Saxindia

Pete Lockett

2011-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

This is probably the best site Ive found in a long while. Ive been practicing for sometime now how to incorporate Indian rhythmic concepts into my playing and having another browse on the net i found this stunning site by English percussionist Pete Lockett. There is a full page dedicated to various lessons, but the part that really stands out for me are the PDF's you can download on using Indian rhythmic concepts on the drum kit. This is surely a fantastic resource for any musician looking to expand their horizons. I will be coming back to this for some time.

http://www.petelockett.com/lessons/indianrhythmicsystems.html

You Tube clips

2011-10-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Despite saying i wasn't going to post videos or clips of my music on this blog, I'm going to do so anyway. I'm feeling a little lazy to update my other page but hopefully I will do so soon. Here is a selection from gigs in the last year or so. The sound quality is not so great on some but i hope you enjoy them anyway. Comments are always most welcome:

The Agenda at B Flat bar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtq1WGIzMwM (Somewhere over the Rainbow)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGYdBd3KOFA (Visions - Stevie Wonder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUTT98YXWgk&feature=related (People make the world go Round)

With Radha Thomas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0THJpwW7Dvw (Take Five)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIfzDjqZwrE (Am i Blue)

Jalshaghar in Auroville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnlrK33JwGs

Christmas at the Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5FUAk94umQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrja-fUdb20

Tips for Woodwind Players

2011-09-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

I found this nice article and free PDF to download from the Canadian Musician website. It's a series of articles on 'Tips for woodwind players' which includes everything from, embouchure to sound and rhythmic exercises. It even has an article on Carnatic saxophone which was quite a nice surprise. This is a really nice read so do check it out:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33731898/Tips-for-Woodwind-Players

Health Benefits of playing the Saxophone

2011-09-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

So here it is. Why we all play! OK, I'm joking but actually this is something I'd like to do some research on. What are the health benefits of playing the sax and what we can do for our bodies and mind to play better. More coming up on this subject:

http://www.jazzassassins.co.za/live-music/index.asp?q=health-benefits-of-playing-saxophone

Mortens Lessons

2011-09-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Twitter is increasingly becoming a useful resource these days. Even if you don't like to tweet i would definitely recommend following some of the jazz tweeters as there are plenty of interesting things to read and learn. Hopefully over the next days I'll make a list of the more interesting ones and post them here. For now here is another great site with video lessons by Norwegian musician Morten Faerestrand. Its mainly for guitar, but the lessons are very well explained and they are surely interesting and relevant for all musicians.

http://www.mortenslessons.com/

Altissimo Demystified

2011-08-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

As small continuation on my last post on Altissimo. I found this nice article by
Dr. Dave Camwell originally written for the Saxophone Journal. It contains a huge amount of advice, practice methods and excercises; an excellent read for anyone hoping to improve in this area.

http://tinyurl.com/3ryafv6

Jalshaghar - Shiva on the mountains

2011-08-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a clip from a recent concert by our world music group Jalshaghar. It was a great gig in Auroville with everyone in top form. Will be posting more clips as they come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnlrK33JwGs

Altissimo

2011-08-17T22:35:00.001-07:00

I have been putting quite some work into this in recent months and finally some results were showing - well i had to look up alternate fingerings for notes C and above so something must be moving.

Here are some excellent charts with many alternatives for each notes and even comments regarding suitability for different saxophones:

http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_4.html
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_5.html
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_6.html

Top Jazz Blogs

2011-08-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

You can never have enough Jazz Blogs. Here is a list of top jazz blogs ranked by various means. Unfortunately mine is missing so lets hope that this is remedied over time!

I'm going to have a look at some of them in the next days, and post my findings here regarding the more interesting ones.

http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Jazz

Embouchure - shifting the lip

2011-08-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

I dont know how many players i asked over the years about this and never got a real answer. How much of the bottom lip do you tuck over the teeth? Why do i see all the modern players with the bottom lip stuck out? There are probably old posts on this very blog about this. Finally some very good answers and explainations from Doron Orenstein and educator George Garzone on the Best Saxophone Website ever.

This website is certainly living up to its name.

http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/small-shift-of-the-lip-big-shift-in-the-sound/

Jazz in India

2011-06-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

If your interested in Jazz in India you are going to really enjoy this site. At Bluerhythm's blog you can find a 1992 BBC documentary on Jazz in Bombay. Its absorbing stuff, especially if you play and enjoy jazz in India. Lots of well known names from the scene are there.

http://bluerhythm.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/bombay-and-jazz-a-documentary-1992/

Best Saxophone Website Ever

2011-06-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well, this website kind of speaks for itself. Its absolutely fantastic and im glad to have found this, again via Twitter.

http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/

Brilliant stuff!!

lynnbakerjazz.com

2011-05-17T03:23:00.000-07:00

I came across this excellent site on Twitter. As well as information on Lynn Baker's work as a Jazz saxophonist and educator it features interesting articles on practising Jazz. I particularly like the blog, especially the article on "What I'm practicing". It makes a fascinating and insightful read.

You can find the page here and you can also follow Lynn baker on Twitter.

http://lynnbakerjazz.com/blog/?p=58#comment-2211
http://twitter.com/#!/lynnbakerjazz

African and Afro-Cuban rhythms

2011-05-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

In my attempt to improve my playing in 6/8 and 12/8 I have been working quite hard recently on some African rhythms, particularly Bembe with its distinctive bell pattern.

