As most of you know I'm heading back to school to get my Jazz Performance degree in the fall. Since I play as much jazz as Ace Frehley I've been working hard to get up to speed before I have to test into the program since I already have an A.A. degree in music and would rather not have to retake classes that I've already done or relearn material I should know at this point in my life. My friend Tyler (who just graduated from the school I'm going to with his Masters in Jazz Performance) let me know that he is in the house band for a new open jam up in La Habra and the band is made up of CSUF students, alumni and current faculty so it would be a good thing for me to come play at.
I had the final for my one G.E. class that was required to transfer last night as well so after that was done I headed over there with my guitar and amp. I picked up an amp early than I was planning just to have something to play through last night since I figured they wouldn't have a guitar backline like a blues jam would.
When I got there they had a Dixieland thing going on which was pretty cool. I got the feeling that it was one of the CSUF ensembles getting out into the world:
All I will say about the amp is that it sounded great at lower volumes but wasn't what I wanted to hear on stage in a large room so it's going back today and I've already ordered the version with the bigger speaker (which I found on sale last night a 1am).
When I got on stage they started with a singer doing "Besame Mucho" which I wasn't expecting. The bassist had the changes on his iPad so I just followed along. They asked me to call the next tune so I called "Billies Bounce" which is a Charlie Parker melody over an F blues. I figured I would just call tunes I've been memorizing for my placement test so that I could get an opportunity to pay them with real musicians. It started a little quicker than I was expecting and I fat fingered the melody a bit but the solo went OK. Then another singer got up and we played a couple of ballads with him that I either comped on or stayed out of the pianists' way. Next tune was "Blue Bossa" (yes, I'm hitting all of the freshman college songs this week) followed by "Canteloupe Island" and those went very well and then I sang "Everyday I've got the Blues" but over Bb jazz blues changes with all of the ii V's put in. I was very much in my comfort zone for that one and I think folks were surprised that I sang (this is a very different community of musicians and no one knows me except for Tyler). By that point our buddy Martin showed up from his gig in San Bernadino and we played "Days of Wine and Roses" to end the night.
All in all I was happy with my playing at this stage in my jazz studies. Obviously I had a ton to learn but once I got over the jitters on "Billies Bounce" I was able to settle down and make some music. I've had a week of my students gushing over the fun they had at their recital on Sunday and funny enough I felt the same way about last nights jam.
After everyone broke down their gear the piano player asked me for my card and we got to talking a bit...when he found out that I would be attending CSUF in the fall he told me that he would most likely be my music theory professor for at least a class or two and he gave me some advice about how to prepare for the transfer exam. While I had 5 semesters of music theory and composition up to Counterpoint, much of the composition material I've forgotten so one of my studies this summer will be to brush up on that.
All in all it was a productive evening that ended in a (not cardiologist approved) midnight stop at our favorite taqueria:
Anyway, for those of you who made it this far thanks for reading my mundane ranting but it felt good to type it all out before I started practicing this morning. Gives me a little context for the work.
I had the final for my one G.E. class that was required to transfer last night as well so after that was done I headed over there with my guitar and amp. I picked up an amp early than I was planning just to have something to play through last night since I figured they wouldn't have a guitar backline like a blues jam would.
When I got there they had a Dixieland thing going on which was pretty cool. I got the feeling that it was one of the CSUF ensembles getting out into the world:
All I will say about the amp is that it sounded great at lower volumes but wasn't what I wanted to hear on stage in a large room so it's going back today and I've already ordered the version with the bigger speaker (which I found on sale last night a 1am).
When I got on stage they started with a singer doing "Besame Mucho" which I wasn't expecting. The bassist had the changes on his iPad so I just followed along. They asked me to call the next tune so I called "Billies Bounce" which is a Charlie Parker melody over an F blues. I figured I would just call tunes I've been memorizing for my placement test so that I could get an opportunity to pay them with real musicians. It started a little quicker than I was expecting and I fat fingered the melody a bit but the solo went OK. Then another singer got up and we played a couple of ballads with him that I either comped on or stayed out of the pianists' way. Next tune was "Blue Bossa" (yes, I'm hitting all of the freshman college songs this week) followed by "Canteloupe Island" and those went very well and then I sang "Everyday I've got the Blues" but over Bb jazz blues changes with all of the ii V's put in. I was very much in my comfort zone for that one and I think folks were surprised that I sang (this is a very different community of musicians and no one knows me except for Tyler). By that point our buddy Martin showed up from his gig in San Bernadino and we played "Days of Wine and Roses" to end the night.
All in all I was happy with my playing at this stage in my jazz studies. Obviously I had a ton to learn but once I got over the jitters on "Billies Bounce" I was able to settle down and make some music. I've had a week of my students gushing over the fun they had at their recital on Sunday and funny enough I felt the same way about last nights jam.
After everyone broke down their gear the piano player asked me for my card and we got to talking a bit...when he found out that I would be attending CSUF in the fall he told me that he would most likely be my music theory professor for at least a class or two and he gave me some advice about how to prepare for the transfer exam. While I had 5 semesters of music theory and composition up to Counterpoint, much of the composition material I've forgotten so one of my studies this summer will be to brush up on that.
All in all it was a productive evening that ended in a (not cardiologist approved) midnight stop at our favorite taqueria:
Anyway, for those of you who made it this far thanks for reading my mundane ranting but it felt good to type it all out before I started practicing this morning. Gives me a little context for the work.
