[Harp-L] Re: Music leanring and that something special

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Haka Harri <harri.haka@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Winslow and all,
<snip>
> Training, studies and practicing are definitely worthwhile and always
> improve your playing. They can bring you from a C student to B+ or
> even A-. But to be A+, you gotta have that something special which is
> really hard to define. Think of your favorite players. How many of
> them got there based only on intensive musical studies and
> understanding theory? I dare say that not one. 
> 
> Harri
>
True Story. In about 1968 Quincy Jones was changing musical directions
and made his album "Gula Matari." Jones is a jazz composer and arranger
who got his start in Ray Charles' trumpet section but went to Paris to
study with Nadia Boulanger, the most celebrated classical composition
teacher of the 20th century. Quincy is definitely an A+ guy
technically, but also someone with that something special that puts him
beyond the league of other equally well-trained composers, arrangers,
and orchestrators.

Quincy of course works with the cream of well-trained jazz musicians,
but not just well-trained - again, with something special. They must
have the ability to read and execute what he writes, ad to improvise
over it, but their individual contributions must also be highly
creative and individual and deliver something extra beyond just the
notes.

Quincy invited Jimi Hendrix to play in this record - definitely someone
with not only something extra but with a new take on blues guitar and
on rock music at a time when jazz musicians were really sitting up and
taking notice of the new currents in rock. (By the way, Toots
Thielemans was also involved with this album.)

Jimi admired Quincy and all the cats involved and came to the session.
Then he went outside and sat under a tree, too scared of all the heavy
cats to come inside and pick up his guitar. Jimi was a very
sophisticated musician and very knowledgeable in the ways of recording
and mixing, but he didn't have a lot of learning about harmony, scales,
etc. and evidently felt way outside his element.

Now, chances are that Jimi could have delivered what Quincy wanted and
that Quincy had crafted a vehicle for Jimi that would favor what he did
best. But Jimi was too scared by the idea that he couldn't cut it
because he didn't have the theory background. If he'd had a little more
book learning maybe we would have had a historic and extremely cool
Jimi Hendrix-Quincy Jones record.

Winslow


 
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