Jason Lyon Music

Tag: jazz

  • ‘Tis the Season to be Appropriate

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    Jason
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    Early, I know (gets earlier every year), but here’s a plea to musicians. If you’re going to take bookings in December, please have some seasonal repertoire ready. Even just a few numbers. Doesn’t have to turn into a full-blown carol service with bells and smells, you can still have fun and do your thing. While…

  • Monky Business

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    Jason
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    Some thoughts on whole-tone scales, altered scales and passing tones. Ah, Thelonius Sphere Monk (certainly no square). A very influential composer and performer. He was once described by a hip journo as “the high beast of prebop” (clever Spoonerism or a boozy lunch, you be the judge). Monk was actually an incredibly naturally gifted musician…

  • Zen and the Art of Depping

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    Jason
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    One day, eager young tritone-hopper, when you leave this jazz temple, the day will come when you won’t be able to do a gig and have to put in a replacement. There will be a “you-less” hole at the Pillock & Bucket residency, while you’re earning a fortune playing the diddles in Act III of…

  • Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes

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    Jason
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    Everybody has the Real Book, right? As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my current copy increasingly resembles confetti. I’m talking about the old one – the “fifth edition”. The illegal one. Even if you don’t have the book, you’re bound to have some charts copied from it. The old Real Book is essentially a collection of a load…

  • Talk Isn’t Cheap, It’s Priceless

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    Jason
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    Divisive issue, this. A lot of jazz musicians don’t like razzmatazz – a bit of chat between numbers, some gags and banter, that sort of thing. It’s too casual for them, they think it demeans their art. But oddly, the same guys will sometimes wilfully turn up to a posh gig in tie-dyed pyjamas when…

  • Hexatonics, My Pretties…

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    Jason
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    This one’s for Elton Mottley, a guitarist (and southpaw, unless he’s flipped his avatar). He recently got in touch to say he didn’t know what a hexatonic was. No shame in that at all. I have a somewhat childish streak to my sense of humour (you might have noticed) and replied to Elton that a hexatonic…

  • Inside, Outside, Leave Me Alone

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    Jason
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    Some Thoughts on Accompanying an Adventurous Soloist. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that accomplished pianoforte accompaniment requires such skills of listening, following, supporting, interacting, suggesting and sometimes even leading, as have been correctly acquired for the purpose of conduct in polite society. Yet what, dear reader, is a humble pianofortist to do, when confronted with the discomforting prospect…

  • Instant Big Band – Just Add Beer

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    Jason
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    or How to Be an Arranger without Really Trying. If you have a busy jam session it can be great fun to get every horn player in the room up together for a feature number at some point in the night. A gash big band number. Even if it’s all a bit wobbly, the sheer sound…

  • Practising in Your Head

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    Jason
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    Those lovable boffins have been at it again. It seems that “scientists at Cambridge” have established that a lot of the creative process occurs for musicians when they aren’t even touching their instrument. This story was presented recently by BBC News in the final “kitten up tree” slot and pegged around the notion that there…

  • How to Kick Off a Tune

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    Jason
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    Did you know that Dizzy Gillespie pretty much invented beatboxing more than half a century ago? Honestly. Dizzy wouldn’t just count off a tune: ah one, two, ah one two three four. No. He’d vocalise the entire arrangement out loud to the band – an amalgamation of the way he heard the bass, drums, horn lines,…