The Bis Key Chronicles

Blow, don’t suck!

I went over the recent recordings with one of my fav instructors and plan to do that with my other instructor when we meet again. I hate listening to myself, but in addition to being very humbling, it is the only way I’m gonna get better. And my instructors work hard to keep me invested and optimistic. So I present an example of a short solo that I would have thought I could have nailed, but didn’t…

                                 When Sonny Comes Home

Certain notes didn’t sound the way I heard them. The intonation wasn’t quite there. The effect was something less than pleasant. I talked to my sax/improv instructor who talked about both the improvements that have been made in my sound over the last year and where the playing wasn’t as good. I spend a lot of time with both instructors working on sight reading, rhythm and more on improv. It would seem that I could spend an equal amount of time on sound and embellishments.

It is said that most Americans won’t work on improvement if they don’t sound like a pro from the get go. That is of course ridiculous. So I practice on and strive for that killer sound, a sound that takes hours a day to achieve over the lifetime of a musician. I think I’ll go practice my next solo.  :o)

Labor Day Gig 2008

The day started overcast and pouring down rain. And the prognosis was not good for an outdoor gig. But as the musician’s called me to see if we were gonna cancel, I kept telling everyone we were on for the Ballard Locks gig. I told whoever would listen that the clouds would part and the rain would abate for the two hour concert. But I didn’t really believe it. Guess what? That is exactly what happened.  :o)

So here are some pictures taken by my grandson, who I paid to play roadie for me today. He schlepped equipment, set up my saxes, ran cables and took pictures.

First is the one-man road crew, grandson Nicky. Then there are the horns from left to right Don, me, Suzy and Gary. Next the inimitable Sharon joined us with a nice vocal or five.

Featured are the Dissonance Rhythm section; Saul, Brad, and Rossen. Don and his trumpet-playing daughter Maiya. Finally Gary doing a solo interpretation on Jordu.

Here’s the set list:

First set:

• Freddie Freeloader
• Blue Bossa
• Do Nothing (vocal)
• Embraceable You (vocal)
• Straight no Chaser
• Blues for Kim
• Nice Work if you Can Get it (vocal)
• Jordu (Gary and rhythm only)
• When Sunny Gets Blue

Second Set:

• Doxy
• Killer Joe
• Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
• Love is Here to Stay (vocal)
• Summertime (vocal)
• Blue Monk
• Night Train
• The Lady is a Tramp (vocal)
• Stolen Moments
• Jersey Bounce

As you can see this is some of my favorite songs. That’s why I put this combo together, to get better at soloing and play the songs I like. :o)

Finding the time to practice is more about me than about the time allocated. There’s always plenty of time… if you remove the time spent watching TV, blogging, reading in the forums, and the like. Notice I didn’t say remove time with family, pets, exercise, and the like.

But I don’t practice enough. In a week I usually put in 1.5 hours in lessons, 4 hours in practice with the bands I’m a part of, and 2 to 3 hours beyond that. I need to be doing at least an hour a day to progress from where I am now. Oh, and I spend two hours a week with my grandson working with him on the bass clarinet and the bari sax.

On the bass sax solo for the Grinch (to be played in December at the Seattle Center House, aka a big deal), I am close to the big, loud voicing I need and without a mic. But I haven’t memorized the solo yet. And there are places where I jump an octave that need some finessing. Also, the cadenza will have two takes off to other songs, "If I only had a brain" and either "Jaws" or the "Theme from James Bond".

I could also do a piece on practicing smart. Instead of doing the stuff you like and can already do, spend time on the hard stuff, the theory, long tones, and the stylistic improvements like ubba, ubba for a swing rhythm. Still playing the music I like is soooo satisfying.  ;o)

There are so many people who could be world-class performers but who, like me, have trouble doing anything over a hour at a time. That’s why I like band practice because it forces me to do so. But that doesn’t help me get the difficult passages down. I’m not whining, no really, but I am voicing my biggest concern about moving forward with my music because increasing my practice time and being smart about how I use my time is gonna be key from now on. The easy stuff is mostly learned and I’m refining that as I go along. It’s good to have a challenge though, isn’t it?