Quote:
Originally posted by captain Russ:
Chas is right. As much as anything, jazz is an ATTITUDE...an approach to free-form, but complex structure. It's trading ideas and playing off of each other extemporaneously.

Sometimes, there will be a unique joint effort(players and listeners) to take a tune in an entirely different direction.

In those rare, magic moments, the high is unbelieveable.

To understand you have to experience it.
And once you do, it's a life-changer...something you never forget.

And those moments are, for me at least, what makes it all worthwhile.

Russ


+1.....After playing in jams with thinking, gifted players, you go back to your arranger keyboard, and just look at it?? A moment for wistful thought..and then , "Oh well I guess it pays the bills..."

And onward you go again.

Where I live now, the opportunity for wonderfully fulfilling musical interaction with others is a very rare one indeed.

I cannot convince my other half and child that we should move back to somewhere even remotely connected with musical civilisation.

Playing gigs here, we have to put up with calls of "play Mustang Sally, play Sweet Home Chicago, play Brown Eyed Girl etc etc, "..and on it goes ad infinitum, ad nauseum, and whilst playing these (because the customer is always right, at least according to the venue owner!) your mind wanders to a happy place and you get through yet again.

Down here they would think Chick Corea is some form of south american legume!!

Back on topic though... Russ you said it perfectly.

Dennis