Once i get a bit further down the road i will organise this better, but for now here are some useful links. The drummerworld one is particularly good and really offers alot of information on resources to improve your playing in this area. Song Trellis is also a fantastic resource for midi files and explanations on a huge number of African and Afro-Cuban rhythmic patterns.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65796
http://www.songtrellis.com/rhythmPage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJxRxXkFRlI&feature=related (Bembe played)
http://www.drumchat.com/showthread.php/african-bell-afro-caribbean-20045.html?s=b25cf944595f3c9f050d1906578537f9&p=376523
(Another drum forum with excellent links and advice)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_pattern

Ted Rosenthal

2011-05-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

A nice page with more articles by Ted Rosenthal, includes interviews with Keith Jarrett and Billy Taylor.

http://www.tedrosenthal.com/edu.html

How Jazz Pianists Practice

2011-05-10T21:10:00.001-07:00

A nice little article by by Ted Rosenthal on how jazz pianists practice.

http://www.tedrosenthal.com/practice.htm

James Mahone

2011-01-27T02:08:00.000-08:00

Now and again you find something really great on the net. By accident while looking for information on Lennie Tristano's composition '327 East 32nd Street' i found saxophonist James Mahone's practice portal. There are lots of very interesting articles on tunes, featuring analysis, transcriptions, original compositions as well as links to the original recordings. I have been listening alot to Mark Turners version of this tune and was very happy when i read his article on it, which also included a transcription. Wonderful stuff, with plenty more to discover on the same site.
http://jamesmahonemusic.com/bloglink.html

Jazzdiscography.com

2011-01-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

Today I was searching around the net for a Mark Turner album for which having converted it to Mp3 i had lost the names of the artists. I searched in vain for some days on the net until i came across www.jazzdiscography.com. Its a great tool with lots of detailed information on hundreds of artists and many thousands of albums.

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/

Digital Pianos - Yamaha P95

2010-09-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

This week i was fortunate enough to be able to buy a new digital piano for gigs. I chose the Yamaha P95 having regularly performed with a friend of mine who has the P85. This is a great piano, ok not the most expensive in the world, but for the price has a great action and very good quality piano sound. Furthermore it's light! Very useful if you travel alot. Only 12kg compared to more than 30 of my S90 with the flight case.

For help choosing a new digital piano i found these resources very good:

http://www.pianoworld.com/

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/

http://www.yamahamusician.com/

I should add the S90 is a wonderful piano too, and for a keyboard synth has a beautiful piano action and sound to match the best.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/yamahas90.htm

New Blog

2010-09-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

Considering that i would like to keep Saxindia relatively free from posting of my own material since it is dedicated to more educational postings, I have created http://mattlittlewood.blogspot.com/in order to promote some of my work. Do check it out in a few days when i have had time to put it together.

Please feel free to mail me with any comments or suggestions at matt-jazz@hotmail.com

Little Waltz

2010-09-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of may favourite early compositions, and one we continue to play quite regularly. This was recorded live in 2008 on January 1st. This was a special gig for me as the band came together at the last minute (Patrick didn't even know he was playing till just before) and the playing was so fresh and together.

http://www.toofiles.com/en/oip/audios/wma/littlewaltzlive2008.html

Just click on the file to play or download it. You may need as i did to have the latest update of Firefox for this to work.

Matt Littlewood - Tenor Sax
Patrick Goraguer - Piano
Mishko. M'Ba - Bass
Suresh Bascara - Drums

Stella by Starlight

2010-09-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Several people have been asking me to be able to listen to my music on my blog so from time to time i will post some material. Here is a little home recording i did sometime back of Stella by Starlight. I play both Soprano Sax and piano. Originally this was left on my hard drive untouched for some months but when i came back to listen to it i liked it very much. The photo is taken outside the practise studio in Auroville where this was recorded. Please feel free to give any feedback - in fact it would be much appreciated.

Toto, Bona & Kanza 2008 - Lisanga

2010-09-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Richard Bona has been one of my favourite musicians for a while now but somehow I had never checked out this group with Gerald Toto and Lokua Kanza. On top of it a friend of ours, drummer/pianist Patrick Goraguer is also in the group playing keyboards and Percussion!

Have a look at this video from 2008. Its a beautiful song with a melody that you could listen to for hours. The way they are on stage and the pure enjoyment they show is also a wonder to watch.

http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=6r7EjKg_giY

The Agenda - Live in Bangalore - B Flat Bar

2010-09-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, for so long Ive had little to post in terms of videos and recordings and now suddenly several have turned up all at once. Here is our band "The Agenda" featuring Sunitha Sarathy - Vocals, Matt Littlewood - Piano, Mishko M'ba - Bass, and Rahul Gopal - Drums. This was recorded at the superb B flat Bar in Bangalore in June of this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtq1WGIzMwM

Fusion gig with Sangoma Everett

2010-08-11T00:28:00.001-07:00

Last month i had the pleasure of doing a couple of gigs with fantastic American drummer Sangoma Everett. The band features Debi Prasad Gosh on Sarod, Mishko M'Ba on Bass, Sangoma Everett on Drums, Manosh Bhardan on Tabla and myself on Keyboards and Sax.

He is the link to the Auroville Radio who recorded the gig live at Bharat Nivas Auroville.

http://www.aurovilleradio.org/arts-a-culture/music/1733-fusion

Download or listen directly on the site.

Bale Pandiya

2010-07-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Some time last year i was asked to play a couple of songs for the new Tamil movie Bale Pandiya with music by composer and singer Devan Ekambaram.

