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Meeting Up for Potential Jazz Band

12K views 124 replies 27 participants last post by  Dave Dolson 
#1 ·
While I'm on vacation I may have finally gotten a chance to join a group! I heard from a local guitarist in Colorado springs who has some members ready to start a jazz fusion group.

I listened to some of his work and it was very much right up my alley! He checked some of my work and was pleased as well. So we are aiming to meet up and jam sometime this weekend when I get home!

I say all that to see what general advice you'd give for the scenario. Basically a Dos/Donts list for meeting up as a prospective band member.
 
#112 ·
Well, the gig didn't go great, not all on me, but the audience still enjoyed it. Dixieland is definitely fun, and my swinging style definitely fits in. But my first time seeing the music and arrangements was today 20 minutes before showtime.

I was surprised at times how well my sight reading was and I had a few awesome solos I put together. I was hearing the rhythm and changes very well in solos, not something I've ever really felt! But there were some other things I completely botched, and learned a few valuable lessons. To name a few key ones, the time signature, codas, and key changes- do not miss it!!!. Cut time caught me with my pants down. Some rhythms tied up my fingers. And a coda snuck up on me without me know where to jump.

Lots of learning, and hope to get better from it?
 
#113 ·
And you lived to tell about it!

FWIW, part of elevating your sight reading game is to pre-read a chart when it drops on your stand. Things like key changes, D.S., and D.C. are part of “reading the road map”.
 
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#115 ·
Absolutely! And I think that was what the band leader was hoping I was doing when I was checking the music 20 minutes before the gig kicked off. But I was making sure all the charts were playable and going over fingerings! Big mistake on my part, time would have been better used to check all the keys, jumps, solos, and time, especially with the cut time (although they counted off to four, not what I was expecting). I didn't trust my sight reading ability to play the charts, which was a poor judgement, as I was better at that than expected, but you have to be playing in the right time and key for it to matter ;)
 
#119 ·
Cut time vs 4/4 is largely a matter of notation choice as the vast majority of those old tunes are "played in 2". Many of the forms are derived from traditional march forms. Bye Bye Blues is a particularly tricky one to communicate to others as I like to play it at "tempo di tear-ass" but that generally gets interpreted as "tempo di lazy" in other words half-fast compared to where I wanted to take it.

Of course if you already know how the tune goes, you just play it that way, but even with experience someone'll call a poser every now and then, and if (like me) you need some music to help with melodies, you'll be scuffling. Fortunately if you're playing the clarinet role, you're mostly doing comments and filigree around the main melody which is carried by the cornet (usually) so a little scuffling won't show up too much.

Of course you've got the guys like Dolson up above that've been playing this stuff for lots of years, already know all the common tunes, are already bored by all the common tunes, will wrap a soprano sax around your neck if you suggest "Saints" or will just hit you over the head if you suggest "Muskat Ramble"... for them, none of this applies as they haven't looked at the sheet music maybe ever.
 
#123 ·
Grumps . . . it depends on the setting and who is leading the band. Last Sunday, we played the tune in F, then took it to Ab on the out-chorus. The club's music director was leading the band on cornet. Frankly, it is a tune I rarely call, with the exception of when someone in the audience requests it. DAVE
 
#124 ·
Frankly, it is a tune I rarely call, with the exception of when someone in the audience requests it. DAVE
Oh, I get that. But my father always made us do it, and the Navy pros he'd hire taught us to go up from F to G and finally to Ab to end it. So I passed that on to the brass band I now play with, and it's a rare occasion it's not requested when we play. We have fun with it though. After the vocals (by yours truly), the saxes do a chorus of Yakety Sax over the changes, then the trumpets come in with Comin' round the Mountain.
 
#125 ·
Interesting . . . I've done the rising key-thing from F, Ab, to Bb, but not G. No reason not to include G, though. Some players are not fluent in G (putting the Bb and Eb horns into A and E) and that's the only reason to avoid it. I suppose every band that has a history also has a routine for various tunes.

And, G is a published key for several trad tunes that over time, have changed to F for convenience . . . ST. LOUIS BLUES and TISHOMINGO BLUES being examples. I like G and I like to play old tunes in their published keys, like JEANNINE, I DREAM OF LILAC TIME. Of course, that tune was published in 3/4 time yet some like to do it in 4/4.

Ah, the variety . . . DAVE
 
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