Mixin' it up.
Written on:Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I did a solo guitar concert the other day. Nothing new in that except rather than just playing jazz tunes I included a few piece more commonly found in the classical repertoire. Nothing too heavy, not Bach's Chaconne or Britten's Nocturne but rather five pieces by Brazilian composer Villa Lobos, in fact it was his five preludes. They seemed to go down okay and I certainly enjoyed playing them but I couldn't help wondering if I should do things like that and mix musical styles.
When virtuoso violinist Nigel Kennedy began playing jazz a percentage of his classical audience were not too impressed. Many jazz fans also thought the same, "who is this guy and how dare he attempt to play the music we love, what does he know". In reality he knows a great deal, he has been playing jazz from an early age and has even dueted with Stephan Grappelli. He was steered down the classical path by his mentor Yehudi Menuhin and later when studying at the Julliard School in New York they advised him not to play jazz, as it will "ruin his career." Winton Marsallis, probably one of the finest trumpet players alive today did a number of classical recordings, Herbie Hancock has performed piano concertos in his youth. In fact there are many examples of musicians who can cross into different styles but rarely is a player able to maintain a successful career with his feet in both camps.
I think that many people like music to some extent to be placed in categories; record companies certainly do as it makes it much easier to market. I think there is an opinion by some that by spreading yourself across different styles you are somehow diluting the quality of the music played. This jack of all trades scenario does exist but often the different styles can complement each other as each relies on different skills.
At times I think most people can occasionally feel a bit uncomfortable when they see musicians crossing from one style to another, myself included. I feel it on programs like the X Factor, not my favourate show and I can't say I'm an avid viewer. I admire the people that get on it, there are some talented singers and it can be quite entertaining. For me however, it washes past generally unnoticed until the big band night when an unpleasant feeling of annoyance rises up inside of me. This is music I care about, it has history and meaning and yet often I hear a performance lifted off a Tony Bennett or Sarah Vaughn recording or worse, when the performer hasn't bothered to look further back Michael Buble or Harry Connick jnr. To me it becomes a cheap parody with no understanding or meaning and it annoys me, it shouldn't and I wish it didn't but it does.
In reality all musicians should be a sum of all they have learned, their musical likes and their musical experiences. I started playing guitar at school in the folk club. I had a bit of an aptitude and started having lessons. My second teacher was really influential and used to talk about lots of different players. At the time I was ten or eleven and had no aspirations other than to play all the songs off my Shadows album. At eleven I remember going to a record shop in Leeds and returning with Blue Soul by Barney Kessell and Countdown to Ecstasy by Steely Dan, because my teacher had talked about them both at some point. I loved jazz right from the start but I also loved rock and used to buy albums by and go see bands such as Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and Rainbow etc. I also loved Hendrix and used to spend hours wearing out albums trying to copy him. I also started collecting old blues albums and going to record fairs. Around the age of fifteen I decided to go to Music College and read in the prospectus that I needed music grades. At that time you could only do classical guitar exams so that's what I did and I loved it, in fact I went through college as a classical guitarist.
After leaving college I worked as a freelance musician picking up jobs here and there whilst playing in a rather good pop/funk outfit. It was around this time I decided to focus on being a jazz guitarist. At first I turned my back on everything else and studied and played only the finest jazz musicians, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Charlie Parker etc, that's what I wanted to be. I was pretty good but in reality what I played was nothing more than a pastiche of what they played, it was musical but it lacked something. It took a while to realize it but the missing ingredient was in fact me. All the musical experiences that I'd had, all the music I'd listened to and loved that is what shaped me as a player and when I realized that you shouldn't turn your back on these things, that's when my playing started to fall into place. As a musician you should be true to yourself and not play how you think people expect you to play, there is no point trying to be Herb Ellis, there is one already.
Nowadays when I play a solo concert I use a classical guitar technique, slightly modified as I often use all ten fingers and I incorporate anything and everything into it, you may well hear a Joe Pass phrase but you are just as likely to hear a Jimi Hendrix lick in there too.
So, going back to what I said at the start, should you mix classical music and jazz music in the same concert, to put that into context, what would you think if you went to see John Williams and he played music by Tarrega, Sor, Bach and Metallica. I'd be interested to hear your views on this.
