleville features a characture of Django that puffs smoke out of his ears as he plays. In the movie Chocolat, Johnny Depp plays Django's Minor Swing, which can also be heard in the background of the Oracle scene in The Matrix. Rythm Futur and I Can't Give You Anything But Love can be found in The Aviator, Nuages in Gattaca, and even in Sealab 2021 the "Bebop Cola" machine has a flavor dedicated to Django. "Ah, Mango Reinhardt, the thinking man's pop!"

Django may have passed away two years into his retirement in Fontainbleau, but today's pop culture shows that his work will never be forgotten. With two fingers on the piano, most people can play the atrocity that is "Chopsticks". With two fingers on a guitar, Django Reinhardt made music!

[Links removed, files are available upon request]

Musical Theory VII

Diminished Chords

We now have quite the gamut of seven chords, the remaining basic one is the Diminished Seventh chord. Much like the major seventh chord, a diminshed seventh can be derived from the basic seven chord basis. Start out with the seven chord with the same name as the dimished you want to end up with. Flat the third of the chord to obtain the minor seventh. Then further flat the fifth one semitone, and the seventh (that has already been lowered a semitone in the seven chord) one more semitone. This means you should end up with the first, flat third, "flat fifth" (which because of the nature of the interval perfect fifth is called a diminished fifth), and double-flatted seventh.

For example: D diminished seventh (Ddim7). First form a D7 chord from the first, third, fifth and flat seven - D, F#, A, C. Then flat the third to obtain a minor seven (Dmin7) D, F, A, C. Now flat the fifth and the seventh to obtain D, F, Ab, Cb. (NOTE: Cb is the same note a B, but we still call it Cb so that we know what chord we are playing.) You'll notice as you play the inversions of this chord (on a piano, it is much harder to see on a guitar), that there is no "clustering" of notes found in the inversions of the previous chords we have been working with. All of the notes are evenly spaced. This is an interesting quality of the diminished chord that is the subject of this week's quiz question!

To hear the different types of seventh chords, (plus the half-diminished which we haven't yet covered) visit this website:

Hear Seventh Chords

Quiz Question
How many distinctly different diminished seventh chords are there?

Jaco Pastorius

[NOTE: The fifth post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]

Link (Jaco Pastorius' Official Website):
http://www.jacopastorius.com/

Name: John Francis Anthony Pastorius III
Born: December 1, 1951
Died: September 21, 1987
Instrument: Bass

From Drums to Bass:
Jaco didn't start out as a bassist. When he as 16 he used to be the drummer for "Las Olas Brass" in Fort Lauderdale. That was, until a far better drummer Rich Franks moved into town and the band asked Jaco to step down. He did, and while attending one of their rehearsals with Rich on drums, the bass player left rather abruptly. Jaco picked up the bass and said he'd like to play for the band, and of course he was told he could, but he had a week to learn the material.

"...the moment I picked up the bass, I knew it was my instrument." (Jaco)

Jaco would then spend time during lunch and after school at a music store nearby, where inbetween customers the owner would practice his guitar and answer Jaco's many questions. Jaco quizzed the owner about the left hand, arpeggios, fingering, and so forth. He learned the material, and joined the band as their bass player.

There are many rumors out there at Jaco just picked up the bass and played it intuitively without any practice. This is of course about as true as we all just stood up one day when we were children and started walking without any work at all. Jaco used to carry his bass with him everywhere and practice, inbetween mouthfuls of cereal, while talking to people, watching television, all the time. Jimi Hendrix was rumored to be similar in that respect, even taking his guitar into the bathroom with him.

Of course, the best way to find out how a man behaves is to ask the woman that lives with him. In the words of Jaco's first wife, Tracy:

"Jaco practiced all the time but never late at night. He rarely stayed up late unless he had a gig - he loved getting up early. But, whether he was sitting in the back yard soaking up the sun or watching Star Trek or Jeopardy on TV, his bass was always in his hands. It never bothered me - I don't know why - maybe because my father was a jazz musician too. I've read where people have said he never practiced, but that wasn't the case when I was with him. All his early works were written on the bass because we couldn't afford a piano. Then he actually started writing on a little toy piano my mother had given our daughter Mary for her birthday. He had never had a
music lesson and I remember my mom showing him where "C" was on that little toy piano."

