Singer Songwriters.

  I ain't gonna lie. There is nothing more that I admire than a person who can get up on stage in front of people with their instrument and sing songs they've written. I don't even need to like their vibe or material, just the act of doing so gets me. And yeah, once in a blue moon (literally tonight!) I do this. Get up in front of strangers and sing a song I've written. I'm always stunned at how loud the microphone is. I can feel every nerve in my body when I sing, and every second feels alive. It's the most psychedelic experience I know. It's terrifying.

  And I'll be doing it more and more. What else is there to do? I'm astounded every time I hear any applause. And I like bringing things to the table that people feel good about. That's what it's all about, just being of service.

  It was a strange day. My dad's in the hospital, my uncle is going in the ground tomorrow, the family dog is in the doggy hospital, my aunt was in the hospital, my car needs $1200 worth of work to be legal in NYC, I don't have a lady so no lady left me but all the cliche blues material happened in one day. Some days I get reminded I just am not in control of anything thank God. I'm just grateful I have music and a few friends.

JB

  

It's okay to say no, you aren't going to crush my spirit! (Rant!!!!)

  So I'm going through the process of looking for drummers to fill our needs in a new project. Here is a peculiar thing that I've noticed happening in our world for the last 20 years: person expresses an interest before and after hearing the music, I get excited and then.....nothing happens. Person disappears. No returned phone call, no text, no email, time feels wasted and I feel dis-respected.

  I don't know what this is about but it feels like our crappy "I don't want to hurt anyones feelings" culture today. I first encountered this when I moved to Portland 20 years ago. I played with so many folks who seemed excited and said "that rocked, let's jam again". By the 3rd un-returned phone call I just had to give up. How can one be so dis-honest? If you don't want to commit, or you don't like it, or you don't like me just say so. It's not going to kill me or stop me from pursuing this vision. Just be honest.

  Around 2007 I walked into a new bar that served great macaroni and cheese on Mississippi Ave and spotted a bartender I met during my early Portland years. She was a bassist I jammed with in 1996. I sat quietly waiting for my order and she kept looking at me. She finally said to me "you look familiar, do I know you?" and I replied "we've met, your name is Mary and you were married to a guy named Heath. He played drums and you played bass and you had just moved to Portland from Florida and were starting a band and we jammed one night and afterward you and Heath said thank you for coming over but you aren't what we are looking for." She looked stunned and said "damn you have a good memory!" I said "no, actually my memory is pretty crappy. It's just that in that time I had just moved here and jammed with a lot of folks and you and Heath were the only folks who were honest with me. I was really grateful about that so you 2 were the only ones worth remembering!"

  They were cool. I'd love it if all of us could be so brave.

J

So if you're gonna talk during the music....

  Tonight Gardens played at Manhattan Inn. Good set, totally different vibe from last week in the room. People just couldn't stop talking. We aren't a loud group so at points it drowned us out. The music deejayed in would bury us. But you know, we accept that it's a bar and people want to talk to one another. Unless you are a balls out rock band that buries the chit chat sounds, this is what you get sometimes.

  The table behind my head was good and loud. Conversation was about how much better Super Mario Cart is than just the regular Mario Brothers games. You know, if you are going to talk during my set, please at least be into something deep. It's kind of embarrassing.

  But then I remembered a great moment in one of the first Evolutionary Jass Band gigs with Bob on bass (yes, he played bass tonight too!). It must have been about 2004 at Holocene in Portland, Oregon. Keelin was playing tenor in the group. We never used a P.A. system and opted for just the room sound instead. Anyway, we kicked off the first song and a young lady about 5 feet in front of us continued her cellphone conversation as if there was no band at all. Keelin approached her with her old Martin tenor sax: "HONK HONK, HONK HONK HONK!!!!" She literally chased the lady out of the room, followed her to the door sounding like an angry Canadian Goose. She became my instant hero right then and there. True punk rock spirit! No tact, no 'political correctness', no jive. Just solve the damn problem!

  That was 11 years ago, a few years before the smartphone. Oh my how we've sunk since then. Does anyone remember what it was like to have an attention span?

J

I forgot I was a musician for a moment, and it was really good.

  Things have been tough recently. New York can be really lonely at times despite the sheer amount of human energy. My debit card was compromised for the 2nd time in a month, I've had all kinds of doubts about my abilities as a musician and generally been asking what am I doing? What is this all for?

  I went to Prospect Park, beautiful place but full of families. Not really a single guy spot where I need inspiration. Sure, I'd like a family and all that but I still need my dose of chaos. That's what Washington Square Park is for.

 I enter on the northwest side and immediately I'm met with a good old sketchy dude trying to sell me weed. Ah....this is more like it. I love saying no to those cats. It's funny and they are always there. The park is alive with music and dance. I hear a joyful noise from across the way so I follow it. Sounds like a jazz band but playing music I truly enjoy, good southern greasy New Orleans jazz.

