Taking Lessons

I have been taking lessons on Skype with Tim Price over the last two months and it's one of the smartest decisions that I've made in a while.

The Story

Roughly six months ago, I was in a musical rut. I was gigging quite a bit (and still am), but I wasn't inspired. I was playing the same tunes, the same way every time that I was on a job. That's what music had become – a job.

I started to resent my horns. I was only really picking them up when I was on going to a gig and the time that I did have the horn out at home, I noodled for hours – but never played anything meaningful.

After talking to my fiance about my options, the topic of lessons came up. I thought that if I could regain some focus into my practice habits, that I would become interested in learning again.

I emailed Tim Price after seeing his posts on Sax On The Web for his Skype lessons and he said that he could help.

I was not familiar with Tim's playing – I had his Blues-eum recording with Sue Terry (definitely worth checking out), I had watched the YouTube videos and I had read his blog, but I hadn't done any real extended listening or exploring.

Our first lesson was great – Tim had me play over a bunch of my favourite tunes and then he started emailing me the exercises and concepts.

I really felt (and still feel) like Tim really understands what I'm looking for in my own playing. We have discussions, tell jokes, swap stories and after every lesson I have a huge amount of creative energy that I can pour directly into my horns. One of the biggest challenges and one of the things that I look forward to every week is the spontaneity. I'm not saying that the lessons lack direction or that they are unstructured, Tim has a system, but it's not a cookie-cutter system. Every exercise or concept that we talk about or apply relates directly to what I'm doing as an artist. This extremely personal approach makes me think about these concepts deeper and I take much more initiative than I have taken in the past to make these concepts my own.

Over the last two months I can feel the direction in my playing has changed. I have a positive outlook on my practice time and I'm truly interested in the music again!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me.

Check Tim out on his website - http://timpricejazz.com/

My Tour With Amy Brandon - Day Six

Day Six - Tatamagouche!

On Saturday night, we performed at Fables. This is definitely one of my favourite places that I have ever played!

We showed up at the venue around 6pm for our 7:30pm. Amy and I were greeted by Chuck and Hanna (the people that run Fables) and loaded our gear. We set up and then ordered dinner. The ham panini was incredible!

As the audience started filling up the place, Amy and I made our way to the stage. The house music was turned off, and we were let to do our thing.

The Gig.

From the first note, the audience was silent. This is very easily the most respectful crowd that I've played for in at least the last four years (since I've been back from Europe). The beauty of playing for an audience like this is that you can really use your dynamics, colours, shading - all of the subtleties that are lost in a louder room.

The other aspect of the audience that I loved was that they were focused on the music. It wasn't just that they were quiet, it was that they were wanting more from the musicians than a regular room. This quiet intensity brings out the best in musicians, and last night the energy from the audience helped feed our duo! Extremely inspiring!

We played two sets of roughly fifty minutes each, and I think we may be able to release a nice set of music from the show.

These are the nights that I live for as a jazz artist!

I can't recommend this venue enough to any artist or band coming through the East Coast.

Sunday is our last day with two concerts - one in Halifax and one in Truro.

My Tour With Amy Brandon - Day Five

Day Five - Moncton

The drive to Moncton was filled with thoughts about the gig from the previous night. Things that worked, things that needed work, things the didn't work - the usual self-deprecating musician talk...(*chuckles).

We arrived in Moncton a little earlier than expected and hung out in a coffee shop (Jitter Bean Cafe). We needed some coffee and internet. Jitter Bean has great coffee and they are super nice people! I have been recording our gigs and rehearsals since I arrived. I've always found that it's a great tool to be able to listen back. After we have some time to digest the recordings, I'm sure that we'll post some online.

I was really excited to perform at the Plan b Lounge in Moncton. It was just nominated for venue of the year in the East Coast.

Musically, I thought that Amy and I got into the zone. The music felt great! Stretching out and pushing our musical boundaries. I think that we feel like a group now. We are able to anticipate each other - we are really starting to understand each other.