Family Man:
Jaco was a very caring person, loved to be close to nature, and of course his family. Pictured on the right is Ingrid, his second wife, with his for children: John, Mary, Julius, and Felix. Before anyone asks the forever predictable question, yes, they all play musical instruments. John plays drums and piano recreationally, Mary is a singer-songwriter that plays piano, Julius plays drums, and Felix bass. John and Mary were born to Tracy and Jaco, and Julius and felix to Ingrid.

There is a rather cute story surrounding the song Portrait Of Tracy, obviously named after Jaco's first wife. Once again in Tracy's words:

"I'll tell you the background of that title. You are probably all bass players and whether you realize it or not, it is not always the most enthralling thing in the world to listen to a bassplayer practice - riffs - scales - all that stuff. It never bothered me at all, but to say it was engrossing would be pushing it. Well, one day Jaco started practicing a new song and it was like nothing else I had ever heard him practice. It was so different and hauntingly beautiful. It got so that everytime I went to take a bath I would holler to him, "Jaco, play my bathtub melody!" because it made me feel so relaxed. So for months that is how it was referred to between us - the bathtub melody. I did not know until the day his first album came out and saw it that he had called it "Portrait of Tracy". So to say I was the inspiration for it may be an exageration but thank you. Years later people who knew us knew he was pissed at me whenever he started playing it with that fricking fuzz tone on!"

Weather Report etc:
This band was originally a spin-off of the musicians associated with Miles Davis, and the Bitches Brew era work. It soon developed more of a funk feel, and in 1976 Black Market was released, introducing newest addition viruoso bassist Jaco Pastorius. He stayed with the band during their time of most success. He left the group in 1981.

Jaco was a brilliant artist. His music is compelling, it is passionate, it is intellectual, and something that every bass player today aspires to. (This is an editorial note: I had it commented before that this Jazzblog looked like a labour of love. This is not entirely true, it is something I have known all my life and am comfortable with. Not much about Jazz gets me riled up, it is more like a comfortable set of pajamas I can slip into and curl up on the couch with. However, I do have my favorites and my passions within the Jazz genre, and Jaco is one of them. The word virtuousity gets thrown around a lot in music, and this is where you can find the definition. Listen to his music, it is virtuous.)

The name of one of Jaco's publishing companies says quite a bit about the way he lived his life. Mowgli Music was named after the Jungle Book character, which Jaco felt an affinity with even early on in his life. Apparently he used to like to climb from tree to tree on the way to school, and always wanted to be with nature, barefoot and wearing next to nothing. He was courageous and fearless, always in love, dedicated, loyal, able to find what he needed to survive around him. Jaco was a free spirit in the very sense of the word.

Unfortunately, not everything was wonderful for poor Jaco. He suffered from bouts of what those close to him would call "strange behaviour". Essentially, these were manic depressive episodes, Jaco was a man of violent ups and downs. Peter Erskine (excellent drummer and very kind man) first recognized mental illness and called Jaco's wife Ingrid to let her know about it while they were on tour in Japan. When Jaco returned home, it was evident to her as well that he was having some problems. Peter's father, Dr. Fred Erskine, suggested unofficially that Jaco might be bi-polar, and could benefit from taking Lithium. Throughout his life, Jaco would be hospitalized serveral times, but unfortunately couldn't successfully adhere to any medication.


Jaco's Death:
This is an issue that I would like to approach with the most sensitivity I can, as his not being able to contribute to the music world today still breaks my heart. Nothing in my own words could do this justice, so below is a story told by Doctor Miguel A. Gonzalez, who was there for Jaco's final hours.

"I met Jaco when he brought his wife, Ingrid, to my office. He had found me via the yellow pages. I am an obstetrician, and Jaco and Ingrid were planning to start a family. I will never forget his presence, and how he announced he was the greatest bass player, so he brought records for me to the following office visit. Heavy Weather, and the first solo album, I had never heard of Weather Report, and was forever hooked.

Per his invitation, I saw him several times perform, once with Ira Sullivan at a club called Bubba's on Sunrise Blvd. I felt close to him, and we use to joke about the size of his hands compared to mine. I would tell him it wasn't the size that counts, but what I do with my hands.

We had lost touch, but not too long before he passed away I was with my children at Holiday Park, and he had asked for some change to buy hot dogs, in lieu he gave me his guitar strap. He bought the hot dogs, and grilled them on one of the grills randomly available throughout the park.

Next time I saw him was a sad day, he had been admitted as "John Doe", beaten, I happen to be
on a call for one of my patients, and was told about this John Doe, as soon as I looked at him, even with his injuries I knew it was my friend Jaco. That is how the family was eventually notified.

