Michael Moore w/ Bob Brookmeyer

That band swung like few ever have.
Michael's solos are so lyrical, you lose sight of how awesome his technique is.

I didn't know the recording existed until Michael gave me his copy. I finally tracked down the current distributor and got my own, which I sent to Chrisfits Gerald. What a guy; he actually returned it.

Wilkins and LaBarbera were monsters, too.

 

I watched a TV concert recording of the Dave Brubeck quartet last night - with Michael Moore. I must say I was very impressed with his soloing - so there was a mixture of standards and Brubeck originals and quiet a few bass solos. But these were always interesting and extremely melodic - they really stood up as alternate melodies for me.

The large audience appreciated these as well and some of the better bass solos got a lot of applause. I hadn't heard of Michael Moore before and I was surprised - obviously lots of great players I must still have to catch up with!

I must say I loved the concert - all great players, obviously with huge experience (they all looked pretty old!) and delighting a huge audience with melodic and interesting improvisation.

 

Didn't know until I read Bill Evans' biography that Michael Moore replaced Eddie Gomez in the Bill Evans Trio for a short time. Doesn't mention any recordings with Evans, do any exist?

 

Engraver:
No Evans/Moore recordings exist.
The scene with that trio, Evans, Moore, and Philly Joe Jones, was untenable for Michael, so he split.

Blues Minefield:
Michael Moore is using a Christopher plywood bass with Brubeck. Just goes to show you...

 

I also noticed on TV that he was using a big SWR amp, with an SWR 4 X 10 cab, but I don't know if that was the sound you heard on the TV. The bowed solos sounded a bit "scratchy", but far better than I would have thought from an amp setup like this?

His intonation on high register bowed solos was astounding and as I said very melodic - could have been a viola or cello......

 

The amp is supplied by Brubeck, not Moore. He has an A-I Contra and the small G-K.
He's bowing a Spirocore G, hence the scratch; also uses a fiberglass bow that he tested by throwing it at a cinderblock wall.

 

Wow - I last replied to this thread nearly 4 years ago!

Funnily enough, I only picked up Michael Moore's book on thumb position playing recently and have been going through it!!

In 2002 I didn't even own a a DB!!

 

Thanks, Sam - I've been able to get quite a bit of good Jazz via eMusic...I'll check that one out too.

I'm working my way through that at present too - I'm not yet familiar enough with his system to use it during improvisation, but the structured practice has already helped with dexterity up there in the nether regions.

 

can you describe his thumb position book? i've been thinking about getting it, but i alreay have 30 books that i dont have time to practice out of.... i'm fairly happy with my thumb position system, but if his is super cool i'll have to check it out.

 

I think that if you have a system you're happy with then you probably don't need another. I had no system at all, so it is helping tremendously, but since I have no other experience I have nothing to compare it against.

Michael's system uses 'target notes' that are hit with the second finger, with a modal pattern of notes under them. For instance if you hit a B with your 2nd finger then there's a G under your thumb, and the pattern under your fingers provides you with Gmaj, Am, Cmaj+4, D7, F#m7b5: i.e. the 1,2,4,5,7 major modes (and the 3 & 6 modes if you want to use them, of course).

It's a little more sophisticated than that, but hopefully that gives you an idea of what he's up to.

 

ok, so you're saying if the 2nd finger (middle finger) is on B in thumb position on the g string then g is under your thumb? so he advocates stretching of a 4th in one position? pretty standard, but i'm just trying to clarify. if you were to have D7 under your fingers at that point does he advocate shifting up for the octave D or are we talking about 2 different positions? i can soo how all the others you mentioned are in the same positoin, but i'd have to shift for the D7...

 

That is correct; if you wanted to play the high D you'd have to shift (and the lower D too, as the thumb on the E string in that position is an E). But one of his aims with the system is getting away from being "root-centered" - so I guess having two octaves of the scale but minus the upper and lower root is not critical.

Anyway, I'm still getting to grips with the mechanics of playing his system, the analysis of it's usefulness in the real world is still to come. It has already been useful to me by getting me away from just travelling up and down the G-string in thumb position, however.

 

I'll add to this thread just to mention that there's an interesting article/interview on Bob in the New York Times - available online here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/arts/music/12broo.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

"Bob Brookmeyer: Raging and Composing Against the Jazz Machine.

TO those listening closely, Bob Brookmeyer has become both the mature conscience and the hectoring elder of contemporary jazz, making late-period work that deals with the deeper emotions of living and raging against the business-as-usual of the jazz world. Yet Mr. Brookmeyer, the 76-year-old trombonist and composer, has largely absented himself from that world. He lives in rural Grantham, N.H., with his wife, Jan, composing new works for his own big band, the New Art Orchestra, based in Germany, and pieces commissioned for European radio orchestras."


Andy

 

I believe Getting Sentimental is with that trio.

 

It is.
Also, Europe is the only country/venue where you can pull off a project like that. (the New Art Orchestra)

 

Of course in the USA it would be the "New Commerce Orchestra".



Andy

 

Andy, i've been meaning to tell you that I just love your signature: The older I get, the better I was!
I saw that in the window of a T-Shirt shop up in Boulder. I have no idea why I didn't buy it. Truer words were never spoken.