I found out a few days ago that Terence Blanchard’s new album Flow is due for release on June 7th. It was produced by Herbie Hancock and includes the most of the personnel from Bounce. I’m really looking forward to it.  From poking around I see that this album will include vocals from Gretchen Parlato and the use of synthesizer programming on trumpet.  Brice Winston will be doing also do some EVI playing.  The really good news? Terence will be playing Blues Alley June 10-12th. It may be expensive but I plan to be at all three shows. There is no such thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to music.

Up till now I have spent much of my improv practice on Bb blues but I think I will start to expand my practice to include G blues.  I am still trying to focus on addressing the changes and the best way to do this is with chord tone solos.  I am starting to hear a bit more and I think I do a better job of sticking to form and adding a dash of the blues scale.  It still isn’t natural for me and I have to keep my ideas simple.  I’m sure that improve with time.

Jeff Antoniuk (my master class teacher) is offering a camp for adults this summer and I’m planning on attending.  I had thought of attending the Aebersold camp but would rather invest my money in something local.  We don’t have enough opportunities like this in the area and I feel an obligation to support it and Jeff.  I’m looking forward to leaving the basement and Aebersold CDs for a chance to play with living breathing musicians again.  I miss it terribly.

I made a few subtle updates to the content of the site.  I added a few lines to the About Me section, updated the recording equipment used on the Soundroom page and removed the older Blue Monk recordings.  I also removed some of the specific review information from the Equipment page.

I have referenced this site in the past and must do it again.  There is some real good thoughts here with regard to ear training to learn to play jazz.  At the same time I must also mention Eddie Lewis’ thoughts on the same subject.  I think it is safe to say that there must be a balance between ear, theory, transposition and licks in all keys in order to master and learn this music.  Focus on one and not the others would not be a wise choice.

I’ve certainly got my hands full.  Thank goodness I love trumpet and music so much.

As many of you know from reading my past posts I am a huge fan of Pat Harbison. He is a great player, teacher and human being. Today before practicing I dropped by The Trumpet Herald to review a few posts from the Bill Adam forum. One in particular really improved my playing on long tones and I wanted to share with my regular visitors… Pat Harbison said:

The mental picture you want is that the sound is made at the front of your mouth and beyond. The sound is made out in front of your face and the mental energy and the energy of the breath moves through that point and projects the sound into the room. The moving breath turns on the sound in the trumpet.

Imagine the sound of every note and phrase happening out in front of your face. The body simply falls in line with the sound coming from the instrument.

I imagine the sound starting at the bell and the breath also starting to move out from there. When I articulate I say the syllable of the sound at the front of my mouth. The flowing breath keeps everything to the front. Practice singing what you are going to play with your vocal pronunciation to the front of your mouth.

This will definitely be easier at first to accomplish if you play on the loud side of mezzo-forte. Eventually you can play through the sound at all volumes.

Remember, this is a mental concept and a picture that will produce the desired result. The actual way your body works will be an incidental response to that picture. When I focused on the sound in FRONT of my instrument I seemed to get much better results. I can’t tell you where I thought of sound prior to trying this… probably all around me rather than what was going on in front of me. To me it really made a difference in my tone. Give it a try and see what kind of results you get. Also be sure to read this post. Regardless of the “method” that you use to play the trumpet you should find something to help you.

I also focused on hitting my pitches when I start instead of sliding up or down into them… a very bad habit of mine.

I had the great pleasure of hearing Allison Miller perform with Ingrid Jensen at Twins Jazz Lounge. Last year I was lucky enough to get a lesson with Ingrid  but I never got to hear her perform. It was fantastic. When I listen to her play  I hear a musician who has a firm foundation and likes to take chances. Every  phrase is a potential adventure. The great thing is she does it with complete  control, good tone and extreme expression. She is a very expressive player. They  played “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell and my goodness… Ingrid totally  captured the mood of the lyrics. It totally took my break away and left me  humming the tune the entire weekend. It was one of those this is why I play  the trumpet moments for me. After the first set she took a moment to sit to  chat with me and my wife. She is WONDERFUL person whom I hold in  very high regard. Thanks for a wonderful night Ingrid!

On Sunday I played at church with a small ensemble. We did very well! I’m  hoping this leads to more playing opportunities in the near future. I’ve already  been in touch with our minister of music to begin playing during moments of  meditation again. I really feel like I need to get comfortable playing in  public. Sounding good in the privacy of my own home is not going to cut it.

Yesterday I did something different when practicing my scales. I played them  very slowly thinking about the names of the notes. I realized that there are  some scales that I do not know as well as I should. Db and F# were particularly  bad. I can blast through them without thinking but when I do – I have no clue  what notes I’m actually playing. It was a real eye opener. Another thing I have  begun doing is writing my scales out on paper when I’m away from the horn.

