he really needs it......NOT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_fQrcEfXRU

So how were your chops when you were 10? Or now.

chas

Yep...he's the real deal...I posted the same link in another thread earlier today...nice to see it on it's own.

Very good player, but it's his feeling that really does it.

Ian

Now, THAT JUST MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD!

I NEVER worry that there isn't a supply of fabulously talented players in the "Pipeline".

R.

I agree, Russ. There seems to be a lot of very talented youngsters out there. Of course, there are a lot of incredibly talented oldsters, too - and you're at the very top of the list in that category. You're one of the people that many of them hope to one day emulate.

Cheers,

Gary

Wow, how can a kid have so much talent, technique and artistry? Especially in jazz?!? Is something supernatural going on there?

Yes. Normally I don't believe in reincarnation but that kid has definitely been here before . That's an 'old soul' playing. When I was ten, I couldn't even spell Thelonious Monk. I recorded a version of 'round midnight for Russ, but after hearing this kid, I want to burn it....and then kill myself.

chas



chas

Thanks Gary. I'd give up 1/2 my ability to play for 1/4th your ability to entertain.


I KNOW....DUO TIME!


Russ

No doubt the kid is very talented, but we have not yet heard "his" playing ideas. Moving from emulating to creating may be a problem.

If he is truly a old soul, then it will show up for us to enjoy.

Bill G

... when I was 10, most of my chops were pork !!!

No disrespect Bill, but are you kidding me? We should all have his 'problem'. I've been listening to jazz all my life and I don't know how you can tell when he is 'emulating' and when he is 'creating'. Herbie Hancock thinks he's pretty special and my old ancient ears tell me the same thing. I've heard hundreds of interpretations of these tunes and his seem pretty 'creative' to me. He's TEN YEARS OLD and he's reached a level of playing that I have not heard equaled by any 50, 60, or 70 yr old around here. Jeez, what does he have to do to get an unqualified AMEN around here? Play some 'country'?

chas

When I was 10 arrangers had not been invented, and I never played piano so didnt have any chops, except my baseball swing.
The kid is obviously gifted to say the least.
We are mostly a forum of old men who play arrangers for our own enjoyment and for friends and family.
Maybe as this lad grows he will learn some popular music too, to supplement his mastery of this genre. . Jazz must be pretty easy for someone to conquer it at such an early age!
Oh lighten up, I'm just agitating again!

Future NH entertainer? I doubt it!

Kids got chops and taste, you can have an 'amen' from me, chas!

But there's a LONG way to go from 10 year old enthusiasm to mature pro, and the list of 'whatever happened to THAT kid?' is as long as your arm. All kinds of things change for kids as they grow and mature. Who knows? He could develop a taste for hiphop, or baseball, or drugs. Any of which could stop him dead in his tracks.

Not as dead as liking country, but still pretty dead!

We all hope he'll be one of the few child prodigies that turn into adult prodigies (it would be cruel not to!), but there's no guarantees.

What impresses me most, is that the kid is not all technique or no technique like many prodigies.

He has that happy balance of great playing ability and the competence to bring out the essence of the music.

Ian

Just fantastic !!!! Such a mature performance from such a young player.

I read somewhere that the child began at age 4 when his parents brought home mini keyboard, probably arranger and he started to play a melody that was a Thelonious Monk tune that he must've heard from his fathers record collection .His father is not a musician but has a huge jazz record collection so from a very early age he was immersed in good quality jazz. There is no doubting the boys God given talent.

I hope he does not burn out though . He is too young to be touring and there is so much more to being a kid that he needs to experience as he grows into a man .

Ah reckin ah been ded since ah's bout twenny and herd bout Hank. hip hop is fer Eester ain't it? an ahm sprised they let that there monk feller outa the convent jest to play that there jazz stuff.

Check out this 4 year old !!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omuYi2Vhgjo

Hmmm, wonder what kind of response I'd get if I decided to mock Hank Williams or Merle Haggard? Anyhoo, most musicologists agree that 'Round Midnight is one of the most beautifully crafted songs in modern music. I, for one, am willing to look past Monk's 'weirdness' and appreciate his genius.

Ian nailed it. It's not so much the technique (although the kid has plenty) as the feeling and maturity he brings to such complex and sophisticated music. That ain't 'emulating' baby, that's God-given talent and a musical sensitivity that belies his tender years. BTW, is it a little strange that an Indonesian kid would be named Joey Alexander?

'Carlos'

I guess we'll never know how he turns out, being a group of "old men" lol.

