Practising - One

A few months ago, my girlfriend, Val (follow her here), and I decided to buy a house. This has given me more time to practise than I have ever had (since college). Living in the apartment was not condusive to practising, because I have always had neighbours who have complained (not that it ever stopped me from practising, but I did put less hours in). Now that I can practise when I please I am finding more and more holes in my playing - particularly in my technique.

I have always focused on my sound. Long tones, soft and loud, bent and straight, with or without vibrato - I have always been obsessed with sound and tone. Check out Andrew White's Four Hour Warm-Up. Don Englert turned me on to that one. Technique, however, has always gone to the wayside. I have always gotten by, but just, and now the more I want to execute, the more frustrated I have become.

So, the remedy....I have started adapting Czerny's School Of Velocity from piano to saxophone. These set of exercises are brilliant, and suit the saxophone quite well. I'm finding that they force me to use the palm keys and the altissimo register. This mobility is the challenge I've been looking for!

When I practise, there are several elements of my playing that I'm working on.

Tone and air support - these exercises are written for the piano. There are not many places for the saxophonist to breathe. I have been omitting a note here and there to make sure that I can keep full support and a good sound.

Articulation - I play everything with the "jazz" articulation (ta-tee-ah-tee-ah). To make sure it swings. Practical application is a concept that I cherish.

Time - Metronome starts at 40bpm on beats two and four. No questions, until it's perfect.

Keys - each study gets transposed through every key. I do this at sight. I feel this is an important skill because A) it forces me to think about what's coming next, B) the study becomes internalized much quicker, because I can't read it, and C) sight transposing is a necessary skill - have you ever worked with a singer? (Sorry - had to do it.)

These (in my mind) are the keys to making any exercise or set of exercises practical. I'm finding that I'm getting around the horn much more comfortably, and hopefully, the technique will start to show in a few weeks. I learn slowly - it usually takes a few weeks, or sometimes even a month before my practising exposes itself at a gig.

You can find the Czerny book here, and from my research, it IS public domain, so feel free to download it.

The Trio

Every Tuesday night, for the last twenty seven Tuesdays (except for one), my trio of Philippe Charbonneau (bass), Matt Aston (drums) and myself have performed at the Avant Garde Bar. This residency has allowed us to explore each other's musical boundaries and has created one of my favourite groups that I have ever worked with.

I'm blogging about the trio, and specifically Phil and Matt, because they make my job easy. Yes, all of the compositions are mine, and yes, the group has my name on the banner, but it is far from my group. We work as a cohesive unit - a collective. This makes the music, to me, much more fulfilling.

Phil was the first bassist I worked with when I moved to Ottawa in June of 2008. We played my original compositions (at the Avant Garde, no less) in a quartet setting (Kelsey McNulty was the pianist, and Patrick Sénécal was the drummer). Phil hooked me up with a bunch of great players - Zakari Frantz, Olivier Fairfield, Linsey Wellman, Mike Essoudry, Thomas Posner, Kelsey McNulty and so many others. Phil always has great arrangement ideas, and creates a huge amount of spontaneaty in the group. He keeps me on my toes.

Matt turned down my first gig...but he has helped me move a few times, so I guess he's alright. I have played more with Matt than any other musician in the last two years. Matt has been part of almost every small group that I have put together. He will be with my Large Views Ensemble and a few other projects that I have coming up. Matt provides a great support for both Phil and I to explore. He seems to push us at just the right time or he lets us go where we feel. My favourite part about Matt's playing is his dynamic range. He knows when the group needs to shift gears. He gets inside of my tunes and there's a huge trust factor when it comes to our interaction.

With both of these incredible musicians, the music is a lot of fun, challenging and explorative.

At the beginning of October, we're heading into the studio (for the first time with this group), to record the trio's debut album. If you're ever in the Ottawa area on a Tuesday night, check out the trio for a preview of what you'll hear on the upcoming release.