THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA Report by Callum Moncrieff, 2012 Churchill Fellow To study vibraphone performance and techniques in the areas of jazz, new music and ensemble playing Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, UK, Sweden, USA. I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report, either in hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any Report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off or contravention of any other private right or of any law. Signed: Callum Moncrieff Dated: Thursday 13 December 2012
INDEX Introduction 3 Executive Summary 4 Programme 5 The Young Vibraphone 7 - Sound - Physicality of playing the vibraphone - Listening and hearing - Jazz specific elements of the vibraphone - New music - Musical inspiration - Other inspiration - Future for the young vibraphone? Conclusions and Recommendations 18 Thanks and Acknowledgements 19
INTRODUCTION The foundation of my Churchill Fellowship was the study of the vibraphone in the areas of jazz, new music and ensemble playing. The vibraphone is a percussion instrument that has been around since the 1920 s. It was initially used primarily in jazz music but is now used in symphonic bands, orchestras, percussion ensembles and for solo performance. In relation to other instruments, the vibraphone is young. Consequently there is still much to be learned and shared about the instrument. I wanted to explore the different ways of playing the vibes while also learning more about being a musician. The generosity of the musicians I met in giving me their time and knowledge was phenomenal. Not only was I given lessons in music and vibraphone but often I was inspired to reach greater levels in my life in general. Every single player taught me something that I will never forget and I am eternally grateful to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for giving me this opportunity. From my experiences, the knowledge I gained musically, and the skills I learned technically I hope to be able to offer all percussionists and musicians in Australia a chance to learn more about the global voice of music.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Name: Address: Callum Moncrieff 105 Coogee Street Mount Hawthorn WA 6016 Freelance Musician (drums/ percussion), Arts Manager and Leader Occupation: Contact: +61 (0) 407 793 004 crieffy@hotmail.com Project description: To study vibraphone performance and techniques in the areas of jazz, new music and ensemble playing Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, UK, Sweden, USA. Outcomes: I discovered something new and exciting about the vibraphone in every city that I visited and from every musician I studied with. The vibraphone is an astonishing instrument, capable of playing so softly if it barely audible and so loudly that it can cut across a full sized big band. While the techniques and approaches to various element of jazz music and the vibes are different in Berlin as they are in Los Angeles, every player and student of the vibes shares a deep connection. Anyone who dedicates their life to the pursuit of music and specifically to doing on the vibraphone is completely passionate about their art and about striving to create new sound and techniques. I learned that there are certain key elements to playing the vibraphone. These include a focus on sound, physical technique, pedal and dampening technique, and mallet skills. There are also a number of fundamentals required for becoming a jazz musician, including learning and understanding the theory, knowing the modes, studying the history and repertoire, listening and reacting quickly, and expressing yourself through thoughtful and melodic improvisation. I have already begun to use these points in my own playing and I will continue to do so. Through my professional performance exposure I will be able show other percussionists and musicians what is possible on this relatively unknown instrument. Detailed study on the vibraphone must be included in the course structures at our tertiary music institutions and more funding must be offered to enable this. I have made a worldwide collection of contacts through my Churchill Fellowship and I aim to utilise these to present more opportunities for audiences to see what can be achieved on the vibraphone. I believe that in order for arts and culture to survive in Australia we have to encourage more people to attend events and to be an audience. Australia has some of the best artists across the entire range of artistic endeavours in the world, we should embrace this as a country. Culture is constantly being created and evolving, Australia s culture is rich with history but is influencing by our ever-changing landscape. Society is founded on the arts and this plays an important role in weaving the rich tapestry of what we can achieve. I will remain a tireless advocate for growing culture in our country through all of my roles in the arts.
PROGRAMME Berlin, Germany (10 17 September 2012) David Friedman Jazz Institute Berlin Franz Bauer Kreuzberg Music School Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (just outside of Paris), France (17 24 September 2012) Franck Tortiller Conservatoire d Orsay (two lessons) Strasbourg, France (20 September 2012) Emmanuel Séjourné Conservatoire de Strasbourg Luxembourg, Luxembourg (24 27 September 2012) Guy Cabay Luxembourg Conservatory Brussels, Belgium (25 September 2012) Bart Quartier Royal Conservatory of Brussels London, UK (27 September 4 October 2012) Adrian Spillet Jim Hart Joby Burgess Anthony Kerr Stockholm, Sweden (29 30 September 2012) Anders Åstrand New York, USA (4 15 October 2012) Christos Rafalides Glen Velez Mike Mainieri Matt Moran Boston, USA (10 October 2012) Ed Saindon Berklee College of Music Dave Samuels Berklee College of Music Los Angeles, USA (15 20 October 2012) Nick Mancini (five lessons, one via Skype on 31 August 2012) I also communicated with three other players that, due to schedule conflicts, I was unable to confirm a lesson with but who were very supportive of the Fellowship: Pascal Schumacher (Luxembourg), David Cossin (New York) and Joe Locke (New York).
