Re: Transcriptions & Improvising
Richard Tabnik ( rctabnik@inch.com )
Tue, 4 Feb 1997 19:26:11 -0500 (EST)
>Richard Tabnik wrote:
>
>> It's too bad that Reed can't address what I say directly. But I'm not out
>> to 'change his mind'; this scene can be done and has been done for decades.
>>
>> Ask Lee Konitz...
>
>Funny you should mention that. I played a gig with Lee Konitz about 11
>years ago and took a lesson with him also. He wouldn't allow me to tape
>the lesson, and I asked him about the Tristano and what they studied. He
>avoided the whole issue, just wouldn't talk about it. His "method"
>constisted of telling me to improvise on whatever standard I was working
>on with the metronome set to 60 bpm, and improvise in 8th notes, no
>double-timing. That was it- the entire lesson. I enjoyed his company
>otherwise but I felt his lesson was a bit stilted, and for whatever
>reason the Tristano subject was off limits, which was disappointing
>considering the hype.
>
>Clay
Well, Lee has been in different places with all this at different points in
his life. But when I studied with him [1970-72], part of the scene was
learning solos, just the way I talk about.
BTW, later, when I lived in Buffalo, NY and studied theory with Russ
Messina [I studied Gordon Delamont's books. Russ was actually the guy who
told G.D. to write his theory in a book! He was one of Delamont's students
and a great teacher of theory and piano and accordian in his own right], I
indeed brought in written transcriptions that I had done by exactly the
method I've talked about. Russ would check them for accuracy and analysis
[he also had perfect pitch], and I always did fine with it...
Best wishes for a happy life in a peaceful world.
Sincerely,
Richard Tabnik, Jazz Alto Saxophonist
e-mail: <rctabnik@inch.com>
WWW Page: <http://www.inch.com/~rctabnik>
"The jazz musician's function is to feel." -Lennie Tristano