Jazz and Hoops

[Marcus Johnson]

So here's the deal... I've been really enjoying the NBA playoffs this year... all great games so far! So I was getting dressed and ready for the gig last night, and watching the game, and of the course the last second of play was pretty amazing. So, I guess I carried the rush of watching that game onto the bandstand, because I had a particularly good night.

Anybody else feel a kinship between hoops and playing jazz? I'm mostly a hardcore Midwest football fan, but somehow I feel that hoops are closer in spirit to what I do on a nightly basis. Not sure why, maybe it's just the rhythm and the pace of it. The whole dynamic seems similar to how it feels to play jazz.

So whatchoo think? Does ballin' = jazz in any way for you?

[TroyK]

I played about 6 gigs for the dearly departed Seattle Supersonics <sigh> in 2006. We played before the game and at half time on top of a bar in Key Arena and then once for a private party for season ticket holders in the Space Needle. They paid us a little and gave us a box and about 20 tickets to the games we played it.

So yeah, I have a connection. I'm more of a hockey guy, but I think they both share some things with jazz, in that while you have practiced some plays, you are improvizing during the game, because unlike football or baseball, you don't control the circumstances. I feel a rhythmic kinship to jazz in each of them.

Damn, I miss the Sonics.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Agreed. I used to play a little ball, too, and the feeling of improvising in the flow is about the same. The five player thing is what does it - you not only have to be aware of where you are and what you're tying to do every second, but you have to be aware of where everybody else is and what direction they're headed, which affects how you react, which affects how everybody else in your path reacts.... Yep. Pretty much the same as musical group improvisation in jazz.

Thank god you don't have to have young knees to play the bass, though.

[fingers]

I think the same could be said for any team sport. I played soccer for many years and 'the zone' is 'the zone'.

[bobalew]

Originally Posted by fingers

... 'the zone' is 'the zone'.

This is where it is for me. It is, perhaps, a bit more apparent in hoops where the pace of the game is measured in nths of a second. But believe it or not - probably not - when Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh no-hitter the euphoria that followed was palpable for days after, and I felt there was nothing a 40-something guy couldn't do. (Oh! to be 40-something again!)

For me, excellence is an inspiring quality that transcends medium. Sport, machining, cooking, woodworking - that rise above the mundane and the mediocre reminds me that I, too, can excel and inspire.

That said, I still made the guitarist take down the hoop he set up over my bass. He kept the ball on the bandstand, though.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by fingers

I think the same could be said for any team sport. I played soccer for many years and 'the zone' is 'the zone'.

I had mentioned this thread subject to my friend and duo partner, Salvador Godinez, who is both a terrific pianist and an accomplished soccer player. He said that playing soccer for him felt very similar to playing salsa.

[Gornick]

I have made a couple analogies to Hoops and Jazz here but no one took the ball and ran, as you might say. I can say I have a lifetime obsession with both.

but I think the connection, for me is very deep. from the balance of team vs. individual (ego) to the ability to know where your teammates and the defenders are (listening and anticipating), to simply being "in the zone". The idea of showing off versus the sublime task of getting the job done with absolute efficiency. Even the concept of the jam session and pickup ball.

And if you play enough ball to know the different dynamics between one on one, two on two, three on three, etc. you could go even further with it solo, duos, trios etc....

One thing about playing ball and jazz is WATCH THOSE FINGERS!!!!!!!! There is nothing like seeing a dislocated forefinger on your left hand!

[Marcus Johnson]

well said, man! That's what I was getting at, but you hit the nail on the head.

[bobalew]

Originally Posted by Gornick

... but no one took the ball and ran, as you might say...

Traveling!

[Gornick]

Surprise, suprise!

Wyton got something to say on the subject:


http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/...html?ref=music

Doesn't really say anything, but he tries.

One other connection which I think is relevant is rhythm. I don't know any other team sport where rhythm has such prominence. From the sound of the ball on the floor to the squeeks of the shoes, to slipping into the flow of a game. Broadcasters are always using the term too.

[Jmassie]

I can see why you connect sports to your music, I try to get the drummers i play with to go kayaking with me! i think it builds a good rhythmic bond between bandmates.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Gornick

One thing about playing ball and jazz is WATCH THOSE FINGERS!!!!!!!!

Yeah, Kobe had a "moment" there in last night's game... didn't seem to hurt him much in the long run, though.

[Gornick]

I couldn't watch. I am a life time Philly fan from the DR J days, with a strong lean towards Golden State, both of which looks towards LA with an unkind glance.

I slowed down my trips to the playground when I picked up the bass. It's just too easy to pop a finger and be sitting around for an extended period of time, my cardio-vascular took a hit for it.

[Marcus Johnson]

I was always too short!... plus a general suckiness at team sports on my part.... maybe that's why I've always dug watching pro hoops. The level at which those guys play now, they might as well be from another planet.

It was the Bucks for me as a kid.... Kareem, Oscar, Lucius Allen.... those were good times in Wisconsin.

[David Kaczorowski]

I forget who it was, but I remember some bass player talking about basketball and jazz. He was saying a lot of the same things already mentioned here. He also said the bass player is kinda like the point guard.