You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - How to Crush It on Every Solo

Episode Date: December 17, 2019

Peter and Adam are here to PUMP (clap) YOU UP with some tips on how to kill it every time you solo.Calling all pianists - the Piano Access Pass is now available from Open Studio! Save money with this bundle featuring every piano course ever from Open Studio, including teachers such as Peter Martin, Geoffrey Keezer, and Helio Alves. For more info, go to https://www.openstudiojazz.com/piano-access-passTo quote every Christmas ad ever, "give the gift of giving" this season with Open Studio's new gifting feature! Help spread the joy of this art form by giving a course or membership to the aspiring jazz musician in your life. For more info and a list of gift-able courses, go to: https://www.openstudiojazz.com/giftsWant every Open Studio course for free? That's right - over 300 hours and 1200 lessons can be yours with free lifetime access! All you have to do is enter Open Studio's 2019 Holiday Giveaway. Go to https://learn.openstudiojazz.com/giveaway/, or watch this video of Peter for more info: https://youtu.be/KsdhVXE5ovILet 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, Adam. Yeah. Do you remember orange crush soda? I loved orange crush, especially on like float trips. Yeah, float trips. Why didn't you change up your accent there? Float trips. I'm Adam Manis.

And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear Podcast. Daily music advice, coming at you. Coming at you today's episode is sponsored by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio, jazz.com, and check out all of our courses. We have our new piano access pass, which is become our most popular membership. It gets you every piano course we have. And any piano course we make as long as you're a member.

and there's a lot of piano courses coming out. So you really can't go wrong. It's for all skill levels, and it will take you where you need to go. Yep. And it's available as a gift as are all of our courses. And I know a lot of people are reticent to get a online course as a gift because they're not sure about the level,

but the piano access pass solves that. But they also feel like, oh, it's lazy because it's not a physical object I'm giving to them. But let's be honest, if you go to Amazon and you order something, you still are, it's still all virtual. They're doing the delivering and stuff. Yeah. So we're doing the delivering.

We're saving the planet. Yeah. Although we do have physical workbooks that are on recycled paper, I believe. Okay. No, but we, if you want a physical product, a lot of our, many of our courses come, don't come with, but you can get a workbook if you're interested in that as well. Those are also very popular. So we, so I changed my accent because we were, we used to float down in Leicesterville. Ooh, I floated, I floated in Leicesterville before.

Yeah, on the, on the Black River. Yeah, black is, I've been on the current. But, you know, I realize, we sometimes would do orange crush. soda. Yeah. But oftentimes we would do, what do you know about whistle? Whistle?

Remember Vess's whistle soda? Oh, I remember Vess, which had a number of different flavors, right? But Vess had, their orange soda was called Whistle, and they had this really interesting

orange and blue can that said, thirsty? Just whistle. Just whistle. Or I remember the Vest purple. I don't know if purple was a flavor. It was not.

By law, they couldn't call it plumb because there was no plums in it. Remember there was like Vess strawberry? There was a whole bunch of different soda there. I want to say those things, they definitely were 25 cents. I remember that.

They were cheaper. It might have been less even at some point. Just cola. Just cola. Cola. Yeah. Not Coca Cola. Best Cola.

Not Pepsi Cola. And it didn't even say Veskola. It just said cola. That's right. Yeah. All right. Good stuff. So why are we talking about crushing orange?

Oh, we're talking about how to crush it on every solo. I was just at the gym earlier today and I was crushing my quads. It's so funny that we're like, I mean, playing a great jazz solo is so like against crushing me. It's so anti-crushing. That's why we put it together, though. I know. Because we have a crush on jazz. Put like a bodybuilder thumbnail on this one on YouTube, okay?

I don't think they take thumbnails, but maybe. Oh, YouTube, yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Cool. Okay, so we're going to talk about how to crush it. By crush it, what we mean is, I was thinking podcast. No, that's that banter that we're so good at. That's right.