About 9 days later the decision was made to take him off life support, as usual Ingrid had been there all day, the family started to arrive to be present for the removal of the life support.

Ingrid didn't want to be a part of it, and left the hospital shortly before the support was removed.

What followed next is something that most of us in the medical profession had not heard of. Everyone there had been informed that after removal of support, it would take about 20 minutes, the most half an hour, so we all waited, the priest, his parents, his brothers, first wife, and kids. But an hour went by and eventually everyone got restless, the priest had to leave, others left and periodically came back in. This went on for THREE HOURS, his heart continued to beat strong, shown on a monitor, though he wasn't breathing. All my colleagues I have spoken to about this agree it is very unusual, unheard of. For three hours Jaco put up a fight, his heart beating strong.

Only he would do something like this his special way.
What an amazing man, to this day I think of him often.
God Bless.

And Jaco, you were right, you are the greatest bass player.
Peace, my friend."

Jaco's resting place is at the Queen of Heaven cemetery,
Plot: Section L, Block 219, Grave 8
located on State Road 7, A.K.A. 441,
north/west Fort Lauderdale.
Address:
1500 South State Road 7
North Lauderdale, Florida
(954)972-1234

[Links removed, files available upon request]

Musical Theory VI

Major Seven Chords

Last week we covered the basic seven chord, which was built on the first, third, fifth, and flatted seventh of the scale bearing the same name. In Classical music, this is call the "Dominant Seventh" because if you were to build a four note chord on the Dominant (or fifth) note of a scale, you would have a seven chord. This is why we must flat the seventh in the Jazz naming scheme. A C Dominant Seventh in Classical terms is actually a G7 chord in Jazz terms. In the C major scale, there is no F#, and this is why when building the G7 from the first (G), third (B), fifth (D), and seventh (F#), we must flat the seventh note to an F. This is very similar to the idea of modes, but is far too complex for practical purposes. On the fly, if you are asked for a C Dominant Seventh Chord, you'll freeze. However, if you are asked for a G7, it's a whole lot easier. With a little practice, even intuitive.

Anyways, back to our NEW kind of chord for this week, the Major Seven. As we have just reminded ourselves, the regular seven chord is the first, third, fifth, and flatted seventh of the scale bearing the same name as the chord. For example, D7 is D-F#-A-C. But what happens if we leave the C#? The chord will have an almost "lifting" sound to it. Whereas a triad and a seventh chord sound final and secure, a major seventh chord sounds as if it is floating. So for our example a Dmaj7 (D major seven chord) would be D-F#-A-C#.

If you have the means, play a regular seven chord on an instrument, followed by a major seven chord. Do you hear the lifting?

Quiz Question:
Describe the difference in sound between a fretted and a fretless bass. (This is a fairly subjective question, so long as the answer is argued reasonably well and is supported, a point will be awarded.)

Benny Goodman

Apologies for the late posting!!
[NOTE: The fifth post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]

Link (Official Website):
http://www.bennygoodman.com/index.php

Name: Benjamin David Goodman
Born: May 30, 1909
Died: June 13, 1986
Instrument: Clarinet

Benny's Beginnings:
Benny learned to play clarinet in a charity run youth band. He quickly became quite proficient at the instrument, and played professionally in many bands while still in his youth. By the age of 16 Benny was playing with one of Chicago's top bands, and at age 17 he made his first recording. He began recording albums under his own name two years later.

Benny and his brother became fairly successful working musicians, and Benny attempted to convince his father to retire. His father had always worked shovelling unrefined lard, a smell that Benny couldn't stand. As soon as the boys were in a position to help out their father, they tried to do so. But Mr. Goodman wouldn't have any charity, and was rumored to have said, "You look after yourself, and I'll look after myself." Shortly after this, Mr. David Goodman was hit by a car while getting off a streetcar, and died in hospital. This death would haunt Benny, who wished his father could have seen him become a great success.

In the late 1920's, Benny headed off to New York and gained his reputation as a solid and reliable playing by playing with Red Nichols, Isham Jones, and Ted Lewis. In 1932 he formed his own band, auditioning for New York radio two years later. His radio broadcasts from New York had been too late to attract a large audience on the East Coast, but had an avid following in California. However, Benny did not hit the "bigtime" until his band played the Palomar Ballroom in 1935.

