You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Getting Closer to Playing What We Hear

Episode Date: May 10, 2019

Today, we have the last SpeakPipe of the week and Peter and Adam talk about working on playing what you hear. Wanna send a SpeakPipe of your own? Check out the bottom of the page at http://www.openstudionetwork.com/podcast.Today's episode is sponsored by the Oxford American. The Oxford American is a magazine dedicated to documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South. Its award-winning annual music issue comes with a CD sampler and digital download - a must-have for any serious music fan. Recent issues have featured Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, John Cage, and John Cage. Visit https://www.oxfordamerican.org/yhi today for a special subscription discount!Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel and leave a comment for this episode.Interested in more jazz advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram at:https://www.facebook.com/heyopenstudiohttps://twitter.com/heyopenstudiohttps://www.instagram.com/heyopenstudio See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Pete. Hey, man. How are you feeling? I'm feeling okay. Are we going to talk anything about racism or sexism today? Yeah, we are. In a year. We're going to wait a whole year to try that again.

I'm Adam Manus. And I'm Peter Martin. You're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast. Daily, jazz, and non-political advice coming at you. We're just going to be talking about music today. That's right. We're going to get back in our wheelhouse. Actually, again, I don't know what we're talking about.

Because you've been pre-screening some of these speak pipes. I have checked you up. All of them, man. I've got to make the cards. so that we're know what to do. So Andrew knows where we're at. We have another speak pipe today from our buddy Charles. Charles is a really great drummer,

a really great drum transcriber here at Open Studio. John of the ATL. Yeah, he sent us a speak pipe. He spoke to the pipe, and here's what he wanted to ask. Adam, Peter, what's happening, fellas? It's Charles out here in Atlanta. I have a question regarding a podcast you did not too long ago, where you relayed some information from a Chick-Korea clinic.

One of the main points was that Chick said we should play what we hear. My question is how do we get closer to playing what we hear in our heads in an improvisational situation? We may hear something that's great, but how do we better make the connection between our brains and our fingertips, what have you, in the moment? How do we get closer to making what we hear in our heads happen instantly? As always, you guys are doing a great job. Keep up the fantastic work. Thanks. Cool. Thank you, Charles. Great question. Yeah, great question. And I told you this is a little, maybe I say controversial, maybe I shouldn't have meant controversial, but this is definitely like an issue that people want more clarity on, want to deal with more of this whole play what you hear. And we say it a lot, we've used it a lot. Obviously, we didn't invent this. This is things that I think that we heard kind of growing up, both reading like interviews and then, you know, elder jazz musicians around the scene and whatever. And I think it's one of those things, play what you hear that has a lot of different meanings.

So I, and look, the name of the podcast is you'll hear it, which is very much connected with that too. But I think, you know, it's great that, and part of the reason we bring in like Chick-Korea

with his notes from that, the Berkeley clinic and stuff, so that we get a little bit of backup. So people like, what are you talking about? We're like, oh, no, no, no,

Chikaria said. That guy, that guy. You want to hear him play? Yeah, he knows what he's talking about. Listen to him play Matrix. Is that good enough for you,

buddy? Yeah. Thank you. Refer all questions to Chick Korea at chickaria.com. Thank you. You know, this has been a lifelong pursuit, I think, for all jazz musicians,

and we're always trying to get closer to this, and it's never 100% unless you're wane shorter. Yeah. It's out to wade. No, but it is, it's the lifelong challenge. Yeah. And the beautiful part about playing this music, and the gift that this music is,

is this idea that we're trying to play as close to, like, our soul, as close to us as possible, try to be as honest as possible, try to be as us as possible. And so the only way to do this is number one, listen. Listen. You have to listen to this podcast.