  I sit down and take it in. This band is celebrating 16 years of playing in the park every weekend. My feet are tapping, an old man is tap dancing, people are smiling and for a few minutes not only did I forget all my petty little 20th century prosperous country problems, I forgot I was a music maker. Their sound filled my heart. I didn't finger saxophone notes compulsively and try to 'figure out' what the tenor man was doing. I became the music. That's rare. Especially with jazz today though they were playing jass.

  I had my guitar with me. My intent was to play in the park. Instruments attract musicians. A guy sat down next to me. Ruh Roh........

  "Hey did you notice that there was something out of tune during the head?" this guy ask. "What?" I ask. "Did you notice they had some intonation problems when they were all playing together?"
"Um, it's jazz." I replied. "Well I just wanted to hear it be more in tune" he says. "Um, they sound like they are having a blast up there, that's all that matters to me bro".

  He tried to carry on a conversation but I hit the ignore button. Gave the band a nice tip when the hat man came around and my new friend left.

  Then, all I could notice was how out of tune they were. Especially the guy playing a trumpet and flugelhorn, AT THE SAME TIME! I just kept noticing the pitch issues again and again, then saying "but how the $#&@ does that man play 2 brass instruments at once, that's amazing! And my fingers try to compulsively figure out what the tenor player is doing.

  So to you musicianers out there. If you see a man sitting in the park smiling on a sunny day tapping his feet to some happy music and he has a guitar or sax or piano or freaky hair, and you feel like you need to share some negative perfectionist thoughts with him and think that maybe you'll make a new ally by co-bashing the band in front of you, please shut up. Don't say a word. I will slap you. Hard. You won't like it but some day you will understand and maybe even be grateful. Leave a smiling man or woman alone unless you have something positive to say! You didn't ruin my day, you didn't ruin my life, but you messed up a moment that I needed. I hope that some other day I forget I make music and lose that division. That was one great feeling and I am grateful to have had it.

J

The blues, criticism and fearback.

  Things have been going swimmingly lately. My confidence in my playing and projects has been soaring. Progress being made, and progress for me is the key to human happiness. That feeling that you are going somewhere. I laid down tracks for a demo 2 weeks ago and couldn't sleep for 2 days after I was so ecstatic. It's just a lovely piece and I can hardly wait to finish it with vocals and all.

  I was dancing in the streets. I could see, feel, hear and smell the vision. Not a fantasy. Not a delusion. I know the difference. When it's just so engulfing, it's vision.

  Then a couple days later the critic speaks. This time it wasn't that nasty drunk at the back of the bar in my head, it was a friend. For the last 10 days it's been the blues. I can't play. I can't write. What I do is trite. Middle of the road. Sounds like Jazz. I want to sell my saxophones and move to the woods, smoke mushrooms and collect a government check if possible.

  Is that what I really want to do? Hell no. I want to be free to be who I am and play the way I play and evolve on my own time. I enjoy this life. The blues don't last forever.

  The problem with criticism is this. The critic is trying to help but what they are often saying is this: "If I were to do it I would do it like this". Another person doesn't live in your head. They can't possibly know what is going on in your life, what you are dreaming. All they know is their own version of perfection and sometimes what I may be doing brings up some fear in another person. Embarrassment of me, or fear I'm just delusional and won't stack up to another. It's really not my problem. It's their problem. Oh, I don't mind feedback, I encourage it. But when it's full of fear, it's not feedback. It's fearback.

  Several time in my life I've been told how I 'should' play. It's a bummer. I live in between. I'm proud to say I don't consider myself a jazz player. In fact I really don't enjoy the 'pro' player vibe. What I do will always have roots. Blues, Arab blues, Jewish blues, American blues, Roma blues, it's the stuff I've digested. It's just feeling music to me, or soul music. When I first started playing the horn I was in a group that had a lot of ESP Disk inspired folk and free jazz mix. I was encouraged to "just pick up where Coltrane left off" by a few colleagues. Man, screw that. I'm going to pick up where I left off which is the beginning of my journey. How do I get the sound I want? What is my C major scale? How do I put what I learned on guitar for years on to this horn? I actually found that feedback offensive. I did many sessions where I worked hard on an idea to just be told "hey man can you just freak out on my indie song? Like Ayler?" I'm not a free jazz player. Those guys came to that conclusion on their own back in the day. And it was a beautiful day at that. But it's not my day. My day, my story, it's different. It's my own. Is it 100% original? No. Nothing ever is. Especially fear.

  Isn't that the nature of fear? Fear is always old. I'm afraid you'll embarrass yourself like I did once. I'm afraid I'll get hurt again if I start dating, perform in a club, take a class of go to the gym. It's old. It's already happened. Let it push up dandelions.

