One of the hardest jobs for a lead trumpet player is reading high notes, a skill that involves a strong ear, confidence, and experience. There is a clear divide that separates trumpet players who can play high notes and trumpet players who can play lead and effectively perform in the ...
Flying Lotus’s latest album, “You’re Dead!” is stunning. One of the best albums of music to be released this year. If you haven’t listened to it yet, get on it. Most of the tracks stuck with me in some way, but one that hit me hardest on the first pass ...
For two weeks in September 1948, the Miles Davis Nonet, a semi-informal group of young jazz musicians coming of age in the early days of bebop, played a live set, about an hour or so long, of newly-composed music that would ultimately be a significant contribution to the evolution of ...
Transcribing is the process of hearing something and figuring it out, either by writing it down or learning it on your instrument. Transcribing is a great skill to work on and has all kinds of practical benefits: Transcription is ear training in boot camp mode. You have no choice but ...
"Good artists borrow, great artists steal." This quote is often attributed to Igor Stravinsky, a composer who was heavily inspired by Duke Ellington's music and who's music Ellington himself was an admirer of. It's appropriate here not just because of the connection between the two composers, but because of the ...