The one downside to the gig was that there were a few tables of very loud people. I guess you can't always win that game...

We grabbed dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant across the street with Amy's brother-in-law and his wife (who also attended our show) and headed back to Truro.

Our next stop - Tatamagouche!

My Tour With Amy Brandon - Day Four

Day Four - Fredericton

On Thursday, we were heading to Fredericton. We were heading to our first gig!

We woke up that morning and hit what has become a routine - coffee and rehearsal. After we ran our tunes fairly quickly, we loaded up the car for the four hour drive to Fredericton.

We arrived at the James Joyce (our venue for the evening) and loaded our gear. We met with the manager. After a bite to eat and some running around to find a cell phone charger (I forgot mine). We hit the stage.

The Gig.

I was a little worried before we started playing, Amy warned me the the crowd could be sparse, and it seemed like it would be. We are fortunate on the tour, because Amy did a brilliant job booking each venue, and none of our shows have a cover charge, but it's still nice to play for a crowd. Just before we started playing, a nice crowd of people show up and the James Joyce comes alive!

Amy and I had worked out set lists beforehand, so there were no questions about the material. This was great, because we could focus on making the music. I'm not sure if it was because I was nervous, but I was counting off our tunes faster than we had rehearsed them. This wasn't a problem from a musical/technical perspective, but definitely a problem time-wise. We added some standards to each set, which was incredibly relaxing. Common material. It seemed like we were able to experiment more with these tunes. The interesting thing (at least to me) that happened with my playing was that I feel like I became more free within the original material that we each had brought to the duo.

After a few sets of music, some shop talk with a local saxophonist and some dinner, we headed back to the hostel to sleep.

The next day we played Moncton.

See you in the next post!

My Tour With Amy Brandon - Day Three

I was very excited for Day Three.

This is the day of our first gig...well, it was supposed to be.

We woke up this morning to rehearse. Amy and I wanted to get our sets together before heading to our first show at the Smiling Goat in Halifax. I am normally not a fan of creating set lists, but I am usually working with my material exclusively, and so I feel much better having some sort of a plan. It was already snowing this morning and the forecast said that we were going to be hit with 30cm of snow.

We rehearsed our first set and after being warned about the roads, Amy called up the venue and we all decided that it was best to postpone our show until Sunday (November 27) afternoon at 1pm.

I was disappointed - I'm ready to get playing, but also a little relieved. My cold is lingering and I had a chance to sleep a little more than usual to try to fight it. After I woke up, we rehearsed and rearranged the second set.

Every time that we talk about or play the tunes, I'm getting more and more comfortable with the material. It's a good feeling!

So tomorrow, the tour kicks off in Fredericton, New Brunswick at the James Joyce Pub at 6pm!

My Tour With Amy Brandon - the Beginnings

I am extremely fortunate to be on tour with Amy Brandon this week. Our tour covers Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton, Tatamagouche and Truro. One of the beautiful things about this tour is that we are performing an all original programme (except for Amy's reworking of Skylark).

I first met Amy when she dropped by one of my shows at the Rainbow. Our mutual friend, Matt Aston, was my drummer and went to school with Amy.

Roughly a year later, Amy was playing at the Avant Garde in Ottawa, with Matt, and I dropped in with my horn. I sat in with the group and at the end of the night Amy asked me if I'd be interested in touring at some point.

In February, the dates were firmed up (for the most part) and in October the charts were exchanged.

I'll continue in my next post...

Lineage - It's Importance to Me

I am very fortunate. I grew up in a household where jazz was being played all of the time. I grew up on Zoot Sims, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson and as I grew older my tastes expanded and I started getting into Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Steve Grossman, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Michael Brecker and so many others.

I have been thinking quite a bit about influence, and lineage because my students are developping into players. I have a grade 9/10 big band that I lead in Ottawa. Every rehearsal I walk into the room, and ask "So what's everybody been listening to?" There are some great answers - Miles Davis - Nefertitti, Michael Brecker, the RH Factor, Arturo Sandoval, and so many other artists. I'll ask "Does anybody know who Johnny Hodges is? or Clifford Brown? or Don Byas?"

