improv teacher in LA?

Michael Saucier, teachers at the Musicians Institute. PM me for his email

Louis

 

Have you considered doing a summer session at MI? I used to work there (not as a teacher), and just being around those cats was very cool.

 

I listen more to melody instruments (mostly woodwinds and brass) what they play and how they improvise, reduce the "doodle" a bit (i mean playing less notes, reduced to the kernel of the line) if needed and play a bit higher up to thump position.
I think Michael Moore's book "Melodic playing in the thump position" gives some nice examples of soloing up there.

One thing is not playing around the root and fifth mainly but around third, seventh, nineth etc., the other thing is to play rhythmically interesting speeding up, slowing down (i.e. using triplets, 3 on 4 or 2 on 3) not necessarily on heavy beats but also or rather in between. (Depends on the style of your song.)
I like to take a beat almost nobody would start a solo and some strange note and try to develop from there. This doesn't work every time, but if it works the solos are really interesting. But better try this at home first. (A bit like some Thelonious Monk stuff, but not necessarily bebopish.)

 

The bass is different from the higher melodic instruments. You cannot play as fast as the winds can, the dynamic range (if you want to be heard) is smaller, etc.
Make the best out of it being different, so play different. Then your improvisation will have a different quality and you don't have to compete with the wind players.

I listened to a lot of music and could sing (or hum) a solo that sounds similar to (but different enough to) a solo from one of the well known or not so well known greats (but I'm not interested in copying them only use what comes in my mind). For some reason that doesn't work with music by Cecil Taylor or Anthony Braxton... (for me of course!)
I try to put on the bass what I have in my head, often enough not being able to play it due to my lousy technique, so I try to simplify it a bit. But for me what is in my head is OK to play. So maybe it is not a problem of technique or notes but of imagination?

You can learn a lot of playing bebop by playing the themes and look where lines start and end (in many cases not in the begin of the bar crossing harmony changes). The themes are close to improvisations (many of them were born out of improvisation on older standards), so practive them. Use wind players solo transcriptions and play them, maybe a bit simplified. Then try to play similar stuff improvised.
You might want to look in some solo transcriptions of bebop bass players like Oskar Pettiford and others too or make your own transcriptions on recordings of bass solos.

Have a look at the program "Impro-Visor" and the forum on Yahoo. They have a lot of transcription there and you can do your own and check them playing them with the program (a bit like band in a box, but simpler and free). If you are lucky they even have bass solo transcriptions (I haven't looked into the transcriptions yet.) Put your own bass solo transcriptions in the library to give something back to the community.

I think you won't learn a lot with Michael Moore's book. From what I read you already got that. I could learn a bit more on fingering in the thump position with it.

 

I can personally recommend Tim Emmons and Jennifer Leitham; John Clayton and Derek Oles have excellent reputations. I expect that whoever your favorite LA bassist is, they'll teach if the scheduling works.

 

Also, since you're in Torrance, you could try my friend Derek Bomback (Derek Bomback). He's an excellent jazz guitarist, does a lot of teaching, etc.