You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Play a Great Solo Every Time!

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

Peter and Adam talk about how to play a great solo every time! Great ideas, mindfulness, and intention with each performance. Have a question for us? Leave us a SpeakPipeCheckout courses from Adam, Peter and more at Open StudioLet us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Twitter | Instagram

Hey, Peter. Hey. I want to play a great solo, but I want to make sure that I play a great solo every single time. You greedy, dirty dog, you, Adam. I'm Adam Maness. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear podcast. Jazz.

Explain. Big old pause there. That felt great, though, buddy. That's a good one. That's a good one. So, Peter, this is, I got a text. And you were driving, so I'm not sure how it happened. I dictated it via Siri, so it might not have come across correctly.

You know, safety is people. not text the drive. Safety is key. So you texted me this morning. Read the exact question. I mean, the exact text, if you'd like. So it's topic for podcast episode today. And there's no punctuation on anything else. That proves that it was seriously. This makes me feel better about it.

Topic for a podcast episode today, quote, how to always. Oh, that's literally says quote, because you were like, quote, how to always play a great solo. And then I texted you straight away back. And would that be something you might be interested in? I texted it back. That's something I might be interested in because how do I do that? Well, we're going to get into that.

And this is very unusual for us in that we are, I have not shared. No, I'm sure you know some different possibilities for this, but I'm really excited about this one because I feel like as much as we've talked about here on the pod. I feel like if I knew I would have a better career. Right. And I mean, look, you know, okay, look, let's full disclosure, you know that we are prone to. hyperbole here at the You'll Hear a podcast. We would never be that hyperbolic. No, we would, well, the title of today's is, and I'm making an executive change here,

how to always play a great solo. Because we're talking about how to play a great solo every time. It means the same thing. How to always play a great solo. Well, you know, we'll know if Caleb actually listens to the whole episode, if that becomes the title. That's right. They're both good.

It doesn't get any more hyperbolic than that, right? It really doesn't. It couldn't possibly be more hyperbolic than that. Or dog bat. No, but I'm kind of excited about this because I really do think that this is... Yeah, so tell me about this. Like you're driving through Illinois, you're coming home from Chicago, you have an idea. Okay, so a little backstory here.

The last six days I played with Christian McBride and Inside Straight, two sets a night at two different jazz clubs, Indianapolis and Chicago. Big shout out also to the Midwest because, you know, everyone's always talking about the coasts and all that. You know, we got some stuff happening here in the heartland, too. We really did. From a jazz standpoint. Yeah. Indianapolis, do you know at one time, Indianapolis had more jazz clubs than anywhere else than New York City or New Orleans or Chicago or anywhere?

Wow. Yeah, there was like, and I mean, St. Louis didn't have as many as Indianapolis, but we had a lot here in Gaslight Square. Totally. They had a similar district there. But they have a great club now called the, they've had it for a while, the jazz kitchen. Shout out to the kitchen, holding it down for years and years and years. Yeah, it's been there a minute, right?

Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, just playing a number of nights, like I really started thinking about, like how do you like what are what are the ways that really great players like succeed and play great solos every time so I'm playing with chris McBride Steve Wilson Warren wolf pretty good Carl Allen that's and then we actually had a couple of subs due to some scheduling snafus as they say in in Deutsche in no they don't know where they say snafu in the Americas like so let me guess the subs kind of shoddy well yeah you would think so but no they were playing great solos every time as well Who are the subs?

Jaliel Shaw played one night for Steve. And Joe Locke played for Warren. Wow. But I really, I love kind of, you know, when we're on a, if it's a recording, especially a live recording or you go to a gig, I think there's a lot you can learn about great players and like how they play and how they do their thing and how they're different and how they're alike. But there's nothing like playing with great players to really get an insight.

Absolutely. But it's kind of funny because it's like you're having to do. your own job too. So it's like you're listening in more of a like intent way because you're being paid to listen and play with folks. Like you're at a gig. You're paid to enjoy it. But then I also find myself enjoying it as well. And so it's like a weird thing. It's like a lot of like it's not really stressed, but it's a lot of like I feel that I need to really be very, you know, really intentional about where my mind is at all different times. So it's almost mindful. I'm trying to be a little bit mindful. Yeah. Working on my mindfulness. Yes. Yeah.