Here is one of the songs, a nice ballad with a short soprano solo in the middle.

http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=207392&mode=100&rand=0.4338272410921462

More Rhythm training

2010-07-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Recently i have been back working on ear training with software such as GNU Solfege, in particular memorising and recognising rhythmic patterns. Looking on the web for more things to work on, i found this great site called worldjazz.ce that has pages of rhythm training exercises with mp3 files attached. Just click on the exercise you want to work on and play along till you feel comfortable. Great stuff!

http://www.worldjazz.ch/rhythm_training.htm

If you havn't already got it do download GNU solfege too. Its a wonderful tool for improving your ear.

www.solfege.org/

jazzandsaxmonthly.com

2010-07-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

I came across this by accident. Its a website for saxophone lessons and techniques by Evan Tate. Ive seen some of his videos before on youtube and have found them very good. You can try the video lessons for free for 7 days, after which you have to pay. Evan offers monthly lessons on subjects such as improvisation, intonation, altissimo, of at least 30 minutes in length with PDF exercises. He also offers the option to contact him via email or SKYPE for any further questions.

http://jazzandsaxmonthly.com/

Like Sonny: The Story of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane

2010-07-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my favourite Podcasts from Bret Primack's you tube videos. It features Sonny Rollins talking about John Coltrane. Fascinating stuff. You can also follow jazz video guy on Twitter for blog updates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckpQYnrozQ

Jazz Video Guy

2010-07-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already seen his video podcasts do check out Bret Pimack - Jazz video guy - on you tube and his own site http://www.jazzvideoguy.tv/

There are many very interesting videos on famous jazz personalities with commentary by Bret himself. A wonderful resource.

Sale at Mouthpiece Cafe

2010-07-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

This looks like a nice site and they have a sale for the whole of July.

http://www.mouthpiececafe.com/

Bill Evans

2010-07-13T22:03:00.001-07:00

Truely inspirational stuff - a must view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QdM0oxWOZw&feature=related

Nigerian Marketplace

2009-10-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

I seem to be posting alot about piano instruction videos but here is a good one of Oscar Petersons great piece Nigerian Marketplace. I have to play this in a gig this month so have found this very useful particularly regarding voiceings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4IPA3a8iDw

Indian music and Jazz

2009-09-04T23:04:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting article on Indian music in jazz I found on the Congo square website - home of the Kolkata Jazz Festival.

http://www.congosquarejazz.com/Indian_Music___Jazz.pdf

Giant Steps Rhythmic Flexibility

2009-09-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw this link on David Valdez's Blog I knew this was something I wanted to practice. Here are a set of rhythmic exercises using different groupings of 8th notes (3's, 5's,6's and 7's) on the chords of giant steps.

http://casavaldez.posterous.com/giant-steps-rhythmic-flexibility-exercises

Professional Saxophone Musician / Player Set-Ups

2009-07-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

On his excellent site on just about everything to do with mouthpieces Theo Wanne has published a list of professional sax players setups. Ive seen some others on the web in the last few years but this seems to be the most extensive and up to date list:

http://www.theowanne.com/mouthpieces101/playerSetUps.php?pid=5

www.jazz.com

2009-07-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's great when you find something new to read on the net and www.jazz.com really has plenty to offer. With hundreds of articles, interviews, reviews, blogs posts and a forum this really is a great resource for jazz lovers.

Stevie Wonder Tribute

2009-07-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

A small clip I found from the tribute show we did in chennai from Rediff.com

http://ishare.rediff.com/video/entertainment/a-tribute-to-stevie-wonder/640242

Actually there are lots more on the same site... just seen that!

http://ishare.rediff.com/video/entertainment/a-tribute-to-stevie-wonder/640245

More Doug McKenzie

2009-05-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

In case it is easier, or you prefer to watch some of the vidoes from Doug's site online there are many posted on you tube, and they have been listed at http://www.pianologist.com/.

http://pianologist.com/piano-videos/learn-jazz-piano-playing-from-doug-mckenzie-at-youtube/

Pianologist looks a very nice site too. Lessons, transcriptions and videos.... Just watching a clip from one of my favourite pianists Dave Newton.

Addition to previous post

2009-05-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

A further rhythmical idea that i found useful when practicing the idea shown in the previous post is to vary the tapping of the foot. The metronome is only on the fourth beat so start by tapping on every beat, then as you feel comfortable 1, and 3, only on the 1, and then finally without tapping at all. I found it gives a good sense for the feeling of the placement of each beat especially with the accents.

Chromatic warmup

2009-05-26T14:17:00.001-07:00

Here is a little warmup I have been working on recently. I have found it useful for both the fingers, as well as warming up the feeling and sense of rhythm before tackling other things. I usually start quite slow, maybe 100bpm and gradually increase. As the metronome is kept on the 4th beat only I had to download a program that could play slow enough as my normal one only goes as low as 40. I use weird metronome as you can program it to play anything you like. Of course this type of exercise is open ended, and can be applied to scales or other patterns as well as different accent and rhythmic variations.

http://www.pinkandaint.com/weirdmet.shtml

Advanced saxophone lessons

2009-05-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a great blog I just found dedicated to saxophone techniques and improving your playing. The site is written by Andy Hampton author of "Saxophone Basics"

http://advancedsaxophonelessons.blogspot.com/

Choosing a new sax

2009-05-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

A student of mine recently sent me a mail about choosing a new saxophone. In my research i found this very useful site on the web.

