Jazz Camp, part 1 of 4 − 4 July, 2002
You know when you ask someone about something they've said and they brush you off with "It's a long story?" I must have a million of those. It's the curse of memory.
Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Jazz Camp?
It's a long story.
But don't worry, I'm breaking it up into four parts. Six if you count the two codas.
First, let me set the stage:
Thursday, July 4, 2002, was a day like many others in my Standards Era. I came home from work and began practicing. During this period, all I played was guitar; my records show I played a Bb jazz blues, Girl from Ipanema (transposed to the random key of F), What's New (random key Ab), All or Nothing at All (random key B), Night and Day (Db), and All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (I was learning it, so I played it in the original key).
[ If you read my article on my blog about The Woodshed, you know the reason for all these random keys . . . if I ever sat in with the big league players, I wanted to hold my own and not be laughed offstage like Charlie Parker had been. ]
I only practiced two hours that night, because I had to pack.
There is a very famous person in the jazz world who produces play-along records. In the summer, he runs a jazz workshop. I'd signed up for it. I took a week off from work to attend this event, and was truly excited about going.
See, up until this point, I had never played with other musicians. Tomorrow I would be driving north, by myself, to a city in Kentucky to finally get my chance and learn alongside other musicians who were interested in jazz.
Or so I thought. Events turned out much differently than I expected.
Continued tomorrow.
Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Jazz Camp?
It's a long story.
But don't worry, I'm breaking it up into four parts. Six if you count the two codas.
First, let me set the stage:
Thursday, July 4, 2002, was a day like many others in my Standards Era. I came home from work and began practicing. During this period, all I played was guitar; my records show I played a Bb jazz blues, Girl from Ipanema (transposed to the random key of F), What's New (random key Ab), All or Nothing at All (random key B), Night and Day (Db), and All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (I was learning it, so I played it in the original key).
[ If you read my article on my blog about The Woodshed, you know the reason for all these random keys . . . if I ever sat in with the big league players, I wanted to hold my own and not be laughed offstage like Charlie Parker had been. ]
I only practiced two hours that night, because I had to pack.
There is a very famous person in the jazz world who produces play-along records. In the summer, he runs a jazz workshop. I'd signed up for it. I took a week off from work to attend this event, and was truly excited about going.
See, up until this point, I had never played with other musicians. Tomorrow I would be driving north, by myself, to a city in Kentucky to finally get my chance and learn alongside other musicians who were interested in jazz.
Or so I thought. Events turned out much differently than I expected.
Continued tomorrow.
