July 13 Jam Session Reflection

This post belongs in the #jamsession collection. You can find all other reflections under the #jamsession hashtag, and the complete documentation of jam sessions here.

July 13th - "A Night in Tunisia" With Heyday's band. Here are seven points of reflections that followed the performance:

Number one: State your needs!

In order to perform well, you need to be honest. In the case of A Night in Tunisia, that means me asking the band members "could we please go a little slower than what you’ve just played?". It might feel really embarrassing, but that’s what you have to do in order to do your best. Either you tell the members and you play at a comfortable pace where you can solo properly, or you don't tell the members and end up rushing and messing up in your solo (Afternoon in Paris). Comparatively, it’s better if you tell them that you need to play slower, because those are your needs.

It does no good pretending you can play well, and letting the entire band down when you actually can't perform at that level.

Number two: Know what you're playing.

Yes - even though Jazz is about improvisation, improvisation onstage is made up of hundreds of licks that you know how to play, mashed up together to create music. You simply can't generate every single note on the fly while you're performing. The results are either going to be abysmal or hasty and shy.

Writing things while you’re playing is what you do in practice. That, in combination with "stealing", is where you get the predetermined options that you then pick from later. Now, the amount of options that you have depend on how much you practice, how much experience you have, and of how much listening you do. But either way, you still need to have those options. So learn licks properly and have a set list in your head. You will thank yourself in the future.

Number three: Know more than one chord voicing.

I already knew this before coming to the jam session, but it’s always good to have more than one chord voicing. As jazz musician you shouldn't/can't always focus on your own solos. Jazz is like a team sport - the team performance is the ultimate goal. Therefore, you also have to comp well. Comping is an art in itself in terms of its reactivity - you have to constantly be aware of other musicians and respect their solo lengths (no, you can't solo forever, and you can't wait for super-trumpet to save the day for you by cutting in with the head). You also have to be creative and artistic to achieve a beautiful sound in combination with others. Being reactive and creative is really difficult to achieve when you only have one chord to use. This is why you should have your options in mind - the same as licks - so you can default to muscle memory during the comping process and be able to react more effectively (i.e. actually look up from your keyboard and see what the other musicians are doing).

Number five: Be more confident in your playing

(see reflection on July 23)

Even if your skill set doesn’t improve dramatically, your confidence will still reflect on the end result. Obviously confidence stems from knowing the material well and being able to familiarize yourself with it. But even if you aren't familiar - fake it until you make it.

When you sound assured in your sound, you can make even the most bizarre scales sound in-place, and weird rests sound intentional. If you make mistakes, they will also likely sound intended, and people will learn to appreciate them.

Number six: Make recordings of class

This is really helpful because when I practice I can just go back to the recordings and I know exactly what I need to work on. Also, you can steal chord voicings by listening to Oleg's and figure them out for yourself. This is so important! Please make recordings of clas and always read your reflections after class!! They’re actually helpful, you wrote them for a reason.

Number seven: Practice the basics

(see reflection on July 16)

Jazz, just like any other form of music, is contingent on you knowing your chords, knowing your scales, and knowing your theory. If you don’t master these things. and if you don’t know a piece inside and out it’s very difficult to play well. Again, this involves admitting to Oleg that you don’t know what the hell the voicings are and checking with them so you make sure you know the right voicings. Or else you’re just going to play the wrong voicing, and it’s not going to be very good. It's good to admit pitfalls and practice the boring basics, because until you master the basics, nothing else will work out for you.

Every Jam Session Reflection is raw and written on the Night of the Performance.

This reflection was written on July 13th, 2021.