Yes. My apologies for all tasteless pianists everywhere, and I hope I am
not one. The concept of laying out could and should be applied to all
members of the jazz band. Sometimes little duos and trios out of a larger
group gives the music a lift.
I played with a quartet on time and on a fast samba. At the end of the
head, the bass player decided to lay out for the flute solo, but so did the
drummer, and so did I (on piano). This poor flute player was stranded alone
at halfnote=136. None of us came in for three choruses. He played
beautifully, never lost the changes or the time. When we all decided to
come in together was for the piano solo, and the energy was combustible.
Some soloists (guitarists, pianists, sax player, all) play wall to wall.
Nothing will put a rhythm section to sleep faster than a soloist who does
that. I played with some excellent players who would leave up to four
measures of rests in the middle of burning solo, everyone in the rhythm
section is on the edge of their seat waiting for the next note, and so was
the audience. The large holes allowed the drummer and pianist to play some
rhythmic fills, and not just play static time.
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Bert Ligon
Director of Jazz Studies
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School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Voice: (803) 777-6565
Fax: (803) 777-2151
http://www.music.sc.edu/Departments/Jazz/
bligon@mozart.sc.edu
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