Last Night's Jazz Dream

[Teasing the Korean]

I dreamed, rather vividly, that I was in a college music class and I had to write a paper on Latin jazz from the angle of the authentic vs. imitation.

In the dream, I was jotting down notes with a red pen.  I was writing that "authentic" is a problematic word when dealing with cultural traditions.

I then started making a list:  Machito, Chico O'Farrill... I also made a note about how the imitators often didn't get the bass patterns correct, and wrote down "Al McKibbon" to demonstrate an important exception. 

I was also going to explore how non-Latino musicians took what you could broadly call Latin Jazz into interesting directions.

Finally, I said to the professor, "Do you know the album Chile con Soul by the Jazz Crusaders?"  He replied "No."  I said to him, "You have to hear 'Agua Dulce.'  When I used to DJ, it was one of the tracks I reserved for the peak of the action."  I then started going through my LPs, but I couldn't find the album. 

I then woke up. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't have to write the paper after all, and also disappointed that my dream professor did not get to hear that Jazz Crusaders track.

Off topic, auto-correct just now tried to change "Machito" to "machete."

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[Larry Kart]

This dream isn't from last night but from many years ago: Jack Teagarden was languidly/gorgeously playing "Stars Fell on Alabama" while Paul Desmond embroidered what Big T was doing.

[Teasing the Korean]

26 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

This dream isn't from last night but from many years ago: Jack Teagarden was languidly/gorgeously playing "Stars Fell on Alabama" while Paul Desmond embroidered what Big T was doing.

Nice!

[sgcim]

8 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I dreamed, rather vividly, that I was in a college music class and I had to write a paper on Latin jazz from the angle of the authentic vs. imitation.

In the dream, I was jotting down notes with a red pen.  I was writing that "authentic" is a problematic word when dealing with cultural traditions.

I then started making a list:  Machito, Chico O'Farrill... I also made a note about how the imitators often didn't get the bass patterns correct, and wrote down "Al McKibbon" to demonstrate an important exception. 

I was also going to explore how non-Latino musicians took what you could broadly call Latin Jazz into interesting directions.

Finally, I said to the professor, "Do you know the album Chile con Soul by the Jazz Crusaders?"  He replied "No."  I said to him, "You have to hear 'Aqua Dulce.'  When I used to DJ, it was one of the tracks I reserved for the peak of the action."  I then started going through my LPs, but I couldn't find the album. 

I then woke up. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't have to write the paper after all, and also disappointed that my dream professor did not get to hear that Jazz Crusaders track.

Off topic, auto-correct just now tried to change "Machito" to "machete."

 

You seem to focus on your college music school experiences a great deal, my son. We have a drug that just came out that I'd like you to try that could completely wipe out any negative experiences you had in college music class, or anything else for that matter...

Now tell me the name of your pharmacy, and I'll phone your script in, and they'll have it ready for you in no time!

As for my never-ending series of jazz dreams, last night I dreamt Rob McConnell was coming over my house, and I was working on writing an arrangement of Moondog's "Bird's Lament"for him. He seemed to be okay with it, even though he was a valve trombone player, and I was writing it out for sax!

This will affect me in real life by probably becoming my 57th arrangement I've written for big band during the pandemic. The leader of one of the big bands I play with just got a 60K P/T gig teaching in a college that has a state-of-the-art recording studio, and has said that they're dying to have us record in it.

So be prepared to hear my endless Gene Puerling rip-offs on some type of medium.

[GA Russell]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:37 PM, sgcim said:

So be prepared to hear my endless Gene Puerling rip-offs on some type of medium.

Sounds great, sg!

By the way, what was the If song you wrote an arrangement for?

[sgcim]

1 hour ago, GA Russell said:

Sounds great, sg!

By the way, what was the If song you wrote an arrangement for?

I've done two of their songs from their first album

WCAFS

WDISATBJ

[GA Russell]

4 hours ago, sgcim said:

I've done two of their songs from their first album

WCAFS

WDISATBJ

One August, '77 or '78 I think, I visited Ontario (to take in a couple of Canadian league games, natch!).  I don't recall the television of the motel room in Toronto having cable TV, but it had a cable music channel.  That was an avant garde thing in those days.  There was no announcer, no advertisements, just music.

