You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - The Future of Live Jazz

Episode Date: June 22, 2020

On this episode, Peter and Adam discuss what they think the world of live jazz music will look like in a post-pandemic society.Links From This Episode:Want to get every piano course from Open Studio for free? For a limited time, you can! Try out a 7-day free trial of the Piano Access Pass (no credit card required) so you can get a taste of what this pass has to offer.Today's Open Studio Live Events (All times in EDT):1:00 PM - Adam's Daily Guided Practice Session (for Members Only)For the rest of this week's calendar, follow this linkInterested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Adam. Yes. Can you tell the future? I cannot. No, I am not a fortune teller. Do you have a crystal ball? I do not have a crystal ball. I don't have tarot cards.

I don't practice centerea. Practice. Okay. Well, let's see where this goes. Not looking good. I'm Adam Annas. I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear at Podcast.

Monthly. Music advice coming at you. Coming at you. Today we're sponsored by Open studio, go to open studio jazz.com. Hey, Peter, I don't know if you remember, but we've been talking about the piano access pass seven-day

free trial. It's absolutely free. It doesn't require even a credit card. I think we're crazy for doing this, but we've been actually getting a lot of folks who've been digging it, and they end up sticking around because you get to try every piano course we make. That's right. That's right. Yeah, no, it's been a wonderful thing, and we invite everybody

to come on. Do not feel like you're taking advantage of us. You are not. And absorb, if you want to just absorb as much as you can, during those seven days and then drift off. That's no problem. We're looking to give you, I mean, this is like a test drive. Like how do you buy a car if you have a test driven?

We don't want to take your hard-earned money until, you know, you're sure that this is a good fit. I mean, we have, we have so, especially for piano, this is such a great program. We have the all access pass as well for all instruments, but specifically this piano access pass is great because we've got stuff at all different levels. So what this will enable you to do is to say,

okay, I'm kind of at the beginning. I'm kind of at the intermediate level. I'm resonating with Adam's daily guided practice sessions. I'm going more to the Jeff Kieser stuff. To sample out the different things to make sure that our offerings that we're very confident. We have something for every aspiring jazz pianists. This is for you to be sure.

You don't have to just take our word for it. No, check it out. You got four courses by Peter Martin, including a weekly jazz piano method course. I have, I think I have four now, including the daily guided practice session course. You got three courses from Jeffrey Kieser. You got a Brazilian jazz piano course

from Aaldez. You have a bunch of packs and transcriptions and all these resources. It really has become one of our most popular ways that people are enjoying Open Studio. And we're pretty confident, which is why we're doing this free trial. Right. We're not cocky, but we're confident.

We're drifting somewhere in between the two, right? We like to be confident that we are delivering on the value. And so we'd like to put our money where our mouth is. So go check it out. That's openstudiojazz.com slash pap dash trial. There's a link here in the description on the app. Peter, what are we talking about today? Well, today we are talking about the future of jazz performance, specifically, the future of live jazz.

And I think that what will be wrapped in with that is the future of the art form, really. Not to get too ominous or anything. I'm actually very optimistic about the future, but we'll get into some of that. So how are you seeing the future of jazz? I mean, obviously, we're still in this. still in this, we're kind of now settling in for the long run. Unfortunately, I feel like for this pandemic period worldwide. Yeah, you know what? I think because of the improvisational nature of jazz and because of how good jazz musicians train at being good live players, I think that the

live element of this is going to be to our advantage. So I'm actually pretty hopeful. I also think that during this COVID time, not just the COVID time, but all of the, uh, unrest around the murder of George Floyd, that people want something real right now to connect with. And I think that we traditionally have been as real as you can get, you know? So I think that really, you know, we have a place in this as jazz musicians and the music we make still matters. And we are, I also believe that, and I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. You're one of the great innovators I know in music and otherwise, but I think by nature jazz musicians are innovators and we always kind of we irk out a way you know what i mean even when we're not we're never been

popular the most popular forming music i mean not for 90 years but uh you know what i mean but we've always come back well we've irked out a living we've irked out a community we've worked out great art like every decade has had great art made from jazz musicians i don't think there's any stopping that at this point that's right yeah there's there's been a lot of uh headwinds against the music and the musicians especially the pioneers of this music, primarily African-American folks that were able to create this very refined and defined art form,

oftentimes with if not just blatant racism right up in their face, through the record companies, through the audience, through police outside of clubs. Other musicians? Yeah, I mean, the list goes on and on. But certainly a lot of overt and covert

headwinds in the form of racism so like there's been a lot overcome the music has been about overcoming adversity all along so I totally would agree with what you say and we have that as part of our DNA part of our heritage the music the lineage of the music and we can draw upon that

which is which is wonderful the challenging areas I see are this is a music best what do they say revenge is revenge is a dish best served cold but music Jazz music is a genre, is an art form that I think is best served live a lot of ways, both in terms of recordings.

