Super Musicians

Somewhere along the line I remember some artist saying that, "Good music is memorized music."   Certainly renowned concert violinists all seem to have this special ability. It always amazes me that they can recall music that is so complex.

During the Big Band era I remember watching trumpet players in some of the name bands  (London Arena) and many of them seemed to never take out their music.  These guys just knew the charts and played them flawlessly by memory.  One could say, "Yeah but they've played these same arrangements for months."   Still this is a skill that not every musician possesses.

I personally like to have music in front of me.   It allows me to see in advance how I will shape the phrases.   Even though I could probably play certain kinds of solos from memory that aspect of performance can be challenging when it comes to Big Band Jazz charts.  Seeing the music serves as a compass as to how to interpret what's written. In this genre (Jazz) interpretation is essential to make it sound creative and spontaneous.

I had a friend that played in Stan Kenton's band on trumpet. He played the Jazz chair and told me a story that is about one musician's ability to remember the entire book.  It's also a story about this musician coming up with a solution to an embarrassing and desperate dilemma.  

This particular day, the road manager (after a performance) instructed the entire band to take their books with them off the stand and bring the music with them to the next engagement. This was an important and rare request as the next playing venue was going to be tight travel wise. The travel by bus might be behind schedule and he wanted to save every precious minute in setting up at that next gig just in case.

If everyone took responsibility for their music to the next job the road manager would save perhaps 45 to 60 minutes in the process. No doubt he knew what he was talking about when it came to time and distance and needed this special consideration from the musicians. As it turned out, it would be a close call in more ways than one.

Wouldn't you know it, one of the trombone players left his book on the chair, packed his horn and left the facility.  It wasn't till the bus was moving for about 30 minutes that to his horror he realized what he had done.   Kenton would have a "bird" if he found out that one of the books was missing. It was virtually irreplaceable if lost.

Our forgetful trombone player (in a panic) at the next rest stop called and got ahold of the club they had just worked and asked them to forward the book to another venue. They wouldn't be there for ten days but it would be a good "target" address and hopefully a solution. The club sympathetically agreed to help him out considering this desperate predicament.  

Now he had to devise another plan to have his music (or some music) in front of him when Stan called out the sets that night.   He asked the "conga drum" player to loan him his book so that when Kenton called out the numbers he would be rifling through the book looking for them and then playing them. Apparently the "conga" player played the entire book without needing his music and never opened his book. Kenton and others weren't surprised that he knew the library.  He was just adding rhythm to "sweeten" the writing and what he had to play was largely to his discretion.

Yep, that night the trombone player knew his book completely by memory.  It was a tricky situation but as it turned out Kenton was none the wiser then or later.  (I might add that he was the third player and not the lead, in other words one of the inner voices.)   He was one of these guys that was in the habit of memorizing what he played.   His memory skills served him well however, not enough to remind him take his book with him in the first place. It was a close call but it all worked out in the end.

I think that is a great story and an ingenious (creative) solution to what could have been a messy situation had Kenton found out that the parts were missing.

Some time ago Super Sax came to perform at Massey Hall in Toronto. This is a Jazz group (5 saxes with trumpet or trombone added) that plays Charlie Parker solos that are orchestrated for this combination. (Two altos, two tenors and a bari) It can be appreciated how complex and difficult this music is. Super Sax weren't called 'super' for nothing. They were absolutely sensational.

Well, as fate would have it the Air Lines lost their music in transit. Nothing new here. Lost luggage unfortunately happens too frequently. That evening the group lived up to their billing "Super Sax". They were "super" in every creative sense.  The audience were amazed that they "miraculously" pulled it off -   not only that but without any mistakes. Wow! By all accounts in the newspaper the next day, the group played brilliantly.

It's not called the "professional" world for nothing, especially at this level of excellence. Los Angeles has produced some outstanding "super" talent over the years.

I guess outstanding musicianship manifests itself in many ways. That night the audience was not only treated to spectacular playing but witnessed a once-in-a lifetime feat of exceptional creativity. In deed it was a "super performance". 

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