RIP John Taylor

I had the great pleasure of taking some lessons over the years from the great UK based pianist John Taylor. In all our meetings John was candid, forthcoming, funny, and present.  As an improviser, pianist, and composer his output stands as an prime example of a jazz musician who had reached the pinnacle of what is possible musically, a musician who's expression transcended the piano and reached a wide audience.

Of course like many others I came to know John's music through the recordings of Kenny Wheeler. There was a time during the '90s that Wheeler's recordings and concerts were mandatory listening for any student of jazz. Wheeler himself presided over us godlike in his stature as a band leader and sideman, a superlative improviser, also constantly humble and self-depricating. Taylor bared a resemblance to Wheeler in that he was both an energetic and astonishingly advanced and fearless improviser and yet quiet and humble in person.

One group that John participated in during this time was the Peter Erskine trio. Although they only managed to release 4 records that I know of each one reached new levels of group interaction. Featured prominently in this group were the compositions of Taylor himself. The following tune was always one that captured my imagination as I found I could follow it melodically and harmonically and at the same time feel lost a bit. That feeling of being both oriented in the music and yet lost is definitively what characterizes Taylor's compositions for me.

Developing a rhythmic concept Part V: Even More Herbie!

In this example we see how Herbie uses his rhythmic concept in combination with upper structures to generate melodic material. The example was chosen because it shows both the use of triads and 4ths structures as upper structures. The first system is a vertical rendering of the melodic line to show both the type of upper structure as well as the harmonic rhythm. Note that the harmonic rhythm is displaced by a triplet eighth which we already saw in Part IV. This displacement seems to be Herbie's favourite way of playing his signature polyrhythmic groupings. I would consider to be the foundation of Herbie's rhythmic concept in general.

The bellow transcription is from mm 65-70 which starts at 3:56.

Developing a rhythmic concept Part IV: More Herbie!

Here is another example of the kinds of lines you can build using Herbie's Eighth note groupings. The chord progression is a II-V7-I turn around. Note that it is possible to displace the beginnings of the groupings. You can basically start on any of the 3 triplet subdivisions. Also by combining eight and quarter note triplets you can create larger grouping. This quickly becomes complex as it modulates the meter. So make sure when you're practising longer phrases that you teach yourself how to resolve metrically modulated phrases. As you'll see the more complex your rhythmic concept the more easily it is to train wreck your solo!

Developing a rhythmic concept Part III

Ok so now that we've been trying to think more like a drummer both at our instrument and away from our instrument I though it would be instructive to find some real live music performances to model and study. Remember the goal is to try and use polyrhythms and formulate some new concepts in your own improvising. The example I've chosen is from my own mentor Herbie Hancock who is someone I've spent a lot of time studying and emulating.

Herbie has had some very developed rhythmic concepts in his playing ever since he burst on the jazz scene in New York at the young age of 21. I find it exhilarating to follow the development of how Herbie expands on these concepts throughout his career. Recordings of Herbie from 2015 next to recordings of him from 1962 bear an incredible resemblance in the way Herbie presents his conceptual elements of rhythm, harmony, and melody. And yet we also hear a remarkable maturation and deepening of these musical elements.

The clip below is from 1964 and demonstrates one of Herbie's hallmark rhythmic concepts. After navigating the changes during the exposition part of many of his solos Herbie is then able to continue to build intensity by using some basic polyrhythmic groupings in different interesting ways. In this case he's basically taking a scale and organizing it into subdivisions of quarter note triplets.



The exercise below demonstrates a way of taking Herbie's rhythmic concept during the last part of his solo. The bar numbers are a bit messed up because I transcribed the solo off the original released recording in which Herbie's solo is heavily edited to take out 2 choruses of material. But just advance the solo to the end part where they stop blowing on the form and are vamping over a II-V7-I-VI cycle.

Developing a rhythmic concept II

This week we are going to continue with some examples of how to use our polyrhythmic groupings.  For this exercise I've changed the harmonic/melodic colour to the Lydian mode. Although the result might sound a little "new age-y" you might use it to begin to see the possibilities of applying a rhythmic concept to any chord/scale.  Next post we'll take a look at how one of my favourite jazz pianists, Herbie Hancock, uses polyrhythmic groupings in his solos.

Developing a rhythmic concept

Happy new year! To everyone who, like me, is wondering where the time went from last year allow me to introduce an new topic on time...