  At one other point in my life I worked 2 years on a project only to be told to abandon melody and rhythm and 'play free' or my partner in crime would leave. Um, go ahead and leave. I still love you. And that is not a bold move to me to play 'free'. It's rooted in fear. There is no risk involved for me. I've sold 37 records to free music fans. I would like to know what it's like to sell 37,000 records or way more to people I'll never meet or friend on Facebook. That's a risk. No dis-respect to those 37 fans. Life for me is about trying something new beyond music. It's about putting as much light in this world as I can as a decent human being. And that is what I intend to do. When I die I want my potential to be completely exhausted. I want to reach as many folks as possible. It's only logical, I kinda do make folk music, or music for folks. It's my responsibility as an artist. It's my duty as an artist....

J

Winter project: re-pad this old King Zephyr!

  It's been a tough winter here in the Big Apple. Tough for me and tough for many of my friends as well. I'm not satisfied with my creative output, been a bit of a struggle to get out of the house. So when the weather insist on being bad (today is lovely!) I need other things to do. This is one of those things.

  Did my first re-pad. Why? the motivation is to learn how to do my own adjustments and fix minor problems on my own horns. I have that kind of mind and this type of work is expensive. I chose this horn on Ebay, it's a 1935 model with the single socket neck and single strap ring hook, chose it cause it was in good shape with no dents and the price was pretty darned cheap. It's a re-lacquer though from what I can tell it was probably just a lacquer. The engraving is super sharp with no signs of buffing. They did make these horns available as bare brass, that was an option. Someone along its 80 year journey had lacquer applied which is the smart thing to do. Protects the metal and keeps your hands from smelling like a machine shop after every practice session!

I also chose this cause it was cheap and I may sell it but after playing it for a while last night it may need to stay with me. It's really good. I like the way these horns look: smart and modern and they feel that way under the hands too.

  So why do my own re-pad, what other reasons besides I'm bored, depressed and don't have the dough and it's winter time? Well, a bit of history. The 3 tenors I've played that made me the most excited were in this order: A King Zephyr from 1950, I Selmer Balanced Action from 1938 and an early 40's Buescher 400. Funny that none of these were Conns which is what I played on for many years.

  I told myself if I ever found a King Zephyr that was as good as the first one I tried (over-priced at $3200 in 2005!) I would buy it. Well, I tried many, including a few Super 20 horns that did nothing for me. Some had really peculiar intonation, others including a very expensive Super 20 were dull as dishwater. Not tone, life, no excitement. I was hooked on the size of the 20's Conn sound but wanted something more modern. The Selmer was a cool $4850 in 2005 and they have gone up. Same horn is close to $9k now. Oh, if cost were no object I'd do it and God willing, that won't be an issue forever, but I can't see myself taking a ten grand horn to the gigs I play and well, I don't need one really.

  I've been trying some new horns out: P Mauriat, Tenor Madness (the best I've tried!) and some new Selmer. They all feel tankish to me. I don't want my horn to be a tank. Heavy build psychologically means heavy tone and heavy playing. I want to get away with that. Tonally those new horns sound like my Buescher, not even close to the Selmers they so try to emulate. They lack finesse, excitement.

  So the King seems the way for me to go. I tried a really beat Balanced Action and really liked it. The Selmer horns have a nice 'bite' to them that my sound, no matter what I do, lacks.

  I re-padded this with Music Medic pads with nylon resonators. That's a part of how my mind works. I've played a lot of horns and the ones that grab me, none of them have metal resos. A king is a tad bright so this mellows it out a bit. The sound gets bigger when pushed, not thinner. If I could re-do my Buescher this way without the 'collector' anxiety bs and those snappo resonators, I would do it in a snap (pun intended!). The worst sounding horns I have played have those ugly star resonators. I don't know if it's psychological or what, but to me the warmth is compromised with those big star things.

  So far I'm really digging this horn. It's a smaller bore than I'm used to. The sound is more compact and the response is fast. It still has some timing issues I need to address but they are getting worked out bit by bit. This horn is powerful. These old Kings have a reputation for dodgy intonation. Not the case with this one. Now that I've spent some time with it I find it easy to play in tune. I'm using an Otto Link Super Tonemaster 8. I have played other kings that liked to go sharp in the upper register. This one stays in tune really well. Quite the opposite of my old Conns which liked to blow sharp. Those did me well since they forced me to relax or I wouldn't be in tune! If I'm all tight, my sound goes out the window!

One thing I really do like about this horn is how even it is. The high end doesn't thin out like some tenors do. It stays strong. I also like the keywork. Easiest glissando I've ever had. Very smooth and nice and light. The weight is on the lighter side too. I was always convinced that a horn needed to be heavy for it to be really good. My neck doesn't like that philosophy. An old Selmer feels light in the hand (Balanced Action? No one has made a more fluid horn than that!), and so does this horn.
It has that perfect tenor 'angry' midrange that I like. It sounds like I mean business!

Art Deco is sexy........

J

2/19/15 There is nothing more that I love

  There is nothing more that I love than creating music. Nothing. I spent hours creating horn parts, layering harmonies on top of one another the other night. Technology amazes me. I'm not even that good at using Pro-Tools. I still approach it like a fancy four-track.

