I'm very often disappointed when
I go and hear straight-ahead jazz guitarists play
in a club, no matter how good they may be. Many
have practiced their technique and have a knowledge
of harmony that is clearly impressive. They have
good time and play well with the other band members.
But 9 times out of 10 I am disappointed and for
the most part I think I know why.
Most of these players spend countless
hours in the bedroom practicing, working on stuff,
perfecting things, analyzing chord changes, working
on harmonic ideas and so on, something that no one
recommends more highly than I, but it seems that
so often these musicians lack the ability to communicate
musically.
It actually reminds me a little
of when I used to live in London and I'd be having
a drink with a few horn players at the bar during
an intermission (in the UK, horn players particularly
from the north of England seem to enjoy a pint or
two!) and I'd listen to them say how much they had
no time at all for the 'punters' in the audience.
With this attitude, those horn players put themselves
on a pedestal, instantly separating themselves,
drawing an imaginary line at the end of the stage.
More like an electric fence! I never understood
it, it was almost a way of justifying how little
work they were prepared to do to really get their
musical point across. What they said musically might
have been very clever, even impressive, but whatever
it was remained on the stage. No one in the audience
was invited to experience that musical conversation.
The audience was the last thing that mattered it
seemed.
Now I'm not suggesting that we
as artists entertain with tap dancing, plate spinning,
telling jokes and so on, I'm talking about finding
a way to connect with the audience, and the first
step to doing this is through sound projection with
our instrument. Don't forget, as instrumentalists
we have to try that much harder to communicate with
the listener because there is no vocalist to do
that for us. We have to make sure our instrumental
voice carries.
And I find, going back to my disappointment
with so many jazz guitarists in clubs, that they
simply are not concerned with that communication
between themselves and the audience. I do not believe
it has been an issue with most of them and I believe
it is extremely important.
I am talking about playing with
real conviction. So many players lack that strength,
everything is quiet and timid and they seem like
they are looking for the right notes, meandering
away, somewhat apologetically. This does not translate
to an audience, very often does not translate to
other musicians. Too many hours in the bedroom practicing
obsessively and not enough time in coffee shops
talking to other human beings about THEIR lives!
Musicians can be horribly insular and those completely
obsessed with their instruments usually end up as
the biggest victims, and they may not even know
it. But I digress a little...
What I am really talking about
is playing every note with total conviction, with
confidence, like you really mean every note. Even
if that phrase is just five notes in length, really
MEAN that phrase. Make it important to you that
Joe Blow in the audience, who knows nothing about
sophisticated harmony, feels you, understands you.
Imagine you are in a club or even
a concert hall. Play a musical phrase and imagine
that the people in the back of the theater need
to "feel" that phrase, just like you mean
to feel it. How would you do that? Imagine the sound
really projecting, cutting through right down the
middle of the auditorium. Imagine there's no mike
on your amp and you have to really project your
sound. Not loud but centered. This is the stuff
classical guitarists have to deal with in their
really advancing years because very often they are
at the mercy of their guitar and an ambient concert
hall. And get it together they do!
Go listen to Pat Martino in a
club and see if you struggle to hear, and feel every
single note of every phrase he is playing. And with
a tone that is just unsurpassable. I saw a private
concert with Pat Metheny last year at USC and he
came out on stage, assumed a stance, closed his
eyes and didn't move an inch for the whole song,
he was so transfixed, so in the moment. His sound
and tone was impeccable, and every note was played
with passion and conviction.
Not communicating may have something
to do with jazz guys who get concerned and somewhat
insecure the more they know. Conversely, rock guitarists
who are often unabashedly complacent about their
musical limitations, play with a sense of angst
and conviction that seems to communicate quite well!
Go figure.
Whatever the genre, I really believe
it is the difference between a musician playing
for himself and an artist who really needs to get
his or her point across.
I especially noticed this whole,
almost intangible philosophy, when I first made
the transition from touring sideman to recording
artist. As a sideman I found it all too easy to
hide behind my guitar even when I got the chance
to really step out as a soloist. But the minute
I had to come to the front of the stage as an artist,
it suddenly dawned on me that I had to get my guitar
to really speak! I had to cut through the band like
a vocalist who floats on top. "How do I do
that?" I asked myself.
And this is the moment that I
started becoming quite focused on developing a unique
sound and style. And I found that by really meaning
every note that I played (and of course getting
the best guitar sound I possibly could) and focusing
on sound projection, I started to achieve that.
And it is an on going effort,
and I find I disappoint myself too, and it is usually
because I am not in the moment. And when I am not
in the moment I don't communicate the way I want
to musically.
I think it is also absolutely
fine to play quietly. Joe Pass had everyone on the
edge of their seats when I used to see him all the
time playing at Ronnie Scott's in London back in
the 80's. Same with Ted Greene. Just astoundingly
beautiful.
Here's another thing to
think about. I have been in clubs where the musicians
actually stopped playing and complained that they
couldn't continue unless everyone in the audience
stopped talking. You know what I have to say about
that? Those guys on the band stand didn't have the
audience in their back pocket! They weren't communicating.
And I'm not insisting on schtik, you don't have
to do that. But you do have to 'get over'. Those
great players I just talked about, they had the
audience entranced. You could hear a pin drop. Why?
because they cared about getting their point across.
And get their point across they did!
