Obsessed with Jazz

[NighthawkChris]

I just can’t get enough jazz music. I have been listening and watching to Oscar Peterson on YouTube along with sometimes catching him with Joe Pass. Such sophisticated music. I suppose I like all sorts of music. I play Classical and Romantic era music on my piano and I played more rock and blues on my guitars. I have had this drive to want to become an accomplished jazz musician as I am sure I can do it in time. I know a pretty hefty amount of music theory as well as a decent amount of music history to top it off. I’ve played piano for almost 29 years and i don’t know why I never got into jazz that much... I guess I just wasn’t ready.

 

My friend I play music with is really into learning jazz so when we meet up on a weekly basis, this is what we are going over. We are working on the Misty standard right now getting used to spouting off all sorts of chords to play. I never knew I would be using so many different chords in a song. All I can say is it is different. Classical piano music is written out. You read the music notation and interpret it. In jazz, you need some feeling and a deeper understanding of what direction you are going it seems. I plan on taking lessons from a good jazz pianist one day to learn what I should be learning.

 

Oh well, felt like babbling on. 😁

[Rabs]

I like Jazz but it all starts to go totally weird when it comes to the Fusion stuff (we have had this debate before)....

 

Take this piece.. To me it mostly just sounds like a bunch of random notes and at some points that the musicians are actually all playing a different song at once :) Now I know totally that the skill level of these people is totally unquestionable.. But I don't really want to be totally challenged when I listen to music, I generally want to relax and sing a long to the chorus or solo :P ;) I like the resolution of a good chord progression thank you...

 

So this is the recorded version

 

And a live version where I can totally hear its an actual musical piece

[jedzep]

I feel the same way about Western Swing. God, I wish I could make those chord changes!

 

In a way, they're related. Here's a clip of the late great Central Park Sheiks, Richard Leiberson on guitar.

 

Old school.

 

[Megafrog]

I once heard that if you play rock guitar you can play 3 chords for a thousand people but if you play jazz guitar you can play a thousand chords for 3 people.

[zigzag]

Jazz Guitar Forum

[cody78]

To the OP, jazz is one of the best types of music to get your guitar playing to a higher level. I don't mean to sound like a snob here, I still love Led Zep, AC/DC etc., but jazz is on a whole other level of complexity generally, much like proper classical...(not the watered down stuff!). Start with the Real Books and go from there. I've been attempting to play jazz off and on for 15 years and whilst I'd say I'm ok at it, I certainly am no Joe Pass yet and I'm still way more comfortable playing rock, country, folk, blues and so on... and anything in the diatonic realm generally. I do enjoy the challenge of chord/ melody playing and the real book is great for doing your own versions of the standards in that regard.

 

Rabs, Actual Proof has always been one of my favourite pieces by Herbie Hancock. I don't find it challenging to listen to though, for challenging check out some heavy complex classical and then Herbie will be much easier to appreciate.

[zigzag]

Get The Real Book, Sixth Edition. It has heads for tons (over 300) of standards.

 

[Rabs]

Rabs, Actual Proof has always been one of my favourite pieces by Herbie Hancock. I don't find it challenging to listen to though, for challenging check out some heavy complex classical and then Herbie will be much easier to appreciate.

Maybe its me... I have a bad memory so when I hear a piece like that I leave at the end not remembering a single riff or anything that I could piece together in my head that would resemble music or what I just heard.. I cant even imagine what it would take to learn something like that and I probably never could....

 

Sh*t, I still cant even play Stairway properly :P

 

(I just found that previous Jazz thread http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/133038-modern-jazz-whats-it-all-about-then/ )

[Versatile]

A wise man once said that to play jazz one needs a thorough grounding in and understanding of the blues.....

