Pribek

I’ve been in the woodshed quite a bit. Not working on exercises or that sort of thing; just picking up the Tele and playing for joy.

I’ve had a sort of breakthrough.

I got to set this up though. Sometimes, the real valuable stuff…the advice some cat gives you takes a while, sometimes a long while to sink in. Well, for me at least.

Way back, I was temporarily hanging in Monterey, California and working at a car wash; I walked in to a little guitar shop (South Seas Guitars, I think). I didn’t have any dough but, it was a cool place; cool guitars and the owner (I really wish I could remember his name…seemed like it Phil something) was very knowledgeable. He seemed to take a liking to me, even though I wasn’t a “buyer”, and I would stop by to chat from time to time.

This guy was real deal jazzer. He even took the time to make cassettes of players I should be aware of for me; just in the interest of passing it on.

He would often grab an archtop and play chord melody stuff and he was real good at it. I would always bug him…”you got to show me how to do that man”.

It’s all just shapes.

I asked him about the theory behind it all. I bugged him so much that he wrote out some chord melody “scales” for me.

These scales won’t do you any good man. You got to learn these shapes though. Trust your ear, trust your gut and just start finding what works for you! You are over analyzing. It’s all just shapes…that are sounds.

So, of course, I started working on those scales…spent hours and hours and, I would try to incorporate some on solos over the years and fall on my ass.

I did remember the shapes though.

Just learn the shapes and start throwing them in here and there on some blues stuff. Stop thinking and just find what sounds good to you. You don’t need to know the harmonic implications. Go with your gut. Start with the blues.

And, finally…that’s exactly what I’ve been doing over the last few days. Wham!!! It’s actually starting to make sense. It’s coming to me in big sweet chunks. I’m not going to sit down and play “Stardust” or “Misty” like Jim Hall or Joe Pass anytime soon but, I may whip some stuff on “Further On Up The Road” in the near future.

So, the moral is…keep all of that dusty advice in your back pocket.

Iggy Pop is going to release a jazz album in May. Iggy was asked to write music for a documentary about French author Michel Houellebecq and it manifested his new record, “Preliminaires”.

From Undercover…

“As I looked at footage of Michel and re-read the book, which I did with intense pleasure when it came out, in my mind, I created music that would have been the music that I would hear in my soul when I read this book,” Pop says in a video to announce the album.

“At one point, I just got sick of idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music,” Iggy says. “I was starting to listen to a lot of New Orleans-era Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton type of jazz, and I’ve always loved quieter ballads.”

Well, why not?

Maybe this will start a trend like the Great American Songbook did a while back.

The New Face Of Jazz

I like the idea of solos over a single oddball chord, like say a CsharpMaj.-7. Something that grooves and, a sort of a non-intrusive vamp over a chord that allows for much harmonic exploration.

Using that same type of idea, I want to write some songs (instrumental) that have definable melodic themes over greasy blues soul grooves, the kind of theme a jazz guy would call the “head’. Except, in this setting, when the solo section comes, go to said oddball chord vamp, instead of soloing over the changes then, back to the theme…bring the whole shooting match in under 4 minutes and make a neat little record.

I got to get my amp out of the car.

I need to practice some at louder volumes. My weekend next door neighbors are usually gone this time on Sunday.

Speaking of that, I’ve been playing a lot in an ultra-low volume thing. Well, it’s actually preparation for a songwriter showcase type of deal where I’m accompanying, for the most part. I’ve experimented with the old Dyna Comp with the compression turned all the way down and using the Gain to control the volume, like a fine tune for volume. Just a hint of compression and it sounds nice. I’m wondering how it sounds cranked up some and even as a little boost to drive the preamp on clean channel.

I got to get my amp out of the car.

A new type of practicing that I’ve been dabbling with. I strap on the Tele, close my eyes, play the first note that comes to my fingers. Try not to think of tonal centers and just wail along for 30 minutes or so. “Free Practice” is what I’m calling it, like free jazz, you know? I’m pretty sure it will be more fun louder.

I got to get my amp out of the car!

I miss improv with players that can fly.

I think I may be on the cusp of stumbling on to the secret deal with aug. triads.

I still like the trumpet/slightly overdriven guitar idea but, I’ve gone in to the spiel a couple of times and folks look at me like I’m from Nigeria and talking about an opportunity to make big cash. Makes me think there might be something to it.