As an adult beginning player I sometimes get the feeling that I’m fooling  myself to think I will ever get good at this. I especially question myself when  I encounter young players or hear parents talk about their children’s musical  accomplishments.  Kids in college study music 24/7 and here I am devoting 2-3 hours a day at the  somewhat ripe age of 37. I’m not a  comeback player… even in my 5th year, this is still all very new to me.  I have to constantly remind  myself that it isn’t a race and I’m doing this because I love music. When I  approach it from that context I feel better but I always wonder if this a  realistic endeavor.

I had the good fortune of celebrating my birthday this past Sunday with  family. We went to a local restaurant for brunch and imagine the look on my face  when legendary bassist Keter Betts joined us! My wife surprised me by inviting  him and boy was I surprised! It was great to hear his stories of growing up,  meeting different people and traveling across the globe. One story that really  cracked me up was a tale about his bass case being mistaken for a coffin! We  trumpet players have it good when it comes to carrying instruments aboard  planes. I felt very fortunate that he took time out from his busy schedule to  break bread with me to celebrate. Thanks very much Keter! I will see you on the  golf course once the weather warms up!  Also a special thank you to my  lovely wife who always manages to put a smile on my face.

March marks my 5th year playing trumpet. I usually take this time to review  where I am as a player and set goals for the year. While I certainly have things  that I would like to accomplish, I don’t think I will be reviewing my progress  thus far. I think it is enough to say that I am very happy with what I have done  since I started. The successes that I have had are enough to keep me fired up  and hungry for even more. The time has really flown by! Eventually I will no  longer be able to use the excuse of being a beginner! There is a quote from some  famous trumpet player stating that the first 10 years of trumpet playing are the  hardest. The good news and the bad news is I have 5 more years to go…

On Saturday I had my first rehearsal with the instrumental group at my  church. While I think I played ok I really felt like I could do better with  regards to my sound. I immediately started thinking about equipment, mouthpiece,  etc. As soon as I got home I pulled out my instrument and started playing. All  the things that I didn’t like were gone and I was right back where I thought I  should be. Good sound. Good control. Every note was musical. This tells me that  it is all MENTAL. Nothing wrong with the equipment at all… I just need to  become comfortable playing in public. The best way to remedy that? Do more of  it.

I really, REALLY miss the master classes. I feel like I’m getting a lot of  things tightened up with regards to technique and theory but there is nothing  like playing with other musicians on a regular basis. I hope I do not stunt my  growth by not doing it twice a month.

I got a great tip this week from this site regarding the use motifs in your solos.  If you are looking for an easy way to develop as a soloist – be sure to check it out.

Well it is pretty obvious by now that the site has changed. I’ve been dying  to give the place a new look and this is probably the closest that I will ever  come to the image in my head. I think this will be the basic layout for some  time to come. I included a CD review feed from the All About Jazz website on my Music I Like page. Look for more additions like  this on other pages in the near future. I hope you like it. Feel free to send me you feedback by email — good or bad.

After not playing for about 4 days it took me some time to get my chops back  in shape. My range and tone was not really affected by the layoff but my  endurance and tonguing took a serious hit. After about a week of practicing I am  finally starting to feel like my old self again. It always feels good to come  back to the horn after being away for a while. That feeling tells me that I am  probably in this for the long haul. I get way too much enjoyment out of it to  quit. I certainly have days when I wish I had stuck with a reed instrument but  when things are clicking and sounding good – I can’t imagine myself playing  anything but the trumpet/flugelhorn.

I’m still working on that classical piece that I mentioned a few posts ago.  The problem for me really seems to be classical sound/style related. Right now I  feel like I’m only playing notes. To help get some good sounds in my ears I’m  planning to listening to more classical music — specifically classical music  with Bb trumpet. If anyone has suggested recordings please let me know. Don’t  worry, my ears will continue to have a steady diet of Blue Mitchell, Terence  Blanchard, Woody Shaw and Miles Davis. Those four cats are a stable in my  musical diet.

Speaking of Blue and Terence — we all share the same birthday… March 13th.  Too bad I don’t share the same chops and improv skills.

Friday night I was blown away by the amazing sounds of Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove. I was fortunate enough to catch them live at the Warner Theater. Talk about an education for the ears! These cats are on a completely different world musically. They listened, they responded, they communicated – without words. All music. Tunes included standards (Michael Brecker described their rendition of Dolphin Dance as a “deconstructed” version) as well as some original tunes by Roy. They closed with “Chameleon” which brought the house down.