The answer is generally "no", except for my students - because listening is a huge part of my lessons, and I can even think it's unfair that I ask. Unless you grow up in a jazz household, you probably don't know a lot of the names that I would bring up - especially as a 13 or 14 year old who's just getting into the music.

I believe that it is important to know the lineage of your instrument - the players and the physical instrument itself, and the music.

The lineage of your instrument is important from the player standpoint, because you begin to hear the influence. You can understand why and how a player draws from the players before him/her. Listen to Lew Tabackin for not just the Coleman Hawkins, but the Don Byas and the Sonny Rollins in his sound, phrasing and lines. If you talk to players who are new to the soprano saxophone, they are indebted to John Coltrane, but what about Steve Lacy?

If you think of the history of an instrument, you can figure out why players played the way they did. Especially on the saxophone, the invention of left-hand pinky-rollers was a huge innovation. Before they were invented moving around that key cluster was very awkward. Have you ever owned a Buescher True Tone? That was one of the reasons for me to switch off of them. The ergonomics were awkward on that part of the horn. This is just one example. But you could relate that to the reason players from that period didn't spend that much time around that end of the saxophone.

Another point to touch on is style. How was an eighth note played in 1925? '45? '65? '85? today? What kind of vibrato was in style?

The reason that I think that lineage is so important, is because it creates an active listener. When you start understanding nuances in sound, rhythm, texture, etc. You integrate what you like into your playing concept and taking something from the greats can't hurt.

It's incredible to watch my students hear the influence another player has on another - they then find out what they want to sound like. They develop a concept for their sound. They feel time in different ways. To me, it all comes down to active listening.

What do you think about these clips? What do you like? What catches your ear? Can you hear the influence?

Body and Soul

Coleman Hawkins

Dexter Gordon

John Coltrane

Michael Brecker

Chris Potter

What do you like? What catches your ear? Can you hear the influence?

Transcription - Joel Frahm - Pennies From Heaven (Chorus One)

I have been doing a lot of lifting lately, and therefore, quite a bit of intense listening. One saxophonist that has caught my ear is Joel Frahm. I had the opportunity to chat with Joel while he was in Ottawa (unfortunately, I missed both his shows for my own gigs, but caught him afterwards). Super nice guy! He even tried my new horn (Selmer Cigar Cutter Tenor - I love it!).

This transcription, from Sorry, No Decaf, grabbed my attention because of the phrasing of the melody, and because of Joel's inside-outside breaks (check out bars 15-16 and 31-32). As far as
I've heard, the trio (Joel Frahm - tenor sax, Doug Weiss - bass, Matt Wilson - drums) play over the standard changes, but I'll update that as I move through the rest of the solo.





As I was transcribing this, I went through the first few times in real time, and I caught quite a bit of it. Then I put the solo through Transcribe! which helped me out. I found that the intro was harder to write down than to play. The 6/4 bar drove me crazy (I kept trying to figure it out in 4/4), but overall pretty straight ahead. Frahm's use of space in the next couple of chorus' have been fun to figure out, but they're not quite ready to go. I'll post them soon.

Fun With An Old Friend

The last two weeks have been fairly hectic for me (not that I'm ever totally relaxed, but still). Life changes, new groups and everything inbetween.

A couple of the highlights involved a friend that I hadn't seen in half a year. In fact, I didn't even realize that he was in town until he called me for a gig on June 2nd.



Pianist Nick Maclean. One of my favourite players to work with and a really great hang. Nick and I met a few years ago in a band led by Jim Lewis at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. Nick was playing trombone, and I tenor sax and clarinet. We didn't talk much, but I remember him playing the piano before rehearsals. A few months later we met (again) through singer Renée Yoxon and we did quite a bit of playing and a some recording (I may dig a few of those recordings up and post them). At this time, I was settling in Ottawa, and Nick was heading to Humber College.