By crush it, we mean, we mean playing an effective solo, really. I mean, all joking aside, this is about like how to succeed, whatever it is you want to succeed, but I mean, success is different for different tunes, different solos, different parts of the set. Yeah, but it's like how to effectively communicate something, some kind of emotion, some kind of story to the audience. I think that's what crushing a solo is. You may think differently, but that's what I'm thinking. No, I totally agree with that. Okay, cool.

Okay, so let's start. Number one? Listen. Because? It's always number one. It's always number one. No, you were talking earlier, we need some of one of those bots that every time we make a list for you'll hear it. It's just number one is always listen.

That's right. And somewhere in there we say something. Practice. Get dogmatic. Yeah, yeah. So listen, how does this relate to crushing on every solo? Various times to listen. Of course, always listen, but especially at, I don't know, what would you say?

For me, I think maybe the beginning of the solo could be the most important time to listen. I mean, you can make a case that any point during the solo is an important time to listen. And actually, as you're sort of... Ooh, before your solo, you should already be listening. You should be listening the whole time. You know what? If you're starting to listen at the beginning of your solo, you're too late. I totally agree.

Yeah. And for me, like, listening is it's a way to do a bunch of different things at once. First of all, you're going to be able to get the texture of what's happening around you and fit in there. Secondly, you're going to be able to really get in the groove. You can't get in the groove with the other musicians you're playing with, to really lay in the pocket with them unless you're listening intently to them. You know what I mean? You all have to be on that same wavelength.

And then thirdly, you know, as we improvise our solos, there's so much information that you can get from what's happening around you to pull out. I heard earlier this year I heard Melissa Aldana's band with Sam Harris on piano and Tommy Crane on drums, I forget he was on bass, but I noticed how much of that band, they were so listening to each other and pulling things from each other at all times, like to where

it would just swirl around something Melissa would play would kind of be hinted at later in the piano and the drums. It was like always happening and they were so in tune. It made for an amazing experience. Yes, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I think if you can, you know, different times, different ways, if you almost think like that, if you're in a basketball, point guard mentality, that's a great solo. It's like you're listening.

I mean, with more vision with that, but it's like you're seeing the whole court, you're seeing before things happening, you're seeing things already happening. You're anticipating your three steps ahead and three steps behind at the same time. I don't know what I'm saying, but no, it's true. You have to be engaged. Good. Okay. Next idea for how to crush it. How to crush it.

On every soul, come on every soul. Start with the strong. opening statement. A great jazz solo is not unlike a successfully adjudicated court case, right? You got to come out of-prosecute a lot of court cases. I did, you know. Bam, a great solo is like, you know, guilty as charge. Yeah, so we want to come out of the gate with a strong opening statement. That does not mean you have to come out yelling. It does not mean it has to be loud or the, in fact, that usually is not the way to start it. For sure. There may be some situations. Strong, you know, Strong just means appropriately strong for the situation.

But something that gets the listener's attention in a positive way, not like a Okay, now I've got your attention. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there might be an occasional time. You want to come in, jabbing? You want to come in, yeah. Do something to engage the listener like you'd engage your opponent and get the party started in the right way, though, you know?

Number three, confidence is key. Yes. I find any time I see someone who is not confident, take a solo or really do anything. I'm totally taken out of it. And they've lost me because I don't believe that they believe what they're doing. And that's not cool. And that's just not going to connect with anybody.

No, Bueno on that. Wrong and strong. No, but honestly, like, whatever you do, come at it with, you are the authority in that moment on what is going on. You are the authority on your playing. Right. And so you shouldn't give a rat's ass

about what's happening outside of the bandstand. Sorry. What a strange. No, it's correct. And it's you. What a strange statement, though. I mean, comparing something to it. Why do we do that?

