Week 7 - The Sound of Music

This will be a short one. I'm gonna say it straight. I literally did NO practice this week. I was way too consumed with my law work, so I had to put my studies first. I did however play at the Jam. It was nerve wracking. But all in all, I think I did alright. Especially for a new-comer to Jazz. I got a friend to record it for me, for your viewing pleasure. Its quite long, and the quality isn't the best, but hey, its a reference point I suppose. It kind of turns from a swing to a funk halfway through, so listen out for that.

*I must apologize for the video quality, it looked much better straight off the camera, but of-course, YouTube must of added some green fuglyness

I'd like to give credit to Mr. Ramon Alexander who was the master pianist you hear, if it where not for him, the song probably would have collapsed as some point. Mr. Prinsloo for his rap performance near the end. Lastly to Carlo Milandri for taking the video.

             
              I also recorded in my own home studio a one take improvisation of the all time classic "Blue Bossa". What I did was found a play along version on youtube, added it to my Ableton, and recorded my guitar over the track first time. So what you are essentially hearing is me in the raw and without having listened to the play along first. The track was a little too fast for me, it didnt give me enough time to think about my next move. You will certainly hear that this is a rough improvisation, but its baby steps none the less. In the future I can use this recording as a reference to my playing.

http://soundcloud.com/fruitargeek/blue-bossa-my-quick-improv <-- Copy Paste This

So whats in store for this week to follow? Well I'm on holiday now, so I thought, maybe to give my fingers a break (okay they had a week break already, I know that), but my mind will certainly be busy. I've set up the keyboard in my room, and I intend to do some intense Jazz theory. 

Why the keyboard you ask? Well, the keyboard is very much a visual instrument, in the sense that I play a chord and I can see all the notes I am playing. I asked a friend of mine to recite the Ab major arpeggio, and he did so effortlessly, by relying on a visual aid of a keyboard in his mind. I have read countless times that a good jazz muso has a good understanding of the piano too. You don't have to play it amazingly, but just enough to get on by will be sufficient.  

Time to expand the mind