MJJ Sep5, 2011

Friday at the Leinster

Louis arrived with Anna who has promised to sing next time. Louis also arrived with another instrument, a clarinet. Does this man play everything? Well actually he told me he does not play bass, although he does have a bass but he doesnt play it much. Juan from Colombia has only been in Melbourne 12 days. He brought his trumpet and a lot of enthusiasm and energy to the jam. Noel helped out with cool solos and charts in the right key while Jack was (?) Jack. Singing, dancing and yes playing trombone. Later a young girl who was not completely intoxicated was dancing to the band of jammers. What would Hortense think? We had a new drummer (sorry I have forgotten your name) who is going to bring his own sticks next time but probably did not notice that he was sitting on a new drum stool. (Remember the other one got broke at our August xmas party.) Ted took over on keys from myself by which time we had an audience and Collingwood were getting thrashed. The audience had stopped in to get takeaway and enjoyed the music so much she rang her Hungarian Gypsy pianist husband to come down and listen. She particularly liked the blend of youth and older gentlemen. Does anyone know any of the latter? A bit later Anne Smith arrived and cranked up the tempo again singing Fascinatin Rhythm, How High the Moon and Devil May Care amongst others. This at the same time as taking over the drumset and giving it you know what. Meanwhile Col had been playing all night and only stopped to text a friend so that he could attend another session that same weekend.

Diana Krall
(Wikimedia Commons licensed)

Posted on the website

This item was posted on the website and I thought some of our readers may not have seen it yet. why dont u get a real jazz experienced musician or singer to write an article on techniques advice,maybe books that can help our craft and maybe teacherssome people haven t got a clue about improvisingmaybe a mention of steve sedergreens book and a overview of it..also working with a metronome,maybe a review of current jazz c d s and ratingsjohn perri musician..

The Leinster Arms Hotel

66 Gold Street, Collingwood For dinner bookings phone 9417 5720

www.leinsterarms.com.au

Steve Ouimette

Jam Sessions at the Leinster Arms Hotel Friday 7:00pm till late Sunday from 4pm

Just to express appreciation of this week's inclusion of the advice from Steve Ouimette - it gains added weight when one considers he is mainly esteemed for his work in rock and heavy metal styles. Not usuallly areas which receive this care and attention locally, in my listening experience. More power to his bow!!! (I know, I know, he doesn't use a bow on guitar . . .)

Which leads on to distant recollections of: Victorian country town in early 1950's - most popular purchase from the local music store was by far cheap Spanish guitars to accompany the emerging Country & Western yodellers. Most of whom lived or worked on outlying farms. Didn't get back into town for weeks at a a time, but when they did they brung their gittah back in to the shop to get it tuned just in case - they were unsure whether it needed it or not!! Must have been very hard on the sheep!! Cheers Zoot More of Steve on the following pages, ed

Jammers Newsletter
The Newsletter informs interested people of Jazz Jammers events, CD launches and jam sessions. It reviews past sessions, promotes events being put on by Jammers and encourages people to get involved in live performance. It also provides an informative and friendly network for musicians and followers of jazz.

The Jam Sessions

The jams feature a blend of accomplished musicians and those beginning their jamming careers. A great opportunity to drop in, meet other musicians, blow your heart out on your favourite tune or kick back and listen in. The music may be good, bad or bebop, swing, blues, latin or lousy anything can happen and often does! All are welcome. Bring charts, instruments, voices. 2

from the editor

How High the Moon

One of my standard reference works is Alec Wilders book American Popular Song. The title is a bit of misnomer as it is actually more about show tunes than what today we might understand as popular song. The songs How High the Moon and Devil May Care were called by Anne Smith on Friday night at the Leinster. The first written by Morgan Lewis and as explained by Wilder is from a Broadway revue Two for the Show from 1940. For years it was the most played tune in jazz, its chord progressions supplying the harmonic basis for a number of new bop tunes. The chord structure is highly unusual although it is basically a very simple song. Wilder illustrates how the song moves from one key to another over 13 bars. The sequence when written out is quite logical. The original chords are Gmaj, G min, C7, F maj, - (II, V, I) F min, Bb7, Eb maj, - (II, V, I) C min, D7, G min, - (II, V, I) C min 6 and then back to G maj There are three II, V, I sequences in there before the Cmin6 takes you back to Gmaj. The keys move from Gmajor, down a tone to Fmajor, down a tone to Ebmajor and up a third to Gminor before back to Gmajor. If only I had know all that when I first tried to sight read it! As for Devil May Care see Diana Krall at this site, she seems to know quite a bit about how to play and sing it. http://youtu.be/Osc8B9HJNd4 Feedback or comments can be emailed to melbournejazzjammers@gmail.com Rob McCue 5 Sep 2011

A snippet from Marg . . . There were some lovely people to chat to in the audience on Sunday. Kay's dad and Lyn, Ben - minus harp - and his mum Heather, Kevin B's wife Marion, the lovely Di, Bette and husband Rod and the rest of the motley crew! An early finish, then off to the Jammers favorite hangout 88 Victoria Street - for a slapup Vietnamese meal and lots of Lambrusco, a lovely way to wind up a super Fathers Day! Mx

Jamming without instruments

Marg has supplied this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep9Z3hWez6s and this Deano and Frank rippin' through the classics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq8hIQvq4LU&feature=related All we need now is jamming without music, although . . .

