August 20 - Caught a whopper!

This is what may happen if you keep showing up to be a part of the Jazz Community in Edmonds.  Big Thanks to Zac Clute for gifting me this gorgeous salmon last night at our Wednesday Sea Jazz Jam!  Seems to fit the Gone Fishin' Jazz Colony Theme perfectly :)

COMBO UPDATES:

iReel Combo - (choir room) 

We decided to run through our two tunes multiple times to get everyone some practice improvising. 

Over Doxy, at the end, we are tagging the ending, and we will have a brief final chord to noodle on. 

One thing we discussed over “Maiden Voyage” was how you can have a specific pitch that you like to hit, or resolve to, and how moving away from that pitch and returning to it builds melodic tension. This can be an effective method of improvising. An example of this is Coltrane playing “Hackensack.” 

We also discussed doing some arranging on “Maiden Voyage.” We decided to crescendo on the bridge, and we gave the horn players some harmony parts. The rhythm section also has a specific way to comp over the soloists, being to keep the rhythmic motif going over Ari’s solo. Then, we can branch out over the other soloists. The piano should be going into the higher registers and embellishing things over the bass solo. We also are going to cue the end of the final vamp.

Other than that, that’s it!  - Liam Salas

8/20

Wave! Submitted by Alex Weber

Today, we locked down details for each song for the gig. 

1. Surprise! (Maybe)

2. Wave: 

A) Isabel and Mabel

A2) All

B) Alex and Mabel 

A3) All, with new articulations

Solos: Mabel plays original changes, others play little sunflower changes

The head again, then to coda

3. Centerpiece:

1 chorus unison

1 chorus harmony

Solos, 2 choruses each

Call and response 

1 chorus unison

1 chorus harmony

Ending

Remember, for the ending (in concert pitches):

Mabel Bb B C

Arden G Ab A

Alex F Gb G

Isabel Db D Eb

Plus, a bonus photo of our poem here:

Good Bait Combo

This week our group was a little on the small side. We decided to work on Avalon a bit by ourselves and then combine with Eisenmenger’s group. 

We ran the melody to Avalon a couple of times, then practiced either playing the roots, the melody, or walking a bass line. All three methods are a great way to become comfortable with the changes. 

After that we combined with Eisenmenger’s group, and played through Maiden Voyage.

Notes from that discussion: 

Dynamics count - play the bridge louder, then pull back for extra drama

After that we worked on Doxy a bit, and found a stanky way to play the ‘bridge’ of the tune. Lot’s of attitude and a big sound make a difference. We then took turns improvising over 8 bar sections of the tune. 

Notes from soloing

have a plan going into a solo, and look for key notes like 3rds and 7ths to anchor around

Repeat the same material if it will fit across multiple chords

“enclosures” sound hip. Practice enclosing the chord tones with the adjacent notes. 

Example: in Bb, the 3 chord tones are Bb, D, F. This can be enclosed like:

C-A-Bb, Eb-C#-D, G-E-F etc

- find a note that sounds especially good on your instrument and incorporate it in the solo

Finally we played through Avalon, and Conner’s group joined in on the solo choruses. Andrew briefly demonstrated pre-bebop drumming techniques. 

Notes:

again aim for those anchor notes. Over a 2-5-1, play a pretty melody in the key, then aim for the leading tone somewhere in the 5 to lead back to 1. This will make the solo sound coherent and planned. 

Exercises:

play through all 2-5-1 in all keys. Start from the root and outline the chord

Play those same 2-5-1’s but don’t start from the root, and aim for the notes that change in the next chord

Play a solo using only quarter notes to give yourself time to think about the voice leading

- submitted by Andrew Fox

...

8/13 - Looking ahead and a brief synopsis

The Edmonds Honor Jazz Band performed this week and will play once more next Thursday 8/22 at 6:30 PM

8/13

-We checked out Brandt's new composition of Wave and did a little arranging (trumpet+trombone for the first A, trumpet trombone sax for the second A, trombone for the bridge, everyone for the last A)

-We did some call and response soloing as well as took full choruses over the changes to Little Sunflower. We talked about what makes an interesting solo (dynamics, rhythm, note length, etc). It's a modal tune, and Brant wrote out the corresponding scales for us to practice using.