So anyway, and then I also like to try to find some commonality between really great players and the way they do things. I always feel like for teaching and for sharing with the pod, that can be really helpful. If I tell you like, well, Krishna Bride played this incredible solo over theme for Kareem. You know, he started on D flat seven. He just killed. And it's like just about him. It's very easy to be like, well, that works for him. But he's kind of like his own dude, you know, like he's at such a level.

Most people couldn't imagine, including myself, being able to kind of process things this way. But when you find something that a number of players that are really good do, then that's something that we can all grasp on to. Okay? So are you ready for it? Yes. Well, I'm not ready to share. How do you feel about that?

No, first of all, do you have any questions so far? No, this all sounds legit and sounds really, really good. So, yes, what do you got? What do you got? Okay. We all want to know. This is how great players play great souls every time. They start with a great idea.

Oh, now you're speaking my language. here. I love a great idea. They start with a great idea. Now, but let me break this down because it might be like, everyone's like, yeah, of course I know that, you know, first impressions and all that kind of thing. But along with that is they are listening to what's happening before them. Yep. And they are coming up with a great idea that is not in a vacuum or not by itself. See, really good players, not like, I mean, I'm talking about like really good, but not quite top shelf. Like, like not at that very, very pro level, but good players.

They know what to start. and they have the ability to start with something really good. Yeah. But they may already have in mind, even if they're not conscious of it, how they're going to start their soul before it even gets to those soul. Yeah. When you get to that top shelf, that A level, they really, really great players that play great souls every time.

They have no idea what they're going to play until they play it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so how could they? Because they're getting all the information from the air in the room at that exact moment. Exactly. Because you can come up with something that you know can work at the beginning of the soul.

And you can do it every time or you could have 10 things and you could pull. those out and that's one way to do it. But that's actually harder to play a great solo with because you don't know how it's going to fit into what's happened before. And you might have to shove a square peg into a round hole. Exactly. And I mean, and that's kind of worst case scenario.

And it could just be like, it works fine, but it's a little flat. It's a little flat. And it could be like really good, but you won't realize how it could have been even better. You got a nice, you got a nice ripe lemon here in the room, right? You got to pull that juice from the lemon is what you're saying. Like, get the juice on the room lemon. Exactly.

That was a metaphor for you. Peter there. You can keep that one with your idea. It had a citric feel to it. So, yeah, so I think... You've got to pull the juice right from the last. I'm going to lean into it a little more. You're leaning all the way in.

You get that juice between your fingers, Peter. Fingers. I like that little bronx-y, Bronx-esque. But, yeah, so now how does this actually happen? Okay, you have to practice this. You have to commit to it. Then you have to repeat it over and over again, it's a scary thing because it's like we want to kind of know what we want to do and we want to

gather our thoughts but let me just throw this idea out there if you commit to doing this it things become easier for you if somebody and like i noticed this because i've certain tunes i would play and i'd have different people playing the solo before me on different nights and so like i started to think about the personality of their souls and the way they approach the solo so if you're coming right after a very very busy solo a very dense solo a very you know, like rhythmically thick solo, whatever it is that gives it the kind of flow that it has, you know,

you can really set yourself up for greatness by probably going against that grain and like just say, okay, I'm going to chill at the beginning. Because the listener's gotten to a certain point, you're not going to be able to out dexterity Warren Wolf what he just did. And I see a lot of players making this mistake. Like they think, oh, okay, I got this. Yeah, I listened to what's happening before me,

and I use what they said before. that's not always what's needed from listening. Sometimes listening, you know, you want to listen to what happens before you and then think about and try to hear right in the split second what the musical moment needs. What it's calling you for? What is the music need? A lot of times that's a contrarian kind of thing.