 

Jazz is a huge church and can be overwhelming and incredibly stimulating all at once

 

Here's a few names to conjure with.....:blink:

 

Bill Broonzy

Louis Armstrong

Ella Fitzgerald

Count Basie

Joe Zawinul

Miles Davis

John McLaughlin

Dudley Moore

Buddy Rich

John Scofield

Dennis Chambers

Stan Getz

Stephane Grappelli

Django Reinhardt

Dave Brubeck

Paul Desmond

Sidney Bechet

Benny Goodman

Charlie Christian

Wes Montgomery

Pat Martino

Joey de Francesco

Jimmy Smith

Jack de Johnette

Billy Cobham

 

et al

 

V

 

[jdgm]

I once heard that if you play rock guitar you can play 3 chords for a thousand people but if you play jazz guitar you can play a thousand chords for 3 people.

 

I can confirm this. Slight exaggeration but basically correct.

 

 

Get The Real Book, Sixth Edition. It has heads for tons (over 300) of standards.

 

Agree with this too. The Real Book (I had to make do with photocopies back in the 80s in the UK) was a revelation.

I even sent a letter to 'Real Book Press, Syosset, New York USA' asking where I could buy one. Letter got returned of course!

There are typos and some mistakes in it ("Here's That Rainy Day") but suddenly all those jazz tunes are playable, can be learned.

For instance, the chord changes for "My Foolish Heart" in it are basically the Bill Evans ones! Very cool indeed.

Real Books 1,2,3 are essential to me. As are the 'New Real Book' series 1,2,3.

 

[merciful-evans]

Mainstream Jazz (non modal) always stood out as the music I couldnt properly jam to, because you had to follow those changes, and the changes came thick and fast. You also had to know the chords of course.

 

I was invited to join a jazz band some 3 years ago and I was the only member who didnt read music. I spent an intense couple of months getting to grips with the chords and the tunes. I was given lots of knocked-off 'Real Book' pages.

 

Now, by this time I could play by ear pretty well so long as the tune was 'in my head', but they regularly challenged me by playing something I didnt know (at rehearsal) to see how I would cope. Most of the time I got it right and I got a tremendous buzz out of that, but doing this a lot was very stressful.

 

I regard that period as my last major challenge as a musician. It was the remaining music form that had (for the most part) eluded me. Weirdly, a couple of guys in my regular band noticed a difference in my solos at that time. I seems I was reaching a bit further (melodically) than usual.

[jdgm]

I go through phases time to time. To learn jazz is something I am setting out to accomplish for interpersonal musical development. I want to be more of an accomplished musician and I personally enjoy listening to a lot of the artists mentioned in this thread. I guess I am at that point where I don’t just like to play chords like straight up A or C, etc. but rather I am acquiring a sense for major 7 th chords and pretty sounds of the sort. On piano it’s easy to see for instance how to make these chords which I think is an advantage to learning any new chords and such. For instance to make a major 7 th chord on a piano I simply play a C chord in the bass and mix it with an E minor on my right hand. Can do the same with SUS chords need be - mixing the root chord in left hand and playing major triad a whole step down from the root to make some other kind of sus chord I am learning right now. I find it fascinating like a secret key code. I strive to make sense of music theory as I am engineer �� great feedback though guys I appreciate it sincerely!

 

One thing that helped me immeasurably was the book "Jazz Guitar Rhythm and Background Chords" by Warren Nunes.

This has many of the common chord shapes in diagram form and the exercises are to play them round the cycle of 4ths/5ths.

It was/is easy enough to understand (and grasp the value of) immediately. I became aware of the cycle and how keys simply accumulate sharps or flats.

 

OTOH I also have books by the great Ted Greene - http://www.tedgreene.com/teaching/default.asp - who was a jazz guitar Einstein, and his books can be very hard work.

 

Get as much good information as you can.....whatever works for you.

[MichaelT]

When I went to Musician's Institute, Jazz was a huge focus. Learning all those chords and songs was a challenge for a guy who had primarily played rock and metal for a long time, as well as some classical. But, I knew theory and knew chords and I did alright with it. I wasn't a big fan of it at the time but it was definitely challenging.