Imagine my surprise when on came WDISATBJ!!!

[sgcim]

14 hours ago, GA Russell said:

One August, '77 or '78 I think, I visited Ontario (to take in a couple of Canadian league games, natch!).  I don't recall the television of the motel room in Toronto having cable TV, but it had a cable music channel.  That was an avant garde thing in those days.  There was no announcer, no advertisements, just music.

Imagine my surprise when on came WDISATBJ!!!

You'll never hear that on a US channel. DM's best writing; it's kind of a suite.

[Teasing the Korean]

Perhaps inspired by a recent real-life visit by an Organissimo board member, last night's jazz dream involved @Larry Kart coming over to check out my LP collection.  He brought with him some Now Sound LPs that he didn't like that he thought were up my alley.  One of was a Liverpool Beat jazz album, with a Union Jack on the cover, consisting of jazz standards played in a 1964 British beat group style.  I told him that it was a very desirable album. I can't remember what happened after that.

[Larry Kart]

Interesting. Don't know what Now Sounds is though.

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, Larry Kart said:

Interesting. Don't know what Now Sounds is though.

"Now sound" is one of those retroactively created genre names, like "yacht rock" or "denim pop."  Now sound is essentially any jazz or easy listening music from the post-Beatles era, in which the artist is turning on and tuning in to the moods and vibrations of today.  Any jazz or easy listening version of "Light My Fire" or "Spinning Wheel" gives you a good idea of what it's like.  I'm pretty sure the real-life version of Larry Kart would unload this stuff, just as your dream incarnation was doing last night. 😹

[GA Russell]

Is denim pop music?  Bing is not coming up with anything musically related.

[Teasing the Korean]

18 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

Is denim pop music?  Bing is not coming up with anything musically related.

Yes, it is used to describe early 70s acts like Bread.

[Gheorghe]

I had on several occasions dreams that I am on stage and have hand gloves so my articulation is not clear and while playing I try to take them gloves off but don´t succeed. Or I dream that there´s something funny with the keys, like if there is a blanket over them and I try to finger out my stuff but it doesn´t come off....

And long ago I dreamt I got a call that I have to make a one nighter with Al DiMeola and it was during the time of RTF. Well the music I was used to play might be acoustic jazz, and I wondered what will be the set list and if I know the tunes or at least can jump on it by listening....

During the time I played with an electric jazz/funk-jazz group sometimes the stuff I actually composed came out of a dream. 

So I think all the jazz dreams have been and will be about me involved in music.....

[JSngry]

19 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Any jazz or easy listening version of "Light My Fire" or "Spinning Wheel" gives you a good idea of what it's like. 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

Last night I dreamed I was invited to a dinner party of a jazz pianist. I was remarking on his Steinway grand and told him that I played. He asked me if I wanted to play something. I almost played an arrangement I'd written, but at the last minute, I decided to improvise something. All I remember is that it was F and I threw in some Shearing chords. It was awful. The other guests kept eating and talking and clinking silverware. I got to the end and no one acknowledged that I'd even played. It was like a shreds video. 

[Teasing the Korean]

I dreamt that the Tonight Show band was doing a show of Sammy Nestico arrangements, with Sammy conducting.  Everything looked like it did in the 70s.  Doc was wearing a loud suit. I was part of  a small audience that was on the stage with the band.  They were doing a Latin number, and after the solos, everything started falling apart.  Sammy looked up, perplexed.  I motioned to him, and he came over. I told him, "The bass player can't feel where the 1 is."  He nodded and thanked me, and pulled everyone back together.

After the show, I was talking to Sammy and told him how much I loved his tune "Basie Straight Ahead."  I told him that the melody reminds me of Henry Mancini.  He didn't like that, and he walked away.