That more, or less brings us up to date. Nick called me for a gig and I jumped at the chance to work with him again. Lately, I have been working with my trio (almost exclusively) and haven't played with any chord players - I couldn't have been more excited for a change of pace. A duet. Just saxes and piano. And as little sheet music as possible.

Nick and I started off the gig as if we'd never stopped playing together. Right from the first note we were able to push each other. Not pushing so much that we were uncomfortable, but pushing enough to keep each other on our collective toes. Nick brought a great arrangement of the theme from Star Trek and the rest of the night (except maybe one or two) were great standards. We've decided to spend a little more time learning each others' originals and we're hoping to get in to record around August.

The next week, I was able to catch Nick's trio (with Donovan Bullen and Mike McNeil) and that trio was incredible. It reminded me of a Monty Alexander album Montreux Alexander. I was fortunate enough to sit in with the group for the second set and the group was so easy to play with. Great interaction, great swing, great sound.

If you can catch Nick somewhere in Ottawa this summer, make sure you do - you won't be sorry. And make sure you look out for any news regarding the upcoming recording!

My New Horns

A fellow saxophonist, Linsey Wellman, turned me on to Ellery Eskelin and his blog (view it here). In a recent post, Ellery talks about getting his Buescher Big B tenor restored, and how much he loves it.

I have to admit that this was the first time that I had ever had Ellery Eskelin play - he`s a great! I love his tone! And his ideas! I`ll have to try to grab a lesson with him.

Linsey and I were talking about that blog post in particular, because I recently made a major purchase...FIVE saxophones. Four (curved soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) are Buescher True Tones (the model that preceded the Big B - which is the horn that Ellery Eskelin has had restored) and one Rudolph Wurlitzer (c-melody), which happens to be a Buescher stencil from the same time period. Five matching horns that play beautifully.

Here`s the story behind the acquisition of the four True Tones.

I have played several different models of saxophones over the last few years. I`m a little bit crazy when it comes to gear. Not so much that it gets in the way of my practise time, but in that 4am kind of crazy. I like to drool over eBay late at night after a gig and think of ways to acquire horns and mouthpieces and many other saxophone, flute and clarinet paraphernalia.

My first horn was a vintage Borgani tenor that I loved, but I couldn`t get over the keywork. It was a very uncomfortable horn for me to play on - my wrists were constantly sore. I sold that horn about three years ago on eBay.

After that, I had a Selmer Series II, a Selmer Mark VI, and up until recently, a Yamaha Custom Z. These are the tenors that I have owned. I`ll focus on that, since it`s my main horn.

Through all of these horns, I promised myself that if I ever found a set of nice old horns, I would get them.

A few weeks ago, I started looking, not particularly planning on finding anything, but just simply seeing what was out there, and a set of Buescher horns was for sale in Nova Scotia. This was Sunday night.

Monday morning at 11am, my Yamaha Custom Z tenor and my Custom EX soprano were sold! I, for the first time in my career did not own a single saxophone.

Friday morning, I flew down to Nova Scotia, tried the horns (the man who sold me the horns was incredibly welcoming) and flew back that afternoon.

After working on the baritone, alto, and tenor, I am happier than ever. The soprano needs a total repad (this will come over the next few weeks). You can check out the tune `You Do Something To Me` on the Reverbnation player. That`s the new bari. I`ll post more tunes in the next few days.

The horns are different from the modern horns in many ways. The keyword of the older horns is said to be clumsy. In regards to this comment, I find the horns different, but not difficult to get around the horn on. Also, tuning is not as locked in. I find this to be true. I do have to focus a little more on pitch, but it makes life interesting. One thing I do miss from the new horns is the front F key. I can always put one on, but I`m sure I`ll find a way around it. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

A really positive aspect of the Bueschers is the tone! Big, fat, round and yet still totally flexible. I still sound like me. I love that!

I have a day off tomorrow, so more work on the horns (from a practising and tech side of life)!

Cheers!

Rich