Why the majority of people don't like Jazz.

I can understand why average punters do not like jazz. Often the music and performance can be boring.  Jazz in many ways has become academic. You know what I'm talking about - people with great chops and knowledge but no musicality, who just run scales and don't have anything to say. Don't get me wrong, I am not referring to every jazz musician - just some. Here are a few things I think the general music audience don't like about jazz:

1. Walking Bass Lines - some in the audience simply can not hear the harmony when bass players walk so get bored.
2. Ride Cymbal Swing Beat - some in the audience can't feel the beat and lose interest.
3. The Tunes - jazz musicians often play tunes they like rather than what the audience wants to hear. Some tunes called standards are anything but standard.
4. The complexity of the music - Some jazz musicians are more interested in playing clever than music that feels good.
5. Chord Scale Relationship - jazz has been too much about playing scales over chords in my opinion. Jazz education is to blame for this, but thats a different topic beyond the scope of this blog.
6. Poor Presentation - Many jazz musicians put little or no effort into their presentation. I saw a gig recently at a club and the guitar player (who was leading the band) did not say one word to the audience all night. He set up, played, the packed up. What is up with that!
7. Out There Soloists - some soloists are incredibly difficult to follow. Some play all kinds of out lines that do not relate to the melody (which the audience wasn't familiar with in the first place) and wonder why the audience is not digging the gig.

This is just the beginning of what could be a long list ...

For these reasons and more - I hate the term jazz. Many people have had bad experiences of jazz music and I do not want my music to be included in that. The term 'jazz' implies music that my grandfather was listening to - music of a foregone era if you will. One time I even had a students father say that to me 'my son listens to music his grandfather would have loved'. Ha, awesome!

I really believe jazz music can be fresh again. I believe that jazz music at it's best in incredibly exciting, uplifting and relevant. Sadly, the vast majority of people will never hear jazz at it's best and have already made up their mind about what the music is going to be, long before we start. Therefore, it is our responsibility as jazz (for lack of a better term) musicians to win people over and to win the audiences back to the music.

What I think is missing:

1. Fun! Music and jazz was never meant to be super serious. I am not suggesting for one second that people get up and 'take the piss' or don't play well in performances. Rather, I'm saying you have to take care of business, but have fun in doing so, and the audience will like it. They want to see you having fun.

2. Play tunes that people understand and know. The tunes that are now considered jazz standards were once the pop tunes of the day. Some standards have become museum pieces. Play the new stuff - please! However, there is nothing worse that people playing the most recent stuff in a way that is so obscure that no one will recognise the source. This achieves nothing. Some musicians think, I will play this MJ tune, reharmonise it, play it in 7/8 and modulate into a new key for the bridge - then people will love my music and think I am clever. Wrong! Those who like MJ, won't get it, and will hate it. Those who like jazz will think you are doing silly stuff for not playing something they can understand. No one wins.


3. The dance element. Jazz is not an academic sport. It was conceived as dance music. Make the music feel good and you stand a chance - 'it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing'. Right?

I think The Bad Plus has it right in so many ways. What a great concept they have hit upon. I would love to see this happen more often. Oz Noy has a great saying when describing his music - 'It's jazz. It just doesn't sound like it'.

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If you have an opinion about this let me know? I am curious to know what people think of jazz and what can we all do to lift our game as jazz musicians.

The best gigs / concerts I have attended and what I learnt from them.

Matt Penman, Joe Lovano, Matt Wilson, me and John Scofield

As a professional musician I am often asked by punters about concerts I have enjoyed. People assume I get to attend many concerts and gigs; unfortunately I do not - I am often too busy doing my own. This has lead me to do a lot of thinking lately (yes, I know it must have hurt, right) about what it is that makes certain musical performances special and others not so much. The same band from night to night can fire one night and fizzle the next; for any number of reasons. How do we as musicians make it so we fire on all cylinders every time we play?

The best gig I have ever seen was the John Scofield & Joe Lovano Quartet at Skycity Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. I was fortunate to get on this tour as the person who looked after the band and I got to see both the Auckland and Wellington concerts; and I would have seen the Christchurch concert if it had gone ahead, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales - come on people, go to the gigs or it is likely the artists won't come back!

