Live Saxophone Jazz Friday at The Seasonal Grille in Hastings

Tomorrow night keyboardist Bob VanStee and I join forces to play for the one-year anniversary of The Seasonal Grille in downtown Hastings. I feel honored to be a part of the celebration. Justin Straube and his crew are great to work with. They appreciate their musicians, genuinely enjoy the music, and all around are just plain “good people.” In other words, this place is a pleasure to play at.

Justin has turned out a first-class dining establishment that gives his patrons far more than their money’s worth. The ambiance is comfortably elegant, the kind where you can dress up or dress down and feel good about either option. As for the food and the prices, it’s hard to believe that culinary creations of such superb quality can be so ridiculously affordable. You’d have to look far and hard in order to find meals of comparable gourmet deliciousness that cost so little. Frankly, I don’t know how Justin does it. I think a large part of it is, he simply wants to give people a good deal.

Anyway…Bob and I play tomorrow (Friday) from 6:00–9:00 p.m. Come on out and get a plateful, a beerful, and an earful. I might add, this is a great date-your-mate location! Here’s the info:

  • The Seasonal Grille
  • 150 West State Street
  • Hastings, MI
  • Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
  • Phone: (269) 948-9222

Some of my storm chasing friends will be coming out tomorrow to hang out with each other. Maybe I’ll see you there too.

June 23, 2011 by
Filed Under: Band, Entertainment, Jazz, Life, Michigan, Music, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Augmented Scale: A New Pattern to Whet Your Fingers On

Here is an augmented scale pattern that I started tinkering with yesterday. It’s similar to one I’ve practiced fairly often, but inserting an extra note into each four-note grouping–resulting in quintuplets–adds both harmonic and rhythmic color.

The exercise uses the Bb augmented scale. Since it is a symmetrical scale, it also functions as D and F# augmented scales. For the theory behind it, see my first post on the augmented scale and view my page on jazz theory, technique, and solo transcriptions for a number of other articles.

augmented-scale-pattern
The image to your right (click on it to enlarge) contains three rhythmic variations of the pattern. The topmost is the pattern as I originally conceived it in five-note groupings. The line below it shows how the pattern lays out in a standard eighth-note flow. Last of all you’ll find the pattern set to triplets. These latter two exercises introduce a polymetric element, displacing accents in ways that pack added interest.

During the last few months my focus has shifted to pentatonic scales, and my augmented scale work has consequently suffered. The simple truth is, I just don’t have time to cover all the bases. (I wish I did, but no one is paying me to practice eight hours a day!) Lately, though, now that I’ve gotten the preliminary muscle-memory curve behind me with my pentatonic work, I’ve begun to return to the augmented scale. It is a fascinating, hauntingly colorful scale at which I want to become increasingly adept. The augmented and pentatonic scales both now fit into my practice regimen, along with the diminished whole tone scale. By the time I’m finished working all these weird scales into my fingers, I just hope I’ll remember how to play my major scales.

It goes without saying–it does, doesn’t it?–that you’ll practice this pattern in all four of its tonal iterations (I don’t know how else to say it; you can’t rightly call them “keys”). Remember to keep application in mind. It’s not enough to get this pattern under your fingers; how are you going to use it? Again, see my initial post on the augmented scale.

Other than that, there’s nothing left to say except, as always, practice diligently and enjoy the journey.

June 17, 2011 by
Filed Under: Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Music, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Buttermilk Jamboree and Ed Englerth’s Latest CD, Hope. Dream. Sigh.

Saturday I played with the Ed Englerth Band at the Buttermilk Jamboree near Delton, Michigan. This was the first of what is likely to become an annual all-weekend event at the Circle Pines Camp in the heart of rural Barry County. It was a fun and interesting festival that combined music and arts with the cooperatively owned camp’s longstanding values of ecology and sustainable living. As you might expect, the festival drew an eclectic crowd of every age, from old hippies to young musicians and everything between and beyond. Picture Woodstock in the woods and you’ve got the idea.

In the midst of this colorful hodgepodge, Ed, Alan, Don, and I did an evening performance on the Sugar Bush Stage. Oddly, while we appeared in the online schedule, the paper printout didn’t include us. We drew a decent group of listeners regardless, and Ed sold a few CDs from his newly minted album, Hope. Dream. Sigh. The CD is in fact so new that Ed paid extra for an early shipment, which arrived at his door mere hours before showtime.