Oh well. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[Gheorghe]

On 4/30/2023 at 5:27 PM, Teasing the Korean said:

Last night I dreamed I was invited to a dinner party of a jazz pianist. I was remarking on his Steinway grand and told him that I played. He asked me if I wanted to play something. I almost played an arrangement I'd written, but at the last minute, I decided to improvise something. All I remember is that it was F and I threw in some Shearing chords. It was awful. The other guests kept eating and talking and clinking silverware. I got to the end and no one acknowledged that I'd even played. It was like a shreds video. 

oh, playing and nobody is paying attention, a nightmare. 
Once I really had to play a sax-piano duo - gig at some party for I don´t know what kind of business-people and not gettin´ applause, that´s the strangest thing, I never did such a thing again. Even in my "un-years" when we were forced to play weddings the people clapped hands ´cause we was good. But that was crazy. The money was cool, but the surroundings was terrible, that´s when I actually stopped it all and waited for better times......

[Teasing the Korean]

8 minutes ago, Gheorghe said:

oh, playing and nobody is paying attention, a nightmare. 

I used to play a lot of cocktail piano gigs, and my preference was generally that no one was listening!  

The dream was disappointing, though, both because I was asked to play for a small group, and because my playing sucked.

[Gheorghe]

17 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I used to play a lot of cocktail piano gigs, and my preference was generally that no one was listening!  

The dream was disappointing, though, both because I was asked to play for a small group, and because my playing sucked.

In my inactive years I went to a nice place, a bar on the second floor of an old little house called "L´Etage" where a piano player was trying to play simple jazz standards and nobody seemed to listen to him. During intermission I "praised his playing" (uh uh)  and asked him innocently if I can play just one tune for my lady there and he aggreed and I did "When I Fall in Love" and that was the only time where the folks stopped talking, listened to the piano and applauded. 
Sure I never did that again, it´s not too kind to embarass a guy who got that job to play there.

But I felt I´ll be ready again. 

[Teasing the Korean]

8 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

In my inactive years I went to a nice place, a bar on the second floor of an old little house called "L´Etage" where a piano player was trying to play simple jazz standards and nobody seemed to listen to him. During intermission I "praised his playing" (uh uh)  and asked him innocently if I can play just one tune for my lady there and he aggreed and I did "When I Fall in Love" and that was the only time where the folks stopped talking, listened to the piano and applauded. 
Sure I never did that again, it´s not too kind to embarass a guy who got that job to play there.

But I felt I´ll be ready again. 

Did you ever have a solo cocktail piano gig?  I've had many over the years, and they basically fell into my lap simply by being at the right place at the right time.  

I suspect that these kind of gigs are going the way of the dodo bird.  There are fewer places with pianos, and most of the clientele is no longer familiar with standards. 

[JSngry]

I see more and more electronic pianos playing their own programmed repertoire. 

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I see more and more electronic pianos playing their own programmed repertoire. 

Progress!

[JSngry]

Yeah, freed up the humans to pursue pure creativity away from the pressures of the gig marketplace!!! 

[Gheorghe]

On 5/13/2023 at 4:16 PM, Teasing the Korean said:

Did you ever have a solo cocktail piano gig?  I've had many over the years, and they basically fell into my lap simply by being at the right place at the right time.  

I suspect that these kind of gigs are going the way of the dodo bird.  There are fewer places with pianos, and most of the clientele is no longer familiar with standards. 

I didn´t have that and don´t think I could be happy with it. I mean, as I did "sit in" for a tune because someone urged me to do it, but it would be unfair to to guy who has that hard job of having to be nice and quiet and just play in the background or taking requests. 

And it makes me unhappy to play if I don´t have interesting and fascinating guys I have the chance to play with. After some inactive years it was not easy for me  to achieve this and have name jazzmusicians want to have me on piano. This was hard to get there, not from playing the instrument but from finding the courage to contact them , then sit in with them and then play a regular gig with them. I´m so busy to keep that thing goin´  on. 

But in the past, if some non jazz couples were visiting us at home and after dinner there was that inevitable "Gheo, play somethin´ for us".... and it was a torture, if you play a jazz standard, must figure out which one is simple enough that it might appeal to them, and after two of that kind they say: "Play a country tune", "Play a șlagăr", "Play a classical tune", and I don´t know no country tune , might know a shlager tune and might "finger" from ear that Bach tune that´s on "Bud on Bach" or one Chopin Prelude that I know from ear, 

And finanlly I learned to say "Look, I´m a jazz musician, I play jazz, that´s it". That´s like if you go to a șnițel -place or a sauerkraut place you don´t order chinese or italian or greek food.....