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Inside This Issue
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jazzView talks with
Jay Lawrence
Percussionist and Jazz Educator
jazzView: You've been described as one of the busiest musicians in the Rocky Mountain area - tell us about your current teaching and performing schedule.
Jay: Well I may be a little too busy for my own good, but I enjoy the challenge. On Monday's I'm at Utah Valley State College (Orem), followed immediately by teaching at my home until 7:00. Tuesday's I teach at Brigham Young University (Provo) until mid-afternoon, and then I teach at Alan Weight Studios (Salt Lake) until 8:30 p.m. On Wednesday's I can be found at Snow College (Ephraim) all day, with a
frequent evening gig at Snowbird until 11:00. Thursday finds me back at BYU in Provo until 5:00 followed by a long drive to BYU Idaho, where I am at all day Friday until 5:00 - whereupon I do my best to make a Friday night gig back in Salt Lake. Saturday's I'm at Backbeats Drum Shop (Salt Lake) from 10:00 to 5:00, usually followed by a gig that night. I take Sunday's off for church and family.
My schedule is more flexible than this though, because I often juggle students to make other gigs and recording sessions. Between all the schools, I prepare and teach an average of 12 classes and over 75 private lessons per week. I am also a regular member of at least 9 separate bands. Additionally, 2006 was a good year for recording - I was privileged to be on approximately half a dozen albums that featured artists like Eddie Daniels, Chuck Findley, Bob Mintzer, Ira Nepus, Tom Garvin, Andy Martin, and a gospel album with Kelly Eisenhour.
jazzView: How did you get started in jazz, and who are the artists you admire most?
Jay: While I was in the eighth grade, my band director enlisted me to be on the stage crew for the Reno International Jazz Festival - that was the beginning. My listening tastes evolved from the brass-rock bands - Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Tower of Power - to big bands such as Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich. Later I discovered Dave Brubeck, Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Eric Dolphy etc.
Among my favorites today would be Bill Stewart, Eddie Palmieri, Jeff Hamilton, Chick Corea, Mike Brecker, Christian McBride, Pat Metheny, Vinnie Colaiuta, Zakir Hussain, Stevie Wonder, Brad Mehldau and about a million others.
jazzView: What are the most important techniques that jazz drummers should learn to master?
Jay: A jazz drummer needs at least the following skills:
- Reading
- Idiomatic stickings
- Four-limb coordinated independence
- Awareness of form
- Musical touch and sense of dynamics
- Genre versatility
- Knowledge of the history of jazz and the instrument
- Familiarity with tunes from "The Great American Songbook" and the jazz repertoire
jazzViewTell us about your latest CD project - how did it get started, and who are the artists?
Jay: I credit my friend Mike MacKay for this great opportunity. At an IAJE conference in NYC I mentioned aspiring to record with Lynn Seaton someday. Mike generously offered to produce that recording. I then had the enviable task of choosing a pianist from amongst all my favorites and chose Tamir Hendelman. To quote a jazz critic, I could not have had better "shipmates for my maiden voyage as a leader." This was my big chance to do a firmly "in the pocket," traditional piano trio recording. I chose a balanced set of ten tunes from jazz history, the Songbook, band originals, and even a Lennon and McCartney tune.
| "This trio sets new standards for class and swing, and the solos are unusually consistent in their deep expressiveness. A few of the many notable moments on Thermal Strut: Seaton's signature scatting on the opener, Hendelman's funky arrangement of "Agua de Beber," Lawrence's churning approach to "Topsy," and his intricate, swinging brushwork, wherever it occurs. There's just one more thing to say about Lawrence's thoroughly enjoyable debut: it's about time!" - Dr. Judith Schlesinger, AllAboutJazz.com |
jazzView: You've had a great deal of success with airplay for this CD. How did that come about?
Jay: The best music in the world doesn't have much of a chance without distribution, which the OA2 label is very good at. OA2 is an artist co-op label out of Seattle - you can find information on them at:
http://www.oa2records.com/oa2/index.php
 |
Listen to clips from Jay's new CD ...
- Thermal Strut (Jay Lawrence)
- Topsy (Battle/Durham)
- Tell Me a Bedtime Story (Herbie Hancock)
- You Can't Do That (Lennon/McCartney)
* Note: These audio clips are for jazzView subscribers and may not be posted online without permission from Jay Lawrence or Visual Jazz Publications. |
jazzView: How did you prepare to be at your best for the recording session?