When I talk about a rhythmic concept in our playing I'm referring to a way of approaching and thinking about improvisation that puts rhythm as the chief organizational concept. Music of course has to have rhythm as well as melody and harmony (or does it?) at least the kind of soloing that I'll be referring to in the next few posts. What I'll be illustrating is the way in which I've been able to relate some of the rhythmic exercises I developed in the "Think like a drummer" posts to my instrument, the piano. I've attempted to make a few of the exercises playable by both pianists and non pianists alike. Because of the way in which playing the piano co-ordinates two hands it's useful for all instrumentalists to work on these exercises as a way of internalizing the concepts. Later I'll analyze a solo by Herbie Hancock to demonstrate how a true master uses them.

For the first exercise I've taken the octatonic scale and divided it equally between the two hands. Once you've finished learning these make sure you try switching hands. Alway put the metronome on and keep tapping your foot in eighth notes.

Danilo Perez Transcription: Overjoyed

This week we had the pleasure of hosting some great workshops and concerts with the wonderful Danilo Perez. Perez's energy, positivity, and musicianship was all very inspiring for both the faculty and the students at McGill and I'm sure we'll be discussing our experience with him in the weeks to come.

I first heard Danilo on records back in the '90's playing trio with John Patitucci and Roy Haynes. Among many of his earlier mentoring experiences was his tenure in Haynes trio where he began to establish his reputation in the global jazz scene. I was always struck by the combination of elements and styles present in Perez's playing. Even today at times one hears a strong influence from Herbie Hancock coloured with the Latin Amercian rhythms he no doubt absorbed from his upbringing in Panama. However to name drop Hancock's influence on him doesn't adequately describe his overall musical presence in any of the ensembles he performs in. When I've had the pleasure of witnessing a concert by the Wayne Shorter quartet I've been deeply impressed by his spirit of commitment to the music being created in the moment. His musical personality is obviously one that puts emotional communication ahead of stylistic or even pianistic concerns. It's almost as if he's trying to get away from sounding like a pianist, something one might even say about Shorter's playing as a saxophonist.

One record of Danilo's that I find particularly beautiful I think in large part due to what seems to be his love of songs regardless of the style in which they are composed is a Verve release from 10 years ago entitled "...till then". The record features music by Joni Mitchel as well as the song "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder. Hear a preview of the cd here

Please let me know if you agree with my chord symbols….

Strengthening your inner pulse: Think like a drummer part IV

This will be the last instalment in this series. For more ideas and exercises please check out the fantastic book by drummer Pete Magadini called Polyrhythms for musicians. The following study should be as always performed with the metronome and keep your foot tapping!

Strengthening your inner pulse: Think like a drummer part III

If you've become as excited as I have about subdivisions then feast your eye
s on this! But seriously aren't you turning into the best lap drummer you know? Enjoy….

Strengthening Your Inner Pulse: Think like a drummer part II

When I listen to the drummers in Montreal that I have the great pleasure of regularly performing with I am constantly amazed at how effortlessly they can play ideas using different rhythmic subdivisions simultaneously throughout the kit. For example, he might comp phrases on the snare drum that have a quarter note triplet subdivision against a ride cymbal pattern that has 4/4 feel. A drummer can also hint at another "feel" while simultaneously playing another feel. As far as playing concepts and ideas on the kit, the drummers I've spoken with have told me they spend a lot of time dealing with subdivisions which is the beginning of how they build complexity on their instrument that doesn't sound random but relates back to something fundamental like the basic swing feel.

In the three against two exercise for this week we now subdivide the quarter-note triplet in 3 creating a new grouping of 9 against 2 (or 4 if you're tapping eighth notes with your foot). Once you get this going notice how it creates the sensation of 2 simultaneously occurring "feels" in your body. Your inner pulse must deal with both subdivisions of the beat. You might start by mathematically placing the second quarter note of the bar between the 5th and 6th triplet triplet subdivision. However after a while you'll want to achieve a flow with both your feet and your hands and should try to hear them as two simultaneous and related rhythms. Take note how the odd number of notes in a bar creates a 2-bar phrase between your right and left hands.

Try and compose lines on your instrument with these rhythmic groupings and see how that changes your soloing. Have fun!

Strengthening Your Inner Pulse: Think Like a Drummer

Put down and step away from your instruments....What does it mean to have an inner pulse? Often, it is said that since we all have a heart that beats then we all have an inner pulse. While this is true on a physiological level I've notice that improvising jazz musicians grapple with a sense of pulse in their playing. That is to say that we are deeply concerned not just with the notes we play or their rhythmic subdivisions but the phrasing and feel of what we are playing and how it relates to what other musicians are playing too. Also how much of a presence does our playing have? Do we have a big robust and confident voice when we solo? Or do our solos sometimes sound thin and weak? Are we really expressing our ideas and having an impact on an audience?