-We also did clapping solos where we had to guess what each person was trying to do to make it interesting (see above). - Alex Weber

Good Bait Combo,

This week our group was a little on the small side. We decided to work on Avalon a bit by ourselves and then combine with Eisenmenger’s group. 

We ran the melody to Avalon a couple of times, then practiced either playing the roots, the melody, or walking a bass line. All three methods are a great way to become comfortable with the changes. 

After that we combined with Eisenmenger’s group, and played through Maiden Voyage.

Notes from that discussion: 

Dynamics count - play the bridge louder, then pull back for extra drama

After that we worked on Doxy a bit, and found a stanky way to play the ‘bridge’ of the tune. Lot’s of attitude and a big sound make a difference. We then took turns improvising over 8 bar sections of the tune. 

Notes from soloing

have a plan going into a solo, and look for key notes like 3rds and 7ths to anchor around

Repeat the same material if it will fit across multiple chords

“enclosures” sound hip. Practice enclosing the chord tones with the adjacent notes. 

Example: in Bb, the 3 chord tones are Bb, D, F. This can be enclosed like:

C-A-Bb, Eb-C#-D, G-E-F etc

- find a note that sounds especially good on your instrument and incorporate it in the solo

Finally we played through Avalon, and Conner’s group joined in on the solo choruses. Andrew briefly demonstrated pre-bebop drumming techniques. 

Notes:

again aim for those anchor notes. Over a 2-5-1, play a pretty melody in the key, then aim for the leading tone somewhere in the 5 to lead back to 1. This will make the solo sound coherent and planned. 

Exercises:

play through all 2-5-1 in all keys. Start from the root and outline the chord

Play those same 2-5-1’s but don’t start from the root, and aim for the notes that change in the next chord

Play a solo using only quarter notes to give yourself time to think about the voice leading - Andrew Fox

We spent a lot of time playing Maiden voyage until the other group decided to join us. We specifically focused on improvising over the whole form and trading 8s with the drummer.

We then spent some time learning Avalon. Conner showed the group some tricks on how to use chromatic enclosures to land on a specific note.

Overall, not much to report this time. We did a lot of improvising! - Liam Salas

We started off by going over our two tunes Yardbird Suite and Filosophical Flying Fish. We ran through those as normal in preparation for Joel to give us some feedback.

We started with Filosophical for Joel and he stopped us and gave us some things to consider.
- In Bb blues you can play a D minor chord over the first 4 bars
- Anytime you have a dominant you can play the minor 5 or 6 on top of it
- If we give ourselves more rhythmic intentionality you will sound more confident
- Don’t start out with everything you have to say, start sparse and build, think just 2 notes and how you can build a solo off that
- Foot tapping affects your phrasing. The bigger the subdivision your foot taps, the longer your phrasing will be. Whole note, half note, quarter note. - Max Bartron

Mr. Fox's Cascade Swing Orchestra played on Thursday 8/15 at the Port and it was a delightful experience to hear so many jazz colony alumni playing their rear ends off. Here's a photo of the little trumpet section. Wishing the best to Forrest as he heads off to Berklee College of Music in Boston! Check out this band at their website? https://cascadeswingorchestra.com/

We are Dolphin Dance!

Today we switched around our teachers to act as judicators for our mini-performance. We played through On Green Dolphin Street and Sandu. 

The more we played, the more we felt better in keeping time and phrasing. As Kian put it, he “felt it” happening, and that’s what we’re looking for!

Remember that simple isn’t always easy and complex isn’t always best. 

Only couple more weeks until the big day! If you believe our group can handle another tune with the time we got left, shoot your shot and bring in a tune you like. A ballad would be nice! 

- Don Tran

August 6 - Many great jazz events around Edmonds! Read whole blog?