Racial Integration:
Benny Goodman is said to be to Jazz what Elvis was to Rock and Roll. Jazz was largely considered to be black music, and Benny was able to bring a taste of it into white culture. He was also a pioneer in racial integration, breaking taboo on many occaisions by hiring black musicians to play with white orchestras. This was something that may have been taboo in the Northern and Central states, but it was actually illegal in the South due to the Jim Crow laws. Benny had enough fame and money not to need to tour in the South where his band would be subject to arrest, and so he simply hired the musicians that would be suit the gig, regardless of race.

The Bigtime:
Much like last week's Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman was also a perfectionist. He has been called arrogant, cheap, and demanding by many who worked with him. Any musician who did not meet Benny's standards on a gig would receive his signature glare, dubbed "The Ray". However, most appreciate Benny's perfectionism as it led him to be the most technically proficient clarinetist of his time. Any accusations of Benny being cheap were understood as stemming back to his penniless childhood in Chicago, where he would have been trained to watch what little money he had with care.

Benny's band, whether a trio, a quartet, a sextet, or a full big-band had great success throughout the thirties, even playing the legendary Carnegie Hall on January 16, 1938. Unfortunately, in the forties many of the talented musicians were signing up for service or getting bigger paying jobs as factory foremen, and Benny Goodman lost popularity. The new fad was crooners, such as Frank Sinatra, and Benny didn't fit into that profile. He embrassed bebop throughout the fourties and the fifties, but with limited success. Jazz seemed to have simply outgrown him.

Despite the ever changing music world, Benny continued to play in the Swing style he was best knn called arrogant, cheap, and demanding by many who worked with him. Any musician who did not meet Benny's standards on a gig would receive his signature glare, dubbed "The Ray". However, most appreciate Benny's perfectionism as it led him to be the most technically proficient clarinetist of his time. Any accusations of Benny being cheap were understood as stemming back to his penniless childhood in Chicago, where he would have been trained to watch what little money he had with care.

Benny's band, whether a trio, a quartet, a sextet, or a full big-band had great success throughout the thirties, even playing the legendary Carnegie Hall on January 16, 1938. Unfortunately, in the forties many of the talented musicians were signing up for service or getting bigger paying jobs as factory foremen, and Benny Goodman lost popularity. The new fad was crooners, such as Frank Sinatra, and Benny didn't fit into that profile. He embrassed bebop throughout the fourties and the fifties, but with limited success. Jazz seemed to have simply outgrown him.

Despite the ever changing music world, Benny continued to play in the Swing style he was best known for, as well as some classical clarinet, right up until he died at the age of 77, in New York city.
own for, as well as some classical clarinet, right up until he died at the age of 77, in New York city.

[File to be uploaded later]
Try here in the meantime

Musical Theory V

Seven Chords

Some of the more classically trained among you may know these as "Dominant Seventh Chords". The thing about Classical music training, is it tends to make everything much more complex than it needs to be. Jazz was the music of the uneducated masses, and although it developed into something extremely complex, emphasis is placed more on the concepts than silly teminology. For this reason, I'll be using a lot of the Jazz names when referring to chords, as they tend to be much more straighforward.

Last week, we covered major and minor triads. These are three note chords, and are fairly simple sounding. Our first introduction to four note chords will be the simple seven chord. There are many four note chord structures, diminished, augmented, suspended, major sevens, but these all build off of the basic first, third, fifth, and flat seven.

The first, third, and fifth are our triad, so this you should be familiar with. To turn a triad into a seven chord, add the note one semitone lower than the seventh note of the scale of the same name. For example, a C7 chord would be the C major triad C, E, G, plus the flatted seventh of the C major scale, Bb. Our D major triad can be turned into a D7 chord by taking the seventh note of the D major scale, C#, and lowering it by one semitone to become C before adding it to the D major triad. Therefore a D7 chord is D, F#, A, C.

Minor seven chords work in a similar fashion, only you take the seventh note of the major scale of the same name and lower it by a semitone. This means that the only difference between a D7 and it's minor counterpart, D-7 (the negative sign denoted minor) is the third.

D7 : D, F#, A, C
D-7 : D, F, A, C

Quiz Question:
Why would a seven chord be referred to as a "Dominant Seventh" in Classical Music Theory?

Buddy Rich

As Justin would say - MORE DRUMS!!!
[NOTE: The fourth post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]

Link (Buddy Rich Official Website):
http://www.buddyrich.com/

Name: Bernard "Buddy" Rich
Born: September 30, 1917
Died: April 2, 1987
Instrument: Drums

A man walks up to the gates of heaven and stops suddenly to listen. Yes. He recognizes that sound. The man turns to St. Peter excitedly and asks:

"Is that really Buddy Rich?"