I guess it's because it's worthless. It's the most worthless thing you can be as a rat's ass. We had a pet. I started to go dark a little bit. The old granddad is flowing. We had a pet rat, R-I-P Fiona for many years in our home. We did. My daughter had a pet rat, and we cared about that rat's ass.

We cared about her rat's ass. I cared a great deal about that rat's ass. Yeah, but now this was not a street rat. Let me just explain that. No, it wasn't. Shout out to all our street rats. Where am I street rat at? No, this is what we would call in the business office.

Now you, Andrew lost it. Now you're losing it. This was a fancy rat. That's what it's called. That's the scientific name for it. Fancy rat. Yeah. And I don't know if you know about it.

There's a street rat, fancy rat, and hairless rat. Those things are scary AF. Stay away from that. But this was a fancy rat, and we cared about its rat's ass. Let's move on. We're losing it here. Okay. See how confident he was in that?

that story. That's how confident you need to be in your play. Confidence is king. And cockiness is key. No, no, no. Okay. Next we have, don't play too much. So, this, you know, to crush a solo, you cannot play too much. And you might think, well, John Coltrane crushed it on

giant steps. He didn't play too much. He didn't play too much. He did not play. He had a lot to say. So unless you got as much to say as John Coltrane is, don't play as much as him. But that was the thing with that solo, and it wasn't like that on every single solo he played on that album. But that was his statement for that particular solo. That's right.

And that's listen and, you know, fitting in with your surrounding. For sure. And he was very confident, but not cocky. For sure. And the next after that, after not playing too much. Don't play too little. Yeah, so we got you boxed in now. So I think of a majemot and I think of minimalist improvisers.

Oh, you thought he played too little? No, I don't think he plays too little. I think he plays just the right amount for his thing. Not too much. Not too little. But you hear cats try to imitate that and they go a little too far. That's right. So, yeah, exactly.

Don't keep it appropriate to what's happening in the moment, what you're playing is what your story is never i mean like listen to amajama for his voicing for his taste for his swing for his virtuastic piano all that stuff learn all that but don't say like oh i'm a minimalist like uh amalgamal i got rid of all my positions so i can swing like a mazano you know um the same way you don't don't just overplay and be like well john culture you did yeah okay yeah um next oh i love this one can i steal it no you got you put it no you got it get in and get out Get in and get out. That's right.

And I think that that means, you know, look, usually it's going to be play less, less is more. But sometimes it's, you know, get in and stay for the right of mind of time and then get out. Yeah, you know what you probably don't need to do? Play that next chorus. That's right. You probably don't need to. Just think back.

How many times have you been like, ooh, I stopped my solo too short? Now, some people think that because they're like they haven't played what they want to play yet. So that's what keeps them going. They're not thinking of the totality of the totality. of the performance. They're thinking about themselves. Like, I want to get to this, or I want the audience to respond in a certain way. So they keep playing until they get to that pinnacle. No, I mean, if you miss the chance, you've got to get in and get out.

I mean, think about some of the best shows you've been to. And it's there for me, I think about how the performers set up the expectations with the amount of choruses. And usually there's way less than I hear on a typical, like, local ass gig. Sorry, I'm adding ass to everything. I know, man, we're going to be beeping this thing out. Although I think that that's allowed. I heard a, yeah, there's a lot of stuff. We were saying hell the other week.

Oh, my God. Watch it. Heck. Okay, good. Get in and get out. Oh, okay, this next one. Can I take this one too? You can get it.

Okay. Innovate. Sure. So this can be subtle. It can be medium. It can be big. But do something new. Don't like, if you're playing giant steps, even if you can play train solo, don't just play that.

Yes, it's great. But that's not very innovative. He did that, you know, 40, 50, 60 years ago, whatever. Yeah. It doesn't take anything away from it. But people are coming. Believe it or not, people are coming to hear you play on giant steps. Little old you.

And so do something innovative. And sometimes just the more we focus on being ourselves, that's how we stumble upon a little bit of innovation. You don't want to force the innovation, but you want to do something new. This music needs to continue to grow. And you, the Royal You, is a part of that. So don't be afraid to innovate. Can I do your next one here? Yeah.

