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Music Education Monday: A rhythm section workshop with bassist Rufus Reid
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Today for Music Education Monday, you can watch the veteran bassist Rufus Reid as he leads a workshop in jazz rhythm section performance with students at Loyola University New Orleans. A California native, the 71-year-old Reid (pictured) studied music at Northwestern University and began his professional career in Chicago before moving in 1976 to New York City. He's recorded 17 albums as a leader, and worked with well-known musicians including Eddie Harris, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, J.J. Johnson, Dexter Gordon, ...
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Music Education Monday: B-3 for beginners
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
The sound of the Hammond B-3 organ is an integral part of many American musical genres, from blues and funk to gospel and soul. It's been part of jazz, too, almost since its invention in 1935, but really came into prominence starting in the 1950s thanks to Jimmy Smith. Smith, a Philadelphia native who started as a pianist, developed a distinctive style of playing that took advantage of the Hammond's unique feature set and put the organ at the center ...
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Music Education Monday: A master class with Tony Williams
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Drummer Tony Williams burst on to the international jazz scene in sensational fashion, getting hired when he was just 17 years old by Miles Davis to join what would become known as the trumpeter's “Second Great Quintet." Starting in 1963, that band become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed jazz groups of the decade, stretching the boundaries of the music ever further over the course of six years, more than a dozen recordings, and hundreds of gigs. Williams ...
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Music Education Monday: Pat Metheny and John Scofield on improvisation
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Pat Metheny and John Scofield are two of the top guitarists and bandleaders in contemporary jazz, and today's Music Education Monday post features video sessions with each of them talking about their personal approaches to improvisation. Both first came to prominence in the late 1970s, and both share a connection to Berklee School of Music, where Scofield studied as an undergraduate and Metheny once served as a teaching assistant to his mentor, vibraphonist Gary Burton. Scofield first became widely known ...
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Music Education Monday: Paquito D'Rivera on composing and playing clarinet, and more
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Born in 1948 in Cuba, Paquito D'Rivera first became well-known in the USA in the early 1980s as the fiery alto saxophonist for the high-energy band Irakere. Over the ensuing decades, he's revealed other aspects of his musical personality, too—such as his clarinet playing, which has been consistently good enough to earn D'Rivera a place in the critical conversation about the most capable contemporary jazz clarinetists. For today's Music Education Monday, here's a video of a master class with D'Rivera, ...
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Music Education Monday: Master classes with Wynton Marsalis
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Wynton Marsalis is known not only as a trumpet player, composer, and bandleader, but also as a strong advocate for jazz education. As the artistic head of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis (pictured) has overseen the development of a number of educational programs for the institution, but he also gets involved personally in teaching when the opportunity arises. And so, for today's installment of Music Education Monday, here's a chance to check out videos of a couple of master classes ...
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Music Education Monday: A master class with trombonist Bill Watrous
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week for Music Education Monday, it's a master class from trombonist Bill Watrous. Beginning his career in the early 1960s, Watrous has played and recorded with musicians such as Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Kai Winding, and Quincy Jones, as well as leading his own big band, originally known as the Manhattan Wildlife Refuge, and later renamed Refuge West when Watrous relocated to Los Angeles. Acclaimed among fellow trombonists for his range, tone, and fluid technique, Watrous also is a ...
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Music Education Monday: Saxophone workshops with Dave Liebman and Bill Evans
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
With the unveiling of the Miles Davis statue in Alton set for this Saturday, today's Music Education Monday offers an opportunity to hear from a couple of his former sidemen, the saxophonists Dave Liebman and Bill Evans. In addition to playing with Davis at the turn of the 1970s, Liebman also had a notable stint early in his career with drummer Elvin Jones' group. In the ensuing decade, he's performed all around the world and appeared on hundreds of recordings, ...
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