August 6th,

Mark your calendars for August 22 Big Band Event at the Edmonds Opera House on 6th and Dayton (old Masonic Hall).  Jazz Punishments and Honor Jazz Band will play from 6:30 PM - FREE

Thanks to JazzClubsNW for sponsoring this great opportunity.

https://www.jazzclubsnw.org/

As we head toward the performance we will try something new. Next week we will have a 15 minute slot at 7:00 where directors will go hear one tune by another combo and give feedback. If you leave your group, get them rolling while you’re away so they can get some reps in with you out of the room?

Draft:

Conner will go upstairs to Fox/Swanberg “Good Bait” combo - Avalon.

Joel will go hear Max Bennett’s “Body and Sole” - Yardbird Suite.

Swanberg will go to Conner’s choir room group - Doxy.

7:15-7:30 we will have Max Bennett listen to Joel’s “Dolphin Dance” combo.

Fox to Brandt’s “Wave” combo.

If you haven’t encouraged your combo to listen to their namesake song or artist can you try to encourage that next week?

Keep up the good work! - Mr. B

Many jazz events this week. Here's a photo of a bunch of my high school friends that are still playing music and now their kids are into jazz too. Bill Wilson brought his son Chris to the SeaJazz event.  Chris is playing jazz piano at Augora Hills in California (3rd place at Ellington last year).  

Bill & Chris were impressed at how mature our players were and they really loved the session.  Heidi Baum was a trumpeter with me in Jr. High School and we played Bugler's Holiday way back in the 1980s. Now she teaches nursing at SPU and she is an avid yodeler :)  Heidi's son took trumpet lessons with me for a bit. Michelle Broderson has a daughter who's now playing trombone and Devi especially enjoyed Hot Java this year at the Paramount Theater. They came down from Camano Island.

Here's what happened at Colony:

We are Dolphin Dance,
This week we learned the rest of On Green Dolphin Street. We even learned interesting ways to play over some of the changes. We utilized what we covered the week prior: playing scale degrees in 6 note runs, triads, thirds, the scale’s arpeggio and its variations, etc…
-Reminder to hit the shed a bit harder this week, as we will have a mini-performance in the coming Colony session.
-Brush up on Sandu, Eb blues. 
-Don’t forget that the blues scale exists. 
When all is done and well, why not try your hand in choosing what YOU believe is a good Ballad for our group to learn. (bring charts for extra musician points) - Don Tran

We reviewed the melody to Avalon starting with the last eight bars and moving backwards. The logic here is that the beginning is practiced the most, it's usually the strongest and it gets weaker and weaker as you go on.

We then started working on improvising over avalon. We went through the chords one by one, playing chord tones only; quarter notes, then eighth notes, then both. When comfortable with that, we did the same exercise with entire sections. During this time we also discussed articulation.

We reviewed the melody one more time at the end before practicing the roots only. We would have one person play The Roots while the other played the melody and then switched. - Scott Swanberg

Honor Jazz Band plays at Sea Jazz next Wednesday at 6:45 PM.  Bring a lawn chair and come check it out?

Join us at the Mainstreet Commons for Friday night sessions from 5-7 PM.

August 16th will feature Marina Albero and Jeff Busch!

Conner's Combo - This week, we decided to really hone in on playing a pattern through the chord changes of Doxy. The pattern we worked on was 1-3-5 over each chord change. We also went over how doing this is actually harder than improvising because when you're improvising, you typically aren't thinking of hitting every chord change systematically in this manner. Hitting the changes is important, but lyrical lines that incorporate more rhythmic variation usually aren't so rigid. 

We also played a "game" called "Switcheroni." It's when you're playing the melody of the tune and randomly switch to singing the pitch and number of the chord tones! It's a great way to learn the changes of the tune and make sure that you "stay found" within the melody and the changes. 

We then took some time getting used to playing Maiden Voyage. We did a lot of improvising, so there's not much to report on that front. However, one thing of note is that Conner demonstrated how you can play something through the changes of a modal tune such as Maiden Voyage. 