I've always been jealous of drummers for playing an instrument that forces them as musician to work directly with an inner pulse. Since the drums are the least forgiving to those who play with a weak sense of time and rhythm, drummers must work really hard to play with a good time feel. I've noticed that the conviction and rhythmic clarity with which drummers play almost always connects well with the audience.  It almost begs the question: Why do us non drummers approach practicing our instruments in different ways rhythmically? Does having a heart beat mean that inner pulse will take care of itself in my playing?

What it would be like to play the piano but think like a drummer? I developed the following exercises for my piano students to work on away from their instrument. I think these exercises would equally apply for any instrumentalist who wonders what it would feel like to think like a drummer. Many of my students tell me that practicing like this lets them concentrate in a different way. It helps them to eliminate all of the built up "piano" stuff that their fingers naturally go to when they practice. When returning to the piano after practicing these exercises one also hears what one is playing from a fresh rhythmic perspective. I should also mention that these were largely inspired by adapting material from a great book on rhythm by the west coast drummer Pete Magadini entitled: Polyrhythms, the musician's guide.

The firs exercise below is preparatory for harder stuff to come. For now concentrate on the feeling of your limbs working together to create a relaxed and swinging time feel. Have fun!

Carlos Jimenez at the Seagal center this month

Here is a little promo video for a concert that I'll be participating this month at the Segal Center. I've had the pleasure of playing in Carlos' group for a little more than a year now and I have to say the music is really happening. Please come out and support us if you like what you hear!




Concert is Sunday January 22nd, 8pm
Segal Center5170 Chemin Côte-Ste-Catherine
Tickets: (514) 739-2301

Montreal Musicians : Piano trio reviews of Kananaskis and More!

Happy Freakin' New Year!!

I'm very happy to have my latest CD reviewed in Peter Hum's JazzBlog.ca along side two other Montreal pianists Steve Amirault and Marie Fatima Rudolf! I have been a fan of Peter's jazz writing for many years. His blog has now become pretty much the most read jazz blog in the world by jazz musicians and at this point I believe he is also attracting more non musicians than any other jazz blog. While Peter is an exceptionally well regarded writer what makes me a little nervous when I send him something of mine is the fact that he is also a jazz pianist. Of any review that I have ever had of my work it is always Peter's that means the most to me because he appreciates not only the music but also the playing in way that is the most informed of the process.  That is to say I think that other pianists probably hold the most biases when listening to other pianists. Maybe that's not entirely true but I think musicians are often the most judgmental when it comes to listening to someone who plays the same instrument. On the other hand it is those musicians who play the same instrument as we do who we can often grow very close too musically and personally. That's definitively how I feel about the other two pianists on Peter's review. I mean Steve has been a great source of inspiration for Montreal Pianists for 2 decades now and I consider him a very good friend. Marie Fatima or M-F as she has become known is very quickly becoming someone to watch for and listen to. Anyway I encourage you to read Peter's great blog and humbly ask you to read his reviews of some recent piano trio records by Montreal pianists. Read the review HERE

End of the year roundup Part I: Art advocacy

For the next few days while I catch my breath from the cavorting and over-eating I'd like to revisit some of my yet unpublished posts from this past year. Inevitably every year I write some posts which, for some reason I either can't finish or just don't have the balls to put my name on. I am almost always writing from my emotions and I feel that this yeilds unpredictable results. As in playing music one's feelings can play a really vital role in producing inspiration while at the same time undermining other things that are important like... organization! But hey, I didn't choose music it chose me so everyone has to just deal with me. Haha So I hope you all enjoy a sample from my posts which I felt were largely too unorganized to or pretentious to publish.





(Originally written last winter...sometime...)

I would like to further support my assertion from a previous post that it is crucial for those of us involved in the arts to hone our skills in advocacy for the arts.  Even if it is just learning about the major issues and working out one's own arguments.  I often think about what art means to people and that includes myself. Especially when I get home from a performance where the sound sucked, I sucked, and the piano was badly out of tune. Then I really need some arguments of my own to support my self-financing of my music career (or in my case earning a standard of living lower than what I could make in another field). And on top of that I have to subject my family to my selfish career choice!

Why is it that we need to justify art? What is it exactly that we need to defend to the tax payers of the far right? I come back to my previous statement that there is nothing more worthless than an unwanted piece of art. And that goes for an unwanted minute of jazz improvisation at the Lincoln center or an unwanted opera production. And perhaps we can all agree with this to some extent. I don't support the opera because it is largely a form that I find worthless to me. For shame! But how is that different than the argument that is often made by people that the free market economy means that jazz should die because that is what the public wants.