Chas, Hank was a genius of a different kind. Too bad he wasn't smart enough not to drink himself to death at 29.
I like a lot of Merle's songs, but many of them were not well written at all, like he had a thought or hook and wrote it down and put a few words around it and recorded it, without much regard to structure. Certainly nothing to compare with anything TM did!
I do appreciate all kinds of music, though some of it, like Rap, I don't care to listen to. My other post was in response to my friend Diki's comment about being dead if you like Country music, and the reference to Monk was a joke on monks living in convents, not to any weirdness. I don't know enough about him to know if he was weird!
Anyway, we all agree this kid can play his tail off.
I don't know any Merle jokes, but here's a Conway Twitty story:

"The new Alabama preacher was a dead ringer for Conway Twitty. One day he decided to visit some of the church members who hadn't been to service lately. He went to the first lady's house and knocked on the door. When she answered the door, she said, "Conway Twitty!"

No, ma'am," he replied. "I'm your new pastor, and I just stopped by to have a prayer with you." She invited him right in. He visited several more homes, and everyone thought he was Conway Twitty.

Eventually, he came to the house at the end of the street. It turned out to be the residence of a young widow. When the Reverend knocked on her door, the young widow was taking a shower. Hearing the knock, she just wrapped a towel around herself, ran to the door and threw it open.

When she saw her caller, she threw up her hands - which allowed the towel to fall to the floor putting all her wonderful young and luscious curves on display. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "It's Conway Twitty!"

The preacher just smiled and said, "Hello, Darlin."

In this case, the player does NOT need to come up with variations on the lead line to emit/transmit the kind if emotion that "lives" n this song.

The kid's got it, and, no, it's not true that jazz is easy because this 10 year old can play it.

Russ

I know that silly. It's easy because YOU can play it.

I'm sure Don was just ribbing us saying that jazz is 'easy'. Fact is, Don, Monk WAS very weird. His wife, when annoyed with him, referred to him as Melodious Thunk. And with all due respect to Diki (don't want to incur HIS wrath), anyone that plays Jimmy Buffet is not in a position to criticize Country (or any other type of) music .

chas

Personally, I like the buffet at the Chinese restaurant better.
However, if you play for people in this part of the world you'd better know Margaritaville at least!
I've done it so many times, I often make up words to it as I go and most of the time nobody notices unless they happen to be singing along.
There are a couple of his songs I like, including Pirate Looks at Forty.
I'm listening to Monk on youtube so I can see what the fuss is all about. So far I like the kid better!

Not meant to be a relgious discussion, but JMO, further proof that there is a God and he has bestowed some gifts to some that he has not to others. AMEN.

It's time for another posting of Yogi Berra Explains Jazz!!


Interviewer: Can you explain jazz?

Yogi: I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's wrong.

Interviewer: I don't understand.

Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.

Interviewer: Do you understand it?

Yogi: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't know anything about it.

Interviewer: Are there any great jazz players alive today?

Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead. Some would kill for it.

Interviewer: What is syncopation?

Yogi: That's when the note that you should hear now happens either before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they happen because that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something different from those other kinds.

Interviewer: Now I really don't understand.

Yogi: I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that well.

Ah, you're just saying that 'cause you're scared of Diki too .



Many people agree that Monk was not the best interpreter of his own music (think Bob Dylan ). Check out Oscar Peterson's version. If you're still having problems, get Boo to 'splain it to you .

chas

Chas, when I was in the Florida Keys last winter, if you didn't know at least a dozen Buffet songs you were in deep trouble. And, of all people that loved both Buffett and lots of country music, it was the Canadians that requested the most of both. Jimmy Buffett made me a lot of tip money down there. Thank you Mr. Buffett for your contribution to the world of music.

The top requests included:
1. Margarettaville
2. A Pirate Looks at Forty
3. Come Monday
4. Pencil Thin Mustache
5. Cheeseburger In Paradise
6. Volcano
7. It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
8. Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw
9. Boat Drinks
10. Son Of A Sailor
11. Changes In Lattitude
12. He Went To Paris

I also had lots of requests for John Denver songs, Sinatra songs, lots of upbeat Latin songs, and 50s, 60s, and 70s rock songs, all of which seemed to go over very well.

Boot Key Harbor was filled to capacity with sailboats and trawlers, all of which from ports in the frozen north. Those folks wanted to be entertained, they loved to party, and the tipped very well. Many traveled from Canadian ports on the north side of the Great Lakes, and spent the better part of 3 months getting to Boot Key Harbor. They were there to party the winter away and happy to be in the land of palm trees, snow white sand, turquoise waters and 75 to 80 degree temperatures that time of year. Some never go home, they just renewed their visas and stayed year round - which I only wish I could do.