  Doing this kind of work I know I'm in harmony with reality, nature and my true self. Time stops. I lose physical hunger and that gets replaced with a perfect hunger. All my petty problems melt away and the big, bad world with all of it's division and meanness simply vanishes.

  I'm in love with my 2 projects. Something I haven't felt for a very, very long time. I question some days if New York is good for me. It's so expensive to have space, there is so much stress here, so much ambition then I realize, New York is right now for me. Not much else matters. I like the now. The past is a dead thing, the future hasn't been written yet. When creating music I'm in love with the now and nothing else matters.

J

2/12/15....nervous gig

  Did a gig tonight. I think it went well. Hired gun gig. Don't really enjoy those. Learn some songs and play at a tiny joint called Pete's Candy. Every mistake becomes epic in my mind. "I'm no pro, who am I kidding?" Funny how the mind works like that, at least this mind does. Beat myself to death over a wrong chord. Perfectionism=the death of my own good nature. All that Berklee memory rushes to the front of my head and I start to judge the people around me. That 18 year old college boy inside me is hurt and scared and now that he lives in a 40+ year old body, he can't even express himself musically or with cocky scared schoolboy language.

  Thank god he can't open his mouth. I get to tell him what I wish someone told me back then: just listen and learn and do what you really want to do. There is love for your truth. Start by loving you dude.

  Oh well. Anyway, the audience enjoyed it and we did play well. And one mission was accomplished: I got to expand my circle of people. Make new connections, that sorta thing. It's not all just about music. It was a one night stand for me, all I can do at this point is focus on the 2 wonderful meals on my plate already. I am inspired by the hard work the other folks put into it and the assembly of a vision. That's enough. I dig it and I'm grateful to have served!

J

2/10/15....breakthroughs!

   It's been a minute since I've been on this page. Last month was January, my least favorite month. All those cheerful Christmas lights are gone and New York just looks drab and ugly. Plus, sick students, sick clients=NO MONEY! February is already way better and I'm glad I've made it to month number 2!

  Had a great performance on Saturday at Troost with Gospel of Mars. I want more performances for us. It's a good band. I have a lot of fun with us. Plus, I like being the only act on a bill. I like playing 2 sets. First set was all about the fireworks, the second was about the subtlety. By set 2 I'm usually in a state of surrender. Not unlike exercising. You get past a point where "I'm tired" doesn't have any meaning any longer. Next day I couldn't do anything except watch a Zombie Apocalypse show. Completely exhausted but in a satisfying way. 2 sets will do that. I want to give all of me away.

 


   Last night I had a good practice session on my horn. I had one major, well, 2 major breakthroughs. First was quite simple: I've been playing on this metal Otto Link mouthpiece, a #8 model. I really like it but have been getting this 'chirp' I don't like and its also quite easy for it to Kirk out and jump octave, squeak and all that stuff. I was about to send it off to my fellow in Portland for inspection/perfection when he suggested a couple things. Problem solver: ligature needed to be tighter. Twist of a screw and more practice. No more chirps, squeaks and my tone immediately got darker and more centered, just how I like it.

  I am the master of the $1000 solution to the $4 problem. This one cost me nothing but the willingness to experiment.

  Breakthrough 2: My high G# popped out. And then it popped out again, and again, then I managed to sustain it. My high G started to happen too. High F#, A, Bb, B, C, C#, and D are easy now, but that break point. Let me just tell you. I don't have the best practice habits, this I admit. But it's taken me a decade of reaching for those notes to get them, and they are getting easier every time. That feels so good, real boost of confidence!!!


   My highest notes on soprano are popping now too. I don't take soprano so seriously but still, I've had my lovely 'fish horn' since 1999 and it's taken me until now to nail high Eb-F.

  Need to celebrate that good stuff!!!

J

Photos: Efrian Gonzales

1/24/15, Gardens horn tracking...can't get enough.

Having one of those nights. It's 4am and I can't stop listening to this new track. We did the vocals last night in my apartment and tonight I recorded horns. Just needs trumpet and flute....

Just keep saying "damn".

This is going to be a sexy album. That's the vibe. I like making music for people to, um, create to.

Been watching the Twilight Zone, the original Rod Serling version of course, what else is there? I think it's having an influence. More than music. The last 4 episodes were pure poetry. Beautiful.

A message to just be cool and handle life with care.

Love to you all, J

1/21/15 Gospel of Mars creating session. My soprano is back!

Got my soprano saxophone back from being repaired at KB Saxophone services in Long Island City. Those of you who don't know Kim, he runs a world class out fit.

http://www.kbsax.com/

Aaron and I had a session tonight that we kept nice and minimal. I played my soprano only tonight. Good to play something different. Soprano kinda forces me to take a different approach all together. Mine is quiet powerful, an old Martin from the 1920's. When I bought it 15 years ago it outdid many other horns costing far more. But what I like the most about it is I can not for the life of me get that saccharine smooth jazz sound out of it. I'm sure a better horn player than I can do that but the other horns I played at the time, they seemed to love that more than they loved my concept. I get a really big and clear tone from this horn, very eastern. May be the best five hundred Washingtons I've ever spent.