For some reason the Auckland concert was on fire. Maybe it was because bassist Matt Penman is originally from Auckland (now residing in New York) and felt a bit of pride about playing with these heavy players in front of a home crowd? Maybe these guys came with the approach to play their hearts out? Maybe the sound was amazing on stage (it was!) and they were responding to a nice acoustic space? It is highly plausible it it was a combination of all the elements and more.

Don't get me wrong, the Wellington concert was good, amazingly in fact, but it lacked the same spark that the Auckland gig had the night prior. Maybe it was me! Maybe by the second night I had made up my mind about the gig, and was not as open minded going into the performance?

I can not help but think the attitude and general willingness of the musicians has a lot to do with why some gigs are great and other not so much. One of the best concerts I have been to was Chucho Valdes and the Afro-Cuban Messengers at the Wellington Jazz Festival. Chucho had a young band who were clearly 'amped' about playing. That energy made this performance special - you could feel it in the air. These guys had decided to smash it out of the park that night and thats exactly what they did.

Two other performances that have stood out for me over the years were the Pat Metheny Trio and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST). Pat is one of my heroes and it was awesome to see and hear him play. I would have traveled a long way to attend this gig. Christian McBride was the bass player and Antonio Sanchez the drummer. Antonio blew my mind. He is the complete drummer - great groove, chops, knowledge, tone etc.

Roger Waters, The Wall. Photo shows an example of the
projected images on the wall. Incredible. 

I think the reason EST stands out for me is that it was totally unexpected. I was given free tickets for their gig as Ben Monder (New York based jazz guitarist) was opening for EST and he was using my Mesa Boogie amp. I heard EST and was completely blown away. They are one of the most original concept groups I have ever heard. Also the sound guy absolutely nailed the gig; incredible.

The best 'show' I have seen is undoubtedly Roger Waters The Wall at Vector Arena, Auckland. The sound was amazing (surround sound), the band 'nailed it' and the visuals can only be described at epic. Stunning concert.

I am convinced what makes a great performance is partly attitude of the performers, partly the acoustics, partly audience participation and open-mindess, the visuals and partly some kind of X factor -  that something just happens. When all these things combine, magic happens and it sure did at these performances I have mentioned. I keep all these points in mind when I am putting together my own shows.

The interesting thing is, in the case of most of these concerts, I wasn't supposed to have gone to the performances, but for a number of reasons things lined up or people made it happen for me. These days try to attend as many gigs and concerts as I can, because one never knows what might end up being a life changing experience.

                             Visit www.nickgranville.com for lessons, free music, videos, news and more ...

Los Angeles: Alive and Vibrant Music Scene or Dead?

Recently I took a trip to Los Angeles to have a look around the music scene, catch up with friends and generally soak up some musical inspiration. I spend two weeks in LA with a few days in San Francisco. I often hear people say there are few gigs in LA these days. While I am not familiar with the LA scene of the past what I experienced was a healthy scene with lots of great music, much of which was free or a reasonable price (usually $20 at the most).

During my time in LA I heard the Oz Noy Trio at Catalina's (feat. James Genus and Dave Weckl for $20!), Bruce Forman's group Cowbop at Viva Cantina and at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, Ben Shepherd's group upstairs at Vitello's, the Pete Myers Big Band at Jazz at the Cap, Katisse at the Baked Potato, the Kenny Burrell Big Band at UCLA, Poncho Sanchez at Spaghettini's and Tech Support at the Blue Whale. In addition to these performances I attended jam nights at The Falls in Downtown LA, the Cafe Cordial Pro Jam Session and the Baked Potato Monday Night Jam.

I was very fortunate as my friend Jon Papenbrook, who I stayed with for the first week, plays in lots of groups and I was invited to come listen to these groups rehearse. The two groups I heard were at the Burbank Music Academy and the Steve Sleagle (spelling?) Big Band rehearsing at the union building. The Burbank group I subbed for the guitar player who was away on tour with Natalie Cole. Both bands played well and were made up of well known players, with the Jon playing lead trumpet on the both bands. On the Burbank band the second trumpet player is in Earth, Wind and Fire and the trombone player played with MJ; so lots of very good players in these bands.

