< Back to Intervals Index INTERVALS #2 January 22 2006 HEARING THE INSIDE OF GIL EVANS I had a wonderful learning experience a few weeks ago when Justin DiCioccio and I went into the studio to mix our performance of the Gil Evans-Miles Davis collaboration Miles Ahead recorded last November at the Manhattan School of Music. As I readily admit I am not a big band maven. I haven't spent even a little time in a sax section. Instead I enjoy the privilege of being out front in my big band guest performances in this setting. Of course the instrumentation for Miles Ahead is not quite big band, but big enough. The mixing session was an incredible learning experience into the music that Gil wrote for the 1957 release. The arrangements are absolutely gorgeous, lush and full of color. In particular, the writing for the low instruments-tuba, bass trombone and the acoustic bass is amazing. We had the good fortune to have excellent students playing all the parts including the multiple woodwinds required in the reed section. Having the chance to balance the parts in the mix was fantastic because you could really check out what Gil was trying to achieve in a particular place. He doesn't follow the normal rules with voicings, but it all works in feeling and sound in the end. Naturally my attention has been on how to phrase the melodies, how to hold back on the improvisations and most of all shaping my sound, but looking inside the score was a revelation. Being the first of the Miles and Gil collaborations (followed by Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain), it must have been somewhat of a shock for listeners used to Basie, Duke, Kenton, etc., to hear the transparency and lightness of Gil's orchestrations. To play this music is really a gift that I am proud to be part of. Thanks to Justin who is not just a great chairman of the department at Manhattan School but as well an experienced and inspiring conductor (who also by the way has perfect time!!). CLASSICAL SAXOPHONE RECORDING I have the greatest respect for classical saxophonists who play some of the hardest music written. In fact, sometimes I have to pinch myself to be reminded that I play the same instrument. Claude DeLangle is the saxophone professor at the Paris Conservatory, which is in that field the top of the line as the department traces its lineage to saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax and Marcel Mule, who basically invented the saxophone quartet. I just listened to what is probably a hard to find recording featuring DeLangle playing solo on all the saxophones. There is a remarkable series of pieces written by Luciano Berio called "Sequenza" for different instruments and DeLangle plays two of them which are extraordinary. The recording is "The Solitary Saxophone" on the Bis Label from France. ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE You can't help but think about how lucky we are who spend a life in music when a disaster like the West Virginia coal miner incident occurs. To think of what those people have to do every day to make a living, the conditions they endure, surrounded by a toxic and dangerous environment on a daily level-all just to extract a source of energy from the earth, is mind boggling to me. It is so sad what happened to those folks and my heart and soul goes out to the families. I cannot imagine going through such tragedy. MIKE BRECKER Things are moving on course in Mike's treatment. There is room for optimism at this time. Our collective prayers continue to go out to the Brecker clan. PASSINGS BEA RIVERS: Talk about standing by your man-Sam River's wife, Bea, was one of the models of this truism. Over fifty years together, Bea recently passed on. I remember her kindness to all the young musicians who frequented their loft/performance center in New York in the late 70's called Studio Rivebea. My condolences to the great Sam, an artist of the highest order. MITCH KERPER: Mitch was one of my oldest musical friends from Brooklyn and the early days playing the hotels of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York where many of us cut our teeth. He was a soulful, swinging pianist who suffered throughout his life with brain tumors but always recovered and kept a positive and truly spiritual face to the world. His last years were spent in bed after an operation gone awry. The funeral was beautiful with his wife, Anne, singing a tune she wrote that was touching beyond words. A trio of Billy Mintz, Cameron Brown and Roberta Piket played a few of Mitch's tunes. His suffering is over. BOB WEINSTOCK:This was the guy who put modern small group jazz on the map beginning with Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano in 1949 through the great Miles Davis Quintet mid 50's classic recordings. Prestige recordings were the epitomy of no-nonsense jazz; no rehearsal, just go in and hit. An important guy for sure. THE WONDERS OF CREATIVITY Time Magazine's recent issue was devoted to the brain and topics associated with the subject. There was a very well written interview with psychologist R.Keith Sawyer whose book titled "Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation" is recommended in this area of study. He notes the importance of collaboration and brainstorming with colleagues and the like. For jazz musicians it is the jam session where such intercourse should be taking place as well as late night discussions between peers after they have heard a concert or