St. Peter shakes his head and replies:

"No, that's God. He just thinks he's Buddy Rich."

Young Buddy:
Buddy Rich was a naturally gifted drummer. His first gig was at the age of 18 months as "Trap the Drum Wonder" in a Vaudville show. At eleven years old, he was already the head of his own band. He had absolutely no formal training. He entered the world of Jazz at the age of 20, and went on to play with Joe Marsala, Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Carter, Harry James, Les Brown, Charlie Ventura, and Jazz at the Philharmonic, before many of the "Jazz Greats" including Bird, Miles, Diz (Dizzy Gillespie), and his own Jazz orchestra. Buddy Rich lived, and breathed, drums.

Legendary Player:
What is so special about Buddy Rich's playing anyways? I mean, a drummer is a drummer so long as they keep the beat and don't play too loudly, right? Wrong. When you listen to the two files that I have linked below (especially Birdland), hear how he cues the band using his fills and shots. The drummer can be the maker or the breaker of a band. From the drum chair you can cue the musicians, you can drive them, you can slow them down, you can make them groove or swing or do whatever you want. A powerful drummer is always the one in control in a band.

Buddy Rich may have been seen as slightly power-crazy during his time with his big band after 1966, but he was just a perfectionist. His cues were as clear as day to anyone used to listening to a drummer for cues... and if you were playing with the Buddy Rich band, you'd better be. His technical proficiency was astounding for a man that had never taken a lesson in his life. In fact, he even went so far as to denounce the whole idea of "practice makes perfect". To him, practice was useless. "If you can't do it in an hour, you can't do it in four days." His method of improving was to play with a band, to play in front of an audience. Why shouldn't it be? The man played in front of audiences from 18 months.

When you listen to Birdland below, listen to the drums. This may be hard for some of you, as the drums are not always the first thing a person hears when they listen to music. Think of this as if you were playing in the band. How can you tell where the band is going to come in and play? How can you tell where the horn shots are going to be? Each time Buddy plays a fill or a riff or a shot, it's not to show off or to display his talents or because he can. Every single note that Buddy plays is placed where it is placed for a reason. To contribute to the piece as a whole, and also to help the band do what he wanted. The drums are a musical instrument like any other, and Buddy treated them as such.

Legendary Temper:
Just as well known as Buddy's playing were his temper tantrum he used to throw between sets. The man demanded perfection, and if he didn't get it he got hopping-mad. Once, he fired a bass player right off the stage during a performance. He had fired his usual bass player the night before, and the sub quite obviously didn't have a clue what he was doing. Buddy Rich came to the front of the stage where the audience yelled requests at him. Buddy stepped up to the mike and said, "We're not going to play Channel 1 or West Side Story or any of that shit. We're going to take 15 minutes and figure out why." The band left the stage, and a few tense minutes later roadies could be seen wheeling the bass amp off. The guitar player covered the bass part for the rest of the gig.

A Recording of Buddy Between Sets (CLICK HERE)

What the fuck do you think is goin' on here? You had too many fuckin' days off and you think this is a fuckin' game!? You think I'm the only one that's gonna work up there while you motherfuckers sit out there and clam all over this fuckin' joint!? What do you think this is anyhow? What kind of playing do you think this is? What kinda miscues do you call this? What fuckin' band do you think you're playin' on, motherfuckers? You wanna fuck with me on the bandstand?...Shut that fuckin' door! I'm up there working my balls off, trying to do somebody a favor, and you motherfuckers are suckin' all over this joint. What kind of trumpet section do you call this tonight? And saxophones...you gotta fuckin' be kidding me! How dare you call yourselves professionals. Assholes! You're playin' like fucking children up there. You got your fuc...(distracted momentarily) where the fuck are you? Where is Peneke? (turns to the Trombonist) You've got your fuckin' horn so far deep in the fuckin' bell, we don't need to have a band here tonight. You afraid you won't be heard? Everybody can hear your fuckin' clams out there. You don't need a mike for that. You're takin' up too much fuckin' time blowin' what? Shit!! You stand out here all night tryin' to blow your fuckin' brains out; when it comes time to play, what do you play? Clams!! You got nowhere to fuckin' go tonight the next set because if I hear one fuckin' clam from anybody, you've had it! One clam and this whole fuckin' band is through...tonight!! Try me! You got some fuckin' nerve. Nights off, nothin' to do, and you come in and play this kind of shit for me...Fuck all of you!!

