On Wednesday 18th of January Brighton Jazz School held their Jazz Education Conference in association with the South Coast Jazz Festival. I invited Julian Nicholas, Claire Martin and Geoff Simkins to give short presentations on varying aspects of jazz education. It really was a fantastic day full of very insightful perspectives. Julian’s talk was […]
Teacher, don’t teach me no nonsense A one-day Jazz Education Conference at Brighton’s Verdict club confronted a world where music is a commodity and education a business investment. At this Brighton Jazz School event, Tony Durham discovered how South Coast educators are trying to keep the jazz flame alive. Let’s not […]
Out playing is all about playing against the harmony. Its playing the 'wrong' notes at the right time. Out playing isn't just random, it still must have all of the melodic content of inside playing such as development of ideas, rhythmic interest, space etc. It must say something. So if out playing is not […]
Improv: The Jazz Education Section Terry Seabrook’s Jazz Tip no. 25 Creating a Jazz Piano Arrangement – left hand piano voicings: shells and Autumn Leaves The most straight forward way for a jazz pianist to play is to place the tune or improvised melody in the right hand (upper region) and the chordal […]
Wayne McConnell discusses his recent experience performing with saxophonist Dave Liebman. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about doing this gig. Having listened to Dave Liebman’s music for a number of years, one gets the impression that this guy does not mess about! Well, I can report that he indeed does […]
Dave Liebman Masterclass Brighton Jazz School Masterclass Series The Verdict, Brighton Sunday 24th January 2016, 4pm Beginning with an overview of his background, Liebman was, not surprisingly, full of stories and anecdotes about his life in jazz performing with the likes of Miles Davis and Elvin Jones. He began on piano at […]
Terry Seabrook’s Jazz tip of the month No. 24 Some short cuts for scales and modes In order to improvise in jazz the subject of scales and modes as a tool is usually the first stop for study. It’s very obvious to think of all the modes in jazz as deriving from parent scales […]
Jazz is very polyrhythmic and often has 2 and 3 beats running simultaneously against each other creating an interesting polyrhythm. Drummers do this all the time! Here is a quick way to play or clap 2 against 3 using the mnemonic ‘Nice cup of tea’. We’ll start with the groups of 3 beats: […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell urges people to Just Improvise! I genuinely believe everybody is able to improvise in one form or another. This basic ability is the very essence of how we get through life. Music aside, the ability to put together words and construct sentences is essential in everyday living. Free thinking is […]