I went to a gig as a listener. Two friends, both fine players, were blowing sax in the hornsection in a band which I consider to be a Blues - R&B- band. It was also announced as a Blues - R&B gig. The band went through a number of songs and I started to think about how different players can play solos. It became clear when the played the song "Romance Without Finance" (Grimes) in an oldtime "New Orleans" - R&B arr/way. They played the song in E (C# alto, F# tenor).
The altoplayer played a lot of tones during his solo. I got the feeling he was playing jazz instead of R&B! Same volume and no accents (note bending...) during his solo. He played advanced, but it was hard for him to reach the audience. It was more or less like this through the whole gig.
The tenorist played different. Less tones and put some Rocksax effects into his solo. He played loud and spoke directly to the audience. He kept his solo "safe and easy" and stayed in the groove during the solo. The audience showed their appreciation during this solo.
So I started to think about some things:
Why did the altoplayer accept to play a solo (it was rehearsed)?
Why didn't the bandleader talk him into other ways of playing the solo(s)?
Why did he continue and extended his solo(s)? He could get off the solo by giving his fellow muscians a sign ....
Did the band know and listened to that kind of music?
Other questions went though my head as well!
I felt sorry for the altoplayer. I know he is doing fine with jazzband-jazzgig! It was bad timing for him. The place, audience, band, type of music should be differnt for him. Alltough he is a very good player and he is known for being very capable. His work in hornsection was good.
So right idiom is important?
Thomas
The altoplayer played a lot of tones during his solo. I got the feeling he was playing jazz instead of R&B! Same volume and no accents (note bending...) during his solo. He played advanced, but it was hard for him to reach the audience. It was more or less like this through the whole gig.
The tenorist played different. Less tones and put some Rocksax effects into his solo. He played loud and spoke directly to the audience. He kept his solo "safe and easy" and stayed in the groove during the solo. The audience showed their appreciation during this solo.
So I started to think about some things:
Why did the altoplayer accept to play a solo (it was rehearsed)?
Why didn't the bandleader talk him into other ways of playing the solo(s)?
Why did he continue and extended his solo(s)? He could get off the solo by giving his fellow muscians a sign ....
Did the band know and listened to that kind of music?
Other questions went though my head as well!
I felt sorry for the altoplayer. I know he is doing fine with jazzband-jazzgig! It was bad timing for him. The place, audience, band, type of music should be differnt for him. Alltough he is a very good player and he is known for being very capable. His work in hornsection was good.
So right idiom is important?
Thomas