I want to talk a little about Hope. Dream. Sigh. I’m hesitant to say that it’s Ed’s best effort yet because his last CD, Restless Ghost, is so bloody good. But this CD is at least of that same caliber, and some of the arrangements are easily the most ambitious yet. This is largely due to the way that Ed utilized me on the saxophones. This is the first of his albums on which we…

  • multi-tracked my horn parts to create an entire sax section. The apogee of this approach is the tune “Sad Stories,” with its ironic Calypso beat and wacky, humorous slant on relational woes.
  • created faux baritone sax tracks. Since I don’t own a bari, and since “Empty Pockets” seemed to flat-out demand the incorporation of a bari, we made one electronically by laying down an alto track and then dropping it an octave digitally. It worked great! “Empty Pockets” cooks, an irresistibly driving, hardcore rocker.
  • made unprecedented use of my soprano sax. I’ve been reluctant to play the soprano on previous albums because, well, my intonation sucks. Or so I’ve always thought. But that problem doesn’t crop up on this CD. Two songs feature the soprano in a big way, and in both of them the horn sounds fabulous. “I Do, I Don’t” klezmerizes Ed’s tongue-in-cheek commentary on fantasy living for the not-so-rich and delusional. On the serious side, “When Words Fail” is a minor, blues-drenched look at love that goes the distance when communication breaks down. I got a lot of room to stretch out on this tune as a soloist, and I’m delighted with the results.

    • .
    Ed is a fantastic songwriter and lyricist who steadfastly resists categorization. That’s one reason why I respect him as an artist and love him as a friend. The man has integrity as well as soul. Moreover, in Alan Dunst on drums, Don Cheeseman playing bass, and, I trust, me on the saxophones, Ed has found a small, steady core of fellow musicians and brothers in Christ who grasp and believe in his music. Each album displays growth, new directions, fresh creative expressions.

    Yes I’m biased. Of course I am–what would you expect? But not so biased that I’d speak this glowingly of Hope. Dream. Sigh. unless I believed it was really just that good. It is. Check it out and see for yourself. I might add that, with 17 tracks, you’ll get more than your money’s worth.

    And with that, I’m signing off. Early morning has turned into mid morning and the rest of this Monday stretches before me, with work to do and necessities to attend to. Ciao.

    June 13, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Band, Christian Music, Life, Michigan, Music, Reviews, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Uh-oh! Time for Sax Maintenance AGAIN?!

    So there I am in Ed Englerth’s basement tonight, getting set to rehearse for our set this coming weekend at the Buttermilk Jamboree near Delton, Michigan.  I pick up my alto sax, clamp my lips around the mouthpiece and blow, and what happens? FWEEEEEFFFF, that’s what happens. My horn goes FWEEEEEFFFF.

    That’s not a promising sign. Hoping it’s just the reed, I substitute a different one, but once again, anything from low D down balks like crazy, and the higher notes aren’t all that cooperative either.

    So I take my leak light out of my case and run it down the horn, and what’s really frustrating is, I can’t see any sign of a leaky pad anywhere. Maybe that’s due to my strictly neophyte abilities when it comes to troubleshooting saxophone ailments, but still…not even a pinprick of light shining from one of the palm key pads? Nothing?

    Next step: remove the mouthpiece and check to make sure it’s sealing properly. It is–no problems there. And here’s the interesting part: when I put it back on the saxophone neck, my horn plays just fine–for about fifteen seconds. After that, HHAAARRRRNNKKK!!!

    Nutz. This sucks.

    So I set the alto aside and do the rehearsal using my soprano. I’m not crazy about that option since my intonation on the soprano sax leaves something to be desired, but I don’t have much choice. My alto is unplayable.

    I’m wondering whether a loose cork or something may have lodged somewhere in the horn and is impeding the air stream. Better that than have to take my horn to the shop for repair work that I just don’t have the money for right now. It has only been a few months, after all, since I slapped down $160 to have the sax repadded and ministered unto by my repairman.

    Whatever the problem is, I’ve got to get it fixed by this weekend, because I have two gigs, and one of them is a big band gig that doesn’t give me the liberty of simply swapping the alto for the soprano.

    Ugh. Saxual problems. But they can wait till tomorrow to figure out. I’m done thinking about the matter for today.

