Time surely does fly by when you are busy and engaged with life’s challenges. I realize I have missed a few months of columns at this point. What with traveling, writing, and family commitments, I seem to have let this slip by. But like Bird said, “Now is The Time”. So here goes.

In my practice time, I’ve been working on trying to create different layers, harmonically, melodically, and rhythmically over various song forms and harmonic structures. In a way, this is like taking an inventory of various options one might have in improvising on different forms. Once you get started with this path, the possibilities become endless, and one idea leads logically to the next. I really wish I had more time to practice. For me, practicing falls under the guise of not only getting closer to my instrument, but also learning how to play compositionally as an improviser, and how to play as a team player in an ensemble through instigating certain musical concepts, and being able to respond to what the other players instigate with appropriate musical ideas.

What I mean by layers is that you can organize a musical setting into zones of varying activity. For example, taking a 4/4 swing feel, you can start with half note lines, then half note triplet lines, then quarter note lines, quarter note triplet lines, eighth note lines, (different groupings of eighth note lines from 3 to 7), eighth note triplets (again, different groupings of notes in this time feel), and so on. By working on various rhythmical groupings you can expand your rhythmical vocabulary and broaden the way you solo and interact with a rhythm section. By thinking of varying tempos within a quarter note pulse (eigth notes, 16th notes, etc.) you can layer different rhythmical ideas and move between these different zones.

This layering approach applies to melody as well, where you take a motif of 3 to 6 notes and find ways to move the motif through various harmonic settings. You wind up moving outside the diatonic harmony in some cases, which creates an alternate melodic and harmonic path, and creates a dissonance and mysterious quality that can be very effective when resolved back to the diatonic center of things.

The same holds true if you approach harmony this way. A great exercise is to play a blues progression soloing a tritone away from the tonic key (stay in F sharp soloing over a C blues). The idea is to keep hearing the changes in C, but hang out in F sharp. This will create a harmonic and melodic tension that can be very effective. Another example could be to play off an A flat minor tonality when soloing over a C7 vamp. The combination of C7 and A flat minor creates a C minor-major7 flat 6 sonority, which has a certain amount of intrigue and tension. It’s kind of interesting to hang out in A flat minor while being cognizant of the C bass note. There are so many different combinations of chords that can add interest and depth to the things you improvise. It is generally a good idea to work on these possibilities before hand to see how they work, and how you might formulate you ideas melodically.

I’ve been reading the Wayne Shorter biography called Footprints by Michelle Mercer. It is a fantastic book on many levels. Firstly, it provides a comprehensive history of some of the most important bands in jazz through the experiences of Wayne Shorter (Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Weather Report). Secondly, you get to experience the thought process that is behind the wonderful music Wayne Shorter has created over the years. His musical training and experiences as a young player shed a bright light on Wayne’s musical process. I strongly recommend this book for jazz fans and music fans in general.

Two of my early CDs and one more recent quartet CDs have been reissued on the Koch label. The cd called The Source, which includes Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Don Grolnick, Will Lee, Randy Brecker, and Don Alias is the 2ns cd I ever did. It was recorded in 1980 and is a pastiche of styles and grooves representing a fairly naïve, but adventurousness foray in the world of recording. The big band CD called Papa Lips consists of the stellar band I started with in 1984 (Dave Sanborn, Mike and Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Don Grolnick, Will Lee, etc.). We were packing the clubs back then with this amazing band. I personally think that the music I am writing nowadays for big band is more evolved and interesting. But in the early 80’s I think we touched upon an unusual combination of straight ahead , R and B, and latin with the big band format. The third CD released by Koch is called Bop Boy. It is a quartet CD with Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, and Steve Kuhn. We recorded a bunch of jazz jurassic classics, and the playing is what you’d expect from an A team cast like this one. It was sure fun to play with these guys. I remember walking into the studio where I found Gadd’s drums set up By his drum tech. The cases said Eric Clapton on them, and the size of the kit was more of a rock stadium type kit. But when Steve sat down he played with such amazing grace and sense of subtlety. More proof that it’s not about your instrumentat all!

So there you have it. Still grateful to be playing and learning. Looking forward to learning more about writing and playing. Looking forward to becoming a better listener! Looking forward to each moment, in trying to stay in that moment, And learn what I can from it.