Jazz for aficionados
And now for something completely different.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcOnbzq40pY Notice the age of the Polish audience. Jazz is cool again. Who wants to listen to Grandpa's music? |
@Orpheus - that's a nice story. By the way, I have never heard of a repairman who was not a musician - not all of them ex-professionals, of course, but all of them played something at some point, at least in high school. They have to be able to play test the instrument, after all, to make sure it is good to go. Many of the top brass repair guys around the country, the ones who work on the very high quality instruments, are still playing a little bit professionally too, as free-lancers. As far as your question about how people pick who they play with, well, one person in the group is always the leader, who takes care of the business end of the group and is the person dealing with whoever is hiring the musicians, whether it is a group that plays together all the time, or it is truly a pick-up group, and he/she hires musicians he is familiar with, or come highly recommended, if they are trying someone out for the first time. Or the employer may go through a professional contractor, who hires a pre-existing group, or puts one together. I have done a small amount of that type of contracting work, hiring a brass quintet for a church for Christmas and Easter gigs. It is alot of work, especially when the church only tells you a few weeks before, and you are scrambling to find people and having to hire people you don't know, because everyone you do is already working (usually we are hired for such holiday jobs months in advance). Wouldn't want to do that full-time, but I have done it here and there. One of the first things many young musicians will do who want to get their free-lance careers going is figure out who these big contractors are in their area, and send them their resumes, etc. Hope that answers your question somewhat. |
@Rok2id - I would like emphasize something Frogman said - "I think that the point is how little most non-musican music lovers/audiophiles understand, how much there is to learn (if wanted), how much learning can improve appreciation, and that there is often a visceral aversion to learning more." First, it is sometimes very difficult for us musicians to speak to non-musicians about music without coming off as condescending, so we truly are always concerned about people thinking we are insulting their intelligence. We have all heard the phrase "music is a universal language," and this is true. However, it is a language that most people think they know much more about than they actually do (which recalls another famous saying, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"). You talk about the visceral part, and HOME, etc., and we are not saying you are wrong. What we are saying is that this is just the starting point for the musician. The more one understands about music intellectually, the more one appreciates what the musicians are doing (in any genre), and the deeper then becomes one's visceral appreciation as well. We know this to be true, yet this concept is often fiercely resisted by the music lover/audiophile who is non-musical. I would submit to you that if you took some time to take an ear-training course, or a fundamentals of music theory course, or even a music appreciation course at a local university or community college in your area, it would enrich your appreciation of the music you already love, and probably introduce you to whole new musical loves, far beyond what you could possibly imagine now. Folks like you and Orpheus and Charles1dad would be perfect students for such courses. Don't be afraid of it turning music into an academic exercise - in fact, I guarantee, assuming a decent teacher, that the very opposite will happen - your love and appreciation for music will deepen more than you think it possibly could. You would not regret it. Another directly related personal story - for nine years, I taught French horn lessons very part-time (obviously my symphony job is my full-time job) at a major university. However, I did not teach the horn majors (another one of my colleagues did this) - I taught the non-majors, kids who had a band scholarship that required them to take the lessons, or kids who just wanted to keep playing but weren't necessarily in the music program otherwise. I have also had many adult students in my career, which frankly was not intended by me, but has become something of a specialty - two of my three current private students are adults. I was/am very much of a maverick as a teacher - I did of course help them play the horn much better, but I also insist on my students learning at least the rudiments of music theory, and I help to train their ears better (something my theory major in college taught me to do, by helping with music students who needed the extra help). I am in touch with many of my former students, all of whom thought it was a little strange at the time, but all of whom now greatly appreciate it, even though most of them don't actually play anymore, and almost all of them have continued it on their own. In every single case, it increased their love for music. One of them was actually a guy who also played some guitar, and I helped him learn some of the scales and chords he needed to learn to begin to learn to improvise - which was great fun for me, too, as it had been a long time since I had done any improvisation myself. Though we started it on the horn, he has since transferred it to his guitar playing, and last I heard he was in a jazz combo now in New Orleans, though I don't think it is his main job. Helping this type of student can often be as rewarding as helping the very most talented ones. |
Learsfool & The Frogman: Let me make a few points: 1. You do not offend me when you correct me or display knowledge that I don't possess. I spent 30 years in the U.S. Military. You get used to blunt, straight talk. No tap dancing or sugar coating. Thin skins don't survive. I have no modesty, and I cannot be offended. Now I would bet, that if I asked you how to deploy a platoon in the field or how to call in artillery support or how to defend against Chemical, Biological and Nuclear attacks or where to place the Machine Guns or where to dig the Fighting Positions, there is a good chance you would not know. Does not reflect on your intelligence. It's just that you have not been trained to do these things. I hope you get my point. I view your participation in this type thread as an oppourtunity to pick your brains. With the full realization that you two must be bored to tears. 2. I was just thinking about gaining more musical knowledge. I wonder if that is not a two edged sword. Sure I could have better understanding as to what I am hearing, and what the musicians are doing. But, at the same time if seems as if it would take more to impress me. I hear CDs now and I am in awe of what I hear. The Frogman not so much. He knows too much. I marvel at 'hog calling blues' but I don't think the Frogman was as impressed as I am. He can disect the action. To me it's just wonderful confusion, that somehow never quite flys apart, and comes together in the end.! When I was a kid growing up, I loved military movies. Didn't miss a one that came to my town. I also worked at the movie house, so I saw them all free. Then later, I was drafted and went into the real military. Loved everyday of the 30 years. No greater life. BUT, I can no longer bear to sit thru a military movie. Why? Because they are 99% BS. I now know too much. Will the same thing happened if a person increases his knowledge of the making and playing of music? Esp Jazz improvisation. It's one thing to know and then play. Another to know and just listen to others play. Or so I would think. Learsfool: I have at least 10 differnt performances of LvB's 7th. I love them all. I bet you would not. Just thinking out loud. Cheers |