    June 5, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Jazz, Music, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

    Going Beyond the Music

    Last night’s rehearsal for our June 11 concert at the Buttermilk Jamboree with Ed Englerth, Alan Dunst, and Don Cheeseman was much more than a shared creative time with three of my favorite musical droogs. Life has been pretty intense lately–financial pressures, Mom recovering from a knee replacement, Lisa struggling with what appears to be a ruptured bicep, physical concerns of my own–and I’d be lying to say that I’ve born it all with a smile on my face. I haven’t. I’ve felt weary, discouraged, and depressed. So reconnecting with the band and working on Ed’s music gave me a badly needed release. I needed to just forget about the rest of life for a while and play my horn with some friends with whom I’ve shared a love of music for many years now under the auspices of Ed’s songwriting.

    Speaking of which, the guy just keeps getting better and better, and so does the band. Ed’s upcoming CD may be his best effort yet, which is saying a hunk considering the benchmark set by his last CD, Restless Ghost. I hope to finally hear the final master tonight, and then I’ll know for sure which album is my favorite. What’s certain is that we pulled out a few extra stops in the studio with this project, including the use of multiple sax tracks to create the effect of an entire sax section. Also, in an unprecedented departure from my die-hard devotion to the alto sax, I played my soprano on a couple tunes. I may have even played it in tune; I’ll find out soon enough.

    But I was talking about how much I needed to tune up, blow some notes, and forget about the rest of life for while. Music is as much a part of life as anything else. In my case, it’s a very good part and a very large part, and I needed to be reminded of that. When I forget what “normal” looks like, nights like last night help me draw back to the center of who God created me to be and reclaim some parts of myself that I sometimes lose track of.

    It seems that I wasn’t the only one. Don and his wife have been going through a difficult, hugely demanding time with their new baby son, who has Down Syndrome and has struggled nonstop with acute allergies. Ed has been dealing with the advancing, age-related health problems of his beloved mother- and father-in-law, who reside with him and his wife, Panda. Alan was the only guy who didn’t seem to have heavy stuff going on in his life at the moment, or if he did, chose not to share. But he’s been through his own fires. We all have, and last night at least three of us were feeling the heat.

    So it seemed that the right thing to do, after we had finished practicing, was spend some time talking and praying together. It’s so easy to just pack up the instruments and head home without ever thinking to pray. But there’s power and healing in the honesty, faith, earnestness, and hope of collectively conversing with our heavenly Father. I would go so far as to say that a band of Christian musicians that bypasses the opportunity to get real with each other and with the Lord is missing what may well be the most vital part of their time together, more important even than the music (though that’s important).

    Real is what the four of us got last night, and it was good. I left feeling not only connected with God and with the guys, but also reconnected with myself. Something about standing humbly and openly in the presence of Jesus has a way of doing that, of reminding me who and Whose I really am. The gloom lifts, the lies and warping influence of the world’s nonstop millrace lose their grip, and I discover once again that quiet place where I can hear God speak. It is a place of peace and a place of power. When David spoke in Psalm 23 of God as the one who restored his soul, I understand what he meant.

    I think, I hope, that all of us last night discovered the potential of prayer and our need to incorporate it into our rehearsals more often. More even than the songs we play and the creative passion we share, the Spirit of Jesus Christ draws us together, and it’s the thing that can take our band to the next level–possibly the next musical level, but more certainly the next level of what God has in mind for us.

    Lord, I thank you for last night’s blessing of connecting with you and with my brothers Ed, Don, and Alan through the gift of heartfelt, down-to-earth, unpretentious prayer. Please look after each of my friends. You know their needs and you know mine. Care for us and our loved ones as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture, for that is who you are: The Good Shepherd. Give us to hear and treasure your voice–for in it, and it alone, is life.

    May 16, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Band, Christian Music, Church Worship, Music, Relationships, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Tonalism: Some Things Don’t Change

    If Western tonalistic music was inaugurated with the publication of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Treatise on Harmony in 1722–a commonly accepted date–then it has now been with us for nearly 300 years. It has been expressed in many different genres, from Baroque, to Classical, to jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and the blues. Yet no matter what garments it wears, no matter how it has been modified and expanded within various musical styles, the eight-tone major/minor scale system with its primarily dominant-tonic harmony has been the underpinning of virtually all popular music.

