Join Patrick Bradley and his band for an evening of jazz fusion at Spaghettini on Friday, April 5th. We will be welcoming two new members to the band: guitarist Philip Gough and drummer Suzanne Morissette. Tickets are available now. Visit the Spaghettini website to make your reservation today!
Patrick Bradley, keyboards
Paul Navidad, saxophones
Andrew Carney, trumpet
Philip Gough, guitar
Brad Cummings, electric bass
Suzanne Morissette, drums
For those of you attending the 2019 Winter NAMM Show, Paul will be performing at the Sax Dakota (PJLM Music Sales & Marketing) Booth, #8933. Drop by, listen to the tunes, and say, “Hi!”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Paul will be unable to perform at Barley Forge Brewing Company on Thursday, July 19th. However, Paul’s Quartet will still be performing there that evening, fronted by trumpeter Andrew Carney. Please come out to support their performance.
The Patrick Bradley Band will be returning to the Newport Beach Jazz Festival for 2018. Join fusion/smooth jazz keyboardist Patrick Bradley, saxophonist Paul Navidad, trumpeter Andrew Carney, guitarist John Parr, bassist Brad Cummings, and drummer Tony Moore for one of the biggest annual smooth jazz events in Southern California. Patrick is fresh off the release of his 4th album, Intangible, produced by Jeff Lorber. The band’s performance schedule is TBA. You can purchase tickets by visiting www.festivals.hyattconcerts.com.
For those of you attending the 2018 Winter NAMM Show, Paul will be performing at the Sax Dakota (PJLM Music Sales & Marketing) Booth, #8933. Drop by, catch a set, and say, “Hi!”
Join Patrick Bradley and his band as they celebrate the release of his fourth album, Intangible, at Spaghettini on Friday, January 12th. Tickets are available now. Visit the Spaghettini website to make your reservation today!
Patrick Bradley, keyboards
Paul Navidad, saxophones
Andrew Carney, trumpet
John Parr, guitar
Brad Cummings, electric bass
Tony Moore, drums
The following is something I wrote in a Facebook group in response to a clarinetist wanting to test the jazz waters for the first time:
Part of what will help getting started with playing jazz is gaining an understanding of the role of the clarinet in jazz, from a chronological standpoint. In traditional jazz, the role of the clarinet was ornamental: it outlined the harmony by arpeggiating the chords around the cornet melody, typically in the upper register.
Start with some earlier recordings of players like Johnny Dodds and Sidney Bechet. Play along with the recordings and see if you can pick up some of their licks by ear and execute them. Record yourself while you are doing this and listen critically to your performance. Then progress to the next generation of players like Benny Goodman, Barney Bigard, Pee Wee Russell, Artie Shaw, and Stan Hasselgard. You will see that some of their improvisational devices are a clear evolution of the idiomatic devices of the previous generation of clarinetists. When you have absorbed enough of their playing, you should be ready for more modern players like Buddy DeFranco, Eddie Daniels, and Ken Peplowski, and you’ll understand both what is idiomatic to the clarinet in jazz as well as how the modern vocabulary developed.
Remember, jazz is traditionally an aural art, and prior to the advent of formal jazz education, players learned by emulating their favorite musicians. As a novice improvisor, you will learn far more at this stage of the game by playing along with recordings and analyzing what your favorite players are doing rather than using publications. Books are valuable and have their place, but ultimately, your ear will be the best arbiter, so as a fledgling jazz musician, it is imperative that you develop that part of your arsenal before incorporating theory into the equation.
In a Facebook clarinet group, one of the members posed the following question:
Can someone explain to me the tendency of many younger clarinetists to dance around so much when they play? If you look at videos of some of the greats, Benny Goodman, Stanley Drucker, David Shifrin, Anthony McGill, they move a little bit, but for the most part they stand still and play. Where did all this moving come from?
I come from a tradition of internalizing feel and avoiding emoting with the body, as a good deal of bodily movement is unnecessary, and some movement can even inhibit proper technique. However, I also work in show biz. Here is my response:
With a lot of younger, developing musicians, the tendency to emote with the body is very prevalent. 24 years ago when I was in graduate school, I was a regular offender. Fortunately for me, I had a teacher who worked to break me of that habit. In my situation, my elbows were the biggest culprit. At times, it looked as if I were about to take flight. To cure myself of this affliction, I went to the extremes of strapping my elbows down with a belt whenever I practiced in order to fight the urge. But the key part of that was having a teacher who wouldn’t let me get away with it. I believe that part of the problem lies with teachers who let their students get away with emoting with the body rather than internalizing.
But I think a bigger part of the problem is the way the general public perceives the Arts. I think Herb Alpert put it best when he said that when MTV came around, people started listening with their eyes. Take for example the annual Super Bowl halftime show: Madonna, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, etc. all put on shows which are visually stunning, to the accolades of the masses. But have Paul McCartney or Bruce Springsteen come up and just play music, and the public labels them as boring.
Think about how singing the Star-Spangled Banner has evolved over the past 30 years at sporting events: it is no longer about leading those in attendance in a sing-along of the US National Anthem, but rather showboating for the personal glory of the performer.
Look at the state of the film industry: how many films today are all about mind-blowing action and special effects yet are severely devoid of quality storylines?
As Arts programs have been cut at the elementary level, our youth receive less and less exposure to complex art forms. As a result, when they reach maturity, many choose to consume forms of entertainment which simply stimulate them rather than causing them to think.
30 years ago in high school, I learned that I could get a crowd to go nuts if I danced around while playing a simple blues solo. Sadly, the content of my solo was irrelevant; what mattered more to the audience was the visual of me gyrating my hips to the music.
The fact of the matter is that movement while playing an instrument is visually stimulating to the general public. If an audience hasn’t learned how to listen to music, they are going to be entertained by what they see. Personally, I would prefer to stay still and just make music, but I also know that there are times when I need to go out and work the crowd. The masses view music not as art, but rather as entertainment. And if an artist entertains their audience, they are more likely to do repeat business.
Let’s face it: our society has unfortunately become one of immediate gratification. The general public has a very short attention span, and if a performer is unable to stimulate an audience in under 10 seconds, a lot of that audience will choose to move on to something else that will stimulate them. If that audience member is a millennial, they will likely pull out their phone and be stimulated by that instead.
I know that’s probably a lot more than you bargained for! There’s a lot of pent-up frustration on my part, apparently! My best recommendation is that if you have the opportunity to work with a younger student, encourage them to minimize their movements in the manner of the masters of days gone by.
Doug Legacy, the zydeco man with the zydeco plan, will be releasing his new album on June 18th, 2017. The Gumbo Brotherhood is the latest offering from Doug and the Zydeco Party Band, featuring a number of Legacy’s originals as well as the guitar playing of Grant Geissman of Chuck Mangione fame. Paul plays tenor and baritone saxophones and also sings backgrounds. Get your copy today at CDBaby!
A former student of mine posed the following question:
When making music doesn’t even cheer you up, what do you do?
As musicians, we turn to music in difficult times, typically expecting it to get us through them. What we need to understand is that the music we make is an expression of our emotions at the moment, and as such, will serve as some kind of release. Expecting it to always cheer us up is unreasonable because the release that music affords us may be of an entirely different nature. And as much as we would like to believe it, music does not hold all the answers.
At times like these, turning inward to things like prayer or outward to some form of focused physical activity can supply what does not come from music. For me, when all else fails, I go to the batting cages and hit balls to the point of exhaustion.
Paul Navidad Online 