Blues Jam along CD

[Rick Martin]

I got the "Blues Jam Along CD" often seen listed on ebay. I just emailed "Joe the Guitar Man" and he charged me $12.99/free shipping. It's a great tool for a beginner like me. 11 tracks of traditional blues patterns, just rythmn guitar and drums. The liner notes show the chord progressions for each track. I'm having a big time adding my own bass bizniz to the songs. I haven't yet found a bass teacher and because I live in a wierd place (Key West) I may never find one, so I'm on the self teaching path. Does anyone else have this CD out there? I'd surley love to hear or see tab or notation for whatever another bassist does for these tracks.

[Boplicity]

Well, I don't have the CD, but I'm very interested in it. What is the e-mail address? I think I'll e-mail the man and order one too. Jason Oldsted

[Rick Martin]

You'll find his email address at his web site
http://www.joetheguitarman.com. I believe that only CD#4B is for bass. The others listed all have bass and drums and no guitar.

[Bruce Lindfield]

If you want to "move on" from this, there are literally hundreds of "Jamey Aebersold" books with CDs which have the bass on one side of the stereo, so you can turn this off and just hear piano and drums. They are mostly Jazz, some Latin, Funk etc. But even if you don't like Jazz, they will still improve your knowledge of what to play over what chord progressions. They are also great to practice solos over chord progressions. You can also get transcriptions of the basslines played on the CDs if you want.

Try : http://www.jajazz.com

[Rick Martin]

Thanks for the tip. I looked at the web site and then emailed asking if they have any jump blues or swing stuff. They emailed right back and said no, they have Bebop style jazz. I figure that's more like Miles Davis and I don't get that type of music. I also think fine wine tastes like cough medicine and I don't understand abstract art and so I'm not boasting about my appreciation of things sophisticated. My favorite recordings are by Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Commander Cody and hep cats like that. I spend equal amount of time listening and jamming along to classic reggae artists like Bob Marley. I want to learn more about bass for those styles of music. Can you dig it?

[JimK]

Aebersold's play-alongs are FULL OF SWING! C'mon, are they kidding!?
Something like "All Bird"(Vol 6)...yeah, it's Bebop, but it swings! Hell, Vol 39(which I don't have)is titled "Swing, Swing, Swing".
The Miles' stuff(Vol 7 & Vol 50)...SWINGS!
If you're into Blues' jams-Vol 2 is called "Nothin' But The Blues".
Horace Silver's stuff is pretty accessible(Vol 17).
I happen to like Vol 54("Maiden Voyage") & Vol 70("Killer Joe")...they're both considered Beg/Int level.
...the Cedar Walton(Vol 35)book/cd is pretty good, too.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think the point I was making is that anyone can learn more about theory from playing Jazz stuff than almost anything else. Bob Marley stuff is great, but often has very few chords or changes in it - it's really all about "feel" and books can't necessarily teach you that.

Whereas, your standard Bebop tune will probably have two chords per bar for 32 bars and might change key every two bars. You learn so much from just one tune! And if you can play this stuff at speed, everything else seems really easy afterwards! I know a drummer who works in a local music shop and has toured the US with "Rock" bands and is awesome at this type of music. He went to a respected teacher to improve his drumming and the teacher just said "play in a Jazz band".

Some of Miles's music is actually very unsophisticated in its construction - lots of songs based on 12 bars blues. Even on the classic "Kind of Blue" - "Freddie Freeloader" is "just" a 12 bar and "So What" only has two chords in the whole piece!

Anyway the Aebersold series includes loads of different stuff. I got the Freddie Hubbard one which has some really funky tunes and there is a Brecker Bros one which is all Funk. There are several Latin/Salsa ones as well. The most useful ones for me, are those which are just meant for practice - like "Getting it together" or "Major and Minor" which just throw you different keys and times to play over, so that you gradually get comfortable with playing in any key.This can be applied to anything you play in any style.

[Edited by Bruce Lindfield on 08-15-2000 at 07:28 AM]

[reedo35]

I cut my teeth on the Aebersold stuff, too. I think it's a great learning tool. However, if you have a computer (obviously) and some extra cash (what's that?) you might want to look into some of those band in a box programs. Some of them are really awsome, they have over 400 tunes in them,
plus you can get transcribed bass solos over the changes "in the style of" about ten different bass players,and you can set it to play at any tempo you want, in any key you want.