    I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Not that it needs to; I just can’t fathom how it could do so in any meaningful way. Note the word meaningful. Modern composers have long experimented with alternatives to traditional harmony. It’s just that you don’t find most Americans or Europeans whistling Schoenberg or Indian ragas as they stroll down the sidewalk. And while the rise of “world music” (whatever exactly that is) has awakened at least some Western ears to other possibilities, it can’t match the extent to which Western tonalism has influenced other cultures. I mean, you tell me the difference between Mexican banda music and polka, other than the language. And more contemporarily, popular artists in Asian and Eastern cultures have been founding their careers on the major/minor scale system while preserving distinctive musical elements of their own cultures and languages. (Don’t ask me to name any of these artists; I just know what I’ve listened to on NPR!)

    I found myself thinking about the persistence and ubiquity of Western tonalism as I stood in church last Sunday listening to our worship team play. It struck me how the same tonal relationships not only have been repackaged a seemingly infinite number of times over the centuries, but also how, unless our culture somehow undergoes a complete musical sea change, those same relationships and harmonic formulae will continue to come at us in literally millions of new songs over the coming decades.

    That’s not a bad thing. Rather, it’s a necessary thing. We are steeped in tonalism, not just intellectually but also emotionally. Other approaches may intrigue us, particularly those of us who are jazz musicians and like to reach for different colors and fresh possibilities. But tonalism provides a gut-level sense of center that all of us innately desire, and a vocabulary by which we all can relate to the stories that melody tells.

    Tonalism is in some respects similar to a spoken language. Languages evolve, but they do so slowly and they do so around the edges. The core remains, must remain as a context for any changes to be understood. That’s true of music. While we’re free to experiment, yet the more abstract our experimentation gets, the more that it obscures the core, then the less likely it will be to speak meaningfully to the world at large. I’m all for creative exploration; I’m just pointing out that the average American who cut his or her teeth on Billy Ray Cyrus or Stevie Ray Vaughan isn’t likely to stray far afield when it comes to listening habits. Most folks prefer stuff that’s accessible, visceral, and familiar.

    While technology is racing along in seven league boots, other aspects of our world remain the same. Western tonalism may undergo cosmetic changes, but it still is what it is. It may get stretched, it may try on different clothes, but a flatted fifth will remain a flatted fifth by virtue of how it relates to the 12 tones of the chromatic scale.

    Why did I write about this topic? Because I’m struck not only by the enduring nature of tonalism, but also by our amazing penchant for personalizing it. You’d think we’d have exhausted the possibilities long ago, but uniqueness continues to drift like snowflakes out of the tonal ether. As I stand singing in church, the tune may be the beloved old hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” written nearly 200 years ago, or it may be the recent creation of some contemporary Christian artist. Either way, the tonal foundation is the same. Two hundred years from now, if our Lord tarries and we humans haven’t outright wiped ourselves out, the music we sing will probably still be tonal in its foundations. As with the wheel, zippers, and apple pie, there’s just no need for some things to change.

    May 3, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Band, Christian Music, Jazz, Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Video: One for Daddy-O

    The classic Cannonball Adderly album Something Else includes a wonderful Bb minor blues written by Cannon’s brother, Nat, titled “One for Daddy-O.” The moody head fits the slow, shuffle groove perfectly and sets the tone for some fun improvisation.

    I videotaped this tune with my new Panasonic HDC-TM700 camcorder in my buddy Ed Englerth’s basement studio, Blueside Down, the same evening as I taped “The Summer Knows.” My Band-in-a-Box accompaniment doesn’t capture the original arrangement’s antiphonal quality, but it did what I needed it to for a simple, low-key recording.

    March 22, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Jazz, Music, Recording, Saxophone, Storm Chasing, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

    Video: The Summer Knows by Michel Legrand

    Ever since I heard Phil Woods’ rendition of it, I’ve loved Michel Legrand’s haunting ballad “The Summer Knows.” The theme song for the 1971 movie The Summer of ’42, the tune showcases Legrand’s ability to extract tremendous beauty and emotion from a simple, four-note motif.

    Videotaped with my brand-new Panasonic camcorder in Ed Englerth’s basement studio, here is my version of “The Summer Knows.” Just me on my beloved Conn 6M Ladyface, the trusty Band-in-a-Box orchestra (even gives you string if you want them!), and Ed operating the video camera. Maybe not studio quality, but the internal microphone didn’t do a bad job. I hope you like it!