Don't be afraid to ask me (Liam) for advice too! - Liam Salas

In the Wave combo, we continued working on the song "Wave," arranging the rhythms and articulations of the melody. We also practiced the chord changes for "Little Sunflower" in F, as a possible alternate set of chord changes to perform over "Wave." At this time we also practiced soloing over the dorian scale with limitations on numbers of notes we could use. Later, we worked on the blues "Centerpiece" and practiced taking solos that featured call-and-response between the horn players and rhythm section. We also practiced taking clapping solos, to focus on rhythm in our improvisation.

Thanks, Forrest

Tuesday July 30

This week, we again focused on playing Doxy.

Further, we also went into the weeds regarding the chord changes of the tune. We have decided to play it with the following set of changes: 

Concert)

|Bb7 A7| Ab7 G7| C7 F7| Bb7 |

|Bb7 A7| Ab7 G7| C7     | F7    |

|Bb7     | Bb7     | Eb7    |Edim7 |

|Bb7 A7| Ab7 G7| C7 F7| Bb7 |

We took a pattern and decided to play it on all the chords and went over how it is a good way to get the changes in your ears and fingers.

The most complex topic we tackled was discussing how on a dominant b9 chord, you end up with a diminished chord and that when you add the b9 to a dominant chord, it becomes related to every other dominant chord that is a minor third or tritone away from it.

ex:

Ab7b9:  The notes are: Ab, C, Eb, Gb, and A (technicallly is Bbb)

Now take F7b9: F, A, C, Eb, Gb

These two chords share A, C, Eb, and Gb. The only thing that changed was the root. Thus, you can play the same diminished language over these two chords, as well as B7b9 and D7b9, and it will sound good!

Though, this is advanced and will take weeks, months, and most likely years to really master. 

Liam Salas

We read yardbird for the first time since learning it by ear, we had everyone blow over the tune. We then worked out the ending from the charlie Parker recording, and got all the separate harmonies figured out.

We then worked on creative limitations over yardbird suite. Such as making a solo out of a phrase from the melody, taking a small phrase or a whole phrase from the melody and come back to that within your solo.

Then in we limited it to mainly playing the melody, but adding a few notes, emphasis on knowing the melody while you are soloing. We arpeggiated the chord changes as well.

We played through Filosophical Flying Fish, trying to get into the tradition of the second line groove, think more triadically and less bebop, Louis Armstrong!

~Max Bartron

7/30

-Everyone led some call and response over an Eb blues, using 1357 as the basic cord with extensions 9, 11, 13. We tried a few variations and learned that the 3 and 7 are what make it sound like the chord, they're the most important notes to hit when soloing. 

-We played Wave a few times and messed around with articulation, rhythm, and dynamics. We listened to a few different recordings and tried to recreate our favorite parts. 

-For soloing on Wave, Brandt taught us a lesson on lead lines for 251s. The 3rd of the first chord in the 251 can be brought a half step lower to create the 7th of the second chord, and a half step lower than the 3rd of the 3rd chord. This works the same (opposite) if you start on the 7th of the 2 chord and go a half step lower, then a half step lower again for the 3rd chord. These 3rds and 7ths are what make the changes sound "right."

-Next week, Brandt will have a new version of Wave with our edits. For homework, practice soloing to wave using the 1357+extensions. - Alex Weber

July 30th, Dolphin Dance Combo

We are starting to get the gist what it means to play notes with intention and opinion. We played simple scale degree patterns over the changes of On Green Dolphin Street. 

Reminders:

-Learn the whole melody to Green Dolphin and listen the recording by Miles. We will “perform” in a week or two, so no better time to shed than NOW!

-Triads are basic, but they’re everything in music.  

-Listen each note you play and where it wants to go. “Tension and release” - Don TRAN

July 30^th Summary:

Our group was short a few people again, but with a full rhythm section we forged ahead. We began by running through the two tunes we had worked on the most: Rifftide, and Avalon. We all took turns soloing. We discussed keeping the focus and energy during a bass solo, and reran some solo sections trying to be more conscientious of the other players.

After running those tunes we moved on to learning a new one: Recado Basso Nova. We discussed how to drum over a bossa, and learned the melody by ear, before moving on to soloing over the changes.