You're not doin' me any fuckin' favors, you're breakin' my heart up there. I gotta go up there and be embarrassed by you motherfuckers? I've played with the greatest musicians in the world. How dare you play like that for me! How dare you try to play like that for me. Assholes!! I get fifteen fuckin' kids in rehearsal. The fuckin' time in this band is incredible! We don't play two fuckin' bars in one fuckin' tempo. Not one! You can't keep fuckin' time and play, there's too many things to do, isn't there? You can't pat your fuckin' foot and play. You're all over the fuckin' place. Miscue after miscue...You try one fuck up the next set, and when you get back to New York you'll need another fuckin' job. Count on it! Now get out of my fuckin' bus! Right now!

Buddy has even been known to leave players at the side of the road after kicking them off the tourbus. One thing was definitely for certain when you played with Buddy, you played your very best or you got fired. Instantly.

Buddy didn't enjoy his temper tantrums at his band, it wasn't a power trip. On the contrary. Buddy was such a perfectionist, he found it painful to even listen to his own recordings. His own words on recording:

"I've never enjoyed any of them that I've ever made - with my own band. I've had great fun and great thrills working with people like Lester Young and Bird, and you can go on and on and on with names. I had great times recording with Basie, and I had great times recording with the All-Star people. But for my own band I've never really done anything where I can say: "That is the best thing that this band's ever done, or the best thing that I've ever done."
First of all, I can't stand the way I sound on records, and I've said that all my life. I play things that I think are right at the time - then when I hear it, I say: "Why did I do that?" So to look back and say: "This is the best record" - there is no record I've made with my band that I feel I want to talk about. Especially the last album we did in the States - it's the worst thing that you could possibly listen to. I mean, it should be banned; it should be illegal. The recording is terrible, the band was terrible, the playing was bad; there were mistakes that the engineering let pass. I was away at the time the thing was released, or it never would have been released. What I have done, in the past eight months that the album's been out, is that every night at every concert I tell the audience that our new album is not to be believed, it's terrible, and please don't buy it. I'm saving myself the embarrassment of having people listen to it, and I'm also saving them the money that they would pay for a record that is not worth the price."

RIP Buddy:
Not to end on the wrong impression here, Buddy Rich could be a really sweet guy as well. If you were a young fan lucky enough to get a chance to ask Buddy for an autograph, he would never say no. In fact, he would go out of his way to make you feel special. Once, a former owner of a music store in Toronto got a phone-call that Buddy had broke one of his crash cymbals and needed a replacement. Of course the man took a new cymbal to his concert that night, but also a friend who worshipped Buddy. The music store owner asked Buddy for his old, broken cymbal and Buddy inquired why anyone would want a broken cymbal. The music store owner explained that his friend, who had box seats with him for the concert, was a big collector of Buddy paraphenalia. Buddy signed the cymbal to his friend, dated it, and then remarked, "Make sure you give him a good deal on it. It's broken." When the concert started, Buddy saluted the box where the store owner and his friend were sitting. Ever see a grown man cry?

Buddy Rich changed the face of drumming. This is said about a lot of players and their respective instruments, but with Buddy it is actually the truth. You talk to a drummer worth his salt and he worships the ground Buddy walked on. Buddy Rich is in all honesty, a legend.

"And you have to really love them, nurture them, and take care of them, for all the joy and the happiness that they've given throughout the years. I don't look at anybody's talents as ever diminishing. Once it's great, it's great, and that's that. Timeless? Exactly."


Here are a couple of recordings, the second of which Buddy probably would have hated. But I can't very well tell you to go and see him play live, now can I?

[Files removed. Available upon request.]

Musical Theory IV

Triads

Last week's post on modes was quite complex, so now we'll relax a little a cover the idea of triads. Up until this point, we have been dealing with theory one note at a time. But this is obvioulsy not how music is played. What happend when more than one note is played simulatneously? We get a chord. One of the very basic, yet important, chords is the triad.

Triads are a "stack", if you will, of three notes that are played simultaneously. In the major triad, the basic form is the triad name, one third about that (or 4 semitones) and one fifth above the triad name (or 7 semitones). More simply, this would be the first, third and fifth notes of the major scale of the same name. For example, a C major triad would be the first, third, and fifth notes of the C major scale: C E G. Another example, the Bb major triand would be the first, third, and fifth notes of the Bb major scale: Bb D F. Minor triads work on the same principle, only they are based on the first, third, and fifth notes of the minor scale with the same name. (For example C minor triad would be C Eb G and Bb minor triad would be Bb Db F.) A major triad can be converted into a minor triad by flatting the third one semitone. For example, the D major triad is D F# A. To obtain the D minor triad, all we need to do is flat the third. Therefore, F# would then become F, and we would have D F A, our D minor triad.

