Jam Recordings 2010

Here are some Jam recordings from November and December 2010. This was the beginning of my group playing experience. The Jam sessions are non-professional musicians (i.e. everyone has a day job) but the profile of the musicians are consistently people who've played jazz for 20-30 years. But no hotshots (pro-level) here. So I didn't feel intimidated after the first jam. I was very nervous on the 1st jam. After that I realized that we were all trying to learn. Though I'm the newest jazz musician in the entire group.

This is a sampling from 2010. It would be interesting to compare with future recordings. I felt like I was improving after every jam.

Blue In Green
http://www.box.net/shared/behr9siivv
I was so worried about just not getting lost. First time I performed this. But it turned out ok. Such a beautiful tune that if you don't do anything crazy it comes out ok. I kept it simple.

Autumn Leaves (Ballad)
http://www.box.net/shared/kpd2rscm90
It was a little uncomfortable as a ballad when I was doing it, but it didn't sound too bad here. The guitar player was a little out of it and he chose the tempo as well as the tune.

Giant Steps
http://www.box.net/shared/xld3n1mgyg
This is a little hard to listen to. The guitar player is completely lost. The bass player is sometimes lost. Only the drummer and I were in good shape. I guess I'm realizing now that this tune is too hard core for most people and that's even when I'm playing very slowly.

Lullaby of Birdland
http://www.box.net/shared/7gvcy92a28
This is a tune I just learned so I can comp the vocalist. Plus the key was changed from the Real Book. So it was amazing I survived it. The singer also didn't know where to come in. But that's how it is with a jam. It's all a learning experience. I think if this was rehearsed it would come out really well.


God Bless the Child
http://www.box.net/shared/bcli1ac98n
This was my FIRST ever comping of a jazz vocalist. Comments I got about this tune was that I should have comped with a blues style. Well, too newbie to be doing that. What was edited out of the recording was the difficulty of the singer in entering the tune. So I didn't know what to do with the multiple intros.

Blue Bossa
http://www.box.net/shared/3vq778p5p5
This tune was called and I forgot how to play the melody. So I told the guitar player to do the melody. Well he forgot it too :)  So a little melody. When I got home, I made sure I can play the melody to this next time. It's an easy tune so it gets called a lot.

Invitation
http://www.box.net/shared/k73b7e5h1i
This is a difficult tune to begin with and the bass player did not know it. But he figured it out fast. What was problematic was that the group changed the form on me from what I practiced. I learned it as Repeat then Coda. Instead it was played as Once around and then Coda. Then the B section was turned to swing. Which is fine except I didn't know it until it started. I'm going to try this tune again in 2011 and I think we will do it better now.