Just like a great composer, not going to write the same thing over and over again, the same temple, the same vibe. It's got to go through different sections. So when your solo comes, it's not just about how you can lay out this great solo. It's about what can happen in the moment. So what I noticed is, and I noticed this on my own,

play. Like sometimes I wouldn't really necessarily play as good of a solo, but it would get a better response. So I was just like, maybe it's a different audience, but I was like, no, my placement of it was really good. It wasn't necessarily that great of a solo, but I think it elevated to greatness because I played the right thing at the right time. It was authentic to the room. It was authentic to the room. And so this is a way, you know, this is kind of the dark side of doing this. This is a way to kind of get away with, because you're, look, that reality is you're playing shitty Yeah, playing shitty solos. Now you're speaking my language.

Now, now we're talking. How do you make a shitty solo sound great? No, I can do that all day. But, I mean, like a B level solo can elevate up to an A level. Sure. You know, for sure, with doing this. And why that's important is nobody, not even Christian McBride or Steve Wilson, can play their greatest solo every night on every tune.

It doesn't have. Wait, what's the name of this episode? How to play a great soul every time. I know. I should have called it how to make it sound like you're playing a great soul. Oh, yeah. No. So, I mean, just to read to the, let me speak this back to you, make sure I got the gesture. Yes, yes, yes. So you're saying, like, in order to go from a good to great solo, being in the moment matters, being mindful of what's happening around you at the time that you're starting your solo, having a great idea, but a great idea not prescribed from, you know, pondering it for two minutes before you're about to start your solo, but from soaking in what's going on in, in the room around you, what just happened.

and what's happening now and reacting to that in the music that you're hearing in that split second right before you play. What am I hearing right now? Yeah. And what is the moment need? What is the moment need? And it might not be just aping whatever happened just before you, mimicking the player that just happened before you. It might not be trying to match that energy, but really just trying to find the creative spark within the exact moment that you are playing. I think that's great, man.

Yeah. And it just makes it so much easier. in terms of the delivery to the audience. Maybe we liken it to you. I know you're a big culinary guy, foodie. You know, you go to a multi-course meal, something very sophisticated, very nuanced, very thick sauce. I don't know, like something that just got a lot of depth

and complexity to it, intensity maybe. Typically a chef's not going to follow that with the next course with a similar kind of thing, right? Absolutely not. It might be a little simpler, maybe a little different color, taste palette. What makes every great dining experience. experience great is usually a sense of balance.

I mean, I do this even in my own cooking. You know, I'll often, for breakfast, I've been really digging just straight up plain omelets with a salad with citrus on it. You got to squeeze a lemon in there. That's what I was going to get to it. You got to squeeze the lemon right there on the salads. No, but seriously. So you get a nice buttery omelet, right?

Or fatty omelet. I use olive oil, right? So you have like this, like, you know, rich omelet, heavy. substantial and then you cut it like heather heather always says you cut that cut it with a salad that has citrus on it so that you go from one nice savory bite to one crisp

cutting bite and you have a nice cool glass of water that is a perfect meal you know what I mean and that's very simple flavors yeah but using that balance it's the same thing warren wolf's he's coming out hot yeah he's ending hot it's warren wolf you know the guy's like is incredible and these dexterous is all can be probably not the best idea to go back in you know, he's leaving the omelet, you come back in with another omelet.

That's, it's too going to be too heavy. Come in with a little lemon juice between your fingers, Peter, get in there with the lemons. You are creepy. If only our audience could see us right now. I'm making, first of my shoulders are hunched up right above my ears, and I don't know, this is definitely not appropriate what I'm doing with my hands. You're really, you're mixing a lot of, like, ethnicities and accents, too. I'm just super intriguing, man. I don't know where.

I feel like it's from Star Wars. Maybe. Jabba to Hunt? I know this is going to be a trip for you, but I'm not a professional entertainer, people. I'm not an impersonalist. I think it's going into the Godfather. It really is. You come to my daughter's wedding?

You come to my daughter's wedding with one lemon and one great solo. One great solo. That's it. Talking about Warren Wolf. You bring Warren Wolf to my daughter's wedding. Um, um, sir, Godfather. Your daughter is marrying Warren Wolf. Sorry.

Oh, that's okay then. You bring, you bring Joe Locke to my daughter's wedding. You come in with an omelet. No one's going to get the love in between. Okay. We got to end this point. I think we deal it. Yeah. This is good.

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