Speaking of Jazz Licks

2077 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by WindString, Jun 21, 2007

Kelly Bucheger

Discussion Starter · Jun 18, 2007

Came across a very hip site, bringing to mind the To Lick Or Not To Lick thread. It's a collection of jazz licks by the likes of Hank Mobley, Gene Ammons, James Carter, Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball, and on and on. The blogger, Big Buzzard, offers MP3s of the original lick by the original artist, along with a nice transcription of the lick that notes the time in the original recording where the lick takes place....

Very cool idea, and well done, and I wish I'd thought of it!

The site is here: http://jazzlicks.blogspot.com/

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Agent27

· #2 · Jun 18, 2007

Too bad that it looks like he stopped after a couple of months.

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wersax

· #3 · Jun 18, 2007

Kelly Bucheger said:
Came across a very hip site, bringing to mind the To Lick Or Not To Lick thread. It's a collection of jazz licks by the likes of Hank Mobley, Gene Ammons, James Carter, Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball, and on and on. The blogger, Big Buzzard, offers MP3s of the original lick by the original artist, along with a nice transcription of the lick that notes the time in the original recording where the lick takes place....

Very cool idea, and well done, and I wish I'd thought of it!

The site is here: http://jazzlicks.blogspot.com/

Kelly, you are hilarious with your "how James Carter ruined my life" story! Love your website!!!!! And the licks site is cool, too. Love the Berg tune..........daryl

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TMadness1013

· #4 · Jun 18, 2007

Very cool idea, yes. Looking forward to seeing the updates on there.

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rleitch

· #5 · Jun 18, 2007

That's awesome! I can't wait to transcribe and try a few of them. I'm imagining a SotW version chock full of classic licks submitted by our own resident gurus!

Rory

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brutlix

· #6 · Jun 18, 2007

Great article about James Carter, Kelly! It brought a tear to my eye

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Kelly Bucheger

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 18, 2007

wersax and brutlix: glad you guys dug my tale of woe with James Carter!

My exposure to him worked as a sort of "vaccination" -- from that point on, I realized that "where I stood" as a player maybe wasn't where even some younger cats are, but, hey, once you've been humbled by the best, I mean, bring 'em on! In the years since, I've encountered plenty of younger players who've amazed and impressed me, but instead of them making me want to hang it up, I just want to practice more. I had my musical "mid-life crisis" at the age of 24, which has given me plenty of time to get over it!

There's a bit of a postscript to the story, since I ran into James in New York about a year and a half ago, at a Selmer event at Steinway Hall. I was directed to a roomful of Selmer saxes available to play test. Heading down the corridor I heard a WAILING bari and instantly said to myself: "James!"

Turned the corner, and there he was! Last time I'd seen him was about 20 years ago. Went up to him, he pondered me for a moment, said "Kelly!" and gave me a great big hug.

I pointed out that last time I saw him he was 16, and now he was all grown up and looking great; he said that I looked good too, but had way less hair (something that I'd already been aware of...).

Maturity has been good to James. He was a super nice and humble person, enthusiastic about music, a very friendly, warm guy. I was even more glad that I'd never smothered him in his sleep with a pillow.

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bluesaxgirl

· #8 · Jun 19, 2007

I could listen to it all day.

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saxymanzach

· #9 · Jun 19, 2007

The bill Evans lick is cool and lays really well on sax. It is also very practical turnaround lick.

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wersax

· #10 · Jun 20, 2007

Kelly Bucheger said:
wersax and brutlix: glad you guys dug my tale of woe with James Carter!

My exposure to him worked as a sort of "vaccination" -- from that point on, I realized that "where I stood" as a player maybe wasn't where even some younger cats are, but, hey, once you've been humbled by the best, I mean, bring 'em on! In the years since, I've encountered plenty of younger players who've amazed and impressed me, but instead of them making me want to hang it up, I just want to practice more. I had my musical "mid-life crisis" at the age of 24, which has given me plenty of time to get over it!

There's a bit of a postscript to the story, since I ran into James in New York about a year and a half ago, at a Selmer event at Steinway Hall. I was directed to a roomful of Selmer saxes available to play test. Heading down the corridor I heard a WAILING bari and instantly said to myself: "James!"

Turned the corner, and there he was! Last time I'd seen him was about 20 years ago. Went up to him, he pondered me for a moment, said "Kelly!" and gave me a great big hug.

I pointed out that last time I saw him he was 16, and now he was all grown up and looking great; he said that I looked good too, but had way less hair (something that I'd already been aware of...).

Maturity has been good to James. He was a super nice and humble person, enthusiastic about music, a very friendly, warm guy. I was even more glad that I'd never smothered him in his sleep with a pillow.

I love the tone of your post; it's very Human with a capital "H". What's cool to remember is that we're all in this thing together, to remember why we play music, (because we love it!!!), and all the things that connect us as musicians, instead of dwelling on the negative.........daryl

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WindString

· #11 · Jun 21, 2007

Finding one's niche...

Kelly, I agree with others that your piece on James Carter is great, and your willingness to share those personal feelings is courageous. As someone who plays mainly guitar, I have also been besotted by the saxophone ever since I "discovered" Bird in 1977 while studying in France. Simply listening to Parker was difficult at times, because of his greatness and the realisation that I would (probably) never achieve similar facility on the sax (or any other instrument). During the intervening 30 years, I have come to the realisation, however, that there are many players who don't have the same technical skills but bring incredible diversity and creative originality to the mix. If everyone sounded like Bird, there would be something missing because we all have something to contribute. A case in point: few reading this website would be aware of a truly legendary Australian alto saxophonist called Bernie McGann. Bernie is based in Sydney, and has been playing since the '50s. Even though he plays far fewer notes than Bird (or Bird emulators), Bernie's musical conception and tone are so thoroughly distinctive and original, and have that unmistakable quality of "sounding just right" that great improvisers seem to have. OK, enough rambling for today. Time to get the instruments out of their cases... All the best.

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