Most Helpful Exercises For Jazz

[J D Sauser]

I’ll keep it short, I’m fixing to fly to Cartagena Colombia for Easter tomorrow. Lot’s of Salsa for 10 days!
They have three culbs down there which are like an Opry… with about 6 or more bands each nite. I sm likely be coming home dragged outta there on a strecher!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ntjjX6Mlng

definitely a fitting place for a first kiss...
NOWADAYS, there's a bit more action going on: https://youtu.be/z05NgxzKe0k

Here's the Havana Cafe I like to hang out at... several bands each night, like a little Opry. Post "Republican" building from the late 1920's: https://youtu.be/fqjkjvYw4sE



Anyhow, I always carry at least my S12 SuperSLIDE with the BOSS WazaAIR headphone amp along.


Talking of an "Exercise" which makes MUSICAL sense, here's one by Jazz Guitarist Chris Whiteman (https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWhitemanGuitar/videos), I did yesterday over the afternoon hours too hot to walk the walled city:

- Part 1: https://youtu.be/We2irhaCoew
- Part 2: https://youtu.be/uZb7F-o-U-g
- Part 3: https://youtu.be/aFEDu81S1is

I would formulate it a LITTLE differently, in that the "phrase" originates from Fats Waller's Honeysuckle Rose theme over ii-/V7 and was carried over to Donna Lee over the ii- only and V7/I Maj vocabulary added. I think it's important to "see" it as not only a "Donna Lee'ism", so we know to use it more ways.

I have long come to the conclusion that while "transcribing" (well, since we don't WRITE but trans-whatever from ear to an instrument, it shouldn't be called "-scribe") solos IS important, it's only beneficial to learning to to IMPROVISE, when one doesn't insist so much on playing it EXACTLY as presented (that's "rendition" a whole different discipline, really CONTRARY to "Improvisation"!), and instead to early on "fool"/"PLAY" around with it in timing (inclusion of triplets and pauses, shifting, etc) and -while conserving the "message" changing chromaticisms and other approaches around to make it one's own or even better come up with a variety of versions to the point of being able to just "kind'a" play it without thinking much anymore.
What I really like his presentation is, that not only is he inviting and demonstrating doing that, but he takes it further and goes to morph it into a minor ii-b5, V(alt), i- phrase and then applies it to Autumn Leaves, turning it into an Exercise which not only winds up making real music, but also can be kept in the back pocket to throw into a great many tunes.

Enjoy!... J-D.