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Pro_saxes.htm

shwoodwind.co.uk is an excellent site with lots of information and reviews as well as sound :-) advice on buying the right sax.

Finger exercises for sax? The Orosz technique.

2009-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I was noticing that certain things I was playing on the sax were hampered by my left hand that was not always moving as well as my right. Quite normal I thought as I'm right handed and I did some exercises then to try to help this. At the time I saw nothing on the net about this - not that I looked too hard - but now I just saw this web site. At http://www.theorosztechnique.com/is a technique sold by Jules Orosz. You can sign up and recieve a free lesson. I have no idea if this is any good and what I'm looking for but I'm going to have a look at it and give it a go. I will post my results here a bit later. If anyone has already looked into this please let me know too.

blanksheetmusic.net

2009-05-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

As an addition to the previous post here is the link for another useful site regarding free score making tools. This online tool doesn't actually allow you to input notes but is a program for setting up and printing your own blank score layouts. It's quick and easy to choose any number of staves, clefs, keys and lines by clinking on the relevent icons. It even comes with a flash tutorial to help you out.

www.blanksheetmusic.net

Summertime

2009-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is it. It's been a while since Ive managed to post because of my hectic schedual the last month or so. Now finally summer is here - at least in India that is - and I'm back to working on my music. First up is composing as I really would like to be playing new material next year. I'm not very good with notating scores on the computer so I also decided to write up all my existing pieces. Less complaints now hopefully about my writing from other musicians!

Anyway, was browsing the web and found this very useful site for free music software. www.making-music.blogspot.com has an extensive list of what is available out there including free notation software. I downloaded Finale notepad 2008 and was quite impressed. It certainly has it's limitations and is a bit fiddly (took me an hour to get 4 bars per line) but otherwise it's a good program available for free.

Doug McKenzie Videos

2009-04-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

As I said in my Tweet there is even more to the Doug McKenzie jazz piano site than first meets the eye. What I have most liked - (apart from the hundreds of audio and midi files!) are the videos. They come with detailed annotations and explanations of the techniques used, as well as the visual help of being able to see the hands or notes as they play. Really top stuff.

Doug McKenzie Jazz Piano

2009-04-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Harish, sax player from chennai for this link. Wow, I don't think Ive ever seen so much good stuff for jazz piano in one place. Doug McKenzie's site contains literally hundreds of downloadable WMA midi files, videos and audio as well as transciptions and explainations that go along with the audio. It could take years to go through all of this!

http://www.bushgrafts.com/jazz/home.htm

We Follow

2009-03-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

A great idea to help find people you would be interested in following on Twitter. www.wefollow.com is a directory of Twitter users categorized under various "tags". Add yourself and choose three tags under which you would like to be found. For example the link below refers to the "sax" tag.

http://wefollow.com/tag/sax

Ear training software

2009-03-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

Following an evening in which I really got quite hooked on the various ear training tools in Band in a Box I decided to look on the net for similar software.
Compiled by Jimmy Ruska the link below has many programs, both freeware, online and commercial.

http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/7_Musicians_Free_Ear_Training.php#3

www.freejazzinstitute.org

2009-03-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

Can't believe Ive never seen this before. Super useful site for jazz musicians to discuss and share all things related to jazz theory and analysis. Try the link below for a more detailed description of the site:

http://www.freejazzinstitute.org/aboutfji.php

Cornelius Bumpus

2009-02-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

Watching a video of Steely Dan's the other night I was enjoying the solos of tenor sax player Cornelius Bumpus - Chris Potter was playing in the same group but somehow these touched me more. Wanting to find out more about him I googled and found out that sadly he had died in 2004 of a heart attack. Fortunately www.corneliusbumpus.com is still there and has lots of information, links to buy his cd's as well as mp3 preview clips.

More on Twitter

2009-02-16T04:08:00.000-08:00

As you can see I have been enjoying Twitter. I like the fact that I can post almost anywhere and anytime. Ive now added my latest tweets to the right hand sidebar.

Twitter

2009-02-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

Ive been using Twitter for a couple of days now and already found it a useful tool to keep in touch with what is happening in the jazz world. Other than that, Ive decided to expand saxindia by making a kind of "blog within a blog". As much for myself than anything else, I have started posting from my mobile directly to www.twitter.com/mattlittlewood thoughts and ideas that have come up while practising. Not much is there yet, so lets see what happens... this is just something I have wanted try for a while on paper, but since the technology is there why not do something a little different! :-)

Indigo Jazz festival Bangalore

2009-02-10T02:30:00.000-08:00

We were very happy to be invited to play again this year at the Indigo jazz festival in Bangalore. Here is a review of the two day event by the Hindu's excellent jazz writer JAZZEBEL.

http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/02/09/stories/2009020951240300.htm

Mixing up scales

2009-02-09T03:25:00.000-08:00

Just a little exercise I found to practise major scales a little differently. Ascend in the normal way but coming down change the 2nd and root, to the corresponding degrees of the scale a semi tone above. ie C B A G F E D# C#. Continue by ascending in the new scale you have now reached and apply the same idea. Once this is completed in all keys on the descent try changing the last 3(4, 5 etc) notes to the scale chromatically above.

This was an idea i wanted to try in order to improve my fluency and flexibility of changing from one scale to another during soloing. Lets see if it works! I see there are many more possibilities to this and will post some more ideas when I find them.

