I took up the tenor saxophone six years ago, and
enrolled as a mature student at the local
Conservatory of Music.

Keith G was then one of the most
active contributors to this NG. His lady is a
very talented clarinet and saxophone player.
He was was tickled pink at my venture, and
sent me an mp3 (from vinyl of course:-) of
Count Basie Orchestra "Frankie and Johnny"
and said, "It would be great if you could play
this one day" Soon after, I was offered an
audition with Mosabacka Big Band.

The band, nineteen players - doctors, policemen,
architects, lawyers, graphic designers, teachers etc -
has just completed its second commercial CD, and
the piece which Keith suggested is the opening title.

We are fortunate to have among the band members
and associates, people with skills in photography,
design, graphic art, copyright, production, recording,
mixing, mastering, etc etc, so everything except the
physical manufacturing and printing can be done "in house".
We recorded at our rehearsal location.

The Count Basie version of "Frankie and Johnny"
is not published in print, and so each part had to be
written down bar by bar. With five saxophones, four
trumpets, four trombones, tuba, guitar, piano, drums
and bass that's a lot of bars:-)

An audio appetizer.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/Music/F+J.wav


The CD, which contains two tracks from each of the eight
concert projects we are currently playing, is presented in
a digi-pack gatefold cover (not a plastic case) and has an
eight page booklet.

I am sure Keith would have enjoyed it, particularly
as we have made a "vinyl" CD.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/atta.../MBB_LABEL.pdf

Iain

"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...
I took up the tenor saxophone six years ago, and
enrolled as a mature student at the local
Conservatory of Music.

Keith G was then one of the most
active contributors to this NG. His lady is a
very talented clarinet and saxophone player.
He was was tickled pink at my venture, and
sent me an mp3 (from vinyl of course:-) of
Count Basie Orchestra "Frankie and Johnny"
and said, "It would be great if you could play
this one day" Soon after, I was offered an
audition with Mosabacka Big Band.

The band, nineteen players - doctors, policemen,
architects, lawyers, graphic designers, teachers etc -
has just completed its second commercial CD, and
the piece which Keith suggested is the opening title.

We are fortunate to have among the band members
and associates, people with skills in photography,
design, graphic art, copyright, production, recording,
mixing, mastering, etc etc, so everything except the
physical manufacturing and printing can be done "in house".
We recorded at our rehearsal location.

The Count Basie version of "Frankie and Johnny"
is not published in print, and so each part had to be
written down bar by bar. With five saxophones, four
trumpets, four trombones, tuba, guitar, piano, drums
and bass that's a lot of bars:-)

An audio appetizer.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/Music/F+J.wav


The CD, which contains two tracks from each of the eight
concert projects we are currently playing, is presented in
a digi-pack gatefold cover (not a plastic case) and has an
eight page booklet.

I am sure Keith would have enjoyed it, particularly
as we have made a "vinyl" CD.
http://www.mosabackabigband.com/atta.../MBB_LABEL.pdf



Good drummer......


--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody


Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.

Iain

On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.

Not hopefully as painful though as what is portrayed in this film ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiplash_(2014_film)

--
Adrian C

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.

Not hopefully as painful though as what is portrayed in this film ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiplash_(2014_film)

--
Whiplash is a great film. Music college reality is tough
but not that tough:-) But there is a strong competitive
spirit even in non-pro bands.

By the way, there was considerable "artistic licence"
in the script of Whiplash regarding the Charlie Parker/
Jo Jones cymbal hurling incident.

Iain

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.


Think he's as good as Ralph Salmins?

(For those who don't know the name he is the drummer of choice for
many international stars when they are appearing or (especially)
recording in London. There was a prog on TV a few years ago about the
remake by celebs of one of (the first?) Beatles albums and for the
majority of the tracks he was the drummer. He really showed up the
other drummers appearing!)



--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

"Woody" wrote in message
news

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.


Think he's as good as Ralph Salmins?

:-) Ralph Salmins is a professor of music, our drummer
is a surgeon by profession. So musically, probably no
contest, but I know which of the two I would choose
if I needed a gall stone removed:-)

Iain

"Woody" wrote in message
news

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.


Think he's as good as Ralph Salmins?

There are probably a lot of drummers who
are technically as good, but fall short on reading.
That's where studio drummers shine.

Our band is not professional, but still we try to
keep a high standard, and run it like a pro outfit.

Many bands are regarded by the players as "a
place to go on Thursday nights" more of a social
than a musical get-together. We have a professional
leader, and so the band has to have concerts and
gigs, to keep the finances going. A band with a chain
of concerts in the diary tends to have a different
attitude to a band that does not. We play twelve to
concerts a year, plus dances and charity gigs.
We have a good following, our concerts are usually
sold out.

Recording too, is a very good way to increase
motivation and performance level, and brings in a
bob or two as well:-)

Iain

"Woody" wrote in message
news

"Adrian Caspersz" wrote in message
...
On 31/05/17 15:32, Iain Churches wrote:
"Woody" wrote in message
news
Good drummer......
--
Woody

Yes indeed. Big band/jazz drummers need to be
good readers too. The parts are complex - lots of
rhythmic interaction with brass and saxes.


Think he's as good as Ralph Salmins?

(For those who don't know the name he is the drummer of choice for many
international stars when they are appearing or (especially) recording in
London. There was a prog on TV a few years ago about the remake by celebs
of one of (the first?) Beatles albums and for the majority of the tracks
he was the drummer. He really showed up the other drummers appearing!)


Click tracks are often sent to foldback when laying
down rhythm tracks. This means that the tempo
stays constant, and one can edit with rhythmic
confidence:-) However, most players feel
that a song should "live" and that unwritten
changes in tempo take away any mechanical feel.

Also these days tracks can quantized, either
with software or manually. Working with good
drummers, one doesn't need to do this often except
perhaps during fills. One can simply lay down
eighth note (quaver) markers and time-align to those.
This usually sound more natural than "correcting"
the complete track.

Iain