Jason Lyon Music

Category: e) Rants & Ramblings

  • Fame – What You Like is in the Limo

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    Jason
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    I don’t mind karaoke in its place – it can be great fun. But the ubiquitous TV talent formats have swamped the gigging circuit with too many wannabe warblers, and everyone suffers – the audiences, the venues, the musicians… Sorry, but while I’m all for ambition, for every one who can carry a tune in…

  • Beethoven’s Dynamic Duo

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    I was talking to a jazz pianist the other day about technique, in particular dynamic and tonal control. He asked for some exercises and I thought about it for a bit, then suggested he work on the Beethoven E minor Sonata (opus 90). This rather underrated piece* does require healthy hands, but it’s not going…

  • Grumpy Old Jazzers

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    Jason
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    Regular readers will be aware by now that I have an occasional tendency towards the grumps. On that I’m unrepentant. My gig, my rules, mate. I’ve recently discovered a couple of blogs by other similarly minded individuals and I commend them to you. I’d like to clarify that I make no judgements about the vintage…

  • Less is More – Mixing Jazz

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    Been busy working on a little mixing duty recently and thought I’d share a few observations about recording and mixing jazz. The usuals apply – use the best and most appropriate mics you can; get your gain staging right so your waveforms don’t look like trembly bits of string; aim for as much separation as…

  • Priceless and Free

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    So Ornette Coleman has finished his Chronology. Rather than doing a standard obit, I think it would be more interesting to chat about what he did, which was and remains the subject of much confusion. WARNING: May contain unsubstantiated personal opinions. His approach has come to be known as “free jazz”, but that’s not really…

  • Jazz Robots

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    JAZZ LANGUAGE WARNING… No comment necessary, really! I think we originally owe these to a guy called Joe Hundertmark, but others have since taken the ball and run with it. There are quite a few of them up – just follow the links, man. I’m hip…

  • Artistic Differences

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    In a light-hearted mood, and just couldn’t resist this vid from Stevie Riks. He does others too, including a mean Lennon and McCartney, but I reckon his Ringo needs work. “Thomas the Tank Engine rolled into the charts with a dopey song about an octopus, because you could get away with anything in the age…

  • Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing Episode V: Biohazard!

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    Jason
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    Dealing with reviewers can be a trying business. The late Douglas Adams surely knew this. In Hitch Hiker, the researcher despatched to Earth knows so little about the place that he chooses the name of a car “to blend in”. Then, having “painstakingly” investigated the planet, he eventually files an update to the Guide, changing the entry from…

  • I Could Read a Book

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    Jason
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    Heard occasionally on the bandstand: “Oh come on guys, surely you don’t have to read THAT one?” Well, in theory we should all know just about every tune by memory. But this isn’t the ’50s and not even the busiest musicians gig every night anymore – and even when they do, it’s not always jazz…

  • The Jazz Waltzer

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    Nope. It’s not about the age-old argument about swing feel in 3/4 or 6/8. (Incidentally, Oscar Peterson once said he didn’t care about the distinction – he reckoned jazz musicians interweave the two all the time.) It’s a reference to a childhood memory. In my youth, long before the multi-million Disney extravaganzas, there used to…