From Gary's upcoming CD, he tears through a tune called "Change Agent" with his new trio consisting of Albert Bover on keyboards and Gergo Borlai on drums. A serious solo in there, folks.
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
11.7.11
What People Want In Their Bass Player Ep. 03 - Pianist Randy Halberstat
Time for another episode of one of the most popular features here on Basso Ridiculoso.
This episode brings us a Seattle local hero jazz pianist, Randy Halberstat.
Randy is a professor at Cornish College of the Arts, where he originally was asked by Gary Peacock to fill in for a few classes that Peacock was teaching at the time. That is a pretty heavy endorsement right there. Now, Randy is a full professor and teaches piano and improvisation at Cornish.
Randy has also written a great book called "Metaphors For The Musician" which is one of the most interesting and helpful music books in my Basso Bass Book collection. And I own a LOT of books about music, it is seriously up into the hundreds of books at this point and Randy's book it one of the best. His book is not a book about scales, but it will change how you play them. It is not a book about learning tunes, but it will show you how to learn any tune you want deeper and faster than ever before. It is not a "you can play this scale over this chord" kind of book (although, there is some of that in there) but instead it takes you from scales to music in very interesting and engaging ways. Big Basso stamp of approval on this one.
Lest you think Randy is just some ivory tower academic, let me dissuade you of that incorrect idea. He also is a recording artist on Origin Records and has cut sides (as the cats say) on his own and as a side man for people like Mimi Fox and Greta Matassa. Some of his tunes are also in the Sher Real Books.
So Randy has seen probably his share of young students with chops through his teaching and has also got to play with legends like Gary Peacock, so it should be very interesting to get his take on what makes a "good" bass player.
Here is what Randy said (emphasis mine) :
Good stuff from someone who plays for a living.
Check out Randy's book and albums.
This episode brings us a Seattle local hero jazz pianist, Randy Halberstat.
Randy is a professor at Cornish College of the Arts, where he originally was asked by Gary Peacock to fill in for a few classes that Peacock was teaching at the time. That is a pretty heavy endorsement right there. Now, Randy is a full professor and teaches piano and improvisation at Cornish.
Randy has also written a great book called "Metaphors For The Musician" which is one of the most interesting and helpful music books in my Basso Bass Book collection. And I own a LOT of books about music, it is seriously up into the hundreds of books at this point and Randy's book it one of the best. His book is not a book about scales, but it will change how you play them. It is not a book about learning tunes, but it will show you how to learn any tune you want deeper and faster than ever before. It is not a "you can play this scale over this chord" kind of book (although, there is some of that in there) but instead it takes you from scales to music in very interesting and engaging ways. Big Basso stamp of approval on this one.
Lest you think Randy is just some ivory tower academic, let me dissuade you of that incorrect idea. He also is a recording artist on Origin Records and has cut sides (as the cats say) on his own and as a side man for people like Mimi Fox and Greta Matassa. Some of his tunes are also in the Sher Real Books.
So Randy has seen probably his share of young students with chops through his teaching and has also got to play with legends like Gary Peacock, so it should be very interesting to get his take on what makes a "good" bass player.
Here is what Randy said (emphasis mine) :
For me, this question immediately splits into two questions:
- "What do I want from a bass player?" and
- "What do I want from any musician?"
Just to be ornery, let me go to the second question first. I need my musicians to have their ears wide open. They need to be in such control of their own musical "tasks" that they can listen to the others in the band with as much avid interest as an audience member. If they're too focused on taking care of their own business, they won't be able to contribute to a unified band sound, which is really more important. If a musician has his ears open and really hears everything that's going on around him, I know I can relax and just play. At that point, I don't care what he plays in response to what I play: he can imitate me, complement me, or contrast with what I'm doing. I know it'll be an honest and well-informed decision, and that's all I want.
I want my musicians to have distinct personalities. If one musician plays "behind the beat" and the next plays "on top of the beat," that's OK: I just need to know where they're coming from. I can enjoy playing with almost all types of musicians, but it's difficult to make something happen with a musician who's doing what he thinks he should, as opposed to what he wants to.
Of course, I want my musicians to be well-versed, both in terms of repertoire and vocabulary. Really, I just want to sense that they love and respect this music as much as I do. If they do, the repertoire and vocabulary will be there.
Hmm, frankly, that doesn't leave a lot for my answer to question #2.
I guess I would say that I want a bass player who enjoys both the "traditional" role of the bass as well as the opportunity to make a more personal statement. If a bassist is never willing to lay down a walk or a two-beat feel, and/or if he spends all of his time in the upper register of the instrument, it leaves me wondering why he didn't just become a guitarist. Again, it has to do with the overall band sound. Doesn't he realize what an opportunity he's missing to knit the band sound into a coherent whole? Why try to simulate what the drums and piano are already doing? This is a touchy area. I really don't want to make a bass player my "beast of burden," just laying down the groove all night so I can display all my cool reharmonizations and rhythmic displacements without fear of getting lost. I don't want to tell a bass player what or how to play: I want him to feel free to play what he hears. But if what he hears just doesn't contribute to the overall sound I'm going for, I'll just look around for someone else. And that doesn't mean that he's wrong. Being able to enjoy another musician's music and being able to play with that musician are not the same. Vive la difference!
