Jalshaghar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Eric Lohrer Quartet - Live in Pondicherry

Last night Pondicherry in South India was treated to a superb jazz concert by French guitarist Eric Lohrer and his Quartet. The band also featured Jean-Charles Richard on Soprano sax, Eric Surmenian on the bass, and Patrick Goraguer on the drums. It was modern jazz of the highest quality, featuring a variety of compositions from all of the band members, as well as arrangements from other contemporary jazz composers. Apart from individual technical excellence, the musicians played superbly as a group. Communication between the members was very good, and they played with energy and intensity which was never allowed to be over-powering. In all this was a very good performance, and I can recommend going to see them as they continue their tour of India.

Jazz Resources

For a huge variety of great articles on the art of saxophone playing and jazz, check out the Dave Liebman Website:

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

Thanks for finding this link goes to: http://www.davidvaldez.blogspot.com/ another very good site with lots of articles and very useful information.

Frank Spaniol - Acoustic Jazz

Of the new CD's I have listened to recently I can very much recommend "Acoustic Jazz" by the Frank Spaniol Quartet. I came across this some weeks ago and was very impressed with its fresh approach to modern Jazz. There is however very little information on the Web particularly in English, so I would be interested to find others who have enjoyed listening to this too. For more information try the link below:

http://www.rodenstein-records.com/html/rod11.htm#moreband

Jazz Interviews

I have discovered recently that there are alot of good interviews with jazz musicans on the web, many of which offer very interesting perspectives into the thoughts and ways of learning of these musicians. Below are a couple of very good ones. The interview with Greg Fishman in particular offers valuable advice on practising the saxophone.


http://www.pbs.org/jazz/about/pdfs/MarsalisB.pdf

http://www.saxontheweb.net/Fishman/1.html

"New Breed" by Gary Chester - A review

As a non drummer it may seem strange to be reviewing a book on the technique of drumming, but as a jazz musician this is one of the best books I have come across regardless of which instrument you play. In the practise of saxophone and piano I have often concentrated on studying scales, harmonies and chords, work in rhythm way down in the list of things to practise. Having felt weak in this area, some time ago I decided to rectify this by learning to play the drums. A friend of mine recommended this book and I have been using it ever since.

The functioning of the book is simple, yet very challenging. At the start you are given a number of basic "systems" or patterns to play. You are to then use these systems with a page of reading or "melodies" – rather like a horn line for a melody instrument. For example a particular system will have you play a repeated rhythm or pattern on the snare, high hat and cymbal while on the bass drum you would read one of the melodies.

Having mastered some of these exercises you are then encouraged to repeat the same thing but reversed. The left hand plays what ever was played by the right hand. The idea behind this is to eliminate the idea that one hand may be stronger than the other. Most interestingly you are also encouraged to sing the various parts of each system or melody helping to develop yet another independent part, or what the author calls a fifth limb.

From a percussionist point of view this is an excellent method. It helps you to develop a strong sense of time, independence of the limbs as well as an awareness of the functioning of the different parts of the drum kit. It is also helpful for reading and is very useful preparation for any rhythmical situation you may encounter as a musician. It is its flexibility and open endedness however that is its strongest point and even as a saxophonist or pianist there are limitless ways of using this book.