Well, I’m sure you are reading this journal entry in search of news of my first time playing with other musicians… well……… the wait is over…..

All in all, it was an OK effort.  I learned a lot and it showed me things that I need to work on — which is why I went to begin with.

First off — I played with a really cool group of people. I was concerned about getting funny looks or comments for bad notes but that didn’t happen. Everyone was focused on the music and I think everyone realized that this is learning environment so things were not going to be “perfect.” Once I realized this I relaxed and enjoyed the experience. The instrumentation was trumpet, alto sax, flute, guitar, piano, bass & drums. I thought it worked well.

NOTE: I used my minidisc to record this so the sound quality is not the best — still, it gives you a chance to hear what I played.

The first tune we played was “Freddie Freeloader.”  As much as I worked on this on my own – I was really, really nervous and didn’t do well. Honestly, I did TERRIBLE.  I wasn’t sure how many choruses each person was going to do and that threw me off a little bit. All the licks that I had worked out seemed to vanish and I couldn’t get them out of my horn fast enough. I made an attempt to play a Miles Davis lick and that sounded extremely stiff. Still, I got my feet wet and things got better from there. Man… was I nervous!!!

Next we played “Summertime” — a tune that I’ve been working on for a very long time. Granted, I played a solo that should sound familiar to all who have listened to my sound files but I think I did well. I started to branch out and play something new but stuck with the safety blanket of familiarity.

“A Train” was next and it was a real challenge for me. I’ve heard it a million times but guess what? I’ve never played it. For that reason I did not record it. I struggled with the head AND the changes. I did the best that I could and considering I had never played it before. Lets just say when I soloed the train derailed a bit but kept moving forward.

I switched to flugelhorn for “Song for My Father” because my chops started getting tired (more on that later). I did pretty good but I still fluffed some notes. It is funny how you can nail something at home but totally butcher it when playing out in public. Still, I’m going to cut myself some slack because I think I will get better as I do more of it. I received a few compliments on my flugel sound. I switched back to trumpet near the end and when we started trading fours.

Finally we did “All of Me” another tune that I had never played before. For the same reason that I did not record “A Train” I did not record this.  I struggled with the head the first time around but it got better when we ran it back. By then my chops were really tired and I was using pressure just to get through it.

I was only a sub this time but I love the prospect of doing it on a regular basis. It gives me a visible goal and a reason for improving. You can do that working on your own but if you know you will be meeting with other musicians to jam on a regular basis – I think you will naturally take it up another level. The group meets twice a week and I imagine they will shed on the new tunes so they will be ready next time around. I’m already looking for play-a-longs for A Train and All of Me so I can work on the trouble spots.

There were a few areas that were really brought to my attention through this experience:

1. I love playing the trumpet and I love playing jazz. I floated all the way home when it was over. This is more important than anything else.
2. Trumpet is a LEAD instrument.  I found that the tunes sounded better when I pushed my sound more to the front but still blended with the ensemble.  I found that I played the melody on most tunes so range (a problem for me) is important.
3. I need to put Caruso exercises back in my routine. My endurance crapped out after about a hour and a half. The last half hour I struggled to finish and used pressure to get through (something I never do).
4. I need to get more comfortable playing while sitting down. When I play at home I always stand up. I don’t think I was breathing properly and that caused my endurance to go downhill.
5. I need to work on scales and chords. I soloed on the new tunes totally by ear and it was hard and it was sloppy. The chords are there to help guide me but since I didn’t know them — it was useless.
6. I would really like to play more complicated ideas but they don’t come out naturally.  That tells me that I need to improve my technical facility on my instrument.

So there you have it. My first experience playing with other musicians was a good one. I feel I could have done better BUT I think I did ok.  There is a part of me that wants to retreat to bat cave and work harder to improve but I am definitely anxious to do it again. Please share your thoughts!