Plumbing the Depths of the Spirit- one song at a time...

During the summer months, while my wife and daughter are frolicking down at the shore and I am home working, I have a lot of evenings to myself. One of my passions is playing jazz (and blues and folk and classical and rock) guitar. Well now, I have been playing and studying the guitar for almost ten years and LOVE IT. It takes a lot of hard work to begin to journey toward mastery of the instrument and the expression of musical art through that instrument. I still have a long way to go on that journey, but I feel good about where I am with it right now.



Lately (for the past few months) in addition to velocity exercises, chord inversions and progressions, I have been working on a great jazz tune called "Lament" by jazz trombone great J.J. Johnson.



A seemingly simple melody with a very straight forward chord progression. Yet, I am finding there are so many nuances of expression within those notes if one really truly "plumbs the depths" of each musical nook and cranny that the melody evokes. This is the essence of jazz- focused, collaborative, synergistic creative expression through music.



Contrary to what some may think too- despite that jazz is a freer, more creative medium that incorporates improvisation, it takes excellent mastery of the instrument, knowledge of the genre, and fluency with the lingua franca, or common language of jazz. The great jazz masters- like Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis or Wes Montgomery, commanded such a mastery of the instrument and the art, that their performances and improvisations sound so effortless to the untrained ear. This sense of "effortless," flowing musical expression, at its best, speaks to the deepest parts of the human Spirit.



This does not happen by the artist just sitting down without having ever practiced or prepared and just starting to play. No- all the jazz greats first had to "pay their dues" in the woodshed practicing and practicing. Practice can seem tedious without a greater vision or sense of purpose in it. However, when the time is put in, and effort consistently made- the fruit of this labor can be amazing and almost ethereal.



After practicing "Lament" literally for several months on end- carefully learning all the chords, every last note in the melody, then playing the chords in all the possible inversions, and finally putting chords and melody together at the same time with embellishments and improvisations weaved in to fit with the chords- there was recently a moment of epiphany of sorts.



After practicing very methodically, note by note, chord by chord- playing the challenging spots over, and over, and over again until it went from labored stumbling to a smooth, beautiful effortless flow- I finally had an "a ha!" moment where I realized why I had been working so hard for all this time, and why my teacher had patiently guided and encouraged me through all that work and practice.



I played (or 'comped') the chords into the digital "looper" I have in my basement hooked to an amp, then pressed the loop switch, and began my workout- I was finally ready to "plumb the depths" of this song- having put in the time, struggled through the practice leading up to this point. After a time or two through warming up, I began to feel a pull from my inner Spirit, guiding my fingers to the notes and chords that best expressed how this tremendously moving melody was speaking to my heart.



I started with a basic statement of the melody as written over the chords- then I built on it, and built on it. I played, and I played, and I played- polishing the spots I had struggled with, and seeking to explore new creative musical territory as I went. The music was drawing my deeper and deeper- and at the same time God was speaking and ministering to my heart through this music- perhaps something like David must have felt when he played his harp and sung the Psalms he had written.



When I finally concluded the session, my fingers ached a little bit and I had gained a new callous or two, but it felt good- I had completed (or God had completed in me) a labor of love! This brought me the greatest peace I had felt in a long time, and was cathartic for me in many ways. Playing and studying the guitar is one of the ways that I meditate and plumb the depths of my inner Spirit.



I borrowed the metaphor "plumbing the depths" from the vocation of river pilots, who are knowledgeable experts at navigating a particular stretch of a river or waterway. They explore, learn about, study and get to know that stretch of river better than almost anyone around. They know where the channels and shoals are; they know where the sandbars and hidden rocks lie; they know the idiosynchrasies of the currents and weather conditions, and most of all- they know the best way to pilot a ship through that stretch safely and efficiently.



In many ways, God's Holy Spirit guides us in a similar way on our journey- a river pilot or jazz guitar master- has an amazing, genius-like skill in one particular, focused area. God's Spirit, though is always with us, always goes before us and knows the way.

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery was, without a doubt, one of the greatest jazz guitar legends of all time. In less than ten years as a solo artist he recorded one of the most impressive canons of jazz guitar music ever assembled. First and foremost among his worthy offerings was "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery."

This ambitious title album lives up to every bit of its name- as any serious jazz guitarist worth his chops will tell you. He is capably accompanied by Tommy Flannigan-piano, Percy Heath-bass and Albert Heath-drums.

In this great album Wes puts on a clinic for aspiring guitarists and jazzers alike. There is scant a plunked note or unfinished solo idea to be found amongst this amazing treasure trove of spectacularly crisp and original jazz innovation.

West Coast Blues is one of my favorite tracks on this album. In this one, Wes starts out by playing through the theme twice. It is one of four original Wes Montgomery tunes on the prodigious album. In it, Wes takes a swingin' blues progression, throws in an awesome tri-tone chord substitution leading to the IV.

After stating the theme, Wes makes ample use of the classic ii-V-I in a variety of keys spiraling on a journey through a variety of keys, finally arriving back in B-flat where it began. Over top of this great progression, Wes lays down amazing solo after amazing solo- starting with sequential patterns, moving to octaves, then to chord-melody and capping it off with amazing riffs highlighted by brilliant chord substitutions. Percy Heath then chimes in with three solid choruses on the piano.

Four on Six starts out with a driving bass riff solidly backed up by a driving drumbeat. Then Wes enters stating the theme crisply and succinctly. Again, brilliant soloing from the master guitarist ensues. Absolutely spectacular for any true jazzer! Another great original from Wes. This one really cooks!

D-Natural Blues is a capable jazz blues with some interesting variations to the classic 12 bar blues pattern.

Mister Walker (Renie)


Airegin- by Sonny Rollins


Gone With The Wind


In Your Own Sweet Way- by Dave Brubeck

Are also solid tracks on this pioneering jazz guitar album. If you have not listened to it already- pick it up and check it out. It is one of Wes' best studio albums- and, I believe, surpassed only by his later live albums: Smokin' at the Half Note, and Full House.

Keep on jazzin'!

Peace,

John

Jonesing for some Stevie!

Lately I have been really getting into some of Stevie Wonder's incredible soul-blues-jazz-funk.

This first clip is a version of 'Superstition' recorded live for (believe it or not) an episode of "Sesame Street" (otherwise known as ADD theatre for generation X-check out the young headbanger in the background)- it still kicks it pretty good and hey- it's Stevie doing his thing!



And dig those groovy duds ;-)