Good stuff from someone who plays for a living.
Check out Randy's book and albums.
http://www.randyhalberstadt.com/
http://www.randyhalberstadt.com/Book.htm
Randy's Book at Sher Music
Randy At Origin Records
14.4.11
Two Russian Dudes Playing "Smooth Criminal" Duet on Carbon Fiber Cellos
Huh.
Don't hear that every day.
Don't hear that every day.
5.4.11
Brian Beller On Bass
Mr. Beller has released a new live record and also recently posted his entire catalog up on Bandcamp.
Beller has played with some scary, scary, people in the past - Dwezil Zappa, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally (also on his new album) and probably a bunch of others who are equally terrifying.
If you like rock-y, (but not dumb) fusion-y, (yet not wanky at all) grooves that have gritty yet sophisticated bass playing, go check out his new album "Wednesday Night Live". It covers a lot of ground, has a high ridiculoso content and will keep you listening for a while.
Basso Approved!
http://bryanbeller.bandcamp.com/
6.3.11
Daily Licking 028: Bass Line For Head to Mr. P.C
A brief respite from the tenorisms of Mr. Coltrane for today.
Rather we shall take a look at what the songs name sake, Mr. Paul Chambers, is doing down there at over 200 bpm while Coltrane is busy abusing those poor chord tones.
So, below are the first two choruses of the bass line, the one played during the melody of Mr. P.C.
Rather we shall take a look at what the songs name sake, Mr. Paul Chambers, is doing down there at over 200 bpm while Coltrane is busy abusing those poor chord tones.
So, below are the first two choruses of the bass line, the one played during the melody of Mr. P.C.
22.2.11
Daily Licking 019: 1st Chorus Of Coltrane's Mr. P.C To Blow Your Mind
UPDATE - you can follow this entire series on this page:
We have probably all played it. It is the defacto minor jazz blues, written by John Coltrane for one of the most famous bass players ever, Paul Chambers. It is on Mr. Trane's most famous album, "Giant Steps" and we are gonna look at his crazy solo, a chorus at a time.
Coltrane's solo on Mr. P.C might actually work on bass. This was before he went completely into another star child dimension of karmic existence and he was still playing in a way some of us humans might actually be able to emulate. Maybe.
I am going to try to go through his entire solo, all 16 choruses of it, and transcribe it all. I think it is doable. I have listened to it over and over and there is only one or two places that he gets really crazy and it might not be playable on bass, but over all, it just might be playable on bass with some minor tweaks. I think.
Also, since this is a blues and there are only 4 chords in the whole tune, it makes for really easy analysis and investigation into what he was playing. Even in only this first chorus, there is a dump truck full of goodies. I see posts from guys all the time saying "how do I know what to play when I solo?", well, look at these licks and dissect what he is doing and your cup will be overflowing with ridiculoso. Let us examine some things from The Master, shall we?
We have probably all played it. It is the defacto minor jazz blues, written by John Coltrane for one of the most famous bass players ever, Paul Chambers. It is on Mr. Trane's most famous album, "Giant Steps" and we are gonna look at his crazy solo, a chorus at a time.
Coltrane's solo on Mr. P.C might actually work on bass. This was before he went completely into another star child dimension of karmic existence and he was still playing in a way some of us humans might actually be able to emulate. Maybe.
I am going to try to go through his entire solo, all 16 choruses of it, and transcribe it all. I think it is doable. I have listened to it over and over and there is only one or two places that he gets really crazy and it might not be playable on bass, but over all, it just might be playable on bass with some minor tweaks. I think.
Also, since this is a blues and there are only 4 chords in the whole tune, it makes for really easy analysis and investigation into what he was playing. Even in only this first chorus, there is a dump truck full of goodies. I see posts from guys all the time saying "how do I know what to play when I solo?", well, look at these licks and dissect what he is doing and your cup will be overflowing with ridiculoso. Let us examine some things from The Master, shall we?
20.2.11
Autumn Leaves Bass Chord Melody
Adam Neely doing a very nice chord melody to Autumn Leaves on bass. Sounds killer. Check out his web page and YouTube Channel for many Basso Approved© discussions and examples that will supply more than your minimum daily requirement of ridiculoso.
15.2.11
Jaco Pastorius - There Is No Greater Love
Here is another bootleg of the Bright Size Life band with a 22 year old Jaco playing the standard "There is No Greater Love". Jaco doing a classic walking bass line over a standard...with some Jaco thrown in of course.
The copy I have of this said it was from Pooh's Pub in Boston in 1974 (two years before Jaco's solo record), not sure where Zircon is but the poster of this says thats where it was.
Check out Jaco's solo, there are quite a few well known Jaco-isms in the solo that would become very famous.
The copy I have of this said it was from Pooh's Pub in Boston in 1974 (two years before Jaco's solo record), not sure where Zircon is but the poster of this says thats where it was.
Check out Jaco's solo, there are quite a few well known Jaco-isms in the solo that would become very famous.