I attended numerous performances, concerts and gigs, some of which included: BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor John Adams, Philharmonie, Berlin Berlin Philharmonic, conductor Sir Simon Rattle, Philharmonie, Berlin David Friedman & Peter Weniger, A-Trane Jazz Club, Berlin Eric Legnini Trio, Sunset Sunside Jazz Club, Paris Sylvain Bertrand in rehearsal for the Les Musiciens du Louvre Orchestra, Salle Colonne, Paris Joe Locke/ Geoffrey Keezer Group, Pizza Express Jazz Club, London Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Village Vanguard Jazz Club, New York Elastic Hour (feat. Nick Mancini), Curve Line Space, Los Angeles
The Young Vibraphone The title for this report comes from a conversation I had with Anders Åstrand in a restaurant in Stockholm after a two hour lesson on a Saturday night. I was feeling very inspired and Anders and I were discussing the great benefits of the immense project I was undertaking. I was telling Anders about the myriad lessons and experiences I had already had and what was still in store for me in the USA. While the world is much more connected now than in the past there are still great distances between us. For the proponents of niche areas of music and performance this can inhibit how much we can learn about what else is being done. The vibraphone is an instrument that is still developing a history: techniques are constantly changing and Anders thought that this report could represent an understanding between all of us of the diversity and great wealth of knowledge being shared between teachers and students today. Thus, the title was born: The Young Vibraphone. The lesson with Anders was one of many great moments I experienced during my Fellowship. I saw with great clarity that there are so many ways of approaching the vibes and the music that we play on it. I am a classically trained percussionist with an interest in jazz music and performance. I have played the drum set with many great jazz musicians in Perth but have not had an overly large involvement with core jazz playing on the vibes. I decided to approach each lesson with the caveat to my teacher that I was a blank slate waiting to be filled with the knowledge of jazz playing. This was a humbling experience for me but also a lot to ask of my teachers the overwhelming question was: Where to begin? The first lesson that I undertook as part of my Fellowship was via the free internet communication tool, Skype, with Nick Mancini, a vibes player based in LA. Nick outlined the four areas in jazz music that he saw as the basis from which to build the skills required for a jazz musician. Is it also prudent to note that most of the teachers told me that it was necessary to become a jazz musician as opposed to a jazz vibes player. This is a very interesting distinction to consider; that understanding the music is more important than mastering the skills to play it. The four common branches of melodic jazz, as explained by Nick, are: - Scales - Arpeggios - The Blues language - Intervallic interplay It is also important to note that Nick was approaching jazz music beginning from what is known as the Bebop era. This is commonly considered to be the best place to begin learning jazz as many of the standard practices were forged during this time, the 1940s and 1950s. I was to learn that there are many different approaches to all of these concepts, varying between teachers and regions, and Nick gave me a great grounding to begin from, however, this was also where so much of the confusion began! I shall cover all of these confusions in this report but I not delve too deeply into the minute technical details involved in jazz playing. I will explain them as required but this report does not serve as a thesis on jazz harmony but more of an overview as it relates to playing the vibraphone. I will also not cover some of the very basic jazz concepts, like modes and scales, but will reference them with explanations as needed.