I tend to play less notes on the soprano and it's easier for me to get inside the feelings I am working with. Tonight I worked with some 4 note scales. That kind of simplicity makes better music for me at times. Music thrives in constraints for me, and almost always dies in freedom. I like boundaries. They force me to explore rhythm deeper than me using all 12 notes.

J

1/22/15 Got my computer back and went to work recording.

I was sitting in my room last week thinking "God, what do I need to put down to move forward?" In other words what kind of addictive behavior is holding me back. I knew the answer but like it too much to admit it.

Half an hour later I heard this "klunk". I looked to my left slowly and saw that my MacBook Pro had fallen about off of a little box housing a Dremel tool. A distance of about 4 inches. I had this feeling of "well, that did it" and sure enough an hour later the screen went blank, I turned it off and back on and it just made this sad "beep..........beep.........beep........beep".

Well, I asked and there I had my answer. Netflix.

So it's been away from me for a few days. I immediately felt a sense of calm. This month has been really slow financially. Very little work coming my way. I don't need Mercury in Retrograde to send me a big repair bill.

Fortunately it appears it was just a loose connection inside. Mikeys Hookup rocks for taking care of my computer. And it was a good little break. I need better boundaries around my BBC mystery time. I have albums to make. I have deadlines.

So tonight I dug right in. I had the flu last week or some kind of nasty bug so I feel good today. I'm working on some more music for Gardens. Recorded some basic tracks on one song and started another.

I love overdubbing. There is nothing quite like layering for me. I love Pro Tools for that.

And most importantly, this record is going to be good. Really good. I can feel it. Damn I'm happy tonight.

Progress feels good. It's the key to human happiness, or at least my own happiness. Between this and the new direction Gospel of Mars is going in, I've never been happier in music. 2015 will have some good releases from this camp. Stay tuned!

J

1/14/15 Gospel of Mars rehearsal, really, really good rehearsal.

  Good day today. Union Pool contacted me and said they will have us play, just need to pick a time. This is a good boost, I've been trying to book the Gospel at the Pool for a while. I really love that room. So end of March we should be preaching there.

  Tonight we had a great rehearsal. It's important to cut loose and try new things. We played a really quiet set tonight in the lab, Aaron brought out a secret instrument that really set a great foundation for some really interesting music. I know things are good when it's easy for me to have sonic ideas, not just fixating on the notes but getting into the feelings, forgetting that I'm just a person with an instrument in my hands. That's real music. Doesn't happen all the time. Tonight was inspired. More soon......

We've been exploring some free form pieces. I don't really enjoy that for the most part but what has been happening with us is we've been finding themes, little motifs to play around with. Things sound composed, or maybe we've just gotten good in the vibe department. Yeah, I'm way happy with our free musics.

  Come see our secret instrument Saturday February 7th at Troost on Manhattan ave, 9pm. That's going to be a stellar evening. We are hungry and so are you. Troost is the filling station for the soul that night. Can I get an amen?

J

Why isn't jazz more popular these days? Ask a teenager!

  The other day I was teaching a student the chords to "Minor Swing" by Django Reinhardt. You know, those minor 6th gems that bring out the sadness and terror we experience in life. She likes the song, calls it "the spooky jazz song" and while she is reluctant to improvise, every time she does she says: "now that wasn't half as terrible as I thought it would be!" Really, what she does sounds good to me. If she is interested in pursuing it she may become really fabulous at it.

  My student is 15. She leans towards Nu Metal but does have broad musical taste. I can feel that resistance to the J word so I told the joke: "How does one make a million dollars in jazz?" We know the punchline but her punchline was far more, well, I agree with her: "Invent a time machine and go back 60 years!"

  Ouch. In case you were wondering, the punchline is "start with 2 million."

  So I come across these dialogues many times over. "Why isn't jazz more popular today?" and they almost always degenerate to picking on Wynton, Kenny G, Jazz Education, lack of education, people are stupid nowadays and don't have good taste. Lady Gaga ate up all the funding. Sour grapes and more sour grapes. I have yet to hear one discussion where someone actually ask a young person.

  No, I don't think we live in stupider times. I think we live in times where stupidity is simply way more accessible now thanks to the internet. People like stupid things it seems. Look here on Facebook at all the stupid, mean and idiotic things folks share with one another. People have always been a mixture of love and meanness. I don't blame the state of the world on the state of jazz. And really, we haven't changed all that much in the last many thousand years except with what fast food is doing to our bodies!

  I can remember seeing a jazz concert that struck me as hilarious. It was at Berklee with Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Hiram Bullock and I forget who drummed. During the daytime they gave a group "town hall" style talk. Somebody asked Hiram about his practice habits. His reply was "I don't practice, next question?" One upset student stood up and whined "but John Scofield was here last year and said to practice practice practice!" Hirams reply was: "Well, that's good for him. Me? I play all day and all night. I'm always playing, sessions, shows, I play and I don't have time to practice."

