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

["Haka Harri" <harri.haka@xxxxxxxx>]

Winslow wrote:
> 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
 
Which might have been excellent music...and even driving Jimi in another direction and saving his life. We might have had Quincy's other albums of that era renamed e.g. "Walking In Space and Electric Ladyland". And to dream on (harp content), Paul Butterfield also appearing on those recordings.

Harri