The Eye of the Tiger April 30th is doubly significant for our loyal readers, marking not only the 40th virtual issue of the Sussex Jazz Magazine but also the triumphant return of International Jazz Day, modestly billed on its own Facebook page as ‘The Greatest Day in Jazz History’. We’re aware that some […]
Terry Seabrook’s Jazz tip of the month No. 20 Make sure you listen (and interact) Most aspiring jazz musicians learn to play by using play-along records (or more frequently now by using an app such as iReal Pro) and thus spend most of their musical activity playing alone. To be sure, the […]
Committed to Committing it to Memory You would think learning songs would be a relatively simple exercise and in many ways it is. In jazz however, simply knowing the song is not really enough. As improvisers, we want to be able to feel completely relaxed with the material that we are improvising on. Learning […]
Terry Seabrook’s Jazz tip of the month No 12 Swinging the quavers part 2: When quavers stop “swinging” Generally when playing ballads (slower tempos) it is normal (most of the time) to play the quavers (or eighth notes) evenly or straight. Playing swing quavers when the tempo is below about 72 bpm (beats per […]
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 […]
Pianist Terry Seabrook’s Jazz Tip of the Month No. 9 So What Is A Tritone? In my previous jazz tip (No. 8) I mentioned the tritone as an interesting idea in jazz harmony. Tritone is the jazz term for the interval (musical pitch distance) of three whole tones (or whole steps). This is also […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell looks at Jazz and Community, a talk presented at the inaugural Brighton Jazz Education Conference. Jazz and Etienne Wenger’s Community of Practice "The term ‘community of practice’ is of relatively recent coinage, even though the phenomenon it refers to is age-old. The concept has turned out to provide a useful perspective […]
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 […]