Of course the notes of each triad don't have to be played in this rigid position of first, third, fifth, from bottom to top, as close together as you can get them. The notes can be played in any order, and these differing orders are called inversions. The basic position of a triad is call root position. This is because the name of the triad is at the bottom of the chord. In our D major triad, D and then the F# immediately above it, and then the A immediately above that F# would be the root position. The next ordering of notes is the first inversion. This may be obtained by taking the first, or the bottom note of the triad in root position, and putting it on the top. Thus with our D major triad, the first inversion would be F# on the bottom, then the next A up from that F#, and then the next D above that A. Second inversion is taking the bottom note of the first inverstion and placing it on top. In our D major chord, A on the bottom, the next D directly above that, and finally the next F# above that D on the top. There is no third inversion, because if you take the bottom note of the second inversion and place it on the top of the chord, you get the root position again. Therefore with a triad there are three positions, root, first inversion, and second inversion.

The root and inversions of a minor triad work the same way, but with the notes of the minor chord.

I have described these triads as all played within the same octave, or closed triads. But, there are many octaves in music and nothing to restrict us to only one while playing a chord. If you spread the notes out over several octaves, you have an open triad. For example, with our D major triad we could pick and F# as low on the piano as we can go, the D next to middle C, and the highest A possible. Obviously this would be silly to play this way, but it is a valid open triad.

Wasn't so painful this week, was it?

Quis Question #2

This week, as we are dealing with Buddy Rich, the question will be drum related. Name 3 drum rudiments, and indicate one possible sticking for each.

Letter to the JazzBloggers

Dear JazzBloggers,

Thank you for supporting the JazzBlog, and thank you even more for taking an interest in Jazz. There is so much to put up here, I think I have a lifetime work of work set out for me! As long as people are still reading, and are still interested, I will do what I can to do these wonderful musicians and their work justice.

I have added new links to two online Jazz radio stations, as well as several artists. Etherbeat is an "interesting" selection of music they call "The Urban Alternative". Much more traditional jazz can be found on radioioJazz, which in my opinion is and excellent station. In fact, I'm listening to it right now. Links will be added constantly, as it is impossible to come up with all of the names and sites I think people would like to see. If you notice someone is missing, please speak up and I will add them.

Anonymous posts are welcome. Asshats will be deleted. Complaints will not be misconstrued as asshattery. Complaints are welcome as, after all, there is no way I can improve without knowing what you would like to see done differently.

E.L. Wisty has asked about the new Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane CD (at Carnegie Hall), and unfortunately I haven't been able to listen to it yet. I'm waiting for a copy to come in at my Andrew's store, and then hopefully I, or possibly Andrew if I can get him interested, will write a review on the CD. Perhaps Andy has been able to listen, and he could write a review. Whoever ends up writing the review, E.L.'s question will be answered.

Requests are always welcome, and I will get to them as soon as I can. If you have a request, some feedback on something you would like to see, a question, comment, or experience you would like to share, please feel free to post.

I welcome contributors of any kind. Thank you Andy for already taking an interest in being a contributor. If anyone else is interested, please post a comment, or send me an email, with an email address that I can send you a team invitation to.

Happy New Year, everyone, welcome to 2006!

Best Wishes to you all,
Jack

Ella Fitzgerald

[NOTE: The third post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below]

Link (Ella Fitzgerald official website):

http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/

Name: Ella Jane Fitzgerald (Lady Ella, the First Lady of Song)
Born: April 25, 1917
Died: June 15, 1996
Instrument: Vocals

A Favorite with Favorites:
The well known Frank Sinatra had only a small comment on Ella: "My all-time favorite." Quite a complement coming from Old Blue Eyes himself. He even blocked Capitol from re-releasing some of his own albums that would have run parallel to some of what Ella was releasing. Quite a respectful gesture. With such a fan as Frank Sinatra, you would think this Queen of Jazz Royalty would be confident and cool with any other performers. But Ella has admitted, herself, to being a fan of Billy Holiday:
"Once, when we were playing at the Apollo, Holiday was working a block away at the Harlem Opera House. Some of us went over between shows to catch her, and afterwards we went backstage. I did something then, and I still don't know if it was the right thing to do - I asked her for her autograph."
Even the favorites, have favorites.