No, you have to listen to music that you love so that you can absorb it. You have to listen to yourself and you have to listen to what's going on around you on the bandstand at all times. Yeah. So what you listen to is going to become what you hear. That's the reality of it. Okay. So recordings, yourself playing. That's why it's so important to like really be developing and careful about like how we practice.

because you're going to end up hearing yourself play music probably more than anybody in your lifetime. So that's, you know, it's a good thing and it's a bad thing. It's kind of a necessary thing more than anything. But I think what you're, the kind of definition and where you framed it just now, Adam, to play what you hear is sort of that top level thing, almost like a spiritual, metaphysical kind of framework for living. Like, why am I an artist and why are we playing jazz? Why are we improvising that kind of thing, which is great.

And like that's the place to start it because then it can become all. almost like a concept, you know, like a way that you go about. It's like your framework for practicing, for playing, for interacting with music, in general. And I love that because it's like play what you hear. Like that's in a lot of ways what differentiates jazz. And look, just because something's different, I mean, it's good. I'm not saying that. I mean, differentiates in a beautiful, exciting way is that we have the freedom, you know,

and the actual performance and recording situations to play what we hear. Yeah. I mean, if you play obo in the New York Philharmonic, can you really play? Should you be thinking every day, play what I hear, play what I? You want to play. But maybe you have a sound in your head

that you're trying to hear. Right. But it needs to be play what the composer and the conductor and what's not, you know what I mean? And look, we don't just totally get up and play what I hear. Blah!

I'm feeling confused today. And we go crazy. But it is our job to create these compositional ideas on the fly. And so to do that, you have to be open to whatever music is going to come through you in the moment. And to do that, you have to listen to what's going on around you,

and you have to listen to the music in your head. Ideally, you're working on getting the things in your head to your hands so that there's no disconnect at all. And that's the hardest part. The things that we talk about, and we've been talking about more and more, and I have been implementing more and more in my playing, is really not playing anything I'm not hearing. So even if I have an intellectual idea of something,

I'm not going to play it unless I'm actually hearing the music. Right. So even if I'm like, oh, I should play these spread voicing as I comp this now. Yeah. Because it feels whatever. If it's, unless it's like I'm actually hearing something, I'm not going to do it. But you know what I've- It's so hard.

No, that's, I know it is. But you know what I realize it's easy for us to forget this because, you know, your career kind of moves along somewhat in tandem, you know, with your skills and your life and your age. And, you know, everything is like, time is moving along in all these areas. Now, if you're not paying attention to something, it'll get out of whack or whatever. But the reality of like playing what you hear and doing what you're saying where you're like just making an ultimatum with yourself I'm not going to do this. Yeah. When you're younger, first of all, you don't know as much then, which is fine, because you do.

I mean, look, how many great young players we've heard that definitely have something to say and they've got the technique and everything. But in general, when you're younger, you're in more situations where you can let the situation feel like, okay, I'm not going to be able to keep this gig or get another gig or get to play with this person unless I play in this way. So to have the freedom to, like, I'm kind of thinking what people would say if they hear us saying this is like, oh, Adam's just like, I'm not going to play anything I don't hear. And if that's no notes, then so be it. It's like, yeah, you can do that because you're solid. Like you've got gigs, you've maybe got your own gigs and you're more in charge of your own destiny, you know. But ironically, though, the more you do this, the more people actually want to hear what you play. Exactly.

So that's the connection. And that's the disconnect. I think that's there when you're younger. So true, man. And even if you know it, it's so hard because it's like you have to have the patience and you have to kind of be thinking ahead in a way. Your ego will kick in. That's right. Yeah, you got to get to kind of keep this gig, man.

Yeah. What does this guy want? Right. I mean, I think of what the audience wants. None of that really matters. And actually, the more, the closer that you can get to what you're hearing, the more you're going to connect. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I remember the amount of energy that I spent like literally during the middle of a solo when I was a kid, when I was young, for what I thought girls wanted to hear. Oh my goodness. Like literally that we're sitting there. And there was not like big audiences. So I was focused. I was like, what would she? You know,

but I mean, preach, bro. That was the reality, right. You know, so it's like, that's not going to, yeah, I mean,

that's going to lead to what, and first of all, what a disconnect between what I actually thought that those, those young ladies wanted to hear. That didn't work out too well. Yeah, but you guys want to hear some sick Mee mom language?