What I would discover is that to master the vibraphone and become a jazz musician takes a lifetime. Sound It seems preposterous but with everything else there is to learn on an instrument the actual sound you are creating can be one of the last things to consider. This predicament is more prevalent on a percussion instrument as there are so many different instruments to learn how to play yet it is a key element to honing your own voice. Earlier this year a fellow musician asked me if I have control over my sound. I foolishly replied that I did not; that I was constrained by the build of the instrument and the lack of tactile involvement, unlike a saxophone or trumpet player who is directly connected with their instrument. I said that the only choice for variation I had was with the mallets that I chose. I have since learned that I have complete control over my sound and that this comes from a number of elements, including the mallets I use (I was correct there at least), the way I hold the mallets, the force with which I strike the bars and where I strike them, the way I use the pedal or dampen the notes with my mallets, and the movement of my body when I play. Every musician I had a lesson with covered these areas and each player had their own unique sound. The list of ways to vary your sound is endless. The damper or sustain pedal on the vibraphone is one of the key differences between this instrument and other keyboard percussion instruments like the marimba and xylophone. By holding this pedal down it removes the damper from the bars and makes the note being struck ring out and sustain for a number of seconds, enabling the player to build up the ringing noise from the instrument if required but also to control the amount of ring and when to stop this sustained sound. Franck Tortiller has a very interesting way of looking at the pedal. Franck s initial position when playing the vibes is to put the pedal down, For me, this is the sound of the vibes. He thinks of the pedal as doing the reverse action: If I move the damper, it is a move to stop the resonance, not to make the resonance. This concept may initially seem simple but is a completely reversed way of thinking about sustain. As part of Franck s own unique sound he always plays with the motor on, usually at a slow or medium speed. The motor is what gives the vibraphone another of its signature sounds. There are fans mounted over the resonators. The speed at which they turn is controlled by a motor at the top end of the instrument and gives the impression of the sound vibrating once a note is struck. The motor is something that some players use a lot and others never use. Personally I feel that using the motor sparingly is a great way to add an effect to what you are playing. When the pedal is used it dampens (or sustains) all of the notes at once. There are also ways to dampen notes while keeping the pedal down. Touching the mallet on the note you have previously played as you strike the next note is the most common way of mallet dampening. Another way of using the mallets is called slide dampening, this works on notes that are struck next to each other. As soon as you have played the second note, in the same action, slide the mallet over the previous note to dampening the sound. This is an amazing technique that I had never heard of which not only sound impressive but looks impressive too. A final technique is using your hands or wrists on a note you have played to dampen it. Ed Saindon suggests just dropping the wrist as you move past the note. Dampening is also used to create dynamics during solos to offer greater variety to your sound.
The mallets used by any player are a matter of taste. Some mallets work particularly well in relation to a player s technique and others are used to help the instrument to be heard over a large band. Many players have their own signature mallets that they have designed with a company to create the sound they like to hear from the vibes. I was very impressed with the sound and feel of the mallets used by David Friedman, Christos Rafalides and Anders Åstrand. The most straightforward advice I received about sound was during the first lesson of my project with David Friedman he told me to just hit the instrument with confidence and power. My eyes and ears were immediately opened to the riches sonorities of the vibraphone. Physicality of playing the vibraphone Playing any percussion instrument requires a certain amount of physical energy. This is the same for all instruments, whether their sound comes from breathe or being bowed, but the very nature of percussion to strike something to create the sound is quite physically demanding. I spent a great deal of time across a number of lessons talking about this with different players. One of the main ideas to come out of my research is that being centred and balanced at the instrument is paramount. Some players prefer to stay fixed at the instrument and set the pedal so that it doesn t swing or move at all, with the only movement the slight raising of the left heel when playing in the top register, the right foot being the only foot using the pedal. Others believe it is acceptable to switch feet on the pedal and to move the body along the instrument. The thinking behind both methods is convincing and it should be noted that it is possible to reach all of the notes on the instrument while standing in a fixed position. However, I feel that there are times when moving to the right when playing at the top of the instrument can assist in producing a better sound quality. As Anthony Kerr noted, the amount of playing space on the keys in the top octave can be as small as a coin so why not give yourself a better chance of hitting the sweet spot every time. The most compelling argument for not moving around when you play is that this can aid muscle memory and increase the chances of hitting the right notes. An additional thought on pedaling came from Anders Åstrand who likened the pedal to the accelerator on a car. He uses only his big toe or