One highlight of this trip in addition to the music / hang was meeting guitarist Lee Ritenour at Vitello's. I have listened to Lee extensively and he is definitely one the big time Los Angeles studio players. He was super nice to me and we chatted about music mostly and New Zealand a little.

Also, a highlight was jamming with my friend Ben Shepherd and his flatmate Eric Valentine at their place. Eric is a well known drummer in LA, and he informed me that he had been to NZ to play with Steve Luthather and Steve Vai on the G3 tour!! It was awesome to play with these great musicians partly because after hearing all this great music I was hanging out to play, but also because I felt these guys played so well together and we would make a great trio if we did some gigs round LA.

I had always wanted to drive the coast from San Francisco to LA via the pacific coast highway so on this trip I decided to make the most of this opportunity. I drove up to San Francisco via the freeways then returned to LA via the pacific coast highway. This coast is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. I absolutely loved Big Sur. Stunning, to say the least. I hope to go back there soon to have a holiday. It's a long drive (it took me 11 hours but was worth it). It was a little foggy the day the I did this trip but that added to the excitement!

In San Francisco I heard the Tommy Igoe Big Band at Yoshi's (what a terrific venue!), and the Jose Simione Blues Band at the Saloon (not so terrific venue, but cool gig nonetheless) and an unknown band at the Tonga Room. All of which were high quality and only a 6 hours drive from LA to San Francisco (via the freeways). I have to say, San Francisco is a beautiful city. Busy, scenic and exciting.

I couldn't fit in Vegas on this trip but that is even closer to LA than San Francisco is.

All in all, I would say LA is alive and vibrant as a music city. There are some amazing musicians (as good or better than you will hear anywhere). I have many friends in this town who are awesome people. I hope to make it back there soon and I plan to book some gigs.

(many thanks to Bruce Forman and Jon Papenbrook for accommodating me and taking me to gigs)

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What skills are required to be a professional musician today

I have been thinking about this a great deal lately. The music industry has changed since I first started as a professional musician twenty years ago. Imagine what things will be like in twenty years time from now. I am optimistic.

When I started out the key skills were ability on an instrument, teaching skills, people skills and that was largely it. Thinking about what is required of me these days, I came up with this list (in no particular order):

1. playing the guitar
2. understanding a high level of music theory
3. strong sight-reading skill
4. extensive knowledge of many musical styles
5. ability to teach
6. video and audio production skills
7. knowledge of the latest equipment
8. writing skills
9. understanding of social media and openness to the constant changes in this area
10. ability to promote events
11. negotiation skills
12. learning to live with minimal sleep
13. events management
14. knowing how to play a second instrument (piano for me)
15. people skills (this is by no means last in terms of priority)

We can see that this list is substantial and in some ways overwhelming to think of what is required. However, many of these can be combined into manageable groups. That list would look something like (in no particular order):

1. promotion
2. musical skills
3. technology skills
4. people skills

Computers make learning most of these skills less challenging. If I need to know something I google it... or I visit YouTube to find a tutorial. This sharing of information makes life easier and more complicated in some ways. Still, I would not want to go back to the way things were. My first cellphone was a brick and hardly did anything useful compared to my iPhone.

If you have these skills that does not necessarily mean you will have a career in music. There are many more factors that combine to make a career but if you have these skills then you are in a very good position to do well in music. Good luck.

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The music books that had the most significance influence on my musical development

1. The Advancing Guitarist - By Mick Goodrick. This book is a gem. Mick Goodrick has taught many great players including Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Mike Stern and continues to teach at the Berklee School of Music. This book is not a method book, rather designed to inspire practise and potentially change the way musicians think about practise and music. Yes, it is a guitar book but I would recommend it to any instrumentalist as a considerable amount of the information is universal. 

2. Effortless Mastery - By Kenny Werner. This book was an eye opener for me. This book is a documentation of Kenny's approaches to learning and music. I have owned three copies of this book over the years and each have been loaned to people who did not returned it. I guess that speaks volumes about how great this book is. A must for all serious musicians. 