Michael Brecker never ceases to amaze me. The energy, the ideas, the life in his tone is beyond words. His technique was baffling. Besides tenor, he played an electronic wind instrument in an amazing solo display where he basically was a one-man band. Very, very entertaining and you could tell he was having a ball doing it. I asked him about it after the show and he stated that it wasn’t behaving correctly and did a few things he didn’t expect. I guess it is always improvisation no matter what the medium!

Herbie Hancock. I mean – what can you say about him? The man is a living legend of jazz but he is also not content to sit on the accomplishments of the past. To me he is a musician forging ahead and looking forward (much like Miles Davis). His playing was full of adventure and electricity. Doubling on piano and synthesizer, he also had a computer next to him that he accessed regularly for changing sounds and effects. There were moments where he stopped playing, listened and laughed. You could tell that he loves music and performing.  Go to my new Photos section to view a picture of me meeting him.

Terri Lyne Carrington was on drums and her participation in the music was priceless. She almost seemed to be in a trance while she played and the energy produced was incredible.  One of the tunes that they performed was Pinocchio (made famous by Miles Davis). During this song she shifted time, sped up, slowed down, played it funky, and played it straight… it was amazing. She really listened to the soloists and responded accordingly. I really enjoyed her playing.

Roy Hargrove was on his game as usual but without the locks! I have seen him perform several times in the area and every time he blows me away. His tone is to die for. It can dark and silky one minute – bright and searing the next. It was just scary to listen to and very, very inspiring. After the show I was fortunate enough to go back stage and meet him. He was very kind and very patient answering my questions about jazz and trumpet. He mentioned some things I have heard before but also gave me some valuable tidbits that made me think. The man plays concerts all the time and I’m sure he is asked the same questions by fans and aspiring musicians. Regardless of that, I got a vibe from him that he wanted to share what he knew. I found him to be a cool, nice and fun loving cat. Count me as a fan forever.

The beginning of this week found me deep in the middle of a bad stomach virus. I spent 3.5 days in bed – no practicing. I can honestly say that I never even THOUGHT about playing while I sick. That is how bad it was! I relaxed when I remembered that the horn wasn’t going anywhere and I’ve dealt with longer layoffs with good results. After seeing the concert, I am anxious to get back in the saddle as soon as possible.

I finally got my Schilke custom piece in the mail last week. I went through  my usual routine and at the end – I was longing for my GR. While the tone was  similar on the Schilke, I found it lacking in several areas including comfort  and articulation. While I could probably get acclimated to it I am going to  stick with the GR. To be honest, the past few weeks on the GR have just gotten  better and better. The mouthpiece safari is over (at last) and I am purposely  avoiding equipment websites where there is always a flavor of the month  mouthpiece, horn or method. At this stage in the game there is no substitute for  hard work. I’m rolling my sleeves up and getting dirty with Schlossberg, Arbans,  Clarke and anything my teacher throws at me.

It is funny how one opportunity goes away and another takes it’s place. I  left the master classes on Saturdays and no more than a week later – my church  is starting up an instrumental group who rehearses in the same time space. I had  no idea this was going to happen but I was extremely surprised. I have no idea  how many people we will have or how frequently we will play but I’m looking  forward to it. Since leaving the community bands my reading chops have not been  challenged and this could fill that hole nicely.

One thing that I think beginning jazz players get away from is properly  stating the melody to a tune. A lot of cats blast through the head so they can  get to the improvisation. I unfortunately count myself in that number I was  listening to some music over the weekend and I paid particular attention to how  the greats set the mood using the melody. It is a fantastic launch pad that  should be utilized more. As a result I am going to pick a head to a tune and  REALLY learn it. Right now I am leaning towards “Who Knows Where or When” or  “When I Fall in Love” since I already have Aebersold CDs for them. I will try to  share the results when I feel I’ve made some improvement.

I am also going to work on a classical piece that my teacher gave me. It  looks like a challenge technically and I can’t help to think that I will be a  better player if I can get through it.

Here is a new sound file of me playing a Bb Blues. I  used GarageBand to record this (yes – on a Mac) and I was REALLY impressed with  the quality. I may need to update my sound equipment info soon.

I have been spending a lot of time working on the blues and will continue to  do so until I feel that I have better command of it. I still tend to use the  blues scale a lot and that is what I am working on expanding. At my last master  class I was given some great suggestions for addressing the 2nd and 8th bars. My  teacher showed me some new ways to approach the 4th bar and using turn arounds  near the end. Beyond the theory, it is important to be able to HEAR this  different ways of playing the blues. Right now I hear the blues scale all over  the place and it comes naturally to me. I need to get to the same level of  comfort using other methods.

