It had been probably 20 years since I last hear this song/album and wow. Just wow.
The string ostinato at the top… and the cadence at the end, where it first resolves to minor (5:15) before finally landing on major—and Wayne’s Sus2 to 3rd resolution.
Enjoy.
I could share endlessly about how he’s influenced me as a saxophonist, improviser, and composer.
While preparing for the GroundUP Festival in Miami this coming weekend, I rediscovered footage from the year Chris was our artist-in-residence. One clip stood out so much I couldn’t wait to share it with you!
Chris participated in an intimate late-night songwriter’s circle where he performed one of his original songs. Before playing it solo on saxophone, he plays it on the keyboard, which makes the solo sax version much richer because you’ll have all the harmonic details fresh in mind.
And then he delivers a jaw-dropping solo rendition. You’ll be amazed at how you can still hear the harmony through his (at points) almost Bach-like melodic lines.
But the real treat is hearing him so candidly discuss his creative process when it comes to writing instrumental music.
He mentions what clues he looks for to let him know if he’s on the right track (or not), and composers and song styles he admires and aspires to.
I’m excited to share this with you, and maybe I’ll see you in Miami this weekend?
Bob
P.S. The part where he plays with Michael McDonald…
P.P.S. The song Chris performs is called “The Dreamer Is The Dream” (Spotify link) from his album by the same name.
At 4:50 Rick makes a great point about the amount of music there is now to be familiar with vs. years ago. I feel the same about the Jazz lexicon. If you grew up listening to a player, you don’t need to go back and learn about them. But the more time passes, the more music, artists, bands there are to (potentially) familiarize yourself with. There is, of course, a limit. It becomes impossible to check out everyone.
]]>Here’s Herb discussing Chet:
“Jazz is a difficult language. Unless you can play into that language, it doesn’t sound good. It sounds really corny.”
Herb Alpert
I had two—at the same concert venue—which I revisited while touring with Snarky Puppy two years ago this week.
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]]>“The Nearness of You”, Chris Potter on “The Source” (Live), diminished stuff, “Stella By Starlight” in G.
Let’s breathe and meditate on some saxophone long tones.
Shed with me at bobsvirtualstudio.com
One enthusiastic listener, Ward, suggested I share this because “I just walked the dog listening to the Podcast. It was EPIC. Thanks!!!!”
(thanks, Ward!)
We talked about:
- My biggest influences when it comes to playing, composing, and improvisation
- What does jazz really mean?
- The importance of learning jazz when it comes to improvisation
- Why you should learn and play rhythm section instruments
- My first tool for composing
- The “under $100” tool I can’t live without
Why? Because I can simultaneously:
- practice memorizing the chord progression to a standard I want to know,
- focus on following and predicting the form and harmonic rhythm, (I’m visualizing the 4-8 bar sections as I go, aiming to think ahead a measure or two)
- treat it as a long tone exercise, and
- step outside my rhythmic comfort zone.
This slight shift from 4/4 to 11/4 primes my brain for focus and retention of the sequence of notes.
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