8.2.11
Y'all wanna hear a little bass? Damian Erskine with Alice Dimicele.
Mr. Erskine soloing over singer/songwriter progression #3 : D - C - G. Sounds pretty tasty though, simple doesn't mean lame. It's nice to hear what chops like that sound like over a "normal" progression that anyone in a cover band might come across.
This must be from relatively recent because he is playing his signature model 6 string.
This must be from relatively recent because he is playing his signature model 6 string.
6.2.11
Jon Burr - Live at Smalls
Check out Jon Burr from a live trio gig at Smalls with guitarist Howard Alden.
Jon has played with some serious heavyweights - Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Stephane Grappelli, Sir Roland Hanna, Buddy Rich, (a tough gig, no doubt, if you have ever heard the infamous bus tapes) he was Tony Bennett's bassist for 5 years, and has also worked with Anita O 'Day, Rita Moreno, and Eartha Kitt.
That's quite a list.
You can hear why he has played with all those folks in this live recording.
1.2.11
Janek Live Album for $5
Janek Gwizdala is doing a promotion and for only 5$ you can get a recording of a show he did in Barcelona with his band.
And it is quite the killer band to say the least - Jojo Mayer on drums(!), Tim Miller on guitar, Oli Rockberger on keys, and Audin Waage on Trumpet. All of these guys are scary. And of course, Janek on bass.
Janek in Barcelona
Its only available until 12am EST feb 3rd 2011, so check it out.
And it is quite the killer band to say the least - Jojo Mayer on drums(!), Tim Miller on guitar, Oli Rockberger on keys, and Audin Waage on Trumpet. All of these guys are scary. And of course, Janek on bass.
Janek in Barcelona
Its only available until 12am EST feb 3rd 2011, so check it out.
3.1.11
Patitucci and Potter - live from last month in NYC
Oh good lord this is sick. I love the internet. (Edit - a second show from the next night, Dec. 4th, has also been posted)
Smalls Jazz club just released the show from Friday, December 3, 2010 where the band was:
Tim Ries - Tenor Sax
Chris Potter - Tenor Sax
John Patitucci - Bass - Duh. It's Patitucci. Electric Band, Chick Corea, upright, electric, 10 solo records or however many he has. That guy.
Kalman Olah - Piano
Billy Drummond - Drums
Um. Pretty good little band there. Here is more about Tim Ries, he does keys and sax with some band called "The Rolling Stones", not sure if any of you have heard of them before. I guess they are from England or something?
Patitucci opens set one. But..he kinda is buried in the mix after that, he really sounds like he is not playing with any amp at all, just his unmic-ed upright.
Chris Potter is the current Lord King Dude of Sax, he is the guy everyone is gunning for and references right now. Tim Ries plays soprano even though they list him as tenor.
Check it out, and hear how they do it in NYC from just a month ago.
Smalls Jazz club just released the show from Friday, December 3, 2010 where the band was:
Tim Ries - Tenor Sax
Chris Potter - Tenor Sax
John Patitucci - Bass - Duh. It's Patitucci. Electric Band, Chick Corea, upright, electric, 10 solo records or however many he has. That guy.
Kalman Olah - Piano
Billy Drummond - Drums
Um. Pretty good little band there. Here is more about Tim Ries, he does keys and sax with some band called "The Rolling Stones", not sure if any of you have heard of them before. I guess they are from England or something?
Patitucci opens set one. But..he kinda is buried in the mix after that, he really sounds like he is not playing with any amp at all, just his unmic-ed upright.
Chris Potter is the current Lord King Dude of Sax, he is the guy everyone is gunning for and references right now. Tim Ries plays soprano even though they list him as tenor.
Check it out, and hear how they do it in NYC from just a month ago.
1.1.11
What wine sounds like. To Kurt Rosenwinkel anyway.
Kurt Rosenwinkel is a guitar player that is pretty out there. I just started listening to him (yea, I am late to the party) and am still getting used to him, but he can play some pretty wild stuff really dark and pretty which I love. He is certainly a heavy weight. I wish I could hear what he hears for 10 minutes.
He wrote a bunch of solo guitar compositions, each one on a different Spanish wine, and you can hear him play them all here.
Rosenwinkel Playing Wine
28.12.10
Janek with Bob Reynolds at the Blue Note
Very nice. Janek is one of my favorite players these days.
Check out both players in detail at:
http://www.bobreynoldsmusic.com
http://www.janekgwizdala.com
Check out both players in detail at:
http://www.bobreynoldsmusic.com
http://www.janekgwizdala.com
27.12.10
Larry Grenadier on "All The Things You Are"
Larry Grenadier is your basic total bad ass bass player. He has played with some of the heaviest of the heavies in jazz - Pat Metheny (was in his Trio 00) and has been Brad Mehldau's bass player for about ten years. He has some serious swing and is super melodic without having to resort to just chops. He plays what sound like simple solos but they are incredibly melodic at the same time. That is the hardest thing there is to do.
Smalls Jazz Club records their shows, and in the link below, Larry takes a chorus on the standard All The Things You Are. Hear how it's done in NYC.
Small's Jazz Club Live Shows - Larry Grenadier.
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