  Here lies one key. He was constantly connecting to other people. It is important to practice to a point but at some time you learn better by simply playing. One thing you learn is how to connect to your audience. I can't imagine the mothers and fathers of jazz had as much time to practice as players do today since they tended to be on the road all the time......60+years ago says the kid with the time machine.

  Another kid asked the panel something about the state of jazz. Hiram replied "Jazz is dead". You could cut the tension in the air with a steak knife. This was his statement, and it is true for him. Tell a room full of young people whose parents are paying through the nose for you to be in a jazz school and, well, them's fightin' words! Who cares what he thinks? But people were there to find answers. To find reasons for choosing the life they were choosing. The trumpet player whose name I can't remember said "I don't think jazz is dead" and the whole audience erupted into applause. Me? I was laughing my ass off. The whole thing was so funny to me.

  Then there was the concert....Oh dear. Ok. Not at al a fan of the 80's chorused out sounds on stage and the cheeseball music. In fact it was awful and I wondered what the hell I'm doing at this school but, Hiram jumped into the audience, ran up and down the aisles and did a backflip onto the stage. That was tight! Much of the audience gasped in horror.

  For the following year that concert was talked about. "That was behavior not becoming of a jazz concert!" I heard one guy say speaking of Hiram. Ha!!!! That was echoed over an over again.

  When did jazz become so....classical? Rock is becoming that way too now. It's weird man. No wonder kids aren't excited by the vibe.

  I don't blame the musicians entirely, the audiences are just as much a part of the problem. I've been to many concerts where people try to silence a talker even at free jazz events. I had the great opportunity to see David Murray in Baltimore where the audience was largely black. Best concert ever and not even so much because the band was amazing, the audience was alive with love. His first 10 notes and people responded "TELL IT NOW!" "Mmmm HmMMM!" We are humans. We are noisy. Even in the 40's with the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts the critics hated the noisy audiences. I would have loved to experience that in my time machine! Ever listen to an old live recording? The players often are hollering at one another enthusiastically. They were....entertainers. As an audience member, I love that. The teenager in me NEEDS that! I've had friends at my shows get upset at talkers and people who walk out. Hey, if they don't dig it I'm glad they can walk and make room for the cat who does dig it. And I'm here to compel silence, not demand it. If they are talking that is a part of the music. And if I want quiet and I'm not getting it, that is my failure. My responsibility. I don't blame the world of pop music on this.

  So back on subject. When I was auditioning for schools back in '86 I'll never forget walking into the front hall of Shenandoah Conservatory with my brother. They had a jazz group playing the most bland, horrible sounding adult contemporary drivel I could imagine at the time. The players were barely out of short pants themselves and my 18 year old hormone driven self was like "what the hell is this?" This was the Reagan 80's and I wanted them to end. My bro and I looked at each other in horror and confusion. "This is what Reagan was doing to young people". I wanted no part in it. Which was sad cause I loved me some Trane, Miles and all those cats hanging around 60 years ago. There was nothing this music could do to help my hormone situation out, nothing hip or cool about it. It was safe, dis-honest and shut down.

  So if I were to ask myself as a teenager "how does one make a million dollars in jazz?", sadly my answer may be the same as my students. Make a time machine and go back to when it was alive and relevant. Oof. Or maybe just do it once more....with feeling this time.

J

Jazz, free improv and the illusion of scarcity.

  I've had this ongoing dialogue about an individual who I really admire that has been quite successful as an artist. He really inspires me even if I'm not all that crazy about his music. I don't actually need to love someones music to be inspired by their energy, I'd rather have real friends than just fans myself.

  But what comes up again and again is this "Why him? Why does he get in the paper all the time? Why does he get to tour Europe all the time? Why does he have a record? Compared to (fill in the blank) nasty comment nasty comment!"

  Hey crew. If you play jazz that isn't smooth, free improv or whatever you wish to call your very intelligent form of music, your audience is probably pretty small. When that person tours Europe or puts out a record it is only because he or she wants to tour Europe, be in the press and he or she believes in themselves enough to put themselves out there. They may actually even feel they deserve that tour, that contract, that adoration. Maybe that person has a positive vibe.

  This person in particular is one of the biggest free improv cheerleaders I've ever met. Kind, well spoken, sensitive.

  When a peer does that tour, makes that record, he or she just hit a home run FOR OUR TEAM! Why wouldn't we cheer for them? Why wouldn't we Reverend Ike that success screaming "THAT'S FOR ME!!!" Instead it's as if that persons success will limit our own. There isn't enough 'success' to go around. If this is your musical path you are in the minority. It's crucial that we support one another, not give in to the powers that be and behave like petty, jealous, unintelligent beings.