All about jazz forum

2009-02-05T02:09:00.000-08:00

Ive been following several music forums by RSS feed for some time including the excellent saxontheweb. Somehow I had missed the forum at allaboutjazz.com but its another very good resource with alot of reading on just about every area of jazz possible.

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/
http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/

Famous Jazz Quotes

2009-01-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

“A jazz musician is not a jazz musician when he or she is eating dinner or when he or she is with his parents or spouse or neighbors. He’s above all a human being . . . the true artform is being a human being.” - Herbie Hancock

Here's a nice idea by Matthew Mullenweg, a founding developer of WordPress who has added a section to his site dedicated to famous jazz quotations. He has collected quotes from different sources and categorised them by musician. Apart from the more humorous ones, some of them are very beautiful and I think there is plenty to be learnt from these too.

“My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being … When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups … I want to speak to their souls.” - John Coltrane

http://ma.tt/jazzquotes/

Guitar and Drum Trainer

2009-01-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

For practising aebersolds and other such play-alongs this is a must have program.Ive been using the freeware v2 for years and now have been trying the latest version. It easily and quickly allows you to slow or speed up recordings as well as change pitch with little noticeable breakup of the audio. On top of that it has a great EQ which can even be used to filter out the drums. Available for download is version 4 which comes as a 15 day trial version.

http://renegademinds.com/Products/GuitarDrumTrainer/tabid/65/Default.aspx

Piano Practise

2008-12-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Being a part time pianist but still having gigs to play, I needed to find effective exercises to help me develop my jazz playing - particularly finger exercises to aid my soloing. The two books that I have found most useful are the well known Hanon "Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises" and Alfred Cortot's "Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique". Both books, particularly the latter, cover well beyond the limited scope of my technique but nonetheless have offered many great exercises. The Cortot book in particular is very thorough and covers an entire range of techniques under the categories listed below. In fact I understand that by practicing these entire areas one should be able to master any technical problems!

1. Equality, independence and mobility of fingers.
2. Passing under of the thumb (scales - arpeggios).
3. Double notes and polyphonic playing.
4. Extensions.
5. Wrist technique, execution of chords.

The Hanon is in comparison a little more down to earth. I started adapting the exercises to a more "jazz" approach by firstly playing them in every key and then adding various rhythmical exercises to them. As they are laid out in endless 16th notes playing them with varying accents and rhythmical patterns made them alot more interesting to play. I took this further by practicing them on the saxophone too. In addition to this, varying the placement of the metronome was also a good exercise.

For more information check out the articles below. The Hanon seems widely available but the Cortot looks like it’s out of print and hard to find.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Cortot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virtuoso_Pianist_In_60_Exercises

Youtube Ballads

2008-12-15T03:03:00.000-08:00

Herbie Hancock has always been one of my favourite players. Here are a couple of truly beautiful ballads, one solo and the other featuring the great Joe Henderson. Someone to watch over me, is in particular quite breathtaking, the musical colours and textures Herbie creates, great examples of the things I like most about his piano playing. Reminds me of his poignant Stella by starlight solo with Ron Carter and Tony Williams on Miles Davis famous 1964 live recording; something else to check out too!

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qf6tphTKuA&NR=1

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=aW-wIFZuYgg&feature=related

New mail

2008-12-04T02:27:00.001-08:00

Anyone reading this blog who would like to contact me further can now mail me at saxindia@yahoo.co.in

Any comments and suggestions are much appreciated or if you want to chat about jazz or music in general feel free to drop me a mail.

More mind Scales

2008-12-04T02:11:00.000-08:00

Due to a cyclone in our area that put off the power for a week I was forced to find alternate ways of practising in the evening as playing in the dark was getting quiet difficult. Since I couldn't afford time off as some gigs were approaching I decided to spend some time reviewing pieces and applying some of the visualisation techniques I had mentioned before. Although I was not able to do for long periods of time because my concentration wouldn't allow it, I was really very happy with the results. Using a metronome to avoid 'cheating' I went through scale choices in my head in various combinations and speeds. Once I got back to the sax the results were quite noticeable and I already felt more comfortable particularly in tricky spots of certain pieces. Working this way highlights those weaknesses very quickly. Now I just have to apply this more often even when the laptop is available for practise!

Jazztrumpetsolos.com

2008-09-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

The other night I was transcribing Lee Morgan's solo on Moanin' and wanting to check my work I found jazztrumpetsolos.com. It's a really nice site with 98 transcribed solos which you can download in pdf, as well as listen online to the first 30 seconds of the solo while watching the score scroll down. Thankfully I found this site because the solo was more challenging than I first thought!

Away from the Sax 2

2008-09-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

I often like to work on things away form the sax, i.e. transcribing and rhythm work, but recently in order to make this work more organised and productive I started making a more in depth list of things I can do. This is particularly for situations where I would like to study or practise and I am not able to, or it is not appropriate to start playing my horn.