would occasionally slide to the ball of his foot when pedaling the vibes. Regarding stance at the instrument Anders compared standing at the vibes to skiing, using a small amount of foot pressure on the pedal in order to keep an evenly weighted position. He also bends and uses his knees. Having the pedal set fairly high also means that it doesn t need to hit the floor to release the damper and helps with dampening control. Learn where the damper takes off from the notes and only go this far. The other key to playing any instrument is to have the least amount of tension as possible in your body. Physical tension is the greatest barrier to having a great technique, according to Anthony Kerr, who also remembers being told as a student to try and picture floating in a boat calmly down a stream while playing fast runs on the vibes. Being relaxed is, of course, tied up with all the other physical elements inherent in playing the vibes, the main one being technique. Mallet technique is discussed below but what happens further up the arm is also very important. Being loose and using arm motion should be encouraged; relaxed shoulders are a must and something that I constantly struggle with. Raising the mallets high above the instrument to create a loud note is considered to be a waste of time and energy (the only exception to this is if a player was using Ed Saindon s fulcrum grip, also
discussed below). Emmanuel Séjourné spoke with me about creating power from a low position above the instrument. The idea is similar to Bruce Lee s famous oneinch punch where energy is directed down into the instrument. The important part of doing this is that a circular and fluid motion is used, much in the same way that a basketball is bounced, the hand, wrist and arm keep moving after the ball has been pushed from the hand. Séjourné said that without this, it would not be possible to play the fast runs required of the modern jazz vibes player. David Friedman also suggested using more relaxed arm movement to create more tone and a better sound from the vibes. I discovered during all of my lessons was that no one was going to attempt to adjust or critique my mallet technique. What was also refreshing was that all the players accepted that every technique has its own merits but were still happy to discuss why they chose to play the way they do. I am not going to go into each grip with any great detail, it is not something that can be covered using the written word, but I want to mention some enlightening moments that I experienced. The first is a person not a grip, Ed Saindon. I am not too proud to admit that I had not heard of Ed Saindon before I went on this trip and I was totally and completely blown away by his innovative approach to playing the vibraphone. Ed calls this grip the fulcrum grip, it utilises the same fulcrum (balance point) that is used when playing the snare drum, specifically the fulcrum is between the thumb and index finger. The other three fingers are used to control the rebound of the mallet. This is another unique aspect of this technique, using the rebound from the keys of the vibes to bounce the mallet back up. I had never been aware that the minimal amount of rebound from the vibes, when compared to any kind of drum, could be used in this way. The stick is almost thrown down at the instrument but is then caught with a snap from the fingers. A number of other players also talked about playing double strokes on the vibes and feel that this is yet another great way to add variety into your playing. There are many more details related to the Ed Saindon grip and there are some very helpful videos online for more information. I have to thank Guy Cabay for introducing me to this technique and to Ed s former students who are all such strong advocates of his teaching and musicality. Another poignant moment came for me when discussing two mallet playing versus four mallet playing, and this is another area where there are many differing opinions. I have no preference for either style of playing and each has its own benefits, personally I will use the number of mallets that most suits what I am playing. The insight that I will take away from my experience is that I will now try to incorporate all four mallets whenever I am holding them. I have also adjusted my own technique so that my two main mallets are the inside mallets. I feel that this gives me the opportunity to use the two outside mallets whenever there are notes further up or down the instrument. Since I have returned I have been using my new technique on some music that I recorded earlier this year with the Ecila ensemble and I have found it easier to play the music this way. There were so many wonderful and delightful comments made by a number of players regarding this issue, some humourous and some astute, and all based on the intuition earned by these players after years of experience. Needless to say, every mallet, when it hits the instrument, should be an extension of the music inside of you, enabling the audience to share and believe in the sounds you are creating. Listening and hearing One of the hardest lessons that I had to learn during my time amongst these brilliant musicians was that listening and hearing what is happening around you is an
