Sunday November 22, 2009
Any jazz musician can tell you that much of the time spent in the practice room is devoted to ear training. To improvise requires being able to hear the harmony of a tune, and jazz harmony can get pretty complex and knotty. The best ear training takes place on the bandstand, but jazz education programs can teach basic skills to make the process easier. Now, thanks to certain podcasts and websites, you can learn these skills from the comfort of your own home.
Check out this podcast by New York-based drummer Dan Wolf (full disclosure: Dan is a friend of mine). It's one of the best online jazz ear training programs I've come across so far. It starts very simply, drilling basic intervals and chord qualities, and gradually increases in difficulty and complexity.
Please share links to more ear training podcasts or websites in the comments section of this post, so I can add them to the site's bank of jazz education resources.
Image © Digital Vision / Getty Images
Sunday November 15, 2009
The holiday season is near, so I've muscled up the temerity to decide which of 2009's jazz releases are the ones that would make the best gifts for your jazz-loving loved ones. These albums were a few of my favorites from this year, but you may prefer some of the other CDs reviewed here.
Image Courtesy of Wommusic, Demi Sound, Palmetto, ACT, Marsalis Music, and Fully Altered
Thursday November 12, 2009
Saxophonist Myron Walden, who is known mainly for his alto playing, switches to tenor on Momentum, the first of three records Walden is releasing over the course of the next few months. The music on Momentum is inspired by 1960s Miles Davis, but bound with more rhythmic cohesion, and with a heartier helping of soul.
Image Courtesy of Demi Sound Records
Sunday November 8, 2009
The paying of dues is a concept strongly linked to the jazz tradition. That's why when I'm forced encouraged by my editor to write about singer Michael Bublé, I take my lumps and hope for better days ahead.
I guess paying dues pays off, because this time, with the release of Bublé's new album Crazy Love, I was able to pawn off the review onto my esteemed colleague Charlie Christenson.
Read Charlie's humorous and polite trashing of the jazzified pop singer's new release. And if you are familiar with Bublé, try to determine whether he is guilty of anything that Charlie lists in his "Ten Things Jazz Singers Do That I Hate."
Image Courtesy of Reprise Records