[Rick Martin]

Hey!
I'm up for everything. I'll get a couple of the Aebersold things and maybe I'll expand my appreciation of jazz music. I like the idea of the computer programs. Is there a particular software that's good for a student like me? What about the one called "Band in a Box"?

[reedo35]

Originally posted by Rick Martin
Hey!
I'm up for everything. I'll get a couple of the Aebersold things and maybe I'll expand my appreciation of jazz music. I like the idea of the computer programs. Is there a particular software that's good for a student like me? What about the one called "Band in a Box"?

That's what I was talking about. It is available at http://www.pgmusic.com and it is quite Awesome! It comes with bunch of preset songs that you can play with, and you can easily put your own lead sheets in with any type of accompaniement you want.You can also change keys,or print out the charts,
and like I said if you wonder how, say, Pattitucci whould have played the bass solo, you just type "in the style of
Pattitucci" and it will compose a solo for you in that style. There is so much you can do with it, you need to check it out for yourself. The standard package is 88 USD
or the mega pak with about three times the stuff is 249 USD.
There is also additional software available, so you can keep expanding your repetoire.

[JimK]

...I guess it would be "cool" to hear what Patitucci might play as a solo; personally, I'd wanna hear what Bird or 'Trane or Dolphy or Rollins...would do as a solo.
Can that program do that? If so, I'm sold!


Bruce-
You mentioned "So What"...I'll mention its "companion" piece, "Impressions" by Coltrane(same chords[Dm7/Dm7/Ebm7/Dm7}& form AABA). Guitarists, like Wes Montgomery & Pat Martino, have covered this tune. It's a muther!

[reedo35]

I don't know if I would want to see a Dolphy solo printed out, But the Bird,Coltrane and Parker stuff are in there.

[blipndub]

Originally posted by reedo35


I don't know if I would want to see a Dolphy solo printed out

Amen, that's a pretty scary thought!
Since the topic has sort of moved to online resources, I wonder if anyone knows where some transcripted solos or even songs appear on the net?

Here are some of my favorite links for drum wav. files that I really enjoy practicing to. Good for rhythm but no chord practice.

Kalava Drum Archive http://hem.passagen.se/lej97/kalava/
Soundloops http://soundloops.cjb.net/
Sound Bank http://www.chariot.net.au/~lucas/bankmain.html
Etrisense http://business.virgin.net/jack.dunning/magnacom.htm
Loopasonic http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~spufus/

[JimK]

In one of the Coltrane bios I read, a European Classical-type musician WROTE out one of 'Trane's solos & presented it to him. She asked him if he could play it from her score so she could verify if it was accurate. 'Trane looked at it & said he couldn't play it, it was too difficult!

...those "drum" sites look interesting. BTW, who said we "need" chords?!

[Rick Martin]

Hey, youse guys, take it easy. You're scaring me. I'm just a beginner looking to compare notes about instructional materials in a Blues or Boogie style. Today, the mailman brought me exactly what I need. "Blues Bass Basics" by Roscoe Beck. A book, a CD and two videos. This is going to keep me busy for a while. I'm still going to check out some of the Abersold things hoping to get something in the style of Big Band Swing. Any suggestions on that?

[Boplicity]

Rick, I also have the Roscoe Beck materials. They are excellent! I really admire Beck and I feel his explanations are clear. His materials are very helpful. In fact, thanks for reminding me. I think I'll dig out that video. I haven't seen it in awhile. It would be good to review it. Oh, by the way...I met Beck after an Eric Johnson concert and he was the nicest guy...very "real" and humble.

There's one other blues training material I HIGHLY recommend..."MelBay's Complete Blues Bass Book" with CD by Mark Hiland. That book is practically a bible to me. It is much more detailed than Beck's. It goes into detail on many blues styles. Armed with both Beck's materials and Hiland's you will have enough to keep you busy and learning for a long time to come. Jason Oldsted

[MM]

Rick-
Check out the book and cd combo, "Jump 'n Blues Bass" by Keith Rosier. All the stuff is written out and the cd has the bass on one channel and the rest of the band on the other.
http://www.zzounds.com/love.music?p=...z=831680351613

[Rick Martin]

[quote]Originally posted by MM
[b]Rick-
Check out the book and cd combo, "Jump 'n Blues Bass" by Keith Rosier.

That's one of the first books I got and probably the best $15 I've ever spent. I play along with it every day.