We've talked about that. Some of our favorite recordings and some of the most beloved recordings are live recordings. They really capture that essence if it's live at the Vanguard, live at the Philharmonic, live. I mean, so many iconic records. And so I think that the authenticity that you spoke about, that is inherent in the music and in the practitioners of it, especially the great ones. comes across like anything best live because it doesn't have to be programmed. It doesn't have to hide behind a lot of production. And there's an energy there to the improvisation that is both imparted to the audience and drawn upon from the audience to the musicians.

That's like a beautiful, vicious cycle, right? And it's a very circular kind of energy that I didn't understand for many years as a young, ignorant musician. but as I went from little Peter, young Peter to middle-aged Peter, it's become, it's like you actually start to experience these things in a deep way where we talk about getting,

getting energy from the audience. I know the first time I really started to understand it was I would realize when there was a really good audience and by good, I mean both attentive but involved, you know, that could be involved, you know, in terms of being boistered, and cheering at the right times and clapping,

but it could also just be involved by really listening intently. But connected, you know, spiritually connected, musically connected in a way that only a great audience that's very intelligent and soulful can do. So, like, what I started to notice was when I did those kinds of gigs with those audiences, I'd have more energy at the end of the evening. I felt like I played better and I had more energy. And so that's when I started being like, wow, okay,

that's how you're getting energy from an audience. That's how you're tapping into the energy in the room, like we say. And so, you know, because there's the ability to do that and then have that actually affect the music, through our improvisations in a very, you know, immediate and authentic and organic way, that's something that's good, that I think, you know, we come up against that's very difficult when we don't have the opportunity to play live. We're always talking about playing with other musicians. And like, we basically haven't done that. Nobody's hardly ever done that.

I mean, over the, over the, this pandemic period. I mean, there's almost no interaction in terms of playing live with other people. But I think that playing live in front of an audience is very much as a different kind of energy, no similar kind of energy, different kind of setup, but very similar when we talk about it as part of the circle of the audience and then the musicians on stage. Yeah, I wonder, I wonder what your thoughts are on just on creating the music with other musicians at this point because it proves to be a real challenge. The past 20 years, it's already changed a lot just naturally as the industry has shifted. Like when we did our live listening sesh, listening to Joshua Redmond's beyond, and we had most of the band on the sesh sitting in. I remember the piano, it really was.

The pianist Aaron Goldberg said, you know, we made this record on the road. Like we, not meaning they recorded it on the road, but they really, they home those, they prepped it, they played it over and over again. And he said, you know, this is how the music. has developed for its whole history. And in the past 10 years, you know, there wasn't as much touring growing on. So there weren't as many regular bands that were just playing night after night for a year. And then you have music ready for a record that's super tight. Now, you know, there are even more challenges, not just from the industry, but just being in the same room with people. And they're even

being gigs is, who knows when that's going to come back. It's going to be a while, you know, for for most of us. So I wonder, like, how are we going to make music together? I see some kind of use of technology that I know that you and I are adept at because of our work with Open Studio and being able to do that. But I'm just wondering if musicians in general are going to be able to get on that boat. I guess it's sink or swim if you can't. Yeah.

I mean, I think for this period, I think we're really looking at a, not a total pause, but a similar kind of like a kind of jittery pause for certainly for the live aspect of jazz. I think that we need to recognize that just beyond just jazz or improvised music, like we we have healing powers and a message and things that can edify and nourish listeners that needs to get out there in the world, especially at these time when we have, you know, global unrest and we have, you know, the kind of political unrest and the kind of, you know, finally somewhat hopefully of a consensus, a majority going towards stamping out racism inherent and systemic racism in this country, the United States. You know, the possibility for all these things. I think the jazz music and high art proves a pivotal and important role in that in pushing the, you know, in pushing the, the boundaries. I mean, you look at the history and it's always done that. I mean,

we were talking just a couple weeks ago about Nina Simone and like, you know, her political statements through her music, her stand against, you know, stand for justice and against injustice. That changed the course of history, you know. And so we have to, we, and it's not that we get to be like high minded or whatever. It's not that, but like we have to do our part. And so it's going to be very difficult for this next year or six months or maybe a year and a half. realistically, how long is it? It's not a couple of months. It's going to be a while. We have to find ways to get our music out. We can't totally pause, even though there is going to be somewhat of a pause. We have to find a way to do it safely. We have to find a way to do it

in a way that continues to edify people. And I think that that's going to take innovation. It's going to take some creativity. We're starting to see some of it already. And, you know, certainly at a minimum, you know, a kind of duplication of a live experience in a streaming situation. Yeah. But then that also, it has to go beyond that because it can't just be like, you know, okay, when you meet with somebody and you really connect with them, you know, a Zoom call can only get you to what, 80% or 70% you can communicate, but there's certain things lost. And then people like, well, I'm getting better at it or whatever. Well, according to our frequency of our podcast, it's about, what is that, 63%. Right, right, right, right, exactly. But I think the recorded aspect of music is going to be very important during this period. So you're going to have a lot more, and we're already seeing that. You know, this is not live music.

