Jazz education is non-existent in Nairobi. We are hoping to change that in a small way.

Tryin to link my Twitter to my blog. This is a test to see if it works

Moved to Nairobi Kenya

Hi Everybody, we have finally moved to Kenya from Uganda. It is a time-consuming, tiring and stressful thing to do.

Anyway...

I have been busy meeting a few musicians lately here in Nairobi. One is from the UK and has lived here for 7 years. Jim tells me that there is a library of big band music available to use. There used to be the Nairobi Jazz Orchestra some years ago. For one reason or another it ceased performing. We are hoping to revive it and begin playing.

In other news, I met another restauranteur that wants a jazz group to perform once or twice a week. That is now 2 establishments that want jazz. Now I need to find a pianist/guitarist, bassist, drummer and maybe a sax.

Anybody know any jazz musicians in Nairobi??

Alright, that's it for now. Later , Jeff

Chord Exercise picture

Sorry that's it is so big, I am not sure how to edit out all of the unused part of the page, but download it, or copy and paste it to your desktop if you wish. 

Practicing

Hi, I would like discuss what I am practicing everyday.

I focus on one key center for a few days.  I use the Cycle of 4ths/5ths as a guide.

My warm-up involves an exercise that the jazz flautist Kent Jordan taught me. It covers Major 7, Dominant 7, Minor 7 and Half diminished chords. So if I my focus is on "C", then I do Kent's exercise using C as my starting note. I initially was including the 9ths, but now I include the extensions up to the 13ths.

What's good about this exercise is that it helps me to get away from the "root based" focus on the chords and familiarizes me with the upper extensions of the chord. The exercise is teaches me about the "inversions" of all of the chords.

I have expanded the warm-up of these chords to include the following:
Major 7 Chords-Play Maj7 chords with the #11. Example, C,B,F#, E, C,B etc. for 2 or 3 octaves.
Dominant 7th Chords-

• (C7) C,E,G,Bb,C etc.
• (C9) E,D,G,Bb,D,E etc.
• (C7 #11) C,E,G,Bb,D,F#, A, etc.
• (C7 Alt) C, Eb, Gb, Bb, Db, Fb, Ab, C (from the 7th mode of Db Melodic Minor)

(There are many D7 chords. When I am done with C, I then go to the next chord in the Dominant 7 exercise, that being Ab7 and I do the same thing as mentioned above.)

 Minor 7th Chords-
C, Eb,G,Bb,D,F,A,C etc.

I also practice the Major pentatonic scale. Eb,F,G, Bb,C etc. up and down for 2 or 3 octaves.

I then practice an exercise from the book entitled "Pentatonics" by Jerry Bergonzi. (The link is on a previous post.)

I then move onto the next Minor 7th chord in the exercise, that being A-7, and I do the same thing as above.

Half-Diminished Chords -Locrian #2
From the 6th mode of the Eb Melodic Minor Scale.
C,Eb,Gb,Bb,D,F,Ab,C

So, I have found that it is good to practice above and below your starting note. Overlap every octave. Does that make sense?

As well, I have been practicing jazz charts going through each chord and practicing the extensions. It helps to become familiar with common tones between chords.

But the best reason for doing the exercise is that it helps me to explore more sounds within each chord.

As mentioned previously, I focus on "C" for 3 days. On one of those days I will do the C Major Blues.  (Which reminds me that I need to begin working more on the minor blues. So much to do!) In any case, I use the "Blues in Every Key" by Jamey Aebersold. Jamey gives 2 different chord progressions for the blues in every key. I know that there are other more complicated blues such as Charlie Parker Blues, but I haven't gotten there yet.

For me I need to focus on the "meat and potatoes" at this point, keeping things a little simpler.

I usually rest for a while and might compose something, like a blues. Or I will work on jazz theory , writing out scales and chords. I seem to learn something new everyday about chord/scale relationships.

Ok , that's it for now. Later on, Jeff

Lately I am Listening to...

Lately I have been listening to:

Johnny Hodges
Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Chick Corea
McCoy Tyner
Clifford Brown
Freddie Hubbard
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Pat Metheny
Marsalis' family-together and with their individual groups
George Harrison Tribute
Gustav Mahler Sym. 2
Olivier Messien-Turangalila Symphony

Sometimes I feel like I don't listen enough, but I guess I am doing alright.
Any suggestions? Thanks

Books I Use to Learn about Jazz theory

I have played music for many years. I studied music at some fine universities and had a decent dose of music theory along the way, or so I thought. One thing that has taken me a while to get my head around is the jazz theory. Below I have listed some of the books that I use for practicing patterns and learning jazz theory.

·      Hexatonics by Jerry Bergonzi http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Hexatonics-Vol-7-book-CD/17447091

·      Pentatonics by Jerry Bergonzi http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Pentatonics/3813438

·      Various Jamey Aebersold books and play-along cds. http://www.jazzbooks.com/

·      The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine http://www.shermusic.com/new/0961470151.shtml

·      The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine http://www.shermusic.com/new/1883217040.shtml

·      Jazz Keyboard Harmony by Phil Degreg http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Keyboard-Harmony-Phil-DeGreg/dp/B000FKE4WU

·      Modern Jazz Voicings by Ted Pease and Ken Pullig

·      Jazz Composition Theory and Practice by Ted Pease

·      Arranging for Large Jazz Ensemble by Dick Howell and Ken Pullig.

The last three books listed are all part of the Berklee School of Jazz curriculum. They are available from the Berklee Press.  http://www.berkleepress.com/

If anybody has any other suggestions, please let me know.