COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 9

A frustrating day of work was alleviated by some very enjoyable sounds. Kicking off the day was the new disc featuring unreleased recordings by Lennie Tristano - The Duo Sessions. It features Tristano is duo with Lenny Popkin, Connie Crothers, and Roger Mancuso. I’m a huge fan of all involved so this is going to get a lot more listening time. Due to the pandemic Dot Time Records were unable to post the physical disc but gladly sent me a digital copy.

Then I continued with my tour of the Root 70 discography with Getting Rooted. I hadn’t listened to this one for a while and was a little surprised how well I remembered it. Then I recalled just how much I used to listen to this album and I was somewhat less surprised. In turn, I started recalling the time I first heard this album - New York City, 2004 (ahh nostalgia). And realized that these two albums are linked, as NYC 2004 also happened to be when I met Connie. Time Flies. Kind of. In some respects in seems like yesterday, and then suddenly it feels like another lifetime.

Lambic Jazz Vol.8

Connie Crothers and Roger Mancuso: Deep Into the Center (New Artists)
This seemed like the perfect choice last night, as I am using this disc for one of my school assignments. However, plans changed and I ended up going out after class so here I am this afternoon catching up. The added bonus was that today I had more time to listen and gave the album three spins.

At the time of the recording (circa 1994) Connie and Roger had been playing together for 30 years but I think this was their first recording together since Connie's 1974 debut, Perception. As I listen today, two words leap out - unity and flow. The connection between the drums and piano is deep, creating a seamless series of duets. Many times I have turned to this album for calm and floated away on a magic carpet of improvisation.

While it can be exciting to hear people playing together for the first time, as relationships develop the music takes on a different quality that only comes with time. And it can, perhaps counter-intuitively, even heighten the surprise factor in the music. There were many long-standing collaborations in Connie's music - the quartet she co-led with Lenny Popkin and the more recent Connie Crothers Quartet (that along with Roger also another included long-time collaborator, saxophonist Richard Tabnik) immediately come to mind. And then there are some other favorite groups of such as the Steve Lacy Quintet, the ICP Orchestra and Root 70 (new album due in May 2017). There's something to be said for groups that maintain stable personnel.

If you are in the NYC area on Sunday come on down to Roulette for Connie's memorial concert - Love and Music: Celebrating Connie Crothers

The Compositions of Paul Motian Vol. 1 arrived in the mail the other day. It covers his works from 1973-1989 (over 60 tunes). I had a quick browse through before class last night and a flick-through today. Printing it as a facsimile of the original handwritten lead sheets is a nice touch.

This post was accompanied by Boon Geuze Marriage Parfait.

Previous editions of Lambic Jazz: Vol.1 -- Vol.2 -- Vol.3 -- Vol.4 -- Vol.5 -- Vol.6 -- Vol.7

Notebook 2: One Free Note

Here's part two from the Notebook Series (Part one is here).  

This exercise was part of my lessons with Richard Tabnik. What struck me was the simplicity, fun, and effectiveness of Richard's ideas.

He introduced this exercise to me when we started working on free improvisation. It most definitely had a flow on effect when I played tunes too - loosening and opening up the lines I played. 

Over the years I have worked on it by myself, with friends (great for duos), used it as a daily warm up, and applied it to tunes (this is something I want to do more of). 

Start with a single note. Hear and feel the note. Play the note - it can be loud, quiet, long or short - whatever you feel in the moment.

Relax, breathe, listen and play your next free note.

The note is what it is in that moment - don't aim to control it. Let it be free. Listen to it as you play. 

Stay playing single notes until it feels right to move on to two notes - Don't rush, take your time.

Now's the time for two free notes. The process is the same. Play the note you hear in the moment, listen to that note and then play your second free note

Hear and feel the note-to-note connection between the two notes!

Relax, breathe and listen before moving onto your next two free notes. It becomes quite meditative.

Again, continue until it feels right to move on to three free notes. And so it goes on through up to seven free notes - phrased in one breathe with rhythm, articulations, dynamics, tempo etc as you feel them in the moment.

Once you spend some time playing seven free notes it feels quite natural to move into free phrases - these do not need to be more than 7 notes (they can be though).  Approach the free phrases the same way as you have the 1-7 notes groupings.  Relax, breathe, listen and then play a free phrase - repeat.

Working your way back down from free phrases to seven free notes all the way back to one free note can be a blast. How does playing one free note differ now to when you started?

Find someone to trade free notes with - this is a blast. I have done this with a couple of friends, working from one note up to free phrases. Just simply trade notes - you play one free note, they play one free note etc. Eventually one player will change to two free notes, then three free notes and so on.

As I said earlier, this was passed onto me by Richard Tabnik - a wonderful alto player. Be sure to check out his music. His latest recording is Symphony for Jazz Trio (New Artists Records 2012) with Adam Lane (b) and Roger Mancuso (d) - a 2CD set featuring live and studio recordings of his three movement work "A Prayer For Peace" (plus half a dozen other pieces too).  His work and teaching have had a profound impact on me - Thanks Richard!! 

Here's the original notebook page typed up.

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* One Free Note (RT) *

• Play It => 1 note! (could it be any easier?)
• Hear It
• Feel It
• Long, Short, Slow, Fast
• FF, pp
• Free It
• Sing It
• ! Be Relaxed !
• 2 Free Notes, 3, 4, 5 etc (up to 7)
• One Free Phrase (hear it, feel it)
• Another
• Another

+ Great to play/trade with another person/other people

+ Try it when playing a session/on a tune

+ By the time you have done 7 free notes for a while, Free Phrases will naturally flow - trade Free Phrases with someone.

+ After playing 1, 2, 3 etc Free Notes after Free Phrases work backwards... Free, 7, 6, 5 etc to 1 - it's quite a different feeling.

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