Garage band on iPad

First I should point out that I have never used garage band on any other platform, so if you are looking for a review that will give you a clue as to how much of the usual garage band functionality you can expect then, well, keep looking.

Garage Band

I chose Garage band for iPad because I needed to knock up a rough demo of a tune I was writing, and the musician I was witing it for was not so confident with his sight reading that he could read it off the page at a recording session. He is a great jazz musician though, so I knew that if he just heard the melody and had a rough idea of the harmony we would be away.

To my surprise Garage Band for iPad turns out to be a great notepad tool for composition. There are a number of different sounds supplied with the basic download, and you can record tracks by playing on a virtual keyboard, or a virtual fretboard. There’s even a fret-less bass fretboard for jazzier bass lines. The virtual keyboard even has touch sensitivity. There are also ‘intelligent’ instruments that improvise (very well) in a number of different styles according to the criterion the user specifies. You can also record via in built or plug in mics.

The one thing I couldn’t find that would have been useful was the ability to export as music score.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/from-the-app-store/apps-by-apple/garageband.html

Top ten jazz albums

These are the ones I go back to time and time again for inspiration and sheer listening pleasure, some mainstream, some very well known,and some a bit more obscure.

1. kind of Blue – Miles Davis -1959

This work broke with the conventions of the time, but has become a rule book in itself, many great players including John mcLaughlin claim they learnt about improvisation by studying this album.

2. Live at the Royal Festival Hall – John McLaughlin Trio – 1989

Truly awesome trio with Trilok Gurtu on percussion and Kai Eckhardt on bass.

3. I Took up the Runes – Jan Garberek – 1990

This used to make me cry when I turned it up real loud and blotted out the rest of the world. I believe it had a similar effect on my neighbours at the time, but for slightly different reasons.

4. Mingus Ah Um – Charles Mingus – 1959

Simply a classic, a beautiful mix of Hard Bop and Gospel music, this work is truly inspired, and you can often hear where the inspiration was coming from.

5. Ugetsu – Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – 1963

The name came from the Jazz Messengers tours in Japan, for many the striking feature of this album is that it is led by a drummer, and there is not one drum solo on it. I love the line up and the compositions. Also, you can never beat a good live album.

6. Making Music – Zakir Hussain – 1986

Surprisingly this did not meet with overwhelming approval from critics at the time of it’s release. I regard it as some of the best music I’ve ever heard and I really need to replace the copy that I have just realised is missing from my CD shelf.

7. Tales of Gil Scott Heron - Gil Scott Heron and his Amnesia Express – 1990

I went to see Gil perform several times in the early 90′s. When he turned up, he, and the band featured on this recording could not be beaten for quality music entertainment. RIP.

8. Oregon in Moscow – Oregon and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra – 2000

Oregon are known for fusing classical music and instrumentation with jazz improvisation. This project though was bordering on the ridiculous. Here they manage to make a symphony orchestra function as a fifth member of their jazz combo.

9. I sing the body electric – Weather Report – 1972

Weather report was a leading force in fusion for 16 years, they recorded countless classic jazz albums. This one is my favourite of theirs.

10. Irresistible forces – Jack DeJohnette Special Edition – 1987

Another album that I used to annoy my flat mates with. At the time I simply had not heard anything like it. As I recall it unites rhythmic power with melodic beauty. It also seem to be  missing, this time from my vinyl collection. Somebody call the Jazz Police!

I need a manager!

It’s all happening today… I have to follow up on some gig booking leads, prepare for a recording session for my next cd and find some funding for a trip to Nanjing.

If anyone knows a manager, or a good article on time management, please let me know.

Robin Nolan’s Gypsy Jazz Gig Book

I was lucky enough to play with Robin a few months back when he came over to play in Copenhagen. After the gig, being the kind and generous person that he is, he came up to me and gave me a copy of “The Gig Book“.

Robin Nolan Gig Book This is a great resource for anyone playing or wanting to play gypsy jazz standards. Each tune has the melody in guitar tab and suggested Gypsy Jazz Chord voicings.

I notice that he now has a new book out where the reader can learn how he approached writing new Gypsy Jazz tunes, I suspect it’s well worth the read.

http://www.TuneWritingSecrets.com/

That’s Entertainment

I’ve been having a few free weekends with my family recently, as a result I’ve been able to watch a few of these reality talent shows recently – X-factor, The Voice etc. All very entertaining. Obviously they hardly ever choose the singers that impress me to go into the final rounds, but that is not my real concern about these programs.

I do not seek to cast blame, and cannot criticise the program makers, but it is a natural and  necessary quality of these programs that they keep the song structures short. I find it is a new experience for me as a jazz musician to complain about this, as I am an advocate of shorter arrangements  in almost all the jazz that I am involved in making, but in these programs the songs are reduced to the level of adverts for the singers. My hope is that this does not filter through into pop music in general as I think it may damage the art of popular song-writing.

My distributor is indisposed

GDC, formerly Scandinavia’s largest distributor of CDs and other recorded media has gone into receivership. Hundreds of record labels small and large are now furiously rushing about trying to find alternative ways of getting their product to the customer. Unfortunately. I, and many other independent jazz musicians are not in a position of power. As a result I have been forced to handle my own distribution again.

My on-line Jazz shop will re-open as soon as I have got to grips with the workings of PayPal. (previously an area of the internet marked only with the words ‘here be dragon’s’ in my map of the internet). I was thinking of sprucing up Peter Williams Jazz Boutique as well, new wallpaper, maybe sell coffee and cakes and put out a few tables and chairs.

I’ll let you know as soon as the doors open again!

Perfect Harmony

For a short time, while I was modulating from a rock bass guitarist into a jazz double bassist, I shared a flat with Andy Henderson (Echobelly’s drummer). I remember clearly one en-drunkened evening he was trying to tell me not to practice so much. I suspect now that he just wanted some peace and quiet in the flat, but at the time he was making the point that no matter how much you practice, it’s ultimately your personality that comes through in your playing.

Of course, I needed the practice, but he had a valid point, and now I’d like to extend that theory… when listening to a band, it’s the blend of the personalities on the stage or the recording that defines the performance.

That’s why I’m so happy to be playing with The Paul Harrison band, my own quartet 2econd Nature, and most recently, a fantastic Gypsy Quartet that I am trying to get on the road- Baltic Love Affair.