Ella's Beginnings:
Ella was raised in New York, and orphaned at 14 when her mother had a heart attack and her father disappeared. She made her debut singing at the famous Amateur Night at the Apollo in Harlem. Young Ella had planned a dance number, but was so intimidated by a previous act that she opted to sing instead. A stroke of luck, and an excellent choice, won her the prize of $25 and also caught the attention of Bardu Ali, a member of Chick Webb's band. He talked to Chick about hiring Ella, and at first Chick flat out refused. Finally he allowed her to come along with them on a gig at Yale, as a kind of audition. She passed with flying colours. Chick Webb and Ella developed a strong personal relationship, and when Ella began touring with his group, Chick legally adopted her. In 1939, Chick Webb died of spinal tuberculosis and Ella became the leader of his band. She stayed with the group for a year and then starting touring solo. An almost fairy-tale like beginning to a career that would earn her 13 Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Art, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as a loyal following of many generations.

Ella's Style:
Ella Fitzgerald is to jazz vocals what Charlie Parker is to jazz sax. She began as a swing singer, but over the course of her career she covered many different styles including bebop, blues, bossa nova, samba, gospel, calypso, and of course scat. Scat singing had been around for a while before Ella Ritzgerald, but Ella and Louis Armstrong perfected the art. Scat singing is vocalizing, wither wordlessly or with nonsensical words, an improvised jazz solo. The idea is to create the vocal equivalent of an instrumental solo using only the voice. A common annecdote is that Louis Armstrong started the art of scat because he frequently forgot the words to songs. Ella picked up on his method of instrument impersonation, and took it to another level. In her own words, "I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns." She did impressions as well, and was able to acurately duplicate both Marilyn Monroe and Louis Armstrong. Ella commanded great respect during her time, and crossed several racial borders. Ella Fitzgerald was a black woman who popularized songs written by immigrant Jews to a national audience of predominantly white Christians, and got away with it. Her incredible technical ability, and perfect pitch transcended all racial boundries.

Verve:
The Verve record company was formed in 1955 around Ella, by her manager Norman Granz. Under this label, Ella recorded songs by artists from what is known as the "Great American Songbook". This consisted of eight albums, each devoted to a great American composer:

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook (1956)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1957)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1958)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (1961)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook (1964)

She also recorded an album devoted to Cole Porter, Ella Loves Cole (1972), and another Gershwin album, Nice Work If You Can Get It (1983). As well as 3 albums with Louis Armstrong:

Ella and Louis (1956)
Ella and Louis Again (1957)
Porgy & Bess (in the early 50's)

A Listening Exercise:
For the more enthusiastic among you, try comparing Porgy & Bess as done by Ella and Louis, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass.

Loved and Remebered:
Ella's obituary can be found HERE at CNN.



"I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don't have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you'll understand."
--Ella Fitzgerald

[Links removed. Files are available upon request.]

Musical Theory III

Modes

There are two naming systems for the modes, the one seen here (the Church names) and also the Greek names. This is very confusing, but to simplify the isssue, I believe the names corrispond as such: (I could be off on a couple, if you know, please speak up.)
[Church name = Greek name]

Dorian = Ionian (I)
Hypodorian = Dorian (II)
Phrygian = Phrygian (III)
Hypophrygian = Lydian (IV)
Lydian = Mixolydian (V)
Hypolydian = Aolean (VI)
Mixolydian = Locrian (VII)

The mode starts on the degree of the scale indicated by the Roman numeral.

Pick any of the previous major scales we have learned. Now, instead of playing the scale from I to VIII (I), play the same scale but start on the third note and finish on the third note. This means you use the same notes as in the scale you picked, but start on a different degree of the scale. You have just played a mode. For example, pick the C major scale. The third note is E. The key of E major, as we learned earlier, is F#, C#, G#, D#. However, playing the Phrygian mode of C (III), the notes are E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, as the key signature of C major has no sharps or flats. That means the F#, C#, G#, and D# have all been lowered a semitone, back to naturals. Remember the idea of the third being a semitone lower in minor scales? If a mode has this lowered third (as compared to the major scale of that same letter name), then it is considered a minor mode. Otherwise, it is considered a major mode.

Quiz Question:
Which of the modern modes are major, and which are minor?

[The first person to post a correct answer here gets a point. When a person has reached 3 points, I will send them a prize. I'll try and come up with a good question every week. The prize will be Jazz related.]