Have an enews item? Send by Monday night to

melbournejazzjammers@gmail.com

Jammers website
http://melbournejazzjammers.com/

Last week we had numbers one to five of Ten Things all Gutiarists should be able to do. Recapping they were 1. Stay in key. 2. Tune up 3. Hold your notes 4. Incorporate vibrato 5. Pay attention to phrasing this week we have the other five.

TenThings All Guitarists Should Be Able to Do (contd)

10 things that amateur guitarists can do to play more like a pro. An article by Steve Ouimette. It was overwhelming how many fundamental aspects of playing seemed to be overlooked. Heres what I witnessed on the local level. Its not a representation of everything thats out there, but it hasnt been pretty. Therefore Im compelled to present my list of 10 things every guitarist should be able to do. Its not too tall of an order, but it is an important list.

6. Dial in Great Tone

Dial in great tone, even if its not your rig. Guess what? Sometimes you wont have your main rig with you. Maybe its a backline rental, maybe youre at a jam night, or maybe you need to use a different rig while yours is in the shop. So many guitarists Ive met dont even know how to dial in a good tone, regardless of whether its their own amp or belongs to somebody else. Take the time to understand what those knobs do. Too much 4

treble? Back it off. More power tube saturation? Crank it up. Do you understand how a master volume works? These are all things that should be the most basic of skills mastered as a guitar player and used to your benefit. Amps are built (for the most part) to be inspiring and offer an extension to your hands, not just to make notes louder.

7. Play a Few More Licks

Play a few more licks. It doesnt take a lot of effort to expand your licks base. We have more than enough places to learn from these days, and while its easy to get stuck in the comfort zone, there is no reason you couldnt add a dozen new licks each week. Spend some time breaking out of the box and dazzling your listeners and bandmates by sprinkling some newness on them. Oh yeah, dont just string em together either. Refer back to #5 and make them part of a story, otherwise theyre just a bunch of phrases tied together with no purpose.

8. Nail Your Timing

Nail your timing. Play with the band - they are there for a reason. Im not sure whats going on - perhaps too many people are segmenting themselves off in their bedrooms or something like that - but Ive never heard so many players sound like theyre not even in the same room as the rest of the band. Its as if theyve stopped listening and are just playing in a vacuum! Ahead of the beat, behind the beat, and everywhere in between. You have to listen to each other and play off of each other. This is music folks, not just a platform to show off the new licks out of context. Open your ears and feel the music. Like The Force, it is there to guide you.

9. Balance Your Volume with the Band

Balance your volume with the band. Yes, you can do this from the stage. Even if you dont get a soundcheck, its imperative that you have your volume balanced with the band. Drop the ego and make sure you can hear everything. If youve got a wireless, youre in better shape because you can drop off the stage and listen from the audiences perspective. Yes, the soundman has a job to do but you can help by not making it impossible on him. I know you love your new Dumble, but make an honest assessment of your volume situation and keep it in check. Trust me, no matter how great that new amp sounds, nobody is going to care if youre just blowing doors down to show it off and drowning out the rest of the band in the process. Oddly enough, Ive never heard a guitarist that wasnt loud enough in the stage mix, unless his amp wasnt big enough. How strange.

10. And the Granddaddy of them All

And the granddaddy of them all: Dont saw the lady in half first! A long time ago, my first guitar teacher told me that a soloist is a lot like a magician - they both have a bag of tricks. The best magicians know how to pace the show. Start with a card trick here, maybe a little cup and ball trick followed by something like a disappearing rabbit. You get the idea. You never see the magician start the show off by sawing the lady in half. Thats saved for the finale (unless hes really good and has a better trick up his sleeve). Do the same as a player. If you blow your wad in the first 10 seconds, youll wow the crowd once, but put them to sleep for the rest of the night when you cant deliver beyond that. By the way, notice how I waited for #10 to saw the lady in half? Its magic! Steve Ouimette is a lifelong guitarist, gearhead and studio fanatic. He runs Steve Ouimette Studios and writes music for video games, film and television. You can find him online at steveouimette.com and facebook.com/steveouimette.