 

A lot of us here like Les Paul guitars but have you ever heard the man play? I thought about trying to learn some of his songs the best I can, just for the challenge of it. Talk about some quick chord changes using a lot of different chords. What's fun is the different voicings for each chord (7th, 9th, 6th, etc.) in the different positions. Two of my roommates were very into Jazz and much better than I am or will be.

[Rabs]

Yeah I like Les Paul and Mary Fords work too..

 

The first shredder... The solo to this is just awesome.

 

 

And just for fun heres a clip with LP and Nigel Tufnel.. You can tell Nigel is totally out of his depth but he does better than I would have (but that's not saying much ;) )

 

[rct]

Blow By Blow was a great record.

 

rct

[zigzag]

I would recommend anyone who is serious about playing jazz read The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine and Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony by Bert Ligon. Don't get bogged down in them, just skim them. Then you can delve into any area that pulls you in, if any.

 

I'm also in the process of reading, and playing all examples in, Payin' Your Dues with the Blues by Jay Umble, part of the Mel Bay series. Doing this at my leisure. It is oriented toward Jazz-Blues.

[SteveFord]

This is a good one.

[jaxson50]

I’m into Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Big Band, Bebop, some Fusion but not much. Theionious Monk, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, all the greats.One of the best jazz men of the past 50 years is mostly known for his TV work and movie soundtracks, Patrick Williams is IMO the last of the great big band Jazz arrangers, composers, conductors. He is pure genius. Having the privilege to attend a two week clinic of his in 1970, while I was attending the U of U music program was one of the best experiences of my life.

http://patrickwilliamsmusic.com/

[zigzag]

Don't get me wrong, I like Zappa. I think his comment about jazz smelling bad was a reference to the fact that, at the time of his statement, most jazz musicians couldn't give their albums away in the '50s and '60s. There is a scene in the movie, Bird, where Charlie Parker is watching fans fawning over R'n'R musicians when he never reached that kind of popularity. I can't imagine that Zappa didn't appreciate jazz. His music was as out there as any bebop or free jazz.

 

How many people know that the sax solo on the Stones "Waiting on a Friend" was performed by Sonny Rollins?

[zigzag]

He did some Jazz Fusion type stuff on some of his records. I am certain Zappa dug Jazz.

 

Yes, I have seen that he is often assigned a spot in the jazz genre, although I'd have a hard time classifying his music in any genre.

[Rabs]

[rct]

rct,

That Les Paul/Mary Ford video is great! Just love that era of music too. It just blows away music that we get today. Listening to Mary sing gives me goosebumps haha!

 

I'm sure it is, I've seen and heard enough of LP&MF to know they were terrific. Never not ever once my cuppa tea. I played piano in jazz band in school because there were too many guitar players. I never got the itch for it. Couple mid 70's Jeff Beck records are about as jazz as I get.

 

rct

[jdgm]

How many people know that the sax solo on the Stones "Waiting on a Friend" was performed by Sonny Rollins?

 

Me.

 

Sonny Rollins is the Greatest Living Jazz Saxophonist; though that title has become honorific since 2012, when he finally retired from public performance at age 82.

 

And -

 

The great drummer Roy Haynes will be 93 in March 2018.

 

Master guitarist Kenny Burrell, favourite player of both Duke Ellington and Wes Montgomery, is 86.

[merciful-evans]

 

I'm up to 7 minutes in and loving this. I'm not very familiar with any Zappa after 'Zoot Allures'. Thanks Rabs

[merciful-evans]

Glad you like it. It never struck a chord with me. After that album he put out Guitar (an album of solos just like Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar), and his You Can't Do That On Stage Vol 1 - 6 which are live recordings that span his whole carrier, and a few other live albums. He wrote The Yellow Shark (more orchestral music) and I believe saw the opening night of it. Then in '93 he passed of Prostate Cancer.

 

Well maybe I had better revisit Franks discog. :)