[TPIN] Good or bad,..here it is

[Jeff Helgesen]

Jon (and the list):

(First of all, it takes a dedicated student of the instrument to bare
one's "jazz soul" to a list of peers for criticism, so kudos to Jon
and I hope he gets some constructive comments from others.)

I took a few minutes and listened to each of the cuts.

I think you clearly display the ability to construct solos over these
changes that don't violate any of the harmonic "rules", with good time
and a sense of the form and surrounding solos.

I'd be hard pressed to identify things "not to do" in the solos you
provided -- there are good note choices, and "not as good" note
choices, and your ear can probably tell you when you've hit one versus
the other.  One thing I've suggested in the past to some folks is that
they write out (transcribe) what they did on a solo and go back and
see if they can edit it to make it better.

I could make some specific suggestions about things you could practice
to maybe expand your palette of melodic ideas, but I hesitate to do
that without knowing what kinds of things you've been doing in
practice sessions to get where you are now.

I'm a big proponent of LOTS of listening and LOTS of dedicating solos
to memory, and when possible, LOTS of transcribing and analysis.  I
think that the more melodic information you have in your head to draw
from, the easier it is to construct solos that are not only
stylistically appropriate (which I'm sure is a priority given the
nature of your work) but also interesting for you to play.

I'd be happy to offer more specific comments via private email.

Thanks for putting this out there, I hope your offering generates some
interesting reponses for you and the list!

Regards,
Jeff

-- 
Jeff Helgesen
Buy our CD at http://cdbaby.com/cd/jazzmayhem

> "Jon Trimble" <jontrimble at cox.net> said (in part)...
>
> Hey guys, finally got those recordings from a month ago.  I set up a myspace
> account to get them out there. http://myspace.com/jontrimble
> [...]
>
> Here's my goal, I am offering myself up as a way to point out what would be
> good to do AS WELL as what is not good to do.  Thought you all might like to
> discuss whatever about it.  I have no ego on this.  [...]