Jeff Antoniuk is an internationally renowned musician and jazz educator based in the Washington DC area.
Jeff is all about bringing musicians together, to feed and build the jazz community. Whether you are a full time pro trying to grow and reimagine your business, or a semi-pro, adult amateur player or high school student putting it all together, this might be for you. Serious input, a serious path, and plenty of advice and options for how to move ahead in your study and playing.
SEE THE LINKS BELOW! - JazzWire (our subscription platform built for passionate adult amateur and semi-pro players around the world. - JazzWire Summer Summits (multi-day adult jazz camps every June, July and January) - Jazz Band Masterclass (ongoing twice-a-month jazz combos for adult students in the DC/MD/VA area) - Jazz Teacher Training (training for jazz pros on how to develop a business like this in YOUR city in the USA or Canada)
Thanks for introducing me to this piece. I've got to check out the rest of the album. It sounds a lot like something from Lee Morgan and Mike Lawrence in particular seems to have been influenced by him.
I definitely hear an angularity from Woody Shaw too. It's NUTS that Mike was 21 here. He barely had any time to soak up anything from anyone! He is definitely bringing his own amazing concept, in addition to great influences as you suggest. Just incredible.
Melodic, but also so angular and "modern." That's what I love about Joe is his ability to at once sound melodic, hyper-modern, bluesy and angular all at once.
I'm not sure what I was thinking about with that instrument choice, but there is a good possibility that this was the last time I blew into an alto. My son actually has my alto down at UNT (where I'll be flying in to this afternoon!). So, a most, I'll get to LOOK at my alto for a hot minute!
Thanks for taking the time to write. How do you mean "too critical for jazz"? As an educator, my job is to be clear about the music, and to notice and honor things that work, and to notice and honor things that DIDN'T work, mistakes, human moments in the performances. Treating jazz recordings like religious relics isn't a great path forward I don't think. We should love them and revere them, but as a coach, I also want to analyze them. I hope that helps you see into the approach here.
@@JeffAntoniukEducator No. You're good at what you do. its just that i feel jazz and expression go hand in hand. one i'd bet the farm that these players werent thinking about any of the above while playing , secondly, as i believe some other comments referred to, calling what any artist does in jazz an error is (cant find word), so long as its tasteful. i believe Parker said something to the effect that you could play any not you wanted so long as you didnt play it too long. improvisation????
@@trumpeterval8751 Thanks for the note back, and all good points. The issue is that none of those points are helpful for a student wanting to play better and learn the music. None of it is actionable. None of it will help you sound better in 15 minutes time. So, great thoughts, excellent views on "art" and so on. Totally agreed. But, if "better art" is what someone is after, coaching and studying and analysis is the path forward. ⭐
@@JeffAntoniukEducator If this were classical I'd understand. Here's an idea: How about pointing out the stuff they did that made us talk about then even today?
Hi Jeff, thanks for the analysis of Dexter Gordon's interpretation of the tune. Please, could you tell what's wrong with the vibrato coming from the belly instead of the mouth? Sorry, I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything like that, it's simply because I don't know. Thanks in advance for your time.
Short answer = it sounds bad, and isn't vibrato at all. It is a "tremolo". We end up with bad tone, no control, and and not sounding like a sax player (since all sax players use Vibrato). In short, it's a blind alley. I'm so happy that you are enjoying these videos. Please subscribe if you haven't yet. There is MUCH more good stuff coming. And hey, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together!
To me, the repeated notes add an almost vocal-like quality to the melody. As if he was articulating the words of a sung melody. Man, that tone is huge! Love his vibrato.
FOR SURE! I love working with musicians and students of course, but this music is for LISTENING!!! Thanks for being with us on this trip. Please subscribe if you haven't already.
Jeff eres un jefe! Me encanta tu canal, mucho amor desde España! Sigue con el canal, estaría guay una review de Tete Montoliu con Dexter Gordon❤ Amor desde aquí
Thank you Jeff. Your positive enthusiasm just makes everything seem so "right". I love Dave Holland's music and how he and the group explores diffent composistional ideas, rhythm, melody and harmonic canvas. Hard to do for us lesser mortals! But satisfying nonetheless. Thank you for the inspiration.
Thanks for posting this! "Back in the day" (in my late teens), I listened to a lot of Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, Coltrane's later recordings, Joseph Jarmen, Anthony Braxton ... and didn't get turned on to "traditional" jazz until much later.
Changeless is actually a style? Takes me back to my teenage days when I would play a whole set with just a drummer. there were no changes because I didn't know how to play chords. I'd just tell the drummer a tempo and style and off we'd go for 5 or 10 minutes and then we'd stop and make another call. No changes. Not even a key.
Absolutely. It's an HUGE subset of jazz. Many hundreds of thousands of recordings, bands and performances, since the late 50's. Sounds like you were a part of it back in the day!
@@JeffAntoniukEducator If I was a part of it, it was not because I was doing something consciously but because I didn't have a clue about playing any other way. I was totally ignorant never having been exposed to any music theory at all.
