Warburton Pain Report

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by MDSimon

I can't believe I get the last say. Where are the rest of you bass warriors?

Not much left to say...i'm kind of in that old giging groove.
Nothing outstanding....would love to play with Eric now that I got some chops back.....there seems to be a local problem of AOL customers getting MSN emails, so I haven't been able to reach him on-line.
Andy, I didn't feel trying to get the Cuban Wedding Shirt pictures something worth the energy to get them on an attachment. Use yer imagination.

[Paul Warburton]

I thought i'd post this one under this thread I started a few months back, about my return to action after a 4 year lay-off.
Most of the posts in this thread are about the physical pain one has to endure after a lengthy lay-off....coming back into the jazz genre.

This one goes along with another thread in this same Miscellaneous Forum heading having to do with trying to memorize tunes and get rid those Real Books or whatever books you feel you're addicted to and want to dump.
Last night, I had a duo piano and bass gig in a big$$ steakhouse here in Denver. The pianist, who I don't know, shows up with a lap-top computer loaded to the hilt with all the Real Books out there, as well as various other fake books including the Bill Evans ones.
As I say in my other post, the first thing that comes to mind is: Me against a computer. This reminds me, also of that Russian Chess Champ, Boris something or other, who challenged the computer a few years back.
No problem what-so-ever for me. The only problem. for the computer team was that it, or it's MASTER was that he, or it didn't know the tempi, so I had to do that for them.
I just thought y'all would get a tickle outta' this.
What do you think???

[Ed Fuqua]

I know where I'd be spilling my coffee...

[msw]

Paul, my fear is this will someday become the norm.
Going to places like the BBC, Mother Dears, The Sunrise, Wallsteet and the Bluenote (in Boulder) etc. and all of those Denver Clubs of the late 70's and hearing you guys then going home and figuring those songs out from the records was a great way to do it. Playing them with great piano players (w/o written music)and hearing all of the harmonic possibilities taught me a lot about harmony and developed my ears. Things have changed and I don't think they will ever change back. I recently heard of the deveopement of a "modelig" doublebass pickup. It will literally give the player the ability to have the bass come out of the amp sounding like any type of string (gut-metal) or even any type of attack (Ray's click)!! You won't even have to develope your own sound.

[christ andronis]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

I know where I'd be spilling my coffee...

[MDSimon]

I have that disc with the fake books. It has become a great resource for me. I never thought of actually bringing a laptop to the gig , but why not. I do encourage students to memorize tunes , but your list of standards could be so much different than mine. Also ,who is playing the "right changes"? I do make sure they listen to some definitive recording of the tune and go from there.

[Tbeers]

I have that fake book CD myself, but I would never read from a computer screen at a gig. I always choose the ones I like, print them off, make sure I know what's going on in the tunes, and then take my copies to the gig. For me it's nothing more than a way to save money. Not sure what this guy with the laptop was doing....

[Ed Fuqua]

It doesn't matter whose list is different from whose,
1. common ground is common ground. The idea is NOT to run down a checklist to say that you've played a specific tune, the idea is to use a shared repertoire to explore the dialectic, so to speak. Playing a tune that you know on which we can hope to create a musical moment is more important to me than having you read something you are unfamiliar with and (generally) will be ignoring whatever "non-composed" directions I may be suggesting in order to play That Damned Same Chord EVERY time it shows up on the page.
2.if it's from the American Popular Song/Show Tune type repertoire, you should be able to hear your way through it. Music is an aural art form, not visual. Even those classical musicians with reams of paper in front of them have internalised (to a great degree) what the music SOUNDS like.

3. there are no "right" changes. Or more specifically, ANY set of changes to a tune should be malleable enough to account for the creativity and wit of all the players involved. It's more than subs or alterations, you have to be alive to the nuance of the moment.


Look we all have to read **** from time to time. I don't have a deep enough ear to hear my way through most of JoHen or Wayne's compositional output. But carrying a ton of books (or a laptop "cause it's easier to carry than a ton of books") is just avoiding the issue of getting deeper. And in a way it's pretty jive. Sure I'm a jazz musician, I can play any tune in my Real Books.
Please.

