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Wednesday 22 February 2012

The keys are alive... nah, not that

The greatest conversationalists are: Journalists? Atheists? Book readers? How about jazz musicians? I shared my first London flat with a jazz drummer and I know. Obiter dicta by the great pianist, Thelonius Monk, transcribed by another, Stan Tracey. HHB found them and I’m grateful.

● Just because you’re not a drummer doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep time.

● Pat your foot and sing the melody in your head when you play.

● Stop playing all those weird notes (That bullshit!). Play the melody.

● Make the drummer sound good.

● You’ve got to dig it to dig it – you dig?

● It must be always night, otherwise they wouldn’t need all the lights.

● Let’s lift the bandstand.

● Don’t play the piano part, I’m playing that. Don’t listen to me. I’m supposed to be accompanying you.

● The inside of the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound good.

● Don’t play everything (or every time); let somethings go by. Some music is just imagined. What you don’t play can be more important than what you do.

● A note can be small as a pin or as big as the world. It depends on your imagination.

● Stay in shape. Sometimes a musician waits for a gig and, when it comes, he’s out of shape and can’t make it.

● When you’re swinging, swing some more

● What should we wear tonight? Sharp as possible

● To a drummer who didn’t want to solo. Don’t sound anybody for a gig. Just be on the scene. These pieces were written so as to have something to play and to get cats interested enough to get to rehearsal.

2 comments:

  1. I dig all this definitely dig it. Like a lot of good stuff, much of it translates from the particular to the general. When your're swinging swing some more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'You’ve got to dig it to dig it – you dig?' Oh Yeah!

    ReplyDelete