But the thing, we gave me a lot more time to practice. Not a lot of dates. So, no, but I mean, I think that there's all different reasons and motivation.

So this kind of altruistic, pure thing that you're talking about really is an ideal that is, it's attainable to have that all the time. We're not going to necessarily reach it all the time. But like if you put that sort of mindset on, like it's amazing what kind of great things happening. What you lose, what you're afraid of losing is going to be so much, it's so inconsequential, inconsequential compared to what you're going to gain. Man, and that's so true. And another thing about this that I started. doing later in life, but it's been paying off big time, is collecting

things that are me. Yeah. And understanding that's what I need to be practicing. Not what someone else. Yeah, not someone else like, you know, okay, let's practice Barry Harris's drop two stuff. Do I like that stuff? That's a great question to ask yourself. Or is this something that just people say I should be practicing? Do I actually like the way this sounds?

Am I going to use it? Is this part of my sound? I mean, for me, some of that stuff is. So I do work on it, but like, these are questions that you need to be asking yourself as you work on your art. You know, if you if you study any kind of other artists where it's not in the moment, they ask themselves these questions

once they get to a point that's beyond technique. It's about the art they want to make. If a painter is dealing purely in technique, they're just going to paint like realistic still lifes, which is its own thing, but like they've moved beyond that. You know what I mean? And it's something bigger, and that's what we need to be asking ourselves as artists

when we get to the practice room so that when we get on the bandstand, what comes out are things that are purely our sound that we want to convey in a way that's natural and relevant to the moment. Yeah. And I think that that can exist without it becoming this precious thing that's not, you know, affected by. Some people get too much into that, like, the purity of that. But it's really just like a mindset.

You can still bring in like trendy stuff. I mean, we love doing that. And I think that's an important part of the jazz tradition. And so when you're open to like, I am going to use some of this and that's going to become a part of me, You're thinking more like you're attaching yourself onto the tradition with these different things. But beyond the, like, I'm really exciting for me now is when I get a chance to play with younger players and just think about things. I mean, like, there's stuff that we, you know, joke about in pop, not just whatever, modern society now with younger people. We're like, oh, look at those fake hipsters at the, you know, with the barista at the car.

But then we go there and, like, want to be part of that. And it's cool. We're like, oh. The coffee's really good. Yeah, like, as we're making fun of them, we're like drinking their coffee. And they were like, and you have a beer? Tell me more about the source of these beans? Yeah.

So, I mean, that stuff is actually cool. And it is fun. And it's like, yeah, we're not going to become full on, you know, like with the apron and the leather strap. We're not. Oh, well, you're trending there. No, but I mean, it's like anything. What's cool about it is that they've created a culture, you know, and yeah. But they've stealing from some stuff from like the bygone pioneers or whatever that else.

I don't know. Well, I'm saying it's the same thing with jazz. Like, we can go. Where are we going with it? What do we mean? Where are we going with this? I'm just saying we're playing anything of that. Where is this leading to playing what you're hearing?

Well, you were just talking about the fact that, you know, we want to, don't play anything that we're not hearing. It doesn't mean we don't react to something in the moment and whatever else. And in fact, that stuff should be coming through. The coffee week we're into should actually be kind of coming through in what we're thinking. We should be getting ideas off of all of the cultural elements that we soak in. I mean, the masters have a way of allowing that universe that they inhabit to come, out in they're playing. I mean, I think of, again, Wayne Shorter is this perfect

example of like this decades of absorbing art and culture have come out now in this absurdly incredible way. He's I, he's right. But I mean, yeah, but he's also like, I mean, he's, I mean, I think it's natural for musicians like

him to stay very relevant, you know, to the times and like, like, it's really just a confidence. That's what it is. Like, once you get your sound, and it's not about like I'm better, I'm this, I'm me. You know, and then once you do that, you're going to do the things that are going to continue to develop the me. And that's going to be taking from other places sometimes. I mean, everything's been played anyway, so it becomes more of how you're going to organize it.