Late last week I had a bunch of projects at work that kept me from practicing  for three straight evenings. I was way too tired mentally to pick up the horn  and I figured it would be better to wait until I was better prepared. When I  finally had time to practive, I spent at least 15 minutes just blowing down the  leadpipe to get my chops prepared. I took a quick break and when I started  playing everything clicked. My tone was good, slurs were easy and my  articulation was clean (for me). I was really concerned about taking a long lay  off like that but I was pleasantly surprised.

I still haven’t heard anything about the Schilke custom piece and if I don’t  — I won’t be upset. The more I play the GRs the more I like them. The switch  from trumpet to flugel is really easy now and I love my sound on both. By the  time it arrives there is a very good chance that it will end up in my old  mouthpiece box unopened. Enough equipment headaches… the GR works… gotta  build chops.

Well, of course there is a follow up story to the GR news last week. I got an  email from Karl Hammond of Schilke Music telling me that he could make me a 15B  mouthpiece with a slightly flatter rim. The sound that I got on that 15B was so  amazing that I had to take him up on it. Fortunately the price will not break  the bank and I want to give it a whirl just to remove all questions from my  mind.

That being said I have started to lock into the GR 66M & FL. My lower  registered suffered a bit due to the size reduction but I’ve discovered what I  need to do in order to keep the sound consistent throughout the horn. One thing  is for sure — this is a great mouthpiece and the upper register is really  easier. It is possible that I won’t even want to try the Schilke when it arrives  (not sure of the date yet). I will keep you updated on this soon to be ending  saga…

As many of you know I have been playing with a master class and taking  regular private lessons. Both have been very beneficial to my growth but as you  can imagine, they were also expensive. Because of that I have been forced to  drop out of the master classes. Believe me when I say that this was a very  difficult decision. I had to step back and look at which one was offering the  most benefit. Because I have only been playing trumpet for 5 years (in March),  it is very important that I get regular TRUMPET instruction. I want to avoid bad  habits at this early stage of the game. I am also lucky enough to study with a  cat who is a great legit and jazz player… best of both worlds. To compensate  for not playing with a group I have several friends who live near by… I’m  hoping that I can get together with them from time to time to play. I’d also  like to try my hand at one of the local jam sessions in the area.

Speaking of teacher – I just want to mention a few things about my teacher – Chris Battistone. I’ve been studying with him for a while now and he has  really helped me improve in all areas of my playing. We spend an equal amount of  time addressing how to approach the trumpet AND how to improvise. My wife and I had the pleasure  of checking him out at Blues Alley and he showed that he can do way more than  just talk the talk. He’s killer talented.  I truly feel that I am in good  hands. He also takes the time to answer all the emails that I send him regularly  asking questions. Chris – if you’re reading this… thanks a million!

For now my improv focus is working on playing the blues — fluently. Not just  using the Bb blues scale throughout but addressing changes and using  substitutions where appropriate. I’m hoping that will be a great launch pad for  me to take my improvisation to the next level.

One of the things that I wanted to do at the start of the year was commit to one mouthpiece. Since I’ve been playing (5 years total) I’ve been flip flopping between several different sizes and brands. The longest being a Laskey 70C for about 9 months. After my bad experience with a Monette B2 (very comfortable rim, sounded amazing but was probably too big) I’ve been searching frantically for a piece to start off 2005 with. I experimented with a Schilke 15B that sounded fantastic but absolutely destroyed my bottom lip with it’s rounded rim. After some searching, discussions with manufacturers and other players I’ve settled on a GR 66M for trumpet and GR 66FL for flugelhorn. I find them as comfortable as my Laskey and capable of giving me a sound close to the one that I got on the Schilke. The 66 rim is a touch smaller than I’m used to (3C equivalent) but I am confident that I can get used to it. I got the green light from my teacher on my selection so now I can now focus on getting acclimated, finding the sweet spot and making music. Special thanks to Bruce Lee at Northern Brass and Brian Scriver at GR Technologies for getting fitted.

One thing that I have always felt was missing from my tone was the overtones that are common in most trumpet player’s sound. That “ring” that you hear in players like Woody Shaw, Clifford Brown or Blue Mitchell. I think that may be due to me constantly trying new pieces and never really settling on one (in addition to using more air). That is what I meant by finding the sweet spot. From what I understand it is different for each note and for me that spot has been a constant moving target due to all the mouthpiece changes. Sticking with one will hopefully make that target easier hit since it will now be in the same place. Only time will tell.  Let the experiment begin…

In the past I have mentioned another site similar to mine called I Was Doing All Right. If you haven’t been there in while I suggest you go and check out the latest upgrade to the ear training tool. It was very useful before but now I think the host has pretty much nailed it with regards to what a jazz musician needs to improve his or her ear. While I don’t use it daily I try to find time during the week to sit down and spend time playing back random melodies. I find it very helpful and I’m getting better at it.