    March 20, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Music, Recording, Saxophone, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

    Sax at the Park

    Yesterday was gorgeous though a bit chilly–what can you expect in Michigan in mid-March, after all?–and I was anxious to put my new camcorder through its paces. So off to Fallasburg Park I went. Located north of Lowell on the Flat River, the park is a beautiful location adjacent to a historical village complete with a functional and well-trafficked covered bridge.

    I had meant to use my tripod, but when I got to Fallasburg I discovered that I had left behind the plate that screws into the bottom of my camcorder so it can engage with the tripod’s quick release. Fortunately, I was able to induce a young guy who was at the park with his wife and little boy to film me. The result: not too shabby for a whimsical production using an on-the-spot cameraman! Just a little free-form saxophone improvisation–nothing fancy, just fun. Start with a note and then see where it takes you. Pardon the wind noise about halfway through–it was pretty breezy out there.

    This is my first attempt at embedding a video in WordPress. Let’s see how it goes.

    March 19, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Jazz, Michigan, Music, Outdoors, Saxophone, Video Tagged With: , , ,

    The Tritone Scale

    Many years ago, when I first became aware of chord superimposition, I hit upon a unique concept. Inspired by my new awareness of tritone substitution, I thought, What would happen if I took two major triads a diminished fifth apart–C and F#, for example–and crunched all the notes together to form a scale? Wouldn’t that be cool!

    Of course it had already been done, just not by me. My musical innovations tend to be in the same league as my discovering fire, gravity, the wheel, Chicken McNuggets, things like that. In this case, I had stumbled upon the tritone scale, so named for obvious reasons.

    tritone-scale
    Think of a diminished scale with two notes missing, kind of like a smile with a couple teeth knocked out, and you have the tritone scale. The standard C half/whole-step diminished scale consists of the notes C, Db, D#, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C. If you remove the notes D# and A, the result–as shown in the first example (click to enlarge)– is a C tritone scale: C, Db, E, F#, G, Bb, C.

    The tritone scale falls in the class of scales called hexatonic (six-tone), which also includes the augmented, whole tone, and blues scales. Since the tritone scale is derived from two major triads, you’ll of course find those triads contained in it. You’ll also find two dominant seventh chords native to the tritone scale. (See second and third examples.)

    The leap of a minor third between the second and third tones, and between the fifth and sixth tones, renders the tritone scale asymmetrical. That asymmetry lends color to the scale and makes it a good source of angularity. By its nature, the tritone scale will make you think a bit differently than you would if you were using a complete diminished scale–with which, I should add, the tritone scale is interchangeable.

    The last two examples in the image are actually exercises on the tritone scale. The first is a straightforward scale exercise. The second alternates the two triads that are native to the scale, taking you through their different inversions. As always, play each exercise through the full range of your instrument.

    How to use the tritone scale in improvisation

    All that theory is fine, but what about actual application? Naturally you want to know how the tritone scale is used.

    Use it anywhere you would use a whole/half-step diminished scale. The most obvious use is with a V7b9 chord. Since, as I’ve said, the tritone scale is interchangeable with the diminished scale, you can use it with any of four different dominant chords. For instance, you can use the C tritone scale with C7b9, Eb7b9, F#7b9, and A7b9. Note that two of these chords, the Eb7b9 and A7b9, are built upon the “missing notes,” which means you can skate around the chord roots without ever landing on them.

    Tritone scales built on the roots of dominant chords pack the advantage of having the tritone substitution built right into them. The second exercise (last example) demonstrates this beautifully and is one you definitely should get under your fingers.

    The tritone scale also adds interest to minor scales. Use the seventh of the scale as the chord root. Another way of thinking of it is, use the note that’s a major second above the chord root as the tonic of your scale. For example, if the chord is a Bbmin7, use a C tritone scale.

    If you want a good example of the tritone scale in action, the first part of Michael Brecker’s solo on “Quartet Number 3” in the Three Quartets album by Chic Corea is a tritone tour de force.

    And with that, I’ll sign off. Practice hard, experiment, and have fun!

    March 18, 2011 by
    Filed Under: Jazz, Jazz Improvisation and Technique, Music, Saxophone Tagged With: , , , , , ,
    « Previous Page
    Next Page »