Some points we hit while working on Recado:

1. Listen to the vibe of the soloist while comping. Follow their intensity. If they're loud, you can play more energetically. Try to support them. No need to drop out entirely during a bass solo. The bass supports everyone all the time, don't leave 'em hanging when they take a turn!
2. Solos should target 3rds and 7ths, but also colorful extensions like flat nines and sharp 11's when they're present. The flat nine leads nicely to the 5th of the next chord.
3. The chords to Bossa Nova tunes tend to look complicated: break them down into digestible ii-V-I's
4. What out for extensions, but especially for chord quality: minor or major 3rds make all the difference

At the end we were distracted by another group playing outside, so we took up the same blues in Eb (I can't remember exactly what tune it was now). Again, we took turns soloing, and the two tenors improvised some backgrounds. It was a fun and relaxed session!

Some recordings:

Hank Mobley playing Recado Bossa Nova

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmIY3CwAUvA

Minor 2-5-1 in all keys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bgna-Xanfs

Bud Powell playing Rifftide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUBvCQbMPbQ

Next steps:

1. Outline major 2-5-1's in all 12 keys
2. Outline all diminished 7 chords (there's really only 3!)
3. Outline dominant 7 b9 chords in all 12 keys: notice that these contain a diminished 7th
4. Learn another easy like in all 12 keys: pick something that is only 3-4 notes.

• Andrew Fox
  

July 23 - many jazzers have gone fishin' - Centrum review and much more

Here's a list of practice ideas to help get you "on board" with our fishing excursion. Check this "catch record" each week and see if you can build up some tally marks for progress. There will be a new color of tally each week.  

• listen intently to music and block out distractions
• play one simple melody or "cell" in all 12 keys
• attend a jam like Sea Jazz (Wednesdays at the Port) and/or Common Tones (Fridays at Main Street Commons)
• memorize a jazz standard (melody, harmony, lyrics, quintessential recording and historical background)
• practice with a specific goal - consider journaling your progress?
• work with a tuner patiently and learn your instruments' pitch tendencies
• reach out to another player to collaborate or just make practice more fun
• work on your music theory understanding?  www.musictheory.net
• watched a youtube lesson then practiced the concept you learned so you can own it
• work on your piano/keyboard skills
• free play (no rules) - spontaneous composition
• play along with the radio (spotify/youtube etc)
• compose a CONTRAFACT and learn to play it well - contrafact is a new melody over already existing chord changes
• work out a good bass line and learn to play it on your horn and/or keys and/or bass
• transcribe!  choose something you like and learn it patiently by ear (try youtube slower by clicking on the gear wheel and adjusting the playback speed)

It's Jazz Camp Week so many folks are gone. Mr. B went to Port Townsend on Thursday as a working vacation with his wife Christina. He really enjoyed some of the 2024 Centrum Jazz Camp presentations. Many highlights from Free Friday. Sad to see John Clayton go as artistic Director but excited to announce Dawn Clement is picking up the torch. Would love to see more EW students take on the challenge of attending. Way to go LEO!  Ask him about his experience?

Dawn Clement may be back to EW in October for a masterclass.... stay tuned.

Here's a cool session I attended by Ben Wendel of the KneeBody band. He uses a looping pedal and some special affects to create some amazing art. This one song is 15 minutes long but pretty special too. Check it out?

https://youtu.be/jugkk538NI0?si=_z83RkOjnz0J8eAu

Ben also plays bassoon! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wendel

Back in Edmonds, here is a report about how it went on Tuesday, July 23.

Today we merged the “Body and Sole” combo with the “Dolphin Dance” combo due to many players missing, and we had a great session together.

We started with an exercise where we limited ourselves to only use the first 6 notes of a minor scale when improvising, teaching us the endless amount of harmonic possibilities within these 6 notes. The goal for the horn players is to know how to move between minor triads and how to resolve them appropriately. The goal for the rhythm section players is to enhance their listening, make sure they are entirely focused on the soloists phrasing, which could mean when they are ending a phrase, how many notes they’re playing, dynamic contrast, you have to take it all into consideration. We then took this and applied it on an Eb minor blues, can you sound good on a blues with only 6 notes? Yes, you can probably sound good with just 1.