The more confident you are, it's not about like fake it until you make it. I mean, there is that element, too, when you're younger. But it's like you've got to say something every time you play. So be confident and make it the best. Nobody knows, you know what? That's the thing as you get older. I think that you realize it's like nobody, when you're young, you're like, man, all these people have all. this stuff together.

And then, you know, I mean, I mean, I'm not, I don't want to drop a name here, George Clooney. I don't know if any of you guys know George. Oh, do you know him? Yeah, yeah. Let's put a note in here to tag George to send him a text that we mentioned him in the, no, but I did get a chance to be around George Clooney on the good night, good luck, because he was directing the movie that I start. Well, I don't want to say star.

I feel like that would be overstated. Did she star? I think you were in there about eight seconds. Yeah, but I was a star for those eight seconds. I felt, I felt like a star. Anyway, big shout out to the Academy Awards for not recognizing me. in 2005 no but the thing about this is like i mean george cluny is an amazing star and brilliant guy he directed and wrote that movie and produced it and like finance i mean he's just

he's amazing and so fine but anyway sorry why you're looking like that he's a good looking guy man yeah but the thing is leaned into that though no but like we get in there we're at the warner brothers lot in in burbank you know big time hollywood production and everything and where they're setting up for the scene and like george Clooney's the director, you know, and he's in there. But it's so cool because there's all the people working there. Nobody, like, there's stars all the time. Nobody's like, oh, my God, it's George Clooney.

You know, they're just like, no, that's the director. When's our break, man, come on. It's kind of a jerk. Like everybody is with their boss. He thinks he's a big star, you know. Robert Redford was just here. No, but so, but he's trying, like, we're setting up the piano or whatever. And he's like, oh, man, I don't know.

And like, we actually pushed the P. And George Clooney and a couple of the guys, like, push the piano. He's like, we should go. I mean, the whole thing was like way more amateur than I was expected. Yeah, yeah. I mean, all this stuff gets made. None of us know what we're doing.

Nobody knows what they're doing. George Clooney doesn't know what he's doing. But Charles, I think this is the point that you're making and we've been talking about this more and more in the last few weeks is to work on your actual confidence. Yeah. Like work on the aspect. Charles sounds pretty confident, though.

Charles. On the speak pipe and the quality of his, he'll be fine. Transcriptions. But let your voice come through in the music. Let your voice come through in your day-to-day life and it'll start coming through in your music more. That's right. Work on your personal confidence.

work on the fact that you have something to say take your filter off in your day-to-day life and take your filter off on the bandstand and things are going to come through that you didn't even imagine you had in you. Take your filter off as long as you're up on the current politically correct, not politically correct. The correct, you know, like what we were talking about yet, don't take your filter off if you're like stuck in the 21st century with your, you know, your gender issues and stuff. We had the filter off yesterday. I know, but that's because we're pure of heart.

No, I think we stepped in a little bit, but that's, you know, that's going to happen. That's right. All right. Well, please leave us your speakpipe. Go to you'll hear it.com to leave us a voice message, a speak pipe. Yeah. And we know what? We haven't mentioned this in a few days, but ratings and reviews, please do that.

Not for the love and adulation that you have for us. Well, partly for that. No, mostly for our egos. And that'll make us more confident, you know, with this podcast. But also because that's how we spread the word. That's how we're climbing up the charts around the world. Did you know on the spot? Oh, big shout out to Spotify.

Anybody listening on Spotify? Give us a comment on YouTube, I guess. would be how that'd have to go. But we're climbing up some Spotify is becoming a player in the podcast world. Did you know that? I did know that.

I listened to some podcasts on Spotify. You ready to end this episode, aren't you? Well, I'm hungry. We got a wait list going at Union Loafers. Oh, nice. I'm just saying. All right, let's do it. So till tomorrow, you'll hear it.