1. Rhythmic work: This is very important part of my work and I try to do at least 15mins a day. It can be done anywhere. Just need a metronome and something to tap on.
2. Transcriptions: I try to do both writing things down and learning things purely by ear. Of the two I find the latter more difficult yet more satisfying and beneficial for my general work in music. Writing things helps both my ear and as well as my written rhythmic vocabulary.
3. Visualising chords and scales: I still am slower at mentally picturing certain scales and chords so I work on seeing these as quick as the "easier keys". Some times I also write out scales to help this, and also visualise playing them on the sax.
4. Singing or humming melodic and rhythmic ideas over tunes: I use aebersolds to tryout certain rhythmical and melodic ideas. Personally, if I can't sing an idea in my head I can not play it on the sax so this is very beneficial work.
5. Listening: This influences me alot and the more I listen, the better my musical vocabulary. I try sometimes to do a more focused listening where I will only focus on certain ideas in a piece, i.e. bass line or piano comping etc.
6. Composing: I would like to compose more, and do have periods when I do alot, but I see that if I could do a little bit each day I would go alot further. Now I try to keep a book that when an idea comes, even if it's a small phrase I write it down with the hope that I may eventually use it.
7. Memorising tunes: My aim here is to memorise and understand a chord structure of a tune in such a way that I can then also transpose it into other keys.

This list is clearly not exhaustive and all these are very much work in progress, so I would be happy for any comments on further additions and ideas.

Bopland.org

2008-09-10T02:04:00.001-07:00

I saw this site while browsing the jazz improvisation forum on saxontheweb. Bopland.org is a free database for musicians. It contains hundreds of licks over common jazz progressions. You can browse the licks there by entering the desired progression, as well as entering your own licks that you have transcribed. A great idea for a collective internet resource.

stevekahn.com

2008-08-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

I stumbled apon this site completely by accident when looking for the lead sheet of a great tune called Descarga Khanalonious by guitarist Steve Kahn. Firstly I was pleasantly surpirsed to find it on his website, but even better was that the website has a huge section dedicated to both transcriptions and analysys by Steve himself, as well as a section dedicated to Steve's own lead sheets and compositions. Compositions are also presented with a corresponding sound clip, and an analysis. Check out Kahn's Korner 1 and 2 for a veritable goldmine of great stuff to study.

http://www.stevekhan.com/

Reviews

2008-06-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of nice reviews of gigs our trio has done recenlty.

(Tehelka magazine)

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/28/stories/2008052850800400.htm

Thanks to Bruce and Thermal and a Quarter for a great gig on Jan First! Thanks also to Patrick Goraguer, fantastic pianist and drummer from France who joined us that night.

Long Tones

2008-06-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

If you ever doubted the importance of long tones then check out this lesson by Matt Otto.
http://mattotto0.tripod.com/id32.html
Of particular interest to me was the fact that the practise of long tones are essential for helping to stay relaxed while playing. If you feel like me, that you sometimes find yourself overblowing or tense while playing, following the method outlined in this lesson helps to avoid this by developing better long term habits.
Once again, thanks goes to David Valdez's blog for finding this. This site is really the best jazz site I have seen on the web and essential reading for any serious musician.

Indian Summer

2008-05-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since Ive managed to update my Blog and I hope to soon. I have been very busy in the last few months, but its summer here in India and things are slowing down. I will be in cooler weather though soon playing some gigs with indo fusion group Emergence. We are playing at Glastonbury and Sunrise Festivals amongst other places. Check out www.myspace.com/emergencemusic for further details.

Jazz-o-matic.com

2007-11-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Tomas Trulsson for e-mailing me the link to this site. Jazz-o-matic is a great site by Richard Thurgood dedicated to studying the saxophone. It provides a place where musicians can share, and hear through recorded audio files, how other saxophonists are playing and practising. It includes a wide selection of lessons and exercises, as well as resources such as books from members, transcription services and links to other useful sites. An excellent internet resource, and a must read (or listen!) for students of the saxophone.

http://www.jazz-o-matic.com/

Scales vs Rhythm

2007-10-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I hadn't checked the jazz and improvisation section of the Sax on the Web forum for a while and when I did I find quite a number of interesting threads. The one that caught my eye though was the discussion on what people practise most, scales or rhythm. Being a favourite topic of mine, and if you have read previous posts on this blog you will propably guess where I stand on this subject!

http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=69002

Away from the sax - Visualisation

2007-10-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I started to notice a discrepancy between my ability to formulate harmonic ideas on the piano and that of the saxophone. I began to realise that one of the difficulties on sax was that unlike the piano or guitar, it is not a very visual instrument. By this a mean that due to the nature of keys or fret board, these instruments are very "colour coded" which aid in visualising harmonies. Discussing this with a friend of mine recently, he suggested trying to get the same principle from the sax by working without the instrument. He suggested working several times a day on visualising with the mind only, the things being worked on in practise. So far I have tried it only with scales and patterns, but already Ive noticed a big difference. If I practise a particular scale or pattern in my head several minutes before practise, I'm clearly able to work on it with a better feel and understanding, and achieve results much faster. Just as the fingers and lungs need warming up as does the brain. My next step will be to work this idea on particular tunes, as I feel my improvising on the sax would benefit from this "visual" aspect as well as the aural and mental side.

Joe Allard

2007-09-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Along with my reading of Dave Liebman's book "Developing a Personal Saxophone Sound" I have been studying the work of Joe Allard, influential and highly respected teacher of the sax and clarinet who amongst many others taught Dave Liebman and Micheal Brecker. Focused particularly on sound production that was "free of all unnecessary tension and capable of a great variety of tonal possibilities" Allard focused on the "development of the embouchure, proper use of the air, flexibility of the laryngeal and oral cavities, and one's own tonal imagination".* If like me you are a little late on this vital information, a good start is to check out the official website http://www.joeallard.org/. It has lots of information on his teaching style as well as interviews and comments from many of his former pupils.

*(from the website)

Jazz in India - Useful websites.