Here are some nuggets that are good takeaways from the lesson:
- Make sure that you are connected emotionally to the notes you’re playing.
- Thinking is death! Try your best to not think too technically while you’re playing.
- Legend bass player Reggie Workman once said as a rhythm section player you have to “stir the pot of soup like a witch or goblin.”
- If you don’t have a strong opinion on what the notes role is, you shouldn’t play it at all. Where does the note want to go? Where does it land? Does it resolve? Think about tension and release.
- Focus on practicing slow, wise person practices slow, wiser person practices slower.

~Max Bartron

This from Mr. Andrew Fox:

We had a small crew today, so we combined with Brandt’s group and worked on a combination of tunes from each combo. 

We started with learning the melody to “Wave”, a Boss Nova by Jobim. The melody is challenging, land the chord progression complex, like a lot of the mid-century Bossa nova tunes. We noted that the bridge is made up of a set of two minor scales parallel to each other. After learning the melody and running through it a few times, we had the rhythm section vamp over the intro to the tune, and collectively improvised over it. The vamp is I-IV, I-IV, etc. A minor scale in the key of the piece fits well over this progression. The major 6 can sound hip if it’s not emphasized too much. 

After a break we created a riff tune over a Bb blues. Remember, a riff tune is one made up of a combination of short, repeating ideas. We repeated some riffs and then spontaneously created some new ones, both together and as backgrounds to solos. Afterwards we discussed some of the characteristic phrase structures of the blues, namely that melodies tend to avoid the flat 7 of the first chord until the 4 bar, where it connects smoothly to the 3rd of the following chord. 

In Bb

Solos : | Bb idea | Bb idea | Bb idea | something that ends on Ab | G 

Chord: | Bb         | Bb         | Bb         | Bb7                                     | Eb7 

Example of a spontaneous riff tune: the Wailing Interval with Paul Gonsalves and Duke Ellington

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-BEoONYX5k

A Basie riff tune: Texas Shuffle. Notice that the “melody” is really a trumpet solo over a sax riff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IMrGR0iwR4

Another classic riff tune: Jumpin at the Woodside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLFj-J54l3g

Wave original recording 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6KDpB6skA4

Stan Getz performing the same tune in Copenhagen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WctZJcPwnOQ

Gradus ad Parnassum, phase 1 Goal -> Blues in all 12 keys

Practice triads in all 12 keys, first by circle of fifths, then chromatically ascending and descending

Triads in all twelve keys in an improvisation manner, with a metronome or recorded accompaniment

Same with minor triads

Triads plus 6, in Bb, this would be Bb, D, F, G - in all 12 keys

Roots of ii-V-I progression in all 12 keys 

If you do all that, I promise you’ll be surprised by the fluency you gain on your instrument! 

Play-alongs (if they’re too fast, just he gear symbol to turn the speed down) 

Major chords in all 12 keys, begins in C (practice triads and triads + 6) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3l8UAIhhqg

ii-V-I in all 12 keys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43SXp8Gs-4Y

Avalon in a French jazz style - try to play the melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97k8jD9Bgd4

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Wailing Interval -Duke Ellington

Wailing Interval -Duke Ellington

Preview YouTube video Count Basie & His Orchestra - Texas Shuffle - 1938

Count Basie & His Orchestra - Texas Shuffle - 1938

Preview YouTube video 1938 HITS ARCHIVE: Jumpin’ At The Woodside - Count Basie

1938 HITS ARCHIVE: Jumpin’ At The Woodside - Count Basie

Preview YouTube video Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave 1967

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave 1967

Preview YouTube video Stan Getz Performs Wave - Copenhagen 1970s

Stan Getz Performs Wave - Copenhagen 1970s

Preview YouTube video Major 7 Chord Workout (In all 12 Keys)

Major 7 Chord Workout (In all 12 Keys)

Preview YouTube video ii-V-I (all keys)

ii-V-I (all keys)

Preview YouTube video Avalon (190 bpm) - Gypsy jazz Backing track / Jazz manouche

Avalon (190 bpm) - Gypsy jazz Backing track / Jazz manouche