I think if we are to help change the minds of this increasingly large segment of our society and to really argue with an informed opinion then we need to do our research. I encourage you to start with this video. It's really long so just skip over to the part about the arts and let me know what you think!
Watch the video here (Fast forward to minute 119:30 to hear McCain's rant worthy of a Foghorn Leghorn cartoon against earmark spending for the arts)

Chris Donnelly blogpost competition

I'd like to cordially invite my readership to check out Chris Donnelly's blog competition. Chris is an outstanding pianist in Toronto and his blog is no less a top notch place for pointed discussion on topics ranging from jazz piano to creativity and improvisation. Please follow the link here to his blog. You can win $200 from Chris if you write a post reflecting on:

“How do you get people out to gigs? How do you build an audience?  How do you support live music?"

Are there Mistakes in Jazz Part II

As the jazz blogosphere south of the border descends into a racist-tinged chaos, a fitting parallel to their economic chaos (how can jazz be so divisive...only in America!), I'd like to hopefully keep your day on an elevated level with a clip of Stephon Harris addressing some of the same points I made in my previous post on making mistakes in Jazz.

To quote Ike Turner: "Why can't we just be friends?"

Are there mistakes in Jazz?

Recently I was having a discussion with a younger bassist about a gig we played a few months ago. I was focusing primarily on my enjoyment of playing music that night. Just to update those of you reading this blog I have 2 young children and a demanding day gig teaching at McGill University and Vanier College. Needless to say I feel like someone who is always making the food but rarely gets to taste it if you catch my drift. A good day for me is when I can get even an minimal amount of practicing in before I need to clean up, give baths, read bedtime stories. All the stuff I really love to do as a parent. Anyway my young bassist friend was focusing the conversation primarily on the mistakes. And in particular those instances where I played certain chord changes that were unfamiliar to him and there were moments that clashed between the chord I was playing and the bass note. These sorts of things often crop up in inter-generational moments like when a younger musician is playing a standard with an older musician. They often just know different chord progressions to the tunes because they've had different teachers for the music.

For example several of the standards I know I learned from recordings of Miles Davis and in particular the 60's quintet with one of my big heros Herbie Hancock. For sure as a student I would always be looking for places to put my favorite Herbie-isms. Here is one that I always wanted to do on "All of You" by Cole Porter. Check out the decending dominant sus chords in measures 13-16 of the form:



I'm sure if you're a jazz pianist this passage absolutely makes your eyes water with envy for Herbie's moment of superlative slickness. Well the whole solo is just about as great a herbie solo as it comes. It was even transcribed by Bill Dobbins in his seminal publication of Herbie Hancock solos published by Advance Music.(Just as an aside: a couple of years back I bought the box set "Miles Davis: Seven Steps to Heaven" and found to my utter amazement that the Herbies solos from these live concerts with the band that included George Colleman were heavily edited to remove entire choruses. When I heard these missing choruses put back into the solos it was like going to going to sleep and waking up in some kind of paralell universe like Bizzarro jazz world in the DC comics if that ever were to have been imagined. The previous Youtube clip plays the recording with the solo restored and not what was on the original cd)

Ok so I got the chance to play with Dave Young, veteran Toronto bassist, a number of years back and here's what those bars sounded like:



In Burrell's  version this passage is:

EbMaj7 (Db7) Gmin7(b5) C7(b9) Fmin7 Bb7

which more closely resembles the original changes to the tune as opposed to the Miles/Herbie chords which are:

Eb7sus D7sus Db7sus C7sus B7 EMaj7

In jazz it is quite common for different musicians to play the same tune with even far greater differences than these and make them work. In my opinion the question is not whether or not these differences constitute "mistakes" when played together but rather the question is how do these players play what amounts to unrehearsed repertoire and make it sound so "right". The first question is phrased in the negative, glass-half-empty approach (which I find a surprising number of musicians are willing to take) and the second question is phrased in a positive, glass-half-full, how-do-we-make-this-thing-work approach.

I suppose the analogy I often use for my students is when we hang with our friends socially. In this context we are constantly using language to express and riff off completely unrehearsed ideas. Someone brings up a concert they recently attended, an episode of "Curb your enthusiasm" (nerd!), gossip about a gig they were on. All of these "ideas" existed internally as emotions and concepts that needed a language for them to be expressed. These ideas also needed an audience or an interactive human outlet for them to be "performed". During their performance they grow to include influences from the subtle emotional subtext of the "hang". Things like the vibe in the room which is often humourous. Or maybe the subtext involes an inter-generational vibe like when we're with family. The point is that there is so much that goes into the expression of ideas through language.

