Some New Audio Clips for Your Listening Pleasure

Last Monday I got together with Ric Troll (guitar), Dave DeVos (bass), and Randy Marsh (drums), and we rehearsed a few of Ric’s original tunes in his studio, Tallmadge Mill. These guys are wonderful jazz musicians, and Ric is a composer of long standing. His music can be chewy stuff to work through, but this last session the tunes started to gel and we got some pretty nice grooves going.

Ric recorded the whole session, so I’m able to share some sample tracks with you. What you’ll hear are the tunes in rough, but there’s some very nice playing going on.

The New Hip is a basic 12-bar blues, but Ric’s head suggests a soloing approach different from your standard bebop. Attempting to free myself from cliches, I incorporated a more angular style.

The Urge is a fun tune with a high-energy A section and a swinging, cooler-sounding bridge that offers a lovely contrast.

Orcs has been the most challenging number, with it’s polymetric approach and shift to 7/4. It is coming together, though, and will be one heck of a tune once we’ve nailed down the form and the feel. Listen to Randy–the guy just tears it up on the set! Here’s a second take for all you double-dippers.

If you like what you hear, check out my Jazz Page for more sound samples as well as solo transcriptions, articles, and exercises of interest to improvising musicians.

November 24, 2010 by
Filed Under: Band, Jazz, Music, Recording, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Recording Session with Ric Troll and Dave DeVos

This afternoon was a great time in the studio with my friends Ric Troll and Dave DeVos. Ric’s recording studio, Tallmadge Mill, is a topnotch home studio. Some years ago, Ric and I used it to record Eyes on Mars, a CD of free jazz and experimental music featuring drums and saxophone. Now another project is on the griddle, this time with the very welcome addition of Dave on bass.

After warming up with “Big Foot,” a Charlie Parker blues, the three of us launched into a broad variety of original tunes, some with written heads and changes by Ric, and others that were simply concepts and musical games which maximized listening and empathic, responsive improvisation. What a privilege to make music with two such high-caliber musicians–guys who enjoy exploring far beyond the American Songbook, and who possess the imagination and technical finesse to turn such experimentation into a genuinely musical experience.

More recording lies in store. I’m not sure just how much, but I’ll keep you posted as things develop. At some point, I should also have a few audio clips to share with you, so stay tuned to this blog for updates.

March 14, 2010 by
Filed Under: Band, Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Life, Music, Recording, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saxophone Mouthpiece Exercise (a Dignified Term for Screwing Around Making Weird Noises)

I stumbled upon the following saxophone mouthpiece exercise long before I really knew how to play the sax. Back when I was in high school, I needed some kind of trick to cover my butt when I was jamming with other musicians–typically rock bands in those days–and needed to disguise the fact that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. One evening at a kegger, having exhausted my meager bag of licks, I got the sudden inspiration to pull my mouthpiece off of my horn and play it by itself. The idea certainly commanded attention, captivating my listeners for a good five seconds, though I’m not sure it was the most musical extravaganza they had ever experienced.

mouthpiece_exercise_1
Anyway, many years down the road, I still make occasional use of the sax mouthpiece exercise. I’m not sure what else to call it, other than screwing around with the mouthpiece making sounds like a goose gargling. But in all seriousness, I believe you can find some value in the technique, both as a creative tool and as a means of sensitizing your oral chamber for purposes of tone color and pitch control.

The exercise is simple: cup your hands together to form a sort of pouch, as in the first picture (click on it to enlarge it). Then blow into the mouthpiece. You can then “play” the piece by opening and closing one hand, as in the second photo. The result is a sort of demented warble that sounds like some kind of marshland bird on an acid trip.

mouthpiece_exercise1_1
Them’s the basics, but of course, you’ll want to experiment. You can actually control the pitch with your hand, and you’ll also want to see what kinds of sounds and pitch-bending you can do by adjusting your embouchure. The point is to explore the colors you can generate using just your mouthpiece, your hands, and your embouchure and air column. You can get some surprisingly expressive effects. In my “Eyes on Mars” album with Ric Troll, I performed an entire piece using this technique. Is it music? I guess that depends on your philosophy of music, and frankly, I wasn’t thinking about the question at the time. I was just having fun trying something different and creative. You know–being a kid.

Give the saxophone mouthpiece exercise a try and see what you think. And check out my jazz page for more tips, technical exercises, and solo transcriptions to keep you occupied.

January 22, 2010 by
Filed Under: Band, Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,