recording. A few of his comments follow. Question: How can the average person get more ideas? Ideas don't magically appear in a genius' head. They always build on what came before. Look at what others in your field are doing. Brainstorm with others in different fields. Distant analogies can lead to new ideas like when a heart surgeon bounces things off an architect or a graphic designer. Question: Are great artists different from inventors and scientists? All the research shows that the creative process is basically the same: generating ideas, evaluating them and executing, with many creative sparks over time. One must take risks and expect to make a lot of mistakes because creativity is a numbers game. Work hard and take frequent breaks but stay with it over time. Do what you love because creative breakthroughs take years of hard work. Develop a network of colleagues and schedule time for freewheeling, unstructured discussions. Most of all, forget those romantic notions that creativity is all about being artsy and gifted and not about hard work. That discourages us because we are waiting for that one full blown moment of inspiration. And while we're waiting, we may never start working on what we might someday create. IASJ IN NEW YORK These yearly conventions have become gigantic events over the thirty three years since the first one. For an interested fan, let's say a retiree, these meetings are like going to Mecca. If only from that standpoint, the IASJ Convention is a positive thing despite the rampant commercialism.I always enjoy relating the time I played in the lobby of a Philadelphia hotel for around 200 people during a Saturday afternoon in 1977 at that years convention, the theme being a commemoration of Coltrane's passing ten years before. There were few booths if any and a couple of concerts as I recall. Over the years, the convention has become much more inclusive of the many different tributaries of the jazz stream in our time, stylistically speaking. The growth of the IAJE is obviously a testament to the expansion of jazz education in all its positive and negative glory, a subject that is and has been worthy for hours of debate. But if you look at jazz education as a service industry, it wouldn't exist without the public demanding it. The bottom line is that a market exists for people interested in this form of music and whether the consumer is aware of it or not, they are buying into a piece of the voodoo!! My wife, Caris, sometimes reflects about imagining what Bird or Louis would say if they would come down from Jazz Heaven and see what's happening. (Sounds like good material for a blues with words!!) From a friend about what it's like to be in the instrument area of the convention(courtesy of Tim Walters): IAJE Instrument Hall Trumpet Guidelines and Fines Auditioning new trumpets is allowed, using the following guidelines: 1. Soft, gentle playing is preferred. This is better for the circulatory system, and for those surrounding the auditioner. 2. It is understood that occasionally loud and/or high playing is required for those normally using these characteristics in their playing. When auditioning a trumpet in this manner, please take the instrument to another building if possible (many exhibitors are happy to allow this). If this isn't possible, the following apply: A. Notes that are under high C, but forte and above dynamically, should be no longer than 1 second in duration. All notes longer than 1 second: fine is $5 per second. All notes louder than forte: fine is $5 per 3 dB increase in level. B. Notes above High C are to be avoided. All notes above High C: fine is $25 per second and/or half step, with an additional $15 added if there is a shake, "doit" or fall. Any shake wider than a major third will double the fine. If a quote from a chart is played, an additional $10 will be assessed; quotes from Maynard Ferguson charts are $25 extra. Clams are assessed individually based on their severity. (Fisherman's Platter Special: $250)Each dynamic level above forte (based on 3 dB per level) will increase all fines by a factor of 2. 3. Scales and patterns are permissible, provided they are not played repeatedly at each exhibitor. It should be possible to audition a trumpet quickly and easily, using only the C scale, and with a mute.Playing "jazz scales": fine is $20 Playing a "jazz scale" with a clam: fine is $150 Extended quotes from solos are not permitted, with the exception of any by Clifford Brown (if played perfectly). Quoting of any solo which, in the opinion of the authorities, can upset the digestion or take jazz back a step will result in the immediate expulsion of the perpetrat(example: any solo with false fingerings. Playing a solo using the printed music: fine is $30 Playing a solo using the printed music and making mistakes:Fine is $75 All fines are to be paid immediately, and in cash, at booth 427. For the length of the convention, the New York City police have agreed to look the other way should an egregious offender take an early, and permanent, exit from the exhibit hall. We reserve the right to extend these guidelines/fines to any other instrument. ITINERARY FOR NEXT FEW WEEKS(check local listing for exact dates) West Valley College Theater;Saratoga,CA Trinity Church;Houston,TX Carmen's de la Calle Cafe;San Antonio,TX Upstairs Jazz Bar and Grill;Montreal,Canada Montreal Bistro-Toronto, Canada Humber Lakeshore Auditorium;Toronto,Canada Till next time Peace Lieb