Ear Training: The Jazz Kitchen If one was to compare ear-training to say, cooking, ear training would represent the preliminary stages of putting together a meal. It would be before choosing the ingredients, it would be before choosing what utensils to use and it would even be before designing your menu. Ear training is […]
The Blues In my last column, I looked at rhythm changes and this week I’d like to look at the blues, possibly the most important element of jazz music. Jazz music is made up of many types of music fused together in the United States of America. Jazz is American music. This is not […]
Simon D’souza, the highly regarded saxophonist, composer, arranger, performer, multi-instrumentalist, session musician, educator and all-round great guy was an inspirational figure in the local jazz scene. Pianist and friend Wayne McConnell pays tribute to Simon D’souza, who passed away on Monday 19th May, 2014. Where can you begin with a man as […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell looks at rhythm changes. Rhythm Changes Basics Rhythm changes represents a set of chord changes over an AABA form that resemble the chord changes to Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm’. Many people find it difficult to improvise over these chords. There are many ways of playing through a Rhythm Changes with […]
Brighton Jazz Education Conference The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 12th April 2014 Brighton Jazz School’s Wayne McConnell began the inaugural Brighton Jazz Education Conference with a talk on the subject of ‘Jazz and Community’ and the idea of ‘communities of practice’. You can read more about this in Wayne’s monthly column, below. […]
Phineas Newborn Jr. is not a household name like, say, Oscar Peterson or Art Tatum. The simple fact is that he an under-represented genius who was a member of one of the most talented musical families to come out of Memphis. Origins of the Newborn Style Realistically, to shed light on Phineas’s […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell examines The Modern Jazz Piano Trio The art of playing in a trio is very dear to my heart as a pianist. I’d say it is my most favoured format. I enjoy the textural combinations of bass, drums and piano but also the space between the instruments. It allows for focus […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell asks: Is Jazz Worth My While? The problem with learning jazz is that you really have to want it. There is no quick fix for learning this complex art form. There is no one scale and no one way of doing things. The best jazz musicians are able to take what has gone […]
I recently ran a composition weekend at Brighton Jazz School. We had a very productive and inspiring few days and the students came up with some wonderful ideas. The article below came from that weekend and I hope it inspires you to get writing… Starting the creative process Since most of us are […]
Where are you from? I was born in Bedfordshire and grew up in a tiny village and raised by small woodland creatures. Actually, I grew up surrounded by nature; large fields, forests, and angry farmers. Angry because we used to play and build tree-houses on their land. It was an idyllic place to grow up […]