For Gordon Goodwin, it was probably just another solo. But for me, I couldn’t fully grasp it — I was sitting on the same bench as him, watching him improvise on the keys of the old upright Yamaha that I play every morning. I was balancing myself on the edge of the bench so I wouldn’t get in his way (Goodwin seems to like the upper register on the piano) — but at the same time, I was leaning in as close as I possibly could, hoping some of his musicality would rub off on me.
Great jazz piano solos are things that I only see on stage and hear in recordings. So being able to sit right next to a legend play the solo that I’d been working on for ages — let alone have him help me with it — was absolutely insane.
Another reason to be grateful for living in Los Angeles: we had a song written for us by Gordon Goodwin (commissioned by our principal, Bob Vincent — isn’t it fantastic to have a music major for a principal?) entitled Principal of the Thing. Since my jazz director, Bob Babko, knows Goodwin, we had a chance to work with him for about an hour and a half on playing his composition. (Even though we’re definitely not the Phat Band, it still secretly kind of felt like we were.)
Some of Goodwin’s advice:
- Empty space in a solo is just as important as playing a melody.
- Other ideas for soloing: blues, chromatic, holding notes, playing a melody, and of course, leaving space.
- You’ll get a better understanding of harmony if you figure it out on the piano.
- Don’t bring your personal issues into your playing — you can’t afford to think about extraneous things when you play.
- There’s always a few places in a composition that show the full maturity of the band — bring those places out.
- Be proud of being a band geek. :)
There were so many other great tips Goodwin gave us, but I’m still trying to get over the fact that I was sitting on the same piano bench as he was improvising. It’s incredible, isn’t it?
Principal of the Thing will most likely be part of the CD our band makes in our first professional recording session in the spring — I’m definitely looking forward to sharing it with you soon.
Check out Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band at www.bigphatband.com.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Alice in Wonderland/Bill Evans/Sunday at the Village Vanguard