The only mistake we can make in these situations is to not be completely present. Humans are just naturally sensitive to each other but we sometimes do things that get in the way. We feel insecure about ourselves and so we start an internal negative dialogue that has nothing to do with anything external. We use drugs that dull our minds. Music only sounds wrong when this sensitive exchange between people isn't happening. Yes understanding of language is a very important part and so is the quality of our ideas (typically you don't hang out with your friends to bore them with mundane ideas) but so is an attitude of open mindedness and a willingness to listen and respond honestly to one another. Possibly THE greatest thing about jazz and improvisation is that it rellies on conventions and languages that are the best at representing the subtlety of complex human interaction. The only time it sounds bad (not Shaft bad but yucky bad) is when that interplay isn't there. All the right notes in the world won't change a band that isn't happening!

Notes on Kananaskis

This is the second video in the series shot by Randy Cole here in Montreal documenting me and the trio. Once again Cole's artistry as a film maker is apparent as well as my inability to form complete sentences when interviewed. Also featured is the superb musicianship of my friends Dave Watts and John Fraboni who I've had the pleasure of playing with and being inspired by for a number of years now. I hope that some of our nice chemistry comes through on film despite my banter. Enjoy...

Candian Landscapes

Hi all. In conjunction with the release of my second cd entitled "Kannaskis" here is a little video of one of the tunes from the album called "Separation". The film was shot by a Montreal film maker named Randy Cole who, among other projects, has a really nice developing series of profiles of Montreal jazz musicians. I especially like the films he did of Kevin Dean and Al McLean.  The piece I'm playing here was composed for my brother and sister-in-law after they experienced a painful loss however the metaphor extends to include the separation between the urban and natural environments here in Canada. I hope you enjoy it.

Post Secondary Education: a purely politcal post

For those of you who read my blog you know about my increasingly sporadic posts. You've read my meandering theses on various topics relating to jazz education. You've been patient with me while I self-promoted, you've been open minded when I've ranted, you've been like a friend when I've gushed about my family. I'd now like to take the next step outside of the sphere of jazz education and write something briefly on education itself.

 Here in Quebe where I live and work we are witnessing the beginning of the end of state funded post secondary education. Up until now we've literally been the most enlightened society in North America by subsidizing the greatest portion of university tuition than any other province in Canada or State in the US. This is something that I am unflinchingly proud of and I will gumb you down if you try to argue with me about this. I simply can't believe those people who argue against the benefit of post secondary education to society at large. Their arguments seem trite to me, similar to those arguments people make against society's responsibilities towards the rearing of children and young adults. Simply because those making the argument themselves have no children they feel that this should absolve them from playing a role in the shaping of the human beings they share the planet with and whose future financial, emotional, and intellectual contributions will be of great benefit to them when they require care in their old age.

I would like to take 2 arguements that are being thrown out against subsidized post secondary education by everyone from my neighbours to high profile economists and argue against them. 

#1. is the argument that university education is primarily a personal choice that benefits the student only.

This is in essence a consumeristic attitude toward higher education and an argument recently articulated by an economist in the Montreal Gazette. There is more to highter education than mere personal choice or self-improvement. Nor is subsidizing tuition a mere investment in an individual's future income. Education does indeed improve the student, but it also produces graduates who are better able to contribute to the development of society at large. Society benefits from doctors, lawyers (supposed to, maybe I should say in Canada at least) engineers, philanthropist business leaders, theologans, ethicists, chemists, physicists, musicians, artists.....even economists!

#2 the argument that free education produces inferior education, citing the claim that "no German university is ranked among the best in the world," and suggesting that this is because most German states offer free university.

Setting aside the veracity of the claim, perhaps the authors of this argument could explain how Oxford and Cambridge managed to become such world reknowned universities in spite of the fact that, until recently, Britain also offered free higher education. McGill university itself is considered the top university in Canada and yet has one of the lowest tuitions.  A policy offering low-cost or free higher education is a choice that many enlightened societies have made because they understand that it is an investment, not just in the individuals who receive that education, but in the ongoing development of of society as a whole.

This is a choice that the Quebec society made years ago. The trouble is that successive governments have not lived up to their side of the bargain by funding the universities adequately.  And now the problem with Quebec universities is not that they charge such low fees, but that they receive inadequate support from the very governments that have set the low-fee policy. This paints an inaccurate picture of the issue for people. What is in the public's best interest is to push hard against the government to live up to the values and expectations of society, but instead people are adopting the values of cutting back on education. Cuts that themselves represent merely the values of a government who is doing everything it can to make up for bad policy and corruption in other sectors.