I'm on my simplicity kick. More on that. How to work on a tune by starting with the melody and then chords and then a solo. Keeping it all simple so that you build a foundation.

(practice tape)

Gary Burton told me he was a guest of Duke Ellington's when they recorded 'The Far East Suite'. The most amazing track for me on that cd is 'Isfahan' and Johnny hodges solo. I can't believe how laid back he can play and how slow the tempo is and how happening it is.

Also when I practice I turn on the recorder and play and have a concept in mind and I work things out through tunes. For me they are the best vehicles for problem solving with playing, soloing and harmony.

This is me and my daughter having fun with overdubs. We each sang 2 or 3 times on top of each other to get the chorus effect that you hear. I think back to the days where I used to have a couple of cassette decks and a mixer to do overdubs. Each overdub got noisier and noiser.

Enjoy.

Barry

Finals are this week. The final is to play a clear simple solo over St. Thomas in several keys and play it solo. Harder than it looks.

Then I hung out with James and talked about quarter notes.

Then I did a lesson on quarter notes, based on James' lesson.

Talked to Andrew a little about it in his lesson as well.

So last night I decided to play a simple version of How Deep is the Ocean, based on all that. You know that's my goal, to be able to take simple and nice solos over tunes and do this solo. I just want to make as much musical sense as I can and get my message across.

This is the recording from the percussion ensemble performance. My percussion instructor is pretty cool. He doesnt know anything about jazz but he knows about technique and he lets me do whatever. He lets me arrange tunes and play what I want.

I think I've told a couple of people that Pat Metheny is one of my favorite musicians/composers of all time. (I know its crazy). I just think his tunes lay really well with a percussion ensemble. I don't really want to sound like him, partly because I don't think its possible of the vibraphone, but I really respect him and his voice that he has found and the stuff he has accomplished.

My favorite stuff of his is his trio stuff with Sanchez and McBride. One of my goals has been to be able to play in a trio setting like he does.

I talk a little about quarter notes and how important I think they are and what's great about practicing them.

Ok More Symbiosis. I just thought I'd post it for something different. It's definitely trippy music. All Electronic. The thing to remember is Steve Giordano, John Swana and Bob Meashey are all musicians with huge ears, so this is a cool work out for me.

Again, try to play along with it. In fact record your self playing along with and listen to what you've added.

The one thing I've learned from Steve is the idea of assuming different roles. And synthesizers also help you do that. I've learned a lot by playing cool sounds on synths. This is where the Mallet Kat comes into play.