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Who do I listen to for jazz?
- Thread starter Lecker
- Start date
I'd say pick up a fakebook or two and work your way through them, just search around and you can find the tunes but it will help you work out the head and get ideas on various ways to improvise. Ed Friedland's "Building Walking Bass Lines" is a great book for stepping into this technique too.
Some cool tunes to check out and try playing are Cherokee, Night and Day, Stella by Starlight, and Donna Lee among others. It really depends on the style of jazz you're referring to, those examples are more straight ahead jazz.
On a related note, I just got a 10 CD set of Mingus tunes for $12, over 400 minutes of recordings with a lot of fun standards on it. They had some other good artists too. I think this paycheck I'm gonna go back and pick up Dizzy and Monk.
Some cool tunes to check out and try playing are Cherokee, Night and Day, Stella by Starlight, and Donna Lee among others. It really depends on the style of jazz you're referring to, those examples are more straight ahead jazz.
On a related note, I just got a 10 CD set of Mingus tunes for $12, over 400 minutes of recordings with a lot of fun standards on it. They had some other good artists too. I think this paycheck I'm gonna go back and pick up Dizzy and Monk.
What do you want to get out of jazz? And do you have any preference of style?
If you want to solo like the jazz greats, cop their licks and transcribe their solos. Id suggest you don't transcribe bass solos though.
Get a teacher if you can. It helps. A LOT.
If you want to solo like the jazz greats, cop their licks and transcribe their solos. Id suggest you don't transcribe bass solos though.
Get a teacher if you can. It helps. A LOT.
Pardon my long post, but much comes to mind...
Musically speaking, what do you like? I would first recommend sampling music that is interesting to you and emulate it, transcribe it and study it. Play what you like!
If you really want to play jazz, my recommendation would be to study jazz "lineage": start with listening to the great performers/composers from whom the different branches of "jazz" evolved. The goal here is to:
understand the language (and theory)
develop phrasing
learn to play changes tastefully
learn how to swing
understand your instrument's role in an ensemble
Once you immerse yourself in jazz from throughout the 1900's, learning challenging heads becomes much easier.
You will also get more work as a sideman than the thousands of other players out there who can hack through Donna Lee, but can't play over rhythm changes.
A good challenge would be the "Omni Book"- a transcription of Charlie Parker's greatest compositions and solos. Pick up a few Charlie Parker recordings, and you will have a lot to contemplate. peace,
R
What Rodger said!
Also, "Jazz" is a pretty broad term that spans well over half a century of both popular, and obscure music and art.
Also, "Jazz" is a pretty broad term that spans well over half a century of both popular, and obscure music and art.
Of corse Charles Mingus and those others mentioned. But don't forget Neils Henning Orstead Peterson, Charlie Biddle, Red Mitchell, Miroslav Vitous, Slam Stuart,Pops Foster, cecil Mcbee and Charlie Haden just to name some other important bassist. Also listen to good vocalist.
If we're keeping it to slab players Steve Swallow and Anthony Jackson should be on the list. You'd be a fool not to listen to the great upright players though...Scot Lafaro and Michael Moore are a couple of important big bass players that haven't been mentioned yet. Red Mitchell has been mentioned but is worth mentioning again. Plays tuned C G D A in 5ths like a cello.
And if you can weed out the gems from all the "smooth jazz" he's done Brian Bromberg is a SERIOUS mofo on both slab and upright.
And if you can weed out the gems from all the "smooth jazz" he's done Brian Bromberg is a SERIOUS mofo on both slab and upright.
Learn a lot of standards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_standard
A lot of these songs are still being played (by me, for instance!) and many newer jazz pieces are rooted here. As you learn the songs listen to great players playing them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_standard
A lot of these songs are still being played (by me, for instance!) and many newer jazz pieces are rooted here. As you learn the songs listen to great players playing them.
If you have a Real Book, go through the songs in that and see what you can find. You'll eventually realise that there's a specific number of songs (still a ton, but they will stand out) that every player knows and does; look into those.
If you don't have a Real Book, or don't know what one is, find out and get one.
If you don't have a Real Book, or don't know what one is, find out and get one.
Miles Davis 1st quintet- that would be Paul Chambers right?
Miles Davis 2nd quintet-Ron Carter
Bill Evans Live at the Village Vanguard (both nights- there are two different albums. Two words there, Scott LaFaro!
All great tunes and ensemble playing.
Get "Kind Of Blue" and listen to it 12,000,000 times.
Original OP asked what jazz to listen to and thats my favorite jazz if you keep it within maybe 10 albums, classic Miles including kind of blue, someday my prince will come, whatever record has '81' on it, birth of the cool...Those two Evans records, maybe Lee Morgan The Sidewinder, Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage, a pre-verve Wes Montgomery, and Nat King cole Trio (pre pop cole).
Jazz for a Desert Island!
Miles Davis 2nd quintet-Ron Carter
Bill Evans Live at the Village Vanguard (both nights- there are two different albums. Two words there, Scott LaFaro!
All great tunes and ensemble playing.
Get "Kind Of Blue" and listen to it 12,000,000 times.
Original OP asked what jazz to listen to and thats my favorite jazz if you keep it within maybe 10 albums, classic Miles including kind of blue, someday my prince will come, whatever record has '81' on it, birth of the cool...Those two Evans records, maybe Lee Morgan The Sidewinder, Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage, a pre-verve Wes Montgomery, and Nat King cole Trio (pre pop cole).
Jazz for a Desert Island!
nah, that dude plays way out of key a lot of the time
(don't give that man a bow!.... doh!)Scott LaFaro is your man!!!
now seriously: I must admit I like Paul Chambers, although he's doing the same thing over and over and over again, it works!
... still, Scott LaFaro was the greater bass player in my humble opinion