2007-08-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few links for web sites of bands and organisations involved in jazz and other music in India.

http://www.jazzwave.org/ - JAZZwave is providing a platform for the research and the development of Jazz and New Indian Fusion. They aim to create concert opportunities and cultural exchanges with the aim to promote improvised music in India.

http://www.myspace.com/emergencemusic - Myspace for Emergence, an acoustic Indo-Fusion band based in the international township of Auroville, India

http://www.holgerjetter.com/ - Website of Jazz violinist Holger Jetter, based in Auroville, India

www.myspace.com/urbanreflektions - Myspace for Urban Reflektions, jazz fusion group, lead by drummer and compser Debashish "debu" Banerji

Peter Magadini - Polyrhythms, The Musicians Guide

2007-06-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ive just got hold of this book and it looks like a great method for studying Polyrhythms. Beginning with 6 against 4 (3 against 2) Magadini demonstrates how the basic pattern is put together both with written examples and a accompanying CD. He then develops this further with exercises that subdivide the top ratio, in this case the 6, into eighths, triplets and sixteenths. By the end of the chapter there are solos and other exercises that allow you to be comfortable with alternating between the different subdivisions. Once this has been completed one follows the same principle with 3 against 4 and 5 against 4. I have only just scratched the surface of this book, but so far it looks like a very good and complete method to studying these rhythms. My only complaint as someone who has difficulty in this area, is that while the method is very easy to understand, implementing it is not! I would have preferred a more gradual approach and a few more intermediate level exercises in the first few chapters, as the book quickly advances to some very challenging exercises. Furthermore the CD for my ear also has examples that are quite difficult to hear without slowing them down. In the end I resorted to programming the rhythms myself in a sequencer in order to really hear them well. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful book, and a must have if you want to improve in this area. You will need plenty of patience and discipline though!

Smooth Jazz Chennai

2007-05-29T03:02:00.000-07:00

For a NDTV news clip of the smooth Jazz Christmas show in Chennai click below. Thanks Shyam! It was a great gig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjw5YO182aE

Invitation - Yes, it's finally done!

2007-04-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, it took a while but it's ready. The new album features Matt Littlewood - Tenor sax and piano. Mishko M'Ba - Bass. Suresh Bascara - Drums and Holger Jetter - Guitar

You can contact me for a copy at saxindia@yahoo.co.in

Cover design by Leonard, Auroville

More polyrhythms

2007-04-23T02:04:00.000-07:00

The "Methode de Batterie" series of books by Dante Agostini are well known by drummers as a comprehensive method for the kit. Check out volume IV for a number pages of polyrhythms that can also be used by other musicians. There are two part exercises that can be played between the hands. They start progressively with 16th and 8th notes, and then explore 2 against 3, and 3 against 4. Although I have not reached the end yet, I have found this a very systematic and practical method, which followed step by step helps to learn these rhythms thoroughly.

http://www.danteagostini.com/methodes/volumes.html

Why did I wait so long? - Developing your own Personal Sound

2007-04-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

Don't wait as long a I did to read this book! I was aware for a long time of this great book by Dave Liebeman, but never got around to getting a copy. It's a gold mine of very valuable, not to mention absolutely vital information regarding tone production on the saxophone. It is well explained, includes diagrams, and has chapters on breathing, embouchure, articulation, mouthpieces, reeds and much more.

A preview from the publisher can be found here:

http://www.dornpub.com/BooksPDF/liebsnd.pdf

There is also a review on Dave Liebman's site here:

http://upbeat.com/lieb/Publications_Reviews/soundrev.htm

James Carter

2007-04-17T03:06:00.000-07:00

I saw this hilarious article on Kelly Bucheger's Jazz pages. Its Kelly's account of the time when James Carter, sixteen and already an amazing tenor player joined the same big band him. This is really a great story and very funny too.

http://www-cs.canisius.edu/~bucheger/JamesCarterRuinedMyLife.html

Sax Embouchure

2007-04-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

Ive been working on some changes with my sax embouchure recently, and while doing some research on the net, came across this thread on saxontheweb with pictures of famous players and their embouchures.

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=52352

There are many other articles on this subject, but this one by Pete Thomas was one the most useful I found.

http://www.petethomas.co.uk/saxophone-embouchure.html

Free Stuff!

2007-04-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

This link regarding free downloadable books was posted recently by charlie on rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz. There are mainly guitar books here, but it looks like there are interesting articles on jazz usable for other intruments.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneychords/freebies.html

Sonny Rollins - Weaver of Dreams

2007-04-09T22:47:00.001-07:00

Thanks Holger for putting me on to this fantastic Sonny Rollins clip on Youtube. An incredible display of presence and sound with so little fuss! Best for me though are the close ups of his hands and the way they portray such control and confidence over the instrument. A beautiful clip of a great player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4LBDbcCR-E&mode=related&search=

Saxophone Sound

2007-04-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

Sax players are often looking for the perfect embouchure and set up. This article on Stan Getz was posted recently by steevemcbry on the saxontheweb forum:

http://www.du.edu/lamont/Getz.html

Here too is Dave Liebman's interesting article on the search for a perfect mouthpiece:

http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/Feature_Articles/nirvana.htm

Jazz Polyrhythms

2007-04-02T23:28:00.000-07:00

This is probably the most useful page I have found on the internet in a while. This article by Ron Jones gives detailed explainations on the most commonly used and essential to learn polyrhythms in Jazz. It's very well explained and comes with pdf examples.