Jay: The goal was to get everything set up for the session and not be in a hurry about things. Before I picked up the other musicians at the airport, I took the time to tune my drumset just right and set up the drum mics and recording levels the way I wanted them. Once we were all sound-checked, I made sure we had good line-of-sight visual contact in the session. We recorded 2 tunes the first night and the remaining eight the next day.
To sum up I feel very blessed to have been involved with music of all kinds and great musicians for the last 35 years. To top it off, to have been able to support my large family for all these years making music is a privilege and a joy.
Tunes
1. Thermal Strut 6:25
2. Topsy 3:39
3. Tell Me A Bedtime Story 5:42
4. Love for Sale 5:00
5. Almost Summer 6:28
6. Opus de Funk 4:04
7. You Can’t Do That 6:07
8. Eulogy 7:20
9. Agua de Beber 5:03
10. Peacocks 7:11 |
Notes
Jay Lawrence - drums
Lynn Seaton - bass
Tamir Hendelman - piano
Musical Producers: Jay Lawrence / Tamir Hendelman
Executive Producer: Michael T. MacKay
Recorded at: Platinum Sound and Mastering Lab
Engineers: Barry Gibbons / Matt Cropper
Cover Art by Tracy MacEwan
Design & layout by John Bishop |
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jazz articles
Article 31: The Visual Approach to Learning Standards
Isn't it amazing - we can usually learn to hum the melody to a tune pretty quickly, but learning the chord progression to that tune is often a long and painful process. Sure would be nice if there were an easier way ...
(READ MORE >>>)
Article 32: Precisely!
Believe it or not, sometimes you can learn a lot from a parking garage structure ...
(READ MORE >>>)
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New from Visual Jazz - Free Tour and Sampler
What's new with Visual Jazz? ... Just take a look!
Here's your chance to check out the brand new Tour of Visual Jazz, giving you a cool overview of the products and approaches that make Visual Jazz an industry leader in creative jazz education.
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Jazz on YouTube - Chick Corea
In this issue, we spotlight two more amazing jazz videos on YouTube.com, this time featuring pianist Chick Corea. Click on each picture to start the video on YouTube; a brief description of the highlights is also included.
"Sophisticated Lady" - with the Akoustic Band (John Pattitucci, bass; Dave Weckl, drums), Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan
*0:12-0:16 - Interesting triplet pattern development
*0:39 - Transition to swing, from intro to the quartet
*0:51-1:00 - Quote and development of "High Fly" (Randy Weston tune)
*1:16-1:21 - Quarter-note triplets and varriations
*1:52-2:01 - Long descending run, then winding pattern back up
*2:28-2:30 - Pattern ala Art Tatum / Oscar Peterson
*2:42-3:00 - Bass solo starts with variations on the tune melody
*3:53-4:00 - Rhythmic displacement of melody
*4:02-4:05 - Nice swing inflection in melody
"On Green Dolphin Street" - with the Akoustic Band
*0:01-1:23 - Introduction - piano tremolos, pedal chord, inside string work
*1:23-1:33 - Tremolos with dampened strings
*1:50-2:06 - Intense arpeggio figures over pedal
*2:26 - Melody begins
*3:02-3:05 - Salsa figures in piano
*3:15-3:20 - More intense arpeggio patterns
*3:33-3:39 - Developing with one note
*4:40-4:47 - Bass pedal figure leads to intense piano passage (and lifts Chick off the chair)
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Back Issues of the jazzView Newsletter
Miss an issue of jazzView? Not to worry - we've got them all here ... just click and read! Issues are sorted by date (recent to early) and interview feature.
November 2006 - Nathan Botts, trumpet
October 2006 - Murray Snyder (part 2)
September 2006 - Murray Snyder (part 1)
August 2006 - Susan Muscarella, The Jazzschool
July 2006 - Jeremy Wilson, JazzStandards.com
June 2006 - Bob Curnow, Sierra Music (part 2)
May 2006 - Bob Curnow, Sierra Music (part 1)
April 2006 - Kelly Eisenhour, BYU Jazz Vocal
March 2006 - Initial Issue
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