[Andy Allen]

Originally Posted by Tbeers

...Not sure what this guy with the laptop was doing....

If he's working with vocalists he probably has the songs entered into something like Finale, and can transpose the chart at the press of a button. I could never put up with the fiddling and unreliability of computers at a gig myself.

Incidentally, the new 2007 version of Finale Printmusic will allow one to print out the chart with chords in roman numerals. For the charts I've entered, I can print out the roman-numeral version on the back of the sheet. Then if I need to transpose in my head I can do it more easily than directly from the 'usual' key.

Edit:- and yes I realise that I should not only be able to play this stuff without books but be able to transpose on the fly. I'm working on it, but I'm not there yet.

Andy

[Tbeers]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

It doesn't matter whose list is different from whose,
1. common ground is common ground. The idea is NOT to run down a checklist to say that you've played a specific tune, the idea is to use a shared repertoire to explore the dialectic, so to speak. Playing a tune that you know on which we can hope to create a musical moment is more important to me than having you read something you are unfamiliar with and (generally) will be ignoring whatever "non-composed" directions I may be suggesting in order to play That Damned Same Chord EVERY time it shows up on the page.
2.if it's from the American Popular Song/Show Tune type repertoire, you should be able to hear your way through it. Music is an aural art form, not visual. Even those classical musicians with reams of paper in front of them have internalised (to a great degree) what the music SOUNDS like.

3. there are no "right" changes. Or more specifically, ANY set of changes to a tune should be malleable enough to account for the creativity and wit of all the players involved. It's more than subs or alterations, you have to be alive to the nuance of the moment.


Look we all have to read **** from time to time. I don't have a deep enough ear to hear my way through most of JoHen or Wayne's compositional output. But carrying a ton of books (or a laptop "cause it's easier to carry than a ton of books") is just avoiding the issue of getting deeper. And in a way it's pretty jive. Sure I'm a jazz musician, I can play any tune in my Real Books.
Please.

Sometimes I need a reminder, even for tunes I've played before. Look at the changes for the first chorus or two, get back into it, and then I just go with it. This mostly happens when I'm sitting in and there hasn't been enough rehearsal before a gig.

[Ed Fuqua]

Well, on the gig last Thursday Raney called I COULD WRITE A BOOK, which I have played before, but I don't know. So we just had a quick talkthrough of where the key centers moved, and counted it off. Then you use your ears...

[Aaron Saunders]

Honestly, I'd love to get to the point where I can just "pick up on it" by letting the piano player take it through a chorus-long intro.

My ear training tests from class can tell you I'm a long ways away.

...sounds like I've got some lifts to do.

[Alex Scott]

Hi Paul,

I was going to be in Denver for a couple nights and was wondering if you were playing anywhere. I would love to see you play.

I'll be there Nov 8th and 9th.

Thank you

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Alex Scott

Hi Paul,

I was going to be in Denver for a couple nights and was wondering if you were playing anywhere. I would love to see you play.

I'll be there Nov 8th and 9th.

Thank you

Nothin' yet Alex....i'll pm you if something comes up.
Are you playing there?

[Bob Branstetter]

Paul,

May I suggest once again that you get that website up and running so you can post where and when you are playing in the future. Marcia and I would also want to see you playing again. (Since it's a 600+ mile trip for us, a little advance planning helps).

[Jake deVilliers]

You could get yourself a MySpace page Paul

Its easy and its free. Then you could register with http://www.myspace.com/doublebassplayerpage

[Alex Scott]

Hi Paul,

I'm just going to a corporate deal, no bass.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Bob Branstetter

Paul,

May I suggest once again that you get that website up and running so you can post where and when you are playing in the future. Marcia and I would also want to see you playing again. (Since it's a 600+ mile trip for us, a little advance planning helps).

BB & M .....ain't 20 or thirty times enough? Any more and you'll know my lick!!
Alex, imagine how long it would take you to learn my lick?

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Any more and you'll know my lick!!

"I love this tune... it really shows off my chop."