Q:
I would appreciate to play Senor CS with my band. You played the 12/8 rhythm (or do you call it 6/4?) a bit faster in Leverkusen than John did on Industrial Zen, and I totally fell in love with the way this rhythm carried the melodic flow over the changes (with a touch of samba in in the bass while staying in the non-samba rhythm, if I remember well).

A:
John wrote Señor C.S. in 6/4 but, as you heard, the band took it through various interpretations of the basic rhythm. The keyboard solo tends to break down into 2 bars of 3/4 with a little Flamenco flavor. But, yes, the song is basically in 6.

Q:
Is it daring to ask if a lead sheet of this song is available anywhere? The other way is the usual way in our band: the (amateur) keyboarder has to to capture everything by listening again and again. ;-)
I would readily pay for the material, since it would make my task easier and shorter in the always too limited time I have for making music besides my main job.

A:
I suggest you write to John at his website for a lead sheet of the song. But it wouldn't be a bad idea to transcribe it yourself - it's great "ear training".

Q:
And while asking, I could add a question concerning improvising over the changes. Of course I know you guys don't play 'scales', but just make music, since you know all about scales inside out and have advanced ways of forming melodic lines while relating to harmonic content. Still it is of great help for someone like me to have an idea of possible scales/moods used for the changes, just to get some basic orientation. Be sure soon as I grasped that I will follow my ear and no scales. I just have to work harder to understand the basic outlines before doing so.

A:
You answered your own question in a way. My cheap advice is to go right to the source of the song and the improvisation, in this case John's recording of Señor C.S., and listen to the scales and melodies John uses to improvise with. That's a good place to start. Of course, you can find quite easily what scales and notes go with what chords in many different books and you should look into this source of info. But the bottom line is deciding what scales, notes, phrases, etc sound best to you. Just lots of trial and experimentation will get you there. There is no other way that I know of or would recommend.

As far as transcribing music from recordings, I strongly advise you use this method to help develop your ability to recognize and "hear" and also write down the notes, phrases and rhythms. Everyone will start from different basic abilities to do this. But no matter where your ability is in this, it's an essential ability to develop as a musician and so you can take it to the next level with practice and application.

One example of what I mean:

The first chord in Señor C.S. (where the main theme begins) I spell out as an Abm7. One scale that goes with that chord commonly would consist of - from low to high: Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb - F - Gb. There are many different names for this scale - but that's "a" scale, or one possible scale. But, the bottom line, as I said above, is to improvise a melody that You like - whether it uses the notes in this scale or not. There are no hard, fast rules to this game except "what sounds good to you."

-- Chick

I thought tonight was one of the best shows we've done. The band played "Silent Way" and the jam that follows for the encore - - there's such a great atmosphere when we play that piece - - it's a heartfelt tip of the hat to our mentor Miles.

To follow up on what I mentioned in yesterday's note, I really do think that's a good way to communicate on these nightly road notes. So if I can be of any help to the musicians out there, please write in and let me know how - - I've got tons of "cheap advice" to offer - - (By the way, if I miss a day here or there, it means the travel was hard - - I shall return).

-- Chick

Some twists and turns tonight - - everything revolves around the gig
and the music - - every night's a new challenge - - the days are slow
- - the nightly set goes by so fast it's over before it starts - -
John tore up Señor C.S. tonight - -

After the bus ride, I read the blog comments and realized that most
are from musicians. I really wish I had the time to meet with all the
musicians. I would like to share ideas and hear all the new music and
different directions. It's an area of free expression that must be
kept alive. If you have some questions about the music making - let me
know and I can try to offer some of my cheap advice.

SO who shows up backstage before our Antwerp gig but Herbie! His whole band was there too - they'll be performing at the same hall tomorrow night. I hadn't seen James Genus or Terence Blanchard for a little while - great to see them. But how great it was to see Herbie - my piano mentor and buddy.

I was finally able to personally congratulate him on his beautiful recording "River: The Joni Letters" winning Record Of The Year. That's some very special and spiritual playing that Herbie created on that recording - and for music that sophisticated to win Record Of The Year was unprecedented - the music was like him floating slowly through space gently leading all the other musicians to some wonderful place.

So John and I invited Herbie up to play the encore with us - - and we jammed In A Silent Way and It's About That Time - - the first time Herbie, John and myself have played together since we recorded together that memorable time with Miles. We all played the music as naturally as we breathe - - It was thrilling . . . . . . . . .

We met some Romanian musicians who offered to play for us after the
gig last night - - but with a 7 a.m. rise to make the plane for
Vienna and then the show in Vienna, I unfortunately had to pass. I
asked them to give me a CD of theirs so I could listen to their wild
rhythms - - the odds on getting the CD are about, oh, I'd say 50/50.

The TV interviewer asked me: "Do you know something about Romanian
music?" - - I said: "Not much, so please show me - - some CDs maybe?" -
- I'll check at the desk to see if he left any for me - - but I'm not
too hopeful.

We're off to Vienna - - a magic city for music - - Mozart,
Harnoncourt, Gulda, Zawinul, my 2 piano concerti, and numerous
concerts through the years with such receptive audiences.

-- Chick

Cindy Blackman and her quartet opened for us tonight in Cork. What an amazing drummer — she breaks all the stereotypes about women playing the drums — she's bad! She took a solo on the toms and snare with the snares off that was a bit reminiscent of Tony's approach — really creative — definitely her own thing.

On our set, Hymn To Andromeda and New Blues Old Bruise were the highlights for me. We're all still working out John's 15/8 New Blues — it's the best musical puzzle I've ever tried to solve … > > >

Early leave for Bucharest — 2 planes — Ouch — g'night … > >

-- Chick

Opening night in Monte Carlo - - wow - - what a fun band! John is spectacular! The music's tricky - - but everyone loves the adventure. The band is bursting with energy - - - > > > Can't wait to play in Cork , , , > > >

-- Chick