Keeping Busy
Author: Rob Brun del Re
[email protected]
Date: January 20, 2021
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Ottawa Jazz Happenings or of JazzWorks Canada.
I’ve been wondering what the local Jazz community has been up to these long COVID-19 months. Meantime, I’ve been quietly applauding the efforts of the JazzWorks crew that continues to keep us informed. Kudos to you guys, and thanks!
I last wrote an article last summer about keeping the band motivated and interested in our music. That strategy continues to serve. But, I have since branched out in two new directions. You might be interested in what they are … and neither is “virtual” anything.
Before getting into that, I hope you and yours are doing well and continuing to fight this pandemic. Carole and I are doing our best and so far we’ve been good – touch ivory.
Now to my “new directions”: the first one has been to sit back and take a global look at our repertoire with a view to planning the future; the second has been to cycle back and review or re-learn specific songs in our repertoire, or dedicate the time to learn specific songs or licks I’ve been meaning to learn for a long, long time.
Repertoire Review
Having actively gigged for over three years now, I’ve developed some firm convictions about what audiences appreciate and want to hear. For me, it boils down to a simple guide: recognizable, relevant, strong melodies. That’s it.
However, using this as a guide to shape our repertoire, the implications are profound: just because a song is a “jazz standard” doesn’t make it a good song or one with audience appeal. In short, if I don’t like a song, or unless it has some redeeming musical quality worth learning, I just won’t learn it. Finito.
Some others, while strong melodically, have lost what I call “relevance” – i.e. they are songs that really belong to another time, and which have, at best, but nostalgic appeal. I could mention several numbers that fall into either of these categories, but I won’t. What I will mention is that I’m rediscovering a raft of songs I didn’t think much of in days past, but that on listening anew are wonderful melodies worth learning. To wit:
I passively tolerated these tunes on the radio before, without really appreciating just how good they really are. The world is full of near-forgotten gems, and I’ve made it a mission to find more and give them their due, or maybe even jazz them up some.
As for those jazz standards I really should learn? Well, I’m actually learning more about jazz by “jazzify-ing” songs I like, than working with melodies I think have lost relevance.
Songs I’m currently working to jazzify:
This is a well-trodden genre, but I remain endlessly impressed with what some folks have done with tried-and-true melodies. That’s true jazz musicianship in my books.
Re-Learning
Second new direction: re-learning specific songs or learning long-ago shelved licks.
There are several songs I’ve been playing for years with arrangements of my own – usually because I learned them by ear. With time available, I’m revisiting the arrangements I’m playing and tweaking or modifying them – if warranted – to be closer to the original. A prime example is “Green Onions” (Booker T).
I learned “Green Onions” by ear and, although I’m quite close, I’ve observed – by watching videos of Booker T – that both his left and right hand voicings of the main riff are slightly different than mine. Part of the reason is that I play the piece as a trio and need to maintain the main riff in my left hand through the solos. Nevertheless, that’s no reason not to learn the riff as it was written. The differences are slight but significant enough to make me want to learn it properly, and it makes me learn my chord voicings.
I’m also spending time on “Linus and Lucy”, my signature tune, more as a developmental exercise by focusing on learning it – I mean really studying it and getting deep into the chord progressions. This has allowed me to develop a completely new intro (that Schroeder would have liked) as well as to develop my own jazz breaks, rather than copying Guaraldi’s. Super challenging and a great learning experience.
One of my “long-wanted-to-learn” riffs is, oddly enough, 8 bars of the honky-tonk piano in the 1970s surprise hit “Gimme Dat Ding”. It’s taken hours – I mean hours – of listening and trial and error to decipher what I consider to be one of the most ingenious, swinging “v-I” licks I’ve ever heard. Talk about a learning experience. Sadly, I can’t even determine who the original piano player was – apparently some UK studio musician. I’ve written the only living songwriter to see if he knows, but haven’t heard back yet. The pianist was truly inspired and should be recognized for their almost-forgotten work.
Enough about my new directions – I have more to do, more fun licks to learn (Boston’s “Foreplay”, the organ solo in “Roundabout”, modal licks in “So What”.… etc. etc.).
I hope you have your to-do’s too!
Rob Brun del Re
[email protected]
I last wrote an article last summer about keeping the band motivated and interested in our music. That strategy continues to serve. But, I have since branched out in two new directions. You might be interested in what they are … and neither is “virtual” anything.
Before getting into that, I hope you and yours are doing well and continuing to fight this pandemic. Carole and I are doing our best and so far we’ve been good – touch ivory.
Now to my “new directions”: the first one has been to sit back and take a global look at our repertoire with a view to planning the future; the second has been to cycle back and review or re-learn specific songs in our repertoire, or dedicate the time to learn specific songs or licks I’ve been meaning to learn for a long, long time.