absolutely vital skill for the jazz musician. This really is a skill that all musicians need to possess yet it is something that I have not worked on enough. The positive side is that I now know what I need to do and I was also able to receive some pointers from the best jazz musicians in the world. In jazz the sound of the harmony leads the players to where they need to go. When a player improvising changes the harmony in their solo the rest of the band needs to be aware of what has changed and how they can best support this change in direction. Therefore, it is so important to understand and instantly recognise the quality of the chords, and how they sound. The best way to start with ear training in this way is to play and be instantly familiar with all of the 7 th chords; major, minor, dominant, major/ minor, flat 5 to name but a few. Jazz music also uses what are called tensions, or extensions, which are the notes in the scale above the 7 th chords, the 9 th, 11 th and 13 th, all of which can be raised or lowered by a semitone. Not only does hearing the sounds of these on the vibraphone help but playing them up and down the instrument, with different sticking combinations, will assist with execution during performance. I received countless ways on how to practice these, with every teacher having their own preference for building on a range of technical and aural skills. One of the greatest ways to improve your ears is by transcribing. This is something that everyone says they should be doing more of. I had lots of great pointers on how best to get stuck into transcribing (apart from just do it ), some of which included: - Transcribe a solo, or a song, or a section of a song that really speaks to you. - It doesn t have to be a vibes solo. - Listen to and learn to play the entire solo or song before you write anything down. - Once you have learned it, try to forget it and don t let it creep to far into your own improvisation. - Listen to and play the melody and the bass line and then you will learn the harmony. I was very much inspired by all of the advice I got and I also experienced it first hand in my lesson with Jim Hart. Jim and I worked together during the lesson on transcribing Take the A-Train. It was the perfect way to increase my confidence and learn one of the core jazz standards. The lesson with Jim also showed me that all of the tips above are true, and I will now never forget how to play this tune. Aside from the theoretical benefits of listening, much of what I spoke about focused on increasing my skills as a musician. Being sensitive to what is happening around you in an ensemble is so incredibly important and essential to making music with other players. Mike Mainieri talked about laying out (not playing) when there is more than one chordal instrument and Anthony Kerr danced about while musing on leaving space in the music and the benefits of repetition ( Charm your imagination into creating delightful things ). Another perfect way to make your sounds on the vibraphone more musical is to sing while you are playing, an idea that came up many times. Every time someone suggested I try singing at the same time I realised how much of a difference this can make. Either singing the note before you play it or playing as if you were singing it in a choir helps immensely. This ties in with breathing too, ensuring you are breathing while playing at any tempo (especially when playing really fast) will give the music space, almost like a wind player. On one occasion when I played an exercise while singing my entire technique changed. I was dampening more, and using more
dynamics. As my percussion teacher at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Tim White, used to remind me: Say it, then play it! If you can say or sing something, the chances are you will be able to play it too. Jazz specific elements of vibraphone The vibraphone is a unique instrument. There are many things you can do on the vibes that no other instrument can do. You can let one note ring while you play and dampen single notes around it, you can play the edges and the middle of the bars to get a sound of equal quality, you can bow the notes with a double bass bow and you can create harmonics by placing the stick in the middle of the bar the list goes on. It is an evocative instrument, subtle yet powerful and there are way of playing it which are directly related to the performance of jazz music on the vibes. One of the areas I was very keen to learn about was chord voicings on the vibes. I had previously been advised to use a reputable jazz piano book to teach myself how to play jazz vibes. This was all well and good until I realised that piano players have ten fingers and I only have four mallets which notes should I chose? Sometimes this will depend on which other instruments are in your ensemble (playing solo vibraphone has it s own rules) but generally, on the vibes, you don t need to play the bass note or the fifth of a chord. The two most important notes are the guide tones, the 3 rd and the 7 th. This is where your individuality can come into the chord as you choose which of the tension notes to play, or add whatever is indicated by the chord symbols on the lead sheet/ chart. Other elements to consider are whether you play a chord in open or closed position, where closed is a small interval between the notes and open is a larger one. Every player will have their own approach to which voicings they choose. For example David Friedman is an advocate for creating a rub in his voicings by including an interval of a semitone somewhere. Franz Bauer summed voicings up well when he said that you should not limit yourself but play whatever you like the sound of. Some players make their voicings sound good but other players won t be able to create the same effect. It is not what you play but how you play it. This was a sentiment echoed by many of the other vibes teachers. Comping is another element of jazz playing that has some specific characteristics on the vibes. Comping is when you play underneath an improvising soloist to maintain a sense of the harmony. The amount you play and, more specifically, the notes you play can have an impact on the soloist. You need to listen to what the soloist is playing and not play something which will ultimately dictate where the harmonic movement of the solo is going, this should be up to the soloist. To do this, you must listen to what the soloist is playing and react accordingly to it. The amount that you play when you comp is also related to the other comping instruments in the ensemble, the piano, guitar, accordion etc. The most anticipated area that I received a great deal of instruction on was improvising. This is a very important yet also very personal area of playing jazz music. I also perform in some more avant garde ensembles and all of this advice will assist me in making beautiful music. I am not going to attempt to cover this area in great detail as the basic rules for the vibraphone are the same for any instrument but I wanted to make mention of some of the other points I have written about that assist in being a sensitive improviser. Space, dynamics, long and short notes, breathing, listening, making a convincing sound, making melodies, and most importantly playing what is in your heart. Any musician who can follow this credo will always be a successful improviser. A very pleasing outcome that I noticed as I was listening back to the lessons that I had recorded was that over the course of the six weeks, my own
