Category: e) Rants & Ramblings
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Jack Massarik
Sad to report that Jack Massarik, the London Evening Standard’s jazz critic, died on 13 July at the age of 74. The dreaded C. He was very passionate about jazz and wrote knowledgeably and entertainingly on the subject. He was until almost the end a regular and friendly presence at all sorts of gigs. Usually sitting quietly near…
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La Mer… Qu’on Voit Danser…
Got a few projects on, so I’m taking a little holiday from blogging for a couple of weeks. Hope my dedicated 51.2531 readers (it says here) will be able to handle the disappointment. Hey, I’m sanguine about it – the only time a jazz musician is ever going to be on a yacht, it won’t be…
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Carry On Regardless – er, no, Regardfully
I sometimes teach a bit of piano. It tends to be informal, and while I’ll certainly sometimes get waist-deep in technical or harmonic subtleties, it usually involves silly analogies with pint glasses and boxes of matches, sometimes even inventing a daft personality for your left foot – Tony the Tapper… Did a little impromptu one the other…
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Have You Listened to the Recordings?
Simple enough question. Have you? Or did you just learn Blue Bossa, All Blues, GDS, Canteloupe Island, Blues for Alice, ATUR and, um, all that jazz from courses? C’mon, be honest, I’m not going to set the dog on you… Jazz is as much a tradition as it is a means of personal expression. Or rather,…
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Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing, Part the Third – Putting a Sock in It
It’s so tempting isn’t it? You’ve got this great band, you want the world to know about a gig you’ve done or a fantastic new album you’re releasing. So you think about creating a sock puppet (an online pseudonym) and giving yourself a gushing five-star review on some website or another. Soooooo tempting… RELAX, DON’T…
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Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing 2.0
Don’t Mess With Mr Inbetween. For my cynical, sarcastic and often downright rude rundown of some of the cheap flimflam tricks musicians use to promote themselves, see here. Here though, are some further observations, and this time … it’s digital. Let’s say you’re an act or a venue and someone’s approached you offering to promote…
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How’s Your Sightreading? Release the Penguins!
Couldn’t resist this one. There’s a long tradition of in-jokes in music. UK readers might be familiar with Mozart’s Ein musikalischer Spaß, a pastiche of bad composition designed to make a good ensemble sound like amateurs, from its use as the theme for the Horse of the Year Show. Satie was famous for directions such…
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Anita Wardell and Vocalese
We had the pleasure of singer Anita Wardell performing with our house trio last week. I’ve always had bags of time for this lady and it was a really enjoyable gig – thanks Neets, it was a blast. Any time you’re free, our arms are open wide. There’s a jazz vocal practice that Anita is…
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!!!The Secret of Jazz!!!
The world of jazz education has been blown wide open and rendered irrelevant by this revolutionary new invention. Forget the courses, the books, the practising, paying dues. Introducing… Improxatin™ ContrixoLydalot-251! Here’s the science bit… Formulated in a secret Swiss laboratory by our world-class team of neurochemists, necrogeneticists given unique access to the DNA of deceased…
Jason Lyon Music 