Jazz Articles

Uncle Woody Sullender: Nothing is Certain but Death

by Clifford Allen
February 18, 2005

Solo playing is, to paraphrase guitarist Derek Bailey, a crucial means of investigating the process of sound production, to isolate and expand upon a language separate from group conversation. But as diction and sentence structure develop for a certain instrument, the ways of using these elements do become fewer, or at least more “practiced." For example, there may be only one Derek Bailey, but there are quite a few Ian Brightons. Things get a bit more interesting, though, as the ...