3. Total Guitar Magazine - multiple contributors. Thats right,  not one book but a magazine. For a while I subscribed to this magazine and would religiously learn to play everything contained in the magazines. This meant I learnt a broad range of musical styles and approaches as often the contributors to these magazines are a cross section of musicians. Also, I learnt a lot about the equipment used by the professionals via this magazine. Now days I really like Premier Guitar Magazine among others and try to learn as many things as I can from this - both lessons and about gear etc. 

4. The Encyclopaedia of Reading Rhythms - By Gary Hess. Many years ago during my studies at music school I was introduced to a book of etudes designed for drummers by Joel Rothman. It was designed to teach you rhythm via snare drum playing (I clapped) of rhythms and learning to read. I found this book useful. I was discussing this book with Lance Philip (excellent Wellington drummer & educator) as I had lost my copy and he mentioned the Encyclopaedia of Reading Rhythms book as a similar resource. I checked it out and found this to be exactly what I wanted and quite frankly a better book than the one I had. I worked on this book extensively, and continue to when I get the time. It is well organised and I really like the check lists. 

5. 14 Jazz and Funk Etudes - By Bob Mintzer. This book is a collection of tunes with solos and a play-along by saxophonist Bob Mintzer. It is available for most instruments. The thing I love about this book is the solos contain a lot of jazz vocabulary and the playalong CD is of a very high standard - featuring jazz greats. Many of the tunes are jazz standards or classic styles (such as blues, funk etc) so are useful for practising anything else that you might be working on in addition to the material presented in the book. Much of the material in this book is difficult but there are easier editions that are similar to this book. 

6. A Modern Method for Guitar - By William Leavitt. I have found this book invaluable for teaching. Many times when students come for a masterclass lesson I ask them what they work on. Often they mention this book as a good on to work on their reading. This is only part of what this book is good for. It has lots of scale, arpeggios, rhythm guitar stuff and more and is laid out in a logical way. 

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Is your attitude up to the required level for gigging?

It never ceases to amaze me how some musicians work really hard on their playing only to lose gigs or are not asked to do gigs due to their attitude. Do not get me wrong, I am not for saying for one second I am perfect - I have learnt many lessons the hard way.

Lets look at what is involved in doing a gig:

For a local gig in one's home town the band might typically play two sets of forty-five to fifty minutes each. That is around two hours total (give or take) of playing. In order to do the gig the band must know the material which means rehearsal etc. Once at the gig there is setup time; lets say thirty minutes or more. Then the break in the middle of the gig is usually twenty minutes (despite saying we will be back in ten minutes! ha.). Then there is the pack down and maybe a beer after the gig to wind down and talk about the gig. If we consider all of this we can see there are many more hours of interactive time between band members than playing. All this interaction is greater when touring or doing a gig out of one's home town.

It is common sense that people are only going to book those who they know can play the music and are easy to work with. No one wants to work with someone who is difficult or unorganised or is plain and simply troublesome. Being a musician and making music is hard enough as it is.

Recently I had an experience with a difficult musician who was way out of line. The silly thing is I was about to offer this person some gigs - but won't be now. So if he had been cool, that particular gig we were doing would have been better, and there would have many more dates for his diary.

I have learnt many lessons about attitude. Recently I had someone (different person) who was difficult on a gig. I could have confronted this person for being a dork but decided to remain calm and let it go and deal with it another day. In the mean time I happened to stumble upon someones comment on facebook which was 'it is better to remain friends than to be right'. So I decided to say nothing to this person and to let it go. This was the best thing to do.

Here are a few ideas to consider that could make life easier for all:

1. Turn up on time and with the required gear. In fact I would recommend being early.

2. Learn the music. A great attitude won't get you anywhere if you can not do what is required.

3. Be nice to everyone. Many times the guy or girl who is playing next to you will end up becoming the band leader ... or he / she might end up recommending you for future gigs ... or he / she might stop you getting future gigs!