http://www.iaje.org/article.asp?ArticleID=267

Jazz in India - Tour 2007

2007-03-31T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a clip from a recent concert in Auroville, and part of a jazz tour of India and Myanmar featuring Holger Jetter, Steve Rudolph, Mishko M'Ba and Suresh Bascara.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/492589/jazz_in_india/

The importance of Listening

2007-02-16T02:25:00.000-08:00

If you ever doubted the importance of listening in the study of jazz, read this article by Tenor Saxophonist Bob Anram. Its a fascinating insight into the development of ones own creativity in jazz.

http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51801

Smooth Jazz in Chennai (December 9th)

2006-12-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

For a great evening of smooth Jazz come to the Museum Theatre, Egmore in Chennai. The band features Shyam Benjamin(piano), Deepak Purushottaman (drums), `Darbuka' Siva (percussion), Aalaap Raju (bass), Donan Murray (guitar), Matt (saxophone), Thomas (trumpet) as well as guest performances by Sunitha Sarathy (vocals), Keith Peters (bass), and Augustine Paul and his group (vocals). For more information click below:

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/12/04/stories/2006120400110500.htm

Jalshaghar

2006-11-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

Jalshaghar is a world music group featuring musicians from Pondicherry and Auroville. For news and demo clips, follow the link below:

http://jalshaghar.blogspot.com/

Greg Fishman - Jazz Studios

2006-11-01T03:08:00.000-08:00

Having re-read the interview with Greg Fishman on Sax on the Web, I discovered his site dedicated to the study of Jazz improvisation. Its a very informative site, which contains lots of information including articles, licks and practice tips.

http://www.gregfishmanjazzstudios.com

More Rhythm

2006-10-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Below is the link to an excellent article I found recently on the importance of rhythm by Mel Martin. It covers many important and fundamental concepts, and their relationship to playing jazz. A must read.

http://www.melmartin.com/html_pages/Articles/rhythm.html

Haven't yet had the time to check them all out, but there are many other very good articles on different aspects of jazz playing at the same site.

Remember Shakti

2006-10-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

For a good introduction to Indian music from a western perspective, and how it relates to jazz, I can recommend the recent DVD release "The way of Beauty", by the fusion group "Remember Shakti". It features interviews with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain, as well as recordings from recent concerts and behind the scenes footage.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=9039

To tap or not to tap

2006-08-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered about whether or not it was correct to tap your foot while playing, read the following thread from sax on the web. Very interesting reading with good arguments both ways.

http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-21952.html

Rhythm Exercises

2006-08-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

If you want to expand your rhythmic vocabulary check out the following link:

http://www.izap.com/~pinnacle/index.html

The site has many good exercises, and includes tips on how to apply them to different instruments.

Solo transcriptions

2006-08-10T04:07:00.000-07:00

Need a solo transcription? Here are a few links to places that I have used...when I'm not transcribing myself that is!

http://www.charlesmcneal.com/WebPatterns.htm (very good site with lots of charts.)

http://www.lucaspickford.com/ (includes many transcriptions for piano, bass and guitar.)

http://www.saxsolos.com/

http://www.transcriptions-pool.de/index.php (looks interesting, a free database for solo transcriptions of all types. Includes a forum for requests. There are currently 74 transcriptions for sax.)

The Green Man - Norwich UK

2006-05-31T12:55:00.000-07:00

If you ever happen to be in Norwich UK and want to listen to some good jazz in a warm and friendly atmosphere, check out the Green Man in Rackheath. They have live Jazz every tuesday with a varitey of top Jazz musicians from around the country. Last night I went to see Italian tenor saxophonist Renato D'Aiello supported by Nicola Muresu on Bass, Mike Capocci on Piano and Jack Parnell on Drums. It was a very enjoyable gig and quite different to some other things I have heard recently. Renato D'Aiello is a very acomplished player who plays the "great old standards" in a fresh and new way. He has a great sound - big and warm, a little Mobley with the lyricism of Getz perhaps but comes across as original and imaginative. I particularly enjoyed his ballads which were a mixture of beautiful melodic playing and lyrical dexterity. Pianist Mike Capocci deserves a mention too. His solos were flowing and well constructed, within the style of the evening, yet gave an original and modern flavour to the music.

http://www.norwich1.com/jazz_greenman.htm

Timing and Metronome use

2006-05-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

An interesting thread from learnjazzpiano.com on using a metronome in practise. There are some good ideas here if you want to improve your timing.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/citadel/scotcit.mvc?intro_off=1&action=forum&sub=display_thread&id=26462&bid=&room_id=1

Drummerworld

2006-05-07T01:48:00.000-07:00

www.drummerworld.com is a fantastic site featuring the worlds best drummers. The site includes, biograpies, photographs, mp3's and best of all a vast collection of video clips featuring many great jazz musicians. A great resource for all jazz musicians.

Jazz Standards

2006-02-03T01:32:00.000-08:00

A must read for all practicing jazz musicians is www.jazzstandards.com. It has information on 1000 most frequently recorded jazz standards as well as detailed analytical and historical notes on the top ranked 100 compositions. Looking for a particular piece for example will give you information such as the historical background, musical analysis, musicians comments as well as CD recommendations. This is a highly recommendable site, especially if you are learning a new tune and need relevant information quickly. The suggestions of famous recordings I found particularly useful, as this is often the most time consuming part when looking for information on a piece you haven't played before.