As for Jazz, Nah! In that part of the world it just ain't gonna happen. There were a couple jazz clubs in Key West a few years back, but they're long gone. They're packed to the walls and the bands are playing Jimmy Buffett music now.

I'm not afraid of Diki's wrath - could care less. And, I'm damned well positive that he's playing some Buffett and country music as well in Destin. If not, he's starvin to death.

If you want to see what things are like in Marathon, take a look at http://www.tikilive.com/show/boot-key-harbor-webcam

Gary

I'm starting to think you enjoyed your visit there.

OK, OK. I'd play a Buffet song or two with ANY of you here.

But be damn sure I'd deny the hell out of it if you ever told anybody!


Russ ("Buffetless") Lay

Gary, you're taking this way too seriously. Don and I were just having some fun. I know Marathon better than you think; I have friends there. It's much better suited for you than for me. Hey, I don't even KNOW any Jimmy Buffet music, not even Margarettaville (just as I'm sure you don't know Mysterioso or Well You Needn't), I was just kidding Don and Diki. For the record, I don't have the same disdain for 'Buffet' music or Country music as some of you people seem to have for Jazz. They're not my favorite genre' but then again neither is Rap or HipHop. Sometimes I get the feeling that there is also a bias here against accomplished performers as well, such as this very talented 10 yr old, yet we heap praise on poor to mediocre performances just because they come closer to matching our own.

Believe it or not, if I had to name my top 20 artists, Willie Nelson would be somewhere in the mix. Not just because of some of the great R&B tunes he wrote during the 60's and 70's (surprise, surprise) but also because I really like his voice and the honesty of his vocal style. But then again, I also like Tony Bennett and Mel Torme' for the same reasons.

Anyhow, I'm not trying to push jazz onto the good people of Marathon, in fact, I try to make Marathon a no-stop pass through on the way to Key West.

chas

Carol and I just finished a lengthy discussion about me returning to Marathon in 2015. She doesn't want to live aboard the sailboat, so I told her that I would rent her a house for two months, while I lived aboard the boat. I said I would pay for the entire trip, airfare for her, my daughter and grandson, the house rent, etc... Damned, she just might go for it. I, on the other hand, would spend six months afloat, which I'm really hoping to have sufficient health to do just that. I'll be 75, I told her, but damned, I'm not gonna sit around and wait to die. I have a lot of body parts shot to hell, but I ain't dead yet.

I got a telephone call from a friend in Marathon a few hours ago, he and his wife went to a nearby restaurant last night for dinner, and the lady that owns the restaurant asked them if they knew the guy that played music last winter at the City Marina's Tiki Hut. My friend asked why, and she said I want to hire him as soon as I can. I love those kind of calls. Sure wish I were there right now - it's 75 degrees, no wind, no bugs, low humidity, and the town should be jumping right about now. Take a look at http://www.tikilive.com/show/boot-key-harbor-webcam and you'll get an idea how many visitors are there right now. All of those tiny, white lights are anchor lights on sailing and cruising yachts.

Gary

HURRY

Gary ... I am sure you could find someone to take your gigs in the frozen North until the weather gets better and you could go South ... OR, MAYBE that owner would settle for a guy a few (or more) notches below your standard ?!?!? ... just sayin' ...

Let's see now, if you take the gig and move to Florida, that would leave no Republicans and no accordion players in the entire state of Rhode Island.......Yep, go for it, Tony .

chas

Just got off the telephone with my son - he would love to go on the trip with me down the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) in late September or early October of 2015, but said he would rather send his ex-girlfriend with me instead. OH YEAH!



Tony, knowing what I now know, both you and I could play down there every night of the week and have a ball. Of course, if we did that, we would both likely be divorced in six months of less - but we'd be smilin!

Things are looking up,

Gary

Gary ... sign me up ... I'll take my chances ...




chas ... I'm not a Republican ... I am a Conservative ... there's a difference ... and I have many of the same beliefs as you ...

BTW ... I noticed that you failed to mention the 'artifact' sitting on the top of this kid's piano ... just sayin' ...

BTW #2 ... I don't think there is any truth to the rumor that MONTY Alexander was a sperm donor for this kid ...

LOL chas...

If you play Buffett, Hank Sr. AND jazz, you can criticize anything you want!