Hey everybody! I'm going to be playing at my high school's acoustic coffee house (pending a good audition) as part of a fundraiser for Free The Children. So far, I'm going with Goodbye Pork Pie Hat and Mr. P.C, and I'll be playing both solo. I'm playing to a motsly non-jazz audience, so that's why I stuck with some simpler tunes that both have a bluesy feel to them. I'm going to be doing Pork Pie Hat first as a nice slow tune, and finish with a high-energy version of Mr. P.C. I might throw in an extra tune somewhere. I'm going to kinda steal Dave Holland's ideas on doing Pork Pie Hat solo, but I've got my own strange style injected into everything I do, so it'll definitely be my own. I'm going to really play with the form of Mr. P.C, make it a lot freer. I figure since I'm the only one doing it, I'm going to really play around with times and rhythms. For Mr. P.C, I think I'll start playing up in thumb position slowly for the first part of the head. Than, instead of finishing the head, I'm going to probably do a bit of walking bass, than completely stop for a while. Right when everybody thinks I'm done, I'm going to start playing the head from the beginning really fast, with a lot of energy (and sting buzz:)), and than I'll just solo on it for a while. This is my first time playing jazz for a show outside of my school's jazz combo, in case you're wondering why I'm kinda planning it out. These are just a few ideas I have, I'll probably end up doing somehting completely different when actually playing at the show.
So, anybody know anything else that would please a mostly non-jazz audience? I know people will probably like my performance, because I'm pretty famous around my school as "that guy who plays that big cello thing":confused:, but any suggestions - songs, forms, or anything else - would be really helpful.
Thanks!

This is my first time playing jazz for a show outside of my school's jazz combo, in case you're wondering why I'm kinda planning it out. These are just a few ideas I have, I'll probably end up doing somehting completely different when actually playing at the show.
So, anybody know anything else that would please a mostly non-jazz audience?

Thanks, that was exactly what I was wondering. If I was walking in cold and doing solo bass at this point, I probably wouldn't think about the music at all until I picked up the bass. When I was just starting out.... I probably would have wanted a road map of sorts.

Since you're playing to a mostly non-jazz audience, you might want to play some non-jazz as well.

I'd suggest something patriotic, like America the Beautiful (check charlie haden's version which has some interesting solo work). It could work solo with the jaco type open string drones. May be worth checking out.

Ray Brown has some interesting recordings of Take Me Out to The Ball Game and You Are My Sunshine. Jazzy fun tunes you could copy ideas from. Also, All Blues always goes over well.

I'd suggest something patriotic, like America the Beautiful

Ehhh..... O Canada might be more appropriate.

Since you're playing to a mostly non-jazz audience, you might want to play some non-jazz as well.

Yeah, due to the improvisational nature of the situation, I would suggest doing a free improvisation - what ever that means to you at this point.
Just play whatever you feel the situation needs and don't worry about a tune.
Maybe do that in the middle.

You'll be ok. If anyone in my high school could have been receptive to either of those tunes I'd have gone much farther much faster. Amen brudder.

Just keep it simple. Don't get too tricky. And think about the basics of tension and release. Start off at a low point, build up to a climax, and then resolve the tension. If you start out in TP, where can you go from there?

Hey Nathan, sounds cool!

You could play something in the middle that your audience is familiar with, to give them an opportunity to relate to your instrument and musicality. Some Nirvana or Michael Jackson, some top ten hit, something with a melody and a groove that you can get ahold of and that the kids will dig will go a long way toward making your gig a success.

Good luck! :)

Alot of people do not known anything about DB. They think its a cool instrument, but do get it confused with a cello and then wonder about that other bass that looks like a guitar. They are just not sure about the bass. Why do you play such a big instrument is another question I get too.

A little info about what DB does, different techniques, its range, even a little arco, how it fits in a car, and why you are glad you do not play the piccolo would keep the audience interested.

I played my transcription of PC's Visitation last year for my High School's Coffee House. It went over very well. We play such a strange instrument that it doesn't even matter what you play.

Hey Nathan, sounds cool!

You could play something in the middle that your audience is familiar with, to give them an opportunity to relate to your instrument and musicality. Some Nirvana or Michael Jackson, some top ten hit, something with a melody and a groove that you can get ahold of and that the kids will dig will go a long way toward making your gig a success.

Good luck! :)

Unless you have a personal connection to material like this, it is a bad idea. People don't like being played down too and commitment to your material will come through even if it is not familiar to them.
Obviously, if it is your thing then go ahead with it.

I'd suggest something patriotic, like America the Beautiful (check charlie haden's version which has some interesting solo work). It could work solo with the jaco type open string drones. May be worth checking out.

Yeah, except I live in Canada, and I pretty much hate the US - nothing against the people (except most of those in NYC), but WAY too conservative for me.

Most of the people at the show listen to what I like to call "Chick Songs" - crappy, sucky, sad, overly predictable acoustic songs all about the same old things - that's also what they'll be playing for the most part. Also, today I found out I'll also be playing with the jazz combo, so I might get the drummer to accompany me on a few pieces - if he can play quietly:)

Sorry, didn't notice you were Canadian. Good luck and have fun playing America's native art form at your gig. It will probably go over better than Canada's native art form (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9A02E2D61738F935A35751C1A967948260), explained here by a liberal media source.

;)

so why is it you hate most people in NYC? DO you actually know anyone?

so why is it you hate most people in NYC? DO you actually know anyone?

must be because they're all so conservative :)

You know most of the people in NYC are not from there right (same here in Bay Area)?

I won't pretend the "NYC is the center of the world attitude" isn't tiresome, but the reason it exists is because a lot (but for sure not all or even most) of great art of all kinds is there, either from there or brought there.

I had a gig with a bass player from there in Austria. He was researching "Jazz and Austrian Identity" and had a pitiful knowledge of jazz and improvised music outside of the immediate NYC scene.
Just as bad as it is for so many New Yorkers to have blinders on about the rest of the world it is not a great plan to cut yourself off from the great work that is there.

I won't pretend the "NYC is the center of the world attitude" isn't tiresome


That point I'll grant you.

OK, the show went great - I had to cut down on my time, because we wanted to play more with the Jazz Combo. I ended up just doing Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, but I took an almost-modal approach, with a tone of natural harmonics and a few artificial harmonics thrown in. It was really rubato, almost like in no time signature, and there was a really intimate feeling between me, the bass, and the audience. Overall, I had a reat time doing it, and the audience really enjoyed it - Thanks everybody!

must be because they're all so conservative :)

not them - politics there (and even here:() I don't agree with. I just don't like the people in NYC because everybody seems to be in such a hurry, and everyone's so rude. People in Canada are so polite - something I never noticed before I went to the US