improvising had improved. Of course, I still have a long way to go but it was warming to hear this and great to hear some of the positive feedback from such respected musicians. Practicing can be the bane of any musician s life, the very necessary evil. Personally I feel like I never do enough practice but then again, my ideal day would be practicing for five hours and then doing a gig. The hardest challenge for me since I have returned is trying to wade through all of the advice and thoughts that I gathered and chose the right path for me. This even comes down to how I think about a certain concept, for example the modes in jazz. Should I relate them to the major scale that they come from or should I think of each one as an individual entity Rather than try to cover all of these areas, I have decided to share some of the practice epiphanies I was told. Much of what I have learnt is already covered in the pages of this report but there were a few pearls of wisdom that I wanted to quote verbatim, specifically related to practicing: Learn the ABCs, make words, phrases and finally tell a story; and especially listen to your heart. Bart Quartier Its important to have a safe practice zone when you can just play anything, even if it jars you learn some aversion theory! The same way you learn as a child not to put your hand on the hot cooker. Make it the same with harmony to make it a bit less painful. Discover and explore what works across the seams of one chord to another. Anthony Kerr Don t fall into the trap of practicing for hours without ever listening to yourself. This gives you the opportunity not only to listen to yourself but also just to listen. Dave Samuels The key is, this is a life long pursuit and it is never going to end. You can t get overwhelmed. But it s great! It s fun! Be very focused and structured when you practice. Ed Saindon I don t like the word practice for you, it s not the right word you need now not to practice but to focus it is adding one ingredient more to your life as a musician. To be familiar with the music. Franck Tortiller New music Through attending the numerous performances that I did I was able to see just how healthy the new music and jazz music scene currently is around the world. I think that these days the definitions between what a type or genre of music is are becoming more and more blurred. Many of the players that I had lessons with studied classical percussion and many of the purely jazz players had a huge interest in classical music and composition. I caught up with two brilliant percussionists in London who are both strong advocates for creating new music, Joby Burgess and Adrian Spillet. Both have been involved in percussion ensembles that are actively commissioning and performing new repertoire for the instruments. Joby also uses an instrument called a xylosynth. A number of the other players I studied with also use this instrument including David Friedman, Anthony Kerr and Anders Åstrand. The xylosynth is a digital midi trigger that can play any sounds that are programmed for it. Joby gave me a demonstration of this fantastic instrument and I was very impressed, he has used it to perform a
solo version of the Steve Reich work Electric Counterpoint, a work originally written for guitar to be performed by Pat Matheny. One of the main ideas that was confirmed for me whilst talking to these two percussionists, and other musicians, was that the definition of new music is constantly changing now to include more of an electronic element, with the xylosynth being the most obvious example. Seeing a laptop on stage during any concert is now a much more common event. I believe that new music as a term really just covers music that is being written today, the style of the music is being more defined by the instrumentation it is written for. Many new jazz works are so called because they are written for a traditional jazz ensemble, such as the Joe Locke/ Geoffrey Keezer Group. Their music certainly has a jazz flavour but they have expanded their compositions to use harmony and rhythm from other influences. Unfortunately I was unable to meet with David Cossin, a member of the famed ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars, an acclaimed new music ensemble in New York City. Musical inspiration As a performer it is very easy to get stuck internalising all of your musical problems and spending hours locked away in a practice room working on the minute details of your instrument. This is of course essential to becoming a great musician but I feel that if you don t ever get out and see other great musicians, then all that time spent alone is worthless. I was fortunate to see some truly enlivening performances, many by the musicians I was studying with. It is always moving to see someone who you have spent an intense hour or so with, discussing the intricacies of the instrument you both love and have dedicated your lives to, performing on it. In Berlin, at the A-Trane Jazz Club, I saw David Friedman play in duet with the saxophonist Peter Weniger, showing me the incredible dynamic possibilities of the vibes. Christos Rafalides plays a regular Sunday afternoon gig at Avra, a Greek restaurant in Manhattan, and here I was witness to the levels of musical depth that three highly skilled and talented musicians can reach when