I know we're talking about, you know, the future of live jazz. So I don't want to go too far from that. But I think that recorded music because people are going to just be more homebound. They already are. And it's not going to just, oh, the country's open. Everybody's rushing out. You know, that's just not how it's going to happen. And so people being able to listen to music very intently and be moved by it in their cars or their homes or whatever, I think it's going to be important.

It kind of substitute for live music for a while. Yeah, and from the live aspect, I mean, the streaming thing, it's not perfect, but you certainly have made it work. You have your Friday night shelter and place concert that you're on, I think this week, you're on week 14. Is that right? Yep. And those are just terrific, man. I mean, those have been like, you know, a weekly engagement. I know for me and my family that we've just really loved. So I guess every, every musician out there, you know, check out Peter's Friday night concert for some inspiration for what's possible. Yeah, and I think that that, yeah, we're, I mean, from the artist standpoint, I've watched some too, so I kind of get it from the other side, but I've had so much more experience doing it from performing standpoint. There's a learning curve in terms of being a live situation because of that lack of immediate audience. So like what we do is some things to really meet the audience and connect with them after so that I can be thinking about that next time, kind of build up a community. Yeah, we do that Zoom hang afterwards. Like the whole audience can come on a Zoom call, a big Zoom call. It's really fun, actually. It's fun. Yeah. And it's surprisingly how important.

And I'm learning as I go, but how important that is just to kind of connect with real humans being out there. For sure. I was thinking about, we haven't even talked about this yet, Adam, just maybe one thing with live music in general. But I wonder if, like, outdoor situations aren't going to be the future of it for a while. It seems to be, you're starting to see people are more comfortable. And I think that there's some science that put it backs us up, that it's a little bit safer to be still socially distanced. but in not huge groups. I know I saw like we were talking about the great Dave Chappelle special,

the Netflix special that just came on in the last few days. And he did that outdoors. And I think that their feeling was it was a very small audience. And they were, you know, kind of had places for people to sit. But I think it looked pretty safe. I know they were temperature checking and things like that. People are just going to have to get used to those kind of things. But maybe that's, you know, kind of a stopgap, at least during this period,

where we can still be playing for some audiences in a safe and responsible way. And I mean, look, no matter what you do, I mean, you could put people in scuba dive, PPE outfits or whatever, but that's not going to be a way for them to enjoy consuming music live. Like, there's only so far people are going to go where it's just like, oh, this is just not worth it? So, like, how do we, is it possible to find a place, an outdoor situation where people can actually, because if you can't relax, if you're worried about someone's going to cough at me, it's going to drift over, that kind of kills the joy of enjoying music, right? It really does.

But I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that jazz musicians can. figure it out. In fact, I know that we can. I think that as a community, we've always been innovators and we're scrappy as hell. That's for sure. You know, we don't need a lot of money. No, that's right. Never have. So, yeah, I'm very hopeful. So. Cool. Yeah, me too. Cool. Wow. There you go. Well, we are sponsored by Open StudioJazz.com. That's something you can do safe from the privacy of your own home. You don't have to give you a credit card, right? No, man. You can go check out the piano access pass. We have a seven-day free trial.

Just follow the link here in the description. You can go to OpenStudiojazz.com slash pap dash trial to check it out. And you get to sample every single, not just sample, you get every single Open Studio piano course courses by Peter Martin, Jeffrey Kezer, Aaliel Alves, myself. You get the weekly jazz piano method lesson. You get the daily guided practice session with me. You get the live version. Is that correct?

Of the daily practice session. We do a live version on Zoom of the guide of practice session. Super popular. It's really fun. We do a Q&A afterwards. where we talk about what we just practiced. It's really, really great. So come check it out.

Yeah, and if you do get a chance, you can also access the daily guided practice sessions in the archive as well if you can't do the Zoom. But if you get a chance during your week trial, try to stop in on that because that'll also give you a chance to sample the Open Studio community that we're so proud and honored to have a bunch of great folks around the world that have kind of connected through the music, you know, and through getting better.

And that's kind of your best place to see it. right there. That's right, man. Till tomorrow. Tomorrow, okay. Oh, until... Until... Until sometime. You'll hear it.