“The Jazz Messengers” by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers from 1956
I grew up with this LP. Recently, I listened to this CD with the added tracks and realized how influential these tunes, the writing and the solos were in my teens and early twenties. In listening, I was transformed to being nineteen and sitting at a piano at IU showing Dick Washburn these fantastic chords and harmony. How exciting to be able to figure out a little of what was going on by the pros 62 years ago.
Being a guitar player with a piano or keyboard player in your band can be one of the trickier situations to deal with in jazz. This mostly becomes a problem when we are discussing accompaniment or “comping.” Now, in my experience, most of the old-school cats will tell you that only one of you should be comping at a time. However, there are some opportunities for the two to have some interaction. There are some considerations to be observed when approaching this. A quick look at the keyboardist and you can decide who is going to comp for which soloist. Sometimes, the guitar player will be the main accompanist and sometimes it will be the keyboard player. Today, we will talk about a few of those including textures, rhythm, and voicings as a guitar player trying to add to what the keyboard player is already doing. It is important to always listen and only contribute when you feel that there is space for something. Many fellow “compers” will prefer it if you do not add anything to what they are doing. Therefore, it is important to check in with them once in a while and try to keep eye contact with your band mates in general.
This is my 50th year of putting out Play-A-Long records. I started in 1967 with Chuck Suber, who was the editor of Downbeat magazine. He said if you make an LP and a booklet, I will buy 100. So, I decided to give it a try. Fifty years later there are millions of people who have
played with them, and it has helped them. I never intended to put out more than one; I didn’t think there would be any need for more than one. We have 133 now.
I didn’t dream when I started that some of the Play-A-Longs would teach scales and chords. I learned along the way that students did not know their scales and chords. That was why when they played the blues, they had no idea what the were doing. We released a number of pedagogical ones, and I think these changed the way musicians practice. I think people realized that if I thought it was important then they should practice it. I hope the idea of playing whatever you want and letting your fingers go during an improvised solo has been reduced a bit. If the chord is a C chord, that is the basic scale students should play off of.
Jazz is an amazing fusion of multiple genres, developed in New Orleans through African-American communities in the late 19th century. Although initially controversial, jazz found its place within popular culture and the scene is still thriving today – its relevance is seen in movies, games and continues to influence pop music immeasurably. Blending blues, ragtime, classical and other popular genres of the era, jazz drew on these influences and broke the rules of them all to create a highly distinct sound. As a beginner, learning jazz guitar can initially seem daunting. This tutorial will require some basic knowledge of chords, scales and harmony, but is beginner-friendly enough to give you a great introduction to playing jazz on your guitar. If you want to learn how to master jazz on guitar, practicing the following regularly will help you reach your goals faster as you begin to connect the dots.
You can now register for the 2018 Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops at the University of Louisville!