4. Stay focused at rehearsal. If you are playing then focus on that, not your smart phone (no facebook, txt etc unless you have a break or are tacet). I know one band leader who gets extremely annoyed when people txt / facebook / email during rehearsals! This person has a long memory.

5. Pay attention. Do not noodle when the bandleader is talking!

6. Say thank-you when people help you. e.g if someone pays you a compliment, or offers you work, or gives you a ride, or recommends you etc. Seems simple but many people do not do these things. Pay people back for help - consider recommending them for gigs.

7. Be nice to everyone. I know I have said this previously but it needs repeating. You never know where someone is going to end up. The guy who is pouring drinks behind the bar might end up running it one day and might have the power to get you gigs.

8. Never complain about the money. Do not take the gig if you are unhappy with the money offered. If you accept it, then you do so for the amount agreed. However, you have every right to complain if you do not get paid what was agreed.

9. Do not bad mouth people. I know, I know, it is easier said than done but sometimes this gets back to the person... and as I said earlier - you never know where people are going to be, or how they might be able to help you. The only time it is ok to bad mouth someone is if people rip you off. Then spread the word, to ensure others are not getting ripped off too. Even then, often it is best to let it slide and put it down to experience (just don't work with them again!) - besides karma will get them.

10. Make friends. One of the best things about the music industry is the cool people you will meet. Make friends with people. The music gets better. Everything gets better. I have met and are friends with some amazing musicians both locally and internationally and am very grateful for this.

Visit www.nickgranville.com for lessons, free music, videos, news and more... 

Why Spotify is great and sucks.

Spotify: the company people love and hate. When I first heard of Spotify I was excited. I decided to become a musician because I love music and the idea of having access to any music I want is amazing. This generation do not know how good they have it; or maybe that makes them value it less? 

Spotify states on their website - 'Spotify gives you millions of songs at your fingertips. The artists you love, the latest hits, and new discoveries just for you. Hit play to stream anything you like.'  So surely this a good for people who love music? This is why Spotify is great. 

Spotify is a smart company. They have figured out what people want and provided this, making money in the process. The issue seems to be that Spotify is paying a pittance to use this music, which is integral to their business. I have seen people post photos on Facebook of bank cheques for less than a dollar for a huge amount of streams. This is why Spotify sucks. 

I have heard many people say the record companies are making money from Spotify due to making a little bit from each of the large number of artists they have on Spotify. Maybe this is true, but it does not makes sense to me. One only has to think back to the days when record companies actually made money from music to see that this business model is one of diminishing returns (many record companies are closing down!). 

I have also heard many people try to claim Spotify is no different from YouTube and other similar websites. I would argue Spotify is unlike anything else so really can not be compared. YouTube is essentially a community: a social network of sorts. Spotify gives access to music to anyone for free, or for a small subscription and is designed to replace CD's and tradition mediums. 

My friend Andrew London raised an interesting point the other day during an interview for Coast Radio. Andrew has noticed a few changes in the buying habits of people at his gigs. In the past people who liked the gig would come racing up in big numbers - in a  buying frenzy if you will. He has observed a decline in the number of people who now do this. Maybe this is because people are aware they can get the music afterwards for free so why buy it?! 

Here is the key - artists need to control how their music is made available to consumers. If you do not like Spotify then do not use it. You have choices. Streaming is here to say. It is not for me to say this is a bad thing; this is being driven by what the people want. Artists need to learn how to operate in this environment. Use Spotify for what it is. 

I have a new CD coming out soon and will not be using Spotify, iTunes or any similar websites to sell my music - I will be controlling this rigourously. I might loose a few sales from people who might stumble upon my CD but I think I will gain by those who really want the music going to one place for it. I have past CD's on Spotify and will be leaving them on there - using Spotify to my advantage (hopefully). I will be making this new CD only available on Bandcamp and a few physical copies for selling at gigs. Click here to go to my bandcamp page. 

I truly believe there has never been a better time to be a musician. (Click here to read my first blog to see why I say this). Remember there are still people doing well in current times - try to figure out what are they doing differently. It is most likely they are thinking differently and using the ‘services’ to their advantage. 

Keep in touch:

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... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home