  We don't need to always like each others creation. God knows, I walk out of more shows than most and for me that is my way of showing support. If I'm not turned on I won't stand and suffer, I won't lie to you, I'll be honest and go elsewhere but....I certainly will do my best to not tear you down. I'll be happy to walk away from discussions of your work compared to Trane or someone else especially if it's in a dis tone. Life is too short and too precious to engage in that noise. Just do your work and do your best. There is no limit to success. Get that out of the head.

J

1/11/15 How do we get to play MOMA?

Had a good session tonight. Good thinking about the word 'why'. How do we get a gig booked at MOMA? Why do I want to play there? For me? Just cause we haven't played there before and I want to reach out to new audiences and play new venues. I've heard they have some interesting live music there. That's enough of a reason to motivate me to put the question forward, how can we make that happen? Who do I need to call?

Gahhh. The game. It's new to me but someone has got to do it. May as well be me. What else am I going to do with this life? Put aside my mis-trust of cliques and get over myself. I want gigs, I want us to be successful. We're really good. Interesting. And...I historically don't like scenes. Hard to navigate all the weird dishonesty and ambition. What to do.

The music is getting more minimal and cinematic. I like this direction. Somebody make a mystery noir flick and hire us. We'll fit your budget. We'll fit your film as long as the actors aren't all pretty.

Keep it real baby.

J

1/5/15....nice to play electric guitar

Sat in with Rev Vince at Union Pool this night, just on one amazing gospel song playing guitar. It's nice to blaze a guitar solo once in a while, something I don't do often enough. I wonder sometimes what happened over these years. How did I fall into such a place where it feels funny to really do my best on the electric guitar.

I did a gig last fall where another cat was turning on the fire hose whenever I got hot. "Back off!" he'd holler. I can't do that. I left that gig. I've had this happen for much of my life. This is why you never see me at blues jams or playing "straight" music. I tried that on with the same results. Person in charge gets scared and tells me "back off! Keep the solo under control!" I guess that is why I always stuck to original music. Go where you are loved, not just tolerated or not just a tool. I like to be a worker amongst workers but I'd rather get fired for being passionate about whatever I do than to live a lack luster middle of the road life.

I don't really get that. It's exciting for me to watch a band really cook yet, I've been in so many situations where when the grease gets on the pan the fire gets turned down. And you only want fried chicken well done or it'll make you sick.....

Grease is Peace.

JB

1/7/15...Use what you got! Stop shopping and fix that stuffy Otto Link mouthpiece!

Was a good night tonight. Freezing outside but my space was warm. Practiced for about an hour, mostly just overtone exercises and just playing. Had a good breakthrough equipment wise.

You know in this modern world of crazy ass consumerism, there is always a new product that will make your saxophone journey easier. The latest I've seen besides silver or gold plated neck screws that increase your volume or big brass strap hooks that give you a better sound is a device that you clamp to the neck of your new horn and play Charlie Parker into a tiny transducer. This vibrates the metal in your horn and changes the molecular structure thus opening up your sound.....

I gotta admit, I've tried most everything just out of curiosity including nickel plating the neck of my old Conn to give it more focus (no, it didn't do anything, but I did get a shiny cool looking neck for about $35!) but the transducer thingy. Lordy. I'm in the wrong business. A lot of suckers out there.

But whether you believe it or not, enjoy the placebo or whatever, if it gets you there so be it. I guess I just think it's all so stupid when the small things make such a big difference. Small things like, a better reed. Practicing. The right mouthpiece.

Oh us tenor players tend to go through a lot of those. It's insane. And I mean textbook insane: trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result. We can spend thousands of dollars on that stupid chase, and if we are talking vintage or boutique that can mean 1 or 2 mouthpieces.

I bought this run of the mill hard rubber Otto Link piece last year. Nothing special, a #6 tip. It's probably from the 80's or early 90's. It's been a love hate relationship but I've kept going back to it. Nothing for me sounds more like the human voice than one of these and I can't get a metal piece to fill out the bottom of my horn as well. But his piece, yeah, it had its shortcomings, that stuffy bit. And I struggled with the altissimo which I'm not even close to mastering yet, but get better at every day.

So rather than give up on it yet I sent it to my man in Portland, Mr. Peter Deley to fix it. he opened it up a bit and fixed the facing. Not by much, it's now a .091 with a 24mm facing so it's easy as pie to play. When I got it back it played much better. Easy altissimo. Even gave me the confidence to hit some high notes on Reverend Vince's New Years gig. With my horn it has the guts I need for that type of music but.... I craved more cut. There is still a stuffiness. Too dark. But closer than ever.

So my consumer mind kicks in as usual. "maybe I need a Selmer, or a King Zephyr, or just drop $350 on an ugly ass Steve Goodson neck for rock gigs? or maybe another Berg Larsen yadda yadda no peace, no progress, not enough prosperity to buy more expensive stuff blah blah BUY BUY BUY!"

So exhausting innit?