Repertoire Review
Having actively gigged for over three years now, I’ve developed some firm convictions about what audiences appreciate and want to hear. For me, it boils down to a simple guide: recognizable, relevant, strong melodies. That’s it.
However, using this as a guide to shape our repertoire, the implications are profound: just because a song is a “jazz standard” doesn’t make it a good song or one with audience appeal. In short, if I don’t like a song, or unless it has some redeeming musical quality worth learning, I just won’t learn it. Finito.
Some others, while strong melodically, have lost what I call “relevance” – i.e. they are songs that really belong to another time, and which have, at best, but nostalgic appeal. I could mention several numbers that fall into either of these categories, but I won’t. What I will mention is that I’m rediscovering a raft of songs I didn’t think much of in days past, but that on listening anew are wonderful melodies worth learning. To wit:
- Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel)
- Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
- How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees)
- Sailing (Christopher Cross)
- Witchita Lineman (Jimmy Webb)
I passively tolerated these tunes on the radio before, without really appreciating just how good they really are. The world is full of near-forgotten gems, and I’ve made it a mission to find more and give them their due, or maybe even jazz them up some.
As for those jazz standards I really should learn? Well, I’m actually learning more about jazz by “jazzify-ing” songs I like, than working with melodies I think have lost relevance.
Songs I’m currently working to jazzify:
- Whiter Shade of Pale (Procul Harem)
- Creep (Radiohead)
- several others, some of which are in our current repertoire
This is a well-trodden genre, but I remain endlessly impressed with what some folks have done with tried-and-true melodies. That’s true jazz musicianship in my books.
Re-Learning
Second new direction: re-learning specific songs or learning long-ago shelved licks.
There are several songs I’ve been playing for years with arrangements of my own – usually because I learned them by ear. With time available, I’m revisiting the arrangements I’m playing and tweaking or modifying them – if warranted – to be closer to the original. A prime example is “Green Onions” (Booker T).
I learned “Green Onions” by ear and, although I’m quite close, I’ve observed – by watching videos of Booker T – that both his left and right hand voicings of the main riff are slightly different than mine. Part of the reason is that I play the piece as a trio and need to maintain the main riff in my left hand through the solos. Nevertheless, that’s no reason not to learn the riff as it was written. The differences are slight but significant enough to make me want to learn it properly, and it makes me learn my chord voicings.
I’m also spending time on “Linus and Lucy”, my signature tune, more as a developmental exercise by focusing on learning it – I mean really studying it and getting deep into the chord progressions. This has allowed me to develop a completely new intro (that Schroeder would have liked) as well as to develop my own jazz breaks, rather than copying Guaraldi’s. Super challenging and a great learning experience.
One of my “long-wanted-to-learn” riffs is, oddly enough, 8 bars of the honky-tonk piano in the 1970s surprise hit “Gimme Dat Ding”. It’s taken hours – I mean hours – of listening and trial and error to decipher what I consider to be one of the most ingenious, swinging “v-I” licks I’ve ever heard. Talk about a learning experience. Sadly, I can’t even determine who the original piano player was – apparently some UK studio musician. I’ve written the only living songwriter to see if he knows, but haven’t heard back yet. The pianist was truly inspired and should be recognized for their almost-forgotten work.
Enough about my new directions – I have more to do, more fun licks to learn (Boston’s “Foreplay”, the organ solo in “Roundabout”, modal licks in “So What”.… etc. etc.).
I hope you have your to-do’s too!
Rob Brun del Re
[email protected]
About the Author
Despite a lifelong passion for music, Rob is a Professional Engineer with a Master’s degree in electronics. He spent a full career working as an engineer, then as an executive in Canada’s defence sector. Now retired, Rob devotes a significant amount of time to catching up with his musical ambitions, primarily studying and developing a traditional jazz style. Rob is an active member of JazzWorks Canada: he gigs regularly (when allowable) with Miss Scarlet in the Lounge and with the Starlight Jazz Combo. Rob’s other passions are flying radio control sailplanes and researching colonial America. Rob has published one non-fiction book – “UFOs: Proof Positive - Debunking UFO Debunkers” and is currently working on a novel about lost secrets in Puritan New England.
Despite a lifelong passion for music, Rob is a Professional Engineer with a Master’s degree in electronics. He spent a full career working as an engineer, then as an executive in Canada’s defence sector. Now retired, Rob devotes a significant amount of time to catching up with his musical ambitions, primarily studying and developing a traditional jazz style. Rob is an active member of JazzWorks Canada: he gigs regularly (when allowable) with Miss Scarlet in the Lounge and with the Starlight Jazz Combo. Rob’s other passions are flying radio control sailplanes and researching colonial America. Rob has published one non-fiction book – “UFOs: Proof Positive - Debunking UFO Debunkers” and is currently working on a novel about lost secrets in Puritan New England.
