Evil Jazz Plans and Stuff.

Along the musical path I think a point is reached when, having wandered down each & ever possible popular (and some very unpopular) music genre alleyway to the dead end, the truth dawns on the weary traveller that the only place left to go, the place so long avoided and derided, is the land of 'JAZZ' or, as Frank Zappa described it, "the music of unemployment".

It's been creeping up slowly on me ever since I made the decision to stop playing a guitar and make the ukulele my main instrument.
Suddenly all the chords I was reluctant to stretch to on the guitar became, more or less, available.

I had a bit of a strange WTF moment one evening at a RAFA open mic evening.
The house band announced that they were going to play a Blues in C.
The house band invited anyone who wanted to play along with them to join in.

First, here's a film of the RAFA House Band doing Day by Day so you can get an idea of what they sound like and marvel at Harry the Bass Player whom I now worship as a God:

So, back to Blues in C, dead easy:

C/// F/// C/// C7///

F/// F7/// C/// C7///

G7/// F/// C/// G7/// 

repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, till you think you're playing the blues, but you still ain't playing the blues.

The above example is a pretty pedestrian affair and there are many, many variations on this progression.
In terms of degrees of the C scale it works like this:

I/// IV/// I/// I7///

IV/// IV7/// I/// I7///

V7/// IV/// I/// V7/// 

The RAFA House Band struck up and lost me at the first bend.

Their take on the blues scale differs somewhat from mine it appears.

C7/// F7/// C7/// Gm7/ C7/

F7/// F7/// C7/// A7///

Dm7/// G7/// C7/ A7/ Dm7/ G7/

repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, till you think you've got that turn round sorted out, but it's only the start..

The chords highlighted in RED are played in different positions from the everyday open chords.

The significant difference between the two progressions of course is the number 7.

Since discovering this new world things have become a bit of a blur.

There are various landmarks along my path to this post:

That performance seems really clumsy now.

I obviously wasn't as recovered as I thought I was.

Learning how to play 'Puttin' on The Ritz' was another step.

Learning how to play 'They're Red Hot' was another step.

The latest step is 'Twilight Time'

The next step is.... I'll think of something, but probably 'Chartreuse' as performed by Louis Jordan. (which is basically 'They're Red Hot' all over again.)

As a technical method of understanding music it's really useful but, I still didn't actually 'like' many, of the many, styles of Jazz music.

I began to realise that some of my personal favourite types of music have a strong Jazz influence.

Tamla Motown being a case in point.

Rather than go into a long divergent ramble about the Funk Brothers why not go here: Standing In The Shadow of Motown

Suffice to say they were Jazz men.

Another example.

Recently I've noticed, usually while being a Modern Cloakroom Attendant at weddings, two very popular hits:

• Maroon 7: Moves Like Jagger
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky

On examining the, very simple, chord structures of these two pieces we find the distinct favour of Jazz.

It's bloody everywhere.

And the problem is...?

Any other style of music I've ever been involved with has been rendered irrelevant because Jazz explains it all and offers possibilities that other genres just aren't even aware exist.

So,  I find myself once again, after becoming a bit pleased with myself on my ability to play the ukulele, in the position of knowing I know nothing at all about music and it turns out that it's certainly not what I believed it was.

Great, so what's the problem?

This is: The Problem

Small Things (for Claire)

I started trying to put my new found understanding of the Circle of Fifths to some use today  yesterday.
By lunchtime I had a chord sequence together.
The lyric has been written for a couple of months and originally the backing had a very 'lounge Jazz' feel to it.

I recorded it during the afternoon.
Then experimented with making a video for it.

Here it is:

it's for an ex.

Ignorant Ornithology: The Moth.

I believe this to be a moth:

The Photograph.

I was attending to the duties todays Modern Cloak-Room Attendant has to attend to when providing Premier Cloak-Room Attendant Services to, let's say, a charity ball (in aid of something or other).

I was buffing up the Cloak-Room counter top, having given it a good blast of Mr. Sheen (now with added something or other).

Hmmm...  Shiny, also silky smoooooth.

I was interrupted in my shiny counter stroking reverie by a photographer.
The photographer was there to take pictures of the guests.
He had the works with him.
Tin-foil umbrella with a flash bulb in it.
A special backdrop for the subject to stand in front of.
He had some fancy dress clothing for the guests wear  there by adding an element of amusement to the finished photo.
He would then have to sell them the photo.

I set up a 4' table for him and coved it with a green baize cloth.
He put his printer on it.
Here we see him examining his whopping great camera:

All well and good, but back to his interruption of my joy.

"Could you just stand in front of the screen while I just check everything's set up right?"

"No problem, sir".  

I stand in front of the screen, he aims the camera at me, and the flash goes.

The photographer examines the camera's view screen.

"Just one more, please".

"Happy to oblige."

All over.

I continued preparing my work area.

I gave the shiny counter another stroke.

The photographer came up to the Cloak-Room window and handed me a framed photograph:

It came as a bit of a shock I can tell you.
That's naked that is.

Have you noticed how you can look at your self in a mirror, but still never see yourself.

Photographs are different.

It reminded me of my first school picture:

There's, give or take a month or three, 50 years between these two pictures.

I tried to think about what on earth I could proffer in the way of advice to that happy little lad.

I'm still trying.

Icarus Fallen Set (Updated)

Icarus Fallen, a set on Flickr.

(Text Removed by OSM)