So here is a good solution: Nail polish baffle. I already made the shank smaller with thin coats of nail polish. Need to go thin so it stays in there. Takes about 2 days to do that job. So I figured, use this bottle of blue metallic nail polish I found to fill that awful 'stuffiness well' behind the tip. This took about 2 days as well, thin coats:

The result? I'm happier than ever. Stuffiness be gone. Still a dark piece which I dig but now behaves like a 'good one' meaning, if I want brighter I simply play brighter, if I want darker I play darker and it goes with me. This is now one damn good piece and I have about a C-note and a half invested in it. Much better than some Link pieces I've played that cost $1200! And volume? Even with a tip this small I have no shortage of volume. Play double embouchure and BOOM. Harder to control but just knowing that much volume is available keeps the consumer in me quiet. Hmmmm. Practice or shop? I have way more fun with the horn in my hands.

So if you are about to spend your life savings on a sonic fix, consider this from the master of "the $1000 solution to the $4 problem in recovery"!

A little video of an old melody I wrote. Just to give a taste.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLiWbfvEF0Y&list=UUMhr-A-1fGhPjvHFF9fBP-A

So this is one more thing off my list of stuff to do. Fixed this piece and it's a keeper!

Keep on showing up, you'll get there! J

1/1/15 Blues is harder than jazz to play....

Been working on my blues playing, sax wise. Easy for me on guitar, very easy. It's what I came up with. I'd say Jazz is harder on guitar, but if I be honest, nothing is really hard, it's just when something is new to me....

My 2 biggest inspirations for sax these days are Maxwell Davis:

Here's a bit of him playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS1GxPi_zlk

That is a tenor sound! Big and fat. He played on a Buescher like me. Yeah, the notes in this song aren't so hard, but it's really about the attitude and of course, rhythm. Blues on the horn? You don't really have the option of playing anything that doesn't sound good. Jazz you can get away with so much more. There's just no room for error in this style. It's immediate.

Even Coltrane played squeaking, honking, nasty bar blues early in his career. I think that is why I can relate so much to his playing even at the end of his life. He mastered efficiency and immediacy. That may be the hardest thing to master in music, clear strong statements and not wasting energy. Jeez, that's the hardest thing in communication period!

2nd is my biggest hero is Lester Young:

Yeah, efficient. Beautiful sound, beautiful ideas. I just read how he upset many players of his time cause he didn't play things that were complicated harmonically. Yet, nobody could do what he did. I heard he was a great dancer. That's obvious when I hear him play. A great dancer is....light.
Here's a bit of solo I'm lifting ideas from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHmAIuoIw2g

And a bit of transcription (done by Tim Price!)

I never seem to be able to retain music from a transcription though they do help. So I'm learning this by ear.

Playing like this is a challenge. More so than more modern styles I find. Timing is everything. Less is more. Good food for thought!

Got a couple hours in on my horn tonight. Tenor will try to defeat you but tonight we got along great. That I am grateful for. Off to a good 2015.

J

12/31/14: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Best Ever! Jammed with Reverend Vince at Union Pool

Today was one of those biblical "ask and ye shall receive" days. I had a dream the other day where I was in a bodega that looked a bit more like a diner. There were 2 older black women behind the counter dressed in typical 40's waitress outfits and I thought to myself: "Maybe I'll take up smoking". So I asked the women "have you got a pack of Lucky Strikes?" They started laughing and said "Lucky Strikes? We haven't seen them since World War 2!" I kinda waited around and one of them reached on a shelf and I could see there was a couple of white boxes with that red bullseye on them: packs of Lucky Strikes! One of the women said "I'll be....haven't seen these for a long time." I asked how much and they replied "Nine dollars and twelve cents." I said "that's not a bad price for today but I changed my mind, I don't want to take up smoking but thank you for finding those, it's just cool to know they exist." They said no problem and have a nice day and I went on to the next scene.

What did that dream mean? I took it to mean that realizing your dreams is easy, or easier than I have been led to believe. I asked and they found what I needed. I also took it to mean I crave ritual and community. Smoking can lead to instant interaction: "do you have a light?" People smoke together. There is the holy peace pipe. And of course the ancient fire rituals. I enjoy seeing my friends roll cigarettes, I like the ritual though I ain't gonna lie: I hate seeing my friends smoke.

Lately I've been craving being in a horn section in a great band. There is nothing quite as fun foe me, especially if it's New Orleans based and bluesy. I'm not a great blues player on sax and I want to be better. I can practice a bunch of licks but nothing beats just playing with a great act.

Today I fixed my friend Jaleels guitar and he invited me to sit in with The Reverend Vince for their New Years gig at Union Pool. I jumped on that chance right away. Turns out they didn't have a sax player tonight so the brass really appreciated me being there. Brass player work hard! Any sound where they get to back off a bit and relax is good for the chops. I've worked with Smoota before doing a tech gig. He plays a mean bone. The trumpet player whose name escapes me is just a slayer on that little horn. I felt so grateful for being able to do this job!

So yeah, I asked for this and then just like that I received this great opportunity. It went really well, everyone seemed happy. I sure hope I get asked back soon! I need gigs like this one! More more more!

JB