Friday, September 30, 2011

Follow up on Rhythmic Ideas

I wanted to follow up on my post of rhythmic ideas with some recordings to demonstrate a few of the concepts.  Rhythm needs to be felt as well as understood, so hopefully these recordings will help.

The following are just a few points from original post found here

Phrasing
  • Try connecting a few melodic ideas you would normally play separately, or just try extending a phrase  farther than you normally would.
                     Extending a phrase.mp3
  • Try playing a series of shorter phrases, or break up a longer phrase into shorter phrases. Also, try breaking up longer phrases by inserting held notes.  
                     Breaking up a phrase.mp3

Cross Rhythms and Polyrhythms
  • Experiment with basic cross rhythms, grouping your 8th notes into melodic ideas that accent every third or fifth note.
                     3 over 4 cross rhythm.mp3    5 over 4 cross rhythm.mp3
  • Try the most basic polyrhythm, triplets. Try playing phrases of continuous triplets instead of 8th notes.
                     8th notes vs. triplets.mp3


Friday, September 23, 2011

Saxophonists Shauli Einav & Matt Marantz

Last week I wrote about Brian Girley, an up and coming saxophonist, and today I want to introduce two more young saxophonists, Shauli Einav and Matt Marantz. These two guys have completely different approaches to music and are both playing on a very high level.

Shauli Einav's Opus One

Shauli Einav's most recent record, Opus One, is a meeting of the jazz tradition and Einav's heritage which he seemingly effortlessly combines in interesting and imaginative ways. Throughout the recording Einav draws from musical elements of Israel, traditional jazz, and from today's jazz. He manages to blend everything without sounding cliche resulting in an original and beautiful album.

The writing on the recording is fantastic. Einav combines his influences writing compelling music that is not predictable and keeps you wanting more. The musical elements drawn from his heritage are incorporated in a way that strengthen the compositions and expand the jazz idiom. Most of the tunes have a memorable and unique approach when compared to each others, which keeps the writing and the record sounding fresh.

Einav's saxophone playing also draws from his various influences. These elements combine to form his very personal voice on the saxophone. While he draws from many places he is still first and foremost a jazz saxophonist, and you can clearly hear his mastery of the jazz tradition. His strengths as a player and a writer, combined with the great playing of his fellow musicians make for a great recording.

Stop by www.shaulimusic.com to find out more about Shauli Einav and get the album.

Matt Marantz' Offering

Offering, Matt Marantz' debut album, serves as a bold statement of his musical personality. The music is clearly drawn from the more recent generation of jazz, and Marantz creates its beauty through its depth of harmonic and melodic language. Marantz has painted a complex soundscape matching his modern yet very approachable aesthetic.

Marantz' saxophone playing is on display in this record. He has mastered the saxophone to the point that he effortlessly communicates his musical ideas with ease and beauty throughout the record. His improvisation draws from today's genre of saxophone playing, and his approach to sound is clear, emotive and never sullied. His playing is one of the strongest aspects of the record, and the record is worth checking out just for that alone.

The band is tight and comfortably weaves through all of Marantz' intricate compositions. Each member makes a strong contribution to the album. Most importantly, Marantz leads and shapes the group with his impelling compositions and excellent playing.

Go to http://www.mattmarantz.com to grab the album.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Tito Puente Masterworks Live & Brian Girley's Faith

I'd like to share that a recording I performed on, ‎"Tito Puente Masterworks Live!!!", was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album at this years Latin Grammys. I'm excited to have performed on a nominated album! Click here to see the nominees.

I also wanted to share an amazing record with you from a saxophonist of the up and coming generation.

Brian Girley's Faith
Faith is Girley's debut recording as a leader and is an impressive fusion of his melodic and singable writing with the virtuoso and intense solos from the entire group. The recording is multifaceted and represents a range of influences. It remains deep, complex, and musical, while still appealing to the general listener.

Girley's musical instincts are on display throughout the record. Both his improvisations and compositions have beautiful architecture which ebbs and flows in a way that keeps the listener interested and engaged. Brian is a fantastic soloist as well. His melodic lines, harmonic approach, and intensity serve as a sure foundation to his improvisation. Go check it out... now!

Featured on the record are cohorts Julian Shore, Gilad Hekselman, Linda Oh, and Ross Pederson.

You can hear the music and get it directly from Brian's website here.

Track Listing:
1 Could Be Something
2 Bass Intro
3 My Cross to Bare
4 Faith I
5 Judas Kiss
6 Faith II "the backsliders prayer"
7 Mating Complex
8 Cover 2
9 Enduring


Friday, September 2, 2011

Rhythmic Ideas for Improvisation

Sometimes players spend a lot of time learning harmony, scales, and related concepts for improvisation, but they don't always spend enough time developing their rhythmic command. Today I wanted to give you some different ideas for practicing and expanding the rhythmic element of your improvisations.

Syncopation and Articulation

Time feel is defined in part by the which notes are articulated and accented. Here are some simple ideas to expand your ability to articulate and accent in different ways:
  • Practice the most basic jazz articulation, tonguing the upbeats.
  • Grab an omnibook or transcribe one of Charlies Parker's solos, and play along with the recording. Make sure you are articulating and accenting along with him. You'll find he alternates between upbeats and downbeats depending on the phrase.
  • Experiment with some of your favorite melodic ideas, accenting their various peaks (like Charlie Parker often did). Experiment accenting other notes in the phrase instead. The more you familiarize yourself with the possibilities you'll find combinations you like and come back to.
  • Try tonguing every third note, which creates a 3 over 4 cross rhythm.
  • Experiment with different kinds of articulations in various combinations including legato, staccato, or tonguing every note in a given phrase.
These concepts can all be heard in the solos of rhythmic players like Parker, Rollins, and Potter.

Phrasing

The rhythm of a phrase is equally as important as its melodic contour. Following are some techniques for developing the rhythmic framing of your melodic ideas.
  • Try starting on different points in the measure including each beat (1, 2, 3, 4) and the & of each beat as well.
  • Practicing beginning your phrases with different rhythmic values including eighth notes, quarter notes, longer held notes, and various triplets.
  • Make sure you punctuate your melodic ideas. Give each phrase an ending, as opposed to playing running 8th notes ad nauseum. 
  • Also, experiment ending the phrase at different points in the measure and ending with different rhythmic values.
  • Try connecting a few melodic ideas you would normally play separately, or just try extending a phrase  farther than you normally would.
  • Try playing a series of shorter phrases, or break up a longer phrase into shorter phrases. Also, try breaking up longer phrases by inserting held notes.  
These techniques are meant to give you more possibilities. Take what you like and throw out what you don't.

Cross Rhythms and Polyrhythms

Cross rhythms can easily add intensity and energy to a solo while polyrhythms add another level of rhythmic interest.
  • Experiment with basic cross rhythms, grouping your 8th notes into melodic ideas that accent every third or fifth note.
  • Try the most basic polyrhythm, triplets. Try playing phrases of continuous triplets instead of 8th notes.
  • Now play cross rhythms with your polyrhythms. Group your triplets into melodic ideas that accent every second, fourth or fifth note (Ouch!). Also, try articulating every other triplet note similar to a basic jazz articulation.  
If you've made it this far you should be able to think of some other things to try out all by your lonesome.

To finish it out, here is a solo over a Bb blues where I use a fair amount of the above ideas.