Ok. So Jeff. If you were given a lead sheet for this tune what in blazes would it look like? Would it be primarily a drum/rhythm sheet, or would it just say “you have the license to BS”. A “free will” format! Glad this has never been called during a jam session…😂 Thanks for explaining. I too would not be drawn to playing jazz after hearing this. Free will! 😅
12 measures long, and very simple. Tag me inside www.JazzWire.net and I'll share it. I'll put it there right now actually. As I said in the video, this is a GREAT and quite important way to play, from a developmental and pedagogical standpoint. I hope we'll have a chance to do some of this together!
I heard Ornette when I was 15 and he blew my mind. I didn’t know wtf was going on. I kept listening and it wade me a lifelong jazz fan. The year before it happened when I first heard muddy waters. There were never things that were heard anywhere that sounded like ornette anmd most white white people really never heard electric blues. This music still sounds fresh but no longer revolutionary.
Amazing stories!! What a trip that must have been. I heard Dave Liebman and Ritchie Beirach duo (live) when I was about 15, and I was NOT READY for that either! Love these experiences!!
Very useful analysis, great format! Helps me to come up with my own piano arrangement of the tune and gives me more ideas for soloing. Coming in a few weeks. For now: liked, subscribed your channel! Greetings from Nürnberg, Germany
I'm so happy that you are enjoying these videos. Thanks for subscribing, as there is MUCH more good stuff coming. And hey, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together! Plus, we have a bunch of German musicians working together inside JazzWire.
All the tunes on the album are first time through the full tune. There were some restarts. Only one of the tunes was recorded all the way through twice. Still the first take was used.
Great listening session Jeff. I too have heard this tunes hundreds of times. What impresses me is the depth that these guys present with such a stripped down melody and harmony. Very 3-D playing to me. I once played this tune on a date and at the break the venue manager came to me and wanted to know why I played a song with only 2 notes. Maybe he thought he wasn't getting his monies' worth. I wanted to tell him to take it up with Miles. LOL
Thanks Jeff. I recently recorded a solo for a Dave Pollack project on a tune with the same chords as "So What". The solos on this recording are all so different. I have to admit, that on some of your guided listening posts I wish you would talk less so I can listen to the tune, but this is one I have heard so often I can appreciate your comments more.
Wes recorded "Road Song" in the studio on the last album he recorded & released by A&M/CTI records posthumously. Its also a beautiful version, however this is the definitive version with Jimmy Smith. Nice job! ❤
I'm so happy that you are enjoying these videos. Please subscribe if you haven't yet. There is MUCH more good stuff coming. And hey, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together!
Yup. Right on. And all the same could be said about Miles, certainly Freddie Hubbard, The Beatles, Lauren Hutton's gap-toothed smile.... erasing imperfections is not the goal, right?
So well put! Hey, I'm so happy that you are enjoying these videos. Please subscribe if you haven't yet. There is MUCH more good stuff coming. And hey, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together!
What’s making this piece so damn swinging? Is it that milli second the bass is driving ahead while the guitar stays perfectly in time? The articulation of horn and piano? It seems to me that Oscar is sometimes a ms behind the beat in his solo part.? It’s interesting to figure that out.
Impossible Question Of The Day: What makes something swing or have great feel? I love the image of a person holding a big strong dog on a leash. The dog is straining to get away, and if the leash breaks, the dog is GONE. The person is dug in and pulling back, holding the dog in place. Neither are really moving forward or back, but both are sort of vibrating in place. There is SO MUCH energy in this little scene, but nothing is happening. I think this image has something to do with a compelling feel.
I'm so happy that you are enjoying these videos. Please subscribe if you haven't yet. There is MUCH more good stuff coming. And hey, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together!
Fr sure. Live recordings were almost always done later, after the studio recording. By that time, the musicians had lived with the compositions, and played it MANY more times. And of course the live versions generally allow for longer and more developed solos. Great point!
So happy to have you with us. New videos come out every Friday, and have for 6+ years. Lots of great stuff in the archives, and much more to come. Cheers!
The live version with Path Metheny is great too. Kenny Garrett's solo at the end is so emotional and energetic at the same time. I think I prefer the melodic choices of the studio version but the energy of the live version is really something. Whatever version K.G. always manages to bring tears to my eyes. This guy is so good !
Great observations of live vs. studio performances in general. Both are great, and often different in big ways, as you point out. Nice! Thanks for commenting.
Miles's tunes are great to jam to because the tempos accommodate every level of proficiency and allow us to play with the harmonies where we can away with a lot.
Except for the 1,000 songs where Miles was playing fast as hell!! 😂 He was a fully rounded players who played killer tempos with the best of them. Of course, he's known for his great ballad playing too. A great example here for sure. That said, the HARMONIES here are very tricky. Friendly tempo, really advanced harmonies. The trick is to find songs that we can approach in all these ways. So many teachers and students set out on dead end journeys for these reasons and more. You know, if you haven't already, please jump in to a Free 30 Day Limited access to JazzWire. I would love to work together with you in a more meaningful (and not too expensive) way. With the Free 30 Day Trial, you’ll see what we're doing behind the wall! You'll be inside in about 20 seconds, no credit card required. www.jazzwire.net/free-trial/. These videos are great, but they are a SHADOW compared to the real work and we can do together!