Because I'm going to expand on it. You have Smile. It's showbiz. Well, that was a little internal reminder. But that's good. because you, but you are a very, you're a smiley performer and you are a very, you know, personable. Are you calling me a big guy because I'm fat? No, you're a very personable guy and you're very engaged with your audience, but some people

that's not their natural personality. So I'm just going to put a caveat to set a mood. So if you are a tortured artist type, then Brad Meldow. Enhance that a little, like make that part of the mood of what the gig is and your audience will go there with you. That's the thing. If you're Christian McBride and you, you're Christian McBride, and you're like, hey everybody, I'm here to tell my stories and, like, have a great time. You're Robert Glasper, and you're telling jokes. Yeah.

You're super funny. Keep it authentic. Keep it authentic. Absolutely. I love that. And that's right. And, yeah, I shouldn't just said smile. Smile, if, you know what it is?

It's like, whatever your emotion is. And I think even the most tortured artist type also goes to smiling and to torture or whatever. Like, have it match how you feel. Like, don't be afraid to physically manifest what it is that you're doing, which might be nothing for you. That's fine, too. This doesn't have to be for everybody.

But it is showbiz. And I mean, I know for us, we're musicians. We know a lot of this stuff. But when you go see someone and they're just like stone face the whole time, it's kind of like, I don't know. It's just a little bit boring. And it doesn't, if they're good, it doesn't match what you're hearing. And so it's kind of awkward. It doesn't take anything away.

I'm not saying, like, if you hear recording, yeah, I don't know if there's no video. But it's a live performance. It's like you're being seen. And it goes with our, we haven't been dogmatic enough about some poor attire. We're going to have to do an episode on that. I guess jazz decisions can be the worst. We're not going to go totally with Marcellus, but we're not, you know, the cargo shorts and ripped up shirts and stuff. Come on.

Come on, man. You know, and especially if you're playing really good. It's just, it's not about you have to be in a tuxedo, Oscar Peterson Trio like it's 1956, but, you know, have something just. Set a vibe. Set a vibe. Because you're setting a vibe with the music. Let it match so that you don't notice so that it just seems natural. For sure.

Yeah. And I think that's the same with how you physically look. Like, doesn't someone like Brian Blade kind of dress how he plays how he brings? place, right? Like eclectic. He's a perfect example. You know what I mean? Or Ron Miles is like super sleek. You know what I mean? Like I think about those guys. Yeah. And you like, you're playing a blues gig tonight because you love the blues

and you're wearing a blues hat. So you're very matching. This is my tipping hat. Tippin. That's right. That's what I want to tip. When you're the champions, you can tip. Good. And then our last one, is this a joke? Yes. You were thinking about it. You're like, I mean, I've done it

before. Okay. So this, just as a reminder, how to crush it every solo. We nailed that. But if all else fails, what should one do? Create a distraction. How would one do that? You could throw a pint glass across the room and then run out the front door?

Well, you'd have to run on it because I think they'd notice. Right. You could blame somebody on the stage for your poor performance. Or blame the sound man or be like, well, I can't hear. There's all different ways to create a distraction. But hopefully you will have listened to our one, two, three, four, five, I mean, our countless ways before it, so you don't have to do that.

But we see this. You know what horn players often do. do is they're like, look at their horn. Equipment malfunction. That's a classic distraction. For sure. Don't be that guy or gal. Please don't. All right, good. That was fun, man. This is good for the new year, I think, for everybody. We want to crush

it on every solo and all jokes aside. We're not crushing it in an ostentatious way. We're crushing it. Yeah, it's not about that. It's about playing good music and crushing it. And we hope for that for all you guys. Yeah. We hope for that for everybody for a happy new year to crush it, man.

Crush your solos. And until tomorrow. You'll hear it.