jazz bands

A

a_goodlett

New member
allright listen up cats-
A college jazz band came to our school today and played a concert. they had two bands. one was a vocal group with a rhythm section. the vocalists did some skattin'(is that what its called? where they improv but without words...). My main focus was on the rhythm section, since i play guitar for my school's jazz band. the vocal groups rhythm was pretty good, the drummer was off a bit, but the bass, piano, & guitar were right on. they mostly played kinda like "poppy" jazz( guess thats what you call it) and some show tunes. the guitar parts weren't too complicated. The second group was stricly instrumental with a singer now and then. they had a big band type setup. The rhythm section: bass was right on, keeping the tempo & feel, the drummer was doin the drummin thing well, the piano was tight with the rest of the section, but the guitarist didn't play a single note! he did that kinda fake playing thing where you play the right rhythm & your amp's not turned up or anything, you know what i'm talkin about => they had a song where it was based off Rhythm Changes. i would think the guitar would be essential for harmony. does this happen in a lot of school bands? i've seen guitarists do the "fake" thing at a lot of jazz festivals(like school contest things). i was talkin to my jazz band teacher & he's like, "the only way to make a guitarist stop playing is to put music in front of him." i thought it was hilarious but true. where did this bad rap come from?
later cats
 
Sounds like you had a bad night. They're not all like that.




I played "jazz guitar" with a couple of folks last night who had chops that intimidated the hell out of me. One fellow is a multi-instrumentalist with whom I've played a few times, but never in a jazz setting. The other is a pianist who is locally known for his classical recitals. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. The changes just came out of their fingers like nothing. The pianist just made my jaw drop. They were patient, helpful, showing me chord patterns, letting me run with a lead, no egos at work; it was just about the music and about enjoying it. Now I'm trying to figure out all the moveable chords I missed and am reminded of how easy it can be to fall into a rut.

Serious about their music, these folks. I have some work to do...
 
A_Goodlett, I've got two words for you:

DJANGO RIENHARDT.

I want say anymore, the fun is in the reaseach and discovery. Have fun.
 
Joe Pass took the instrument to new heights. What an artist he was; rough life, addiction, recovery, the works. There are stories about this guy - like when he would just walk into a music store and poke around; some clerk would recognize him and pull a jazzbox off the wall in back of the counter, tune it up and hand it to him with a hopeful look. Joe would smile a little, then sit down on a stool, plug in, and leave a half hour later. Just for kicks.

Here's another guitarist you can't afford to miss - a Scotsman who grew up playing music with his dad's jazz band on cruise ships - Martin Taylor - who is now thought by some to be the finest solo jazz guitarist alive. He reminds me a little of Joe Pass, but has more of a melodic structure to his music. His style is his own: an absolute jawdropper. Nice guy to boot.

And check out the "old jazz" bins for anything with Tal Farlow's name on it. Smooooooth. Wow.
 
Definately great suggestions...Martin Taylor is great. The music I have heard from Django was all very old and in the true infancy of recording. I learned alot from listening to that.

H2H
 
Not to be contentious, but...

...Django pales in comparison to the true genius of jazz guitar from that (or any) era -- Charlie Christian. His playing is way beyond all the zippity-doo-dah ramblings of Django.

I would urge anyone to search out some of Christian's playing and hear what the real deal is.

spwee
 
Just a comment on a_goodlett's observation. With regard to the "fake" playing of the guitarist in the big band, do you mean he was playing four to the bar rhythm? That's the traditional role of the guitar player in the big band setting. Usually the chord voicings are 3 note triads including the third and seventh of the chord and some times the root or an extended harmony like a ninth or thirteenth. Simple though it may seem, it's actually pretty complicated. Imagine playing dominant 13th chord with only 3 notes.

The most famous big band rhythm guitar player was Freddie Greene from the Count Basie Orchestra. He played a Gretch archtop acoustically - no amp. When all 20 members of the band was wailing, he could not be heard, but for sure he was an important part of the rhythm section. Basically he kept the solid four beats along with the bassist. He played a different chord on every beat, the equivelent to a walking bass line for a bass player.

There have been many modern big bands that use electric guitars like Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich. Maynard's guitar players oftem played Strats and played single line solos. Still their main role in the big band is to play straight ahead rhythm.

As for the reason why guitarists have gotten the bad rap of not reading music, it's because most guitar players learn by ear. You may take a few courses or lessons, but by and large, most guitarists (except for classical guitarists) learn by ear. I've heard many times that the guitar fingerboard does not lend itself well to written music.

By the way, there are some great chord books available for big band guitarists (Bruce Forman, Mel Bay, etc.) if you're interested in checking out the four to the bar rhythm style. It's actually not a fake style.

DHN
 
alright the fake thing i was talkin about is where the guitarist actually isn't playing. i know about the 4 to the bar rhythm & the triad chord voicings & i have been practicing them and getting a lot better. my fast swing type comps have drastically improved. thanks to all you cats who posted all the different guitarist.
 
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