they have been playing together for a long time. Franz Bauer played a show in the old Grüner Salon, part of the Volksbühne, with a vocalist, another fabulous ensemble experience. I saw Nick Mancini play in a number of guises, all of which were very entertaining and exposed me to the phenomenal level of talent in LA. Anders Åstrand performed with the Levander Septett at the Kulturföreningen Tellus, a cinema that presents regular music shows. And finally I saw Matt Moran leading balkansoulgypsyfunk band, Slavic Soul Party!, at a hip little bar in Brooklyn called Barbés, which we were then able to talk about in our lesson there was certainly some crazy rhythms happening in that band! Aside from witnessing my teachers in action I was also fortunate enough to see the Joe Locke/ Geoffrey Keezer Group playing at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London. Jim Hart was able to introduce me to Joe Locke and he was a charming man, highly praised amongst those who have studied and played with him. It was unfortunate that our schedules didn t line up for a lesson. In New York I saw what I consider to be the greatest big band currently performing, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. This band was started by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis and still features some of the members from the 1970s! To highlight the relative closeness of the jazz
community, when I attended the Village Vanguard, for the 11.00pm performance on a Monday night, I was sat next to a trombone player from Sydney, Justin Kearin. This leads me to one other important facet of training in jazz music that is less widely known that the modes or specialised harmonic nuances the hang. It may seem a little clichéd and perhaps not serious enough to warrant inclusion in this report but one of the most vital parts of being a jazz musician is spending time with other jazz musicians in what is called the hang. I partook in a number of these special occasions and it was during this time that I learned so much more than I could have in just one lesson. A coffee, a beer, a meal or a game of pool, any of these constitutes a hang. I was also able to meet many more of the musicians in the cities that I visited through these catch-ups. Without them, my trip would have been much less fruitful and a lot less exciting. The musical inspiration that I will take from my Churchill is endless. It will serve me for years to come and will make sure that any time I feel doubtful or not confident in my musical decisions, I can look back on the lessons, the gigs or the hang, and know that I will find the right answer. Other inspiration One of my favourite memories from my Churchill Fellowship is walking through Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. I visited this busy square a number of times during my stay, it used to be considered the busiest intersection in Europe in the 1930s. It was decimated during the Second World War and the Berlin Wall was built right through the middle of it, effectively turning it into a desolate wasteland. Now it has been completely rebuilt but the sense of a long, dark history remains. This is the case with all of Berlin, there are markers along the footpaths saying Berliner Mauer 1961 1989, there are also buildings in the former East Berlin that are riddled with bullet holes. Such an arresting and humbling site for someone coming from a country that was spared any of the destruction that WWII caused. Although Berlin is shrouded in it s past it also glitters with the future. On one occasion I was walking towards the greatest concert hall in the world the Philharmonie, home to the Berlin Philharmonic as the sun was setting. As I rounded the corner something caught my eye and I looked up the see this amazing building covered in sunlight with points of light glinting from the edges of it s golden façade. I was already filled with excitement about my visit to the hall, it would be the second time I attended a concert there, previously as being part of the Berlin Music Festival on the first day I arrived, the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing a work by the legendary US composer John Adams, who was also conducting! However, on this visit I was also consumed by a sense of trepidation. I did not have a ticket, it was the opening night of the Berlin Philharmonic s 2012/13 season and Sir Simon Rattle was conducting a semi-staged performance of Gershwin s Porgy and Bess. Fortunately I was armed with something else a white piece of paper with the words Suche Karte written on it. This means, literally, seeking a ticket. I was bemoaning my ticketless situation with my old teacher, Tim White, before I left and he told me about this ingenious system. In Europe, if you don t have a ticket to a concert, all you have to do is arrive about an hour before the concert begins and stand at the front with your sign. If anyone has a spare ticket, say for example their partner was ill or they bought the tickets months beforehand and couldn t attend, they will sell it to you. It is different from scalping because you should generally pay the price indicated on the ticket (a lesson I learned when I was seated and studying my ticket only to
discover that I paid 20 euros more ) and the Orchestra encourages it so that there aren t empty seats. And so it was that I was able to sit in a position where I could see one of the greatest conductors of our time in front of arguably the best orchestra and witness the pure joy on his face as he led a choir and nine or so main vocalists through this magnificent work. It was an experience I will never forget. I was struck by this experience throughout my trip. I attended many concerts, gigs and shows along the way and I was trying to work out what it was that made these experiences so enjoyable. I learned that there is something special that comes from immersing yourself in a city, becoming part of the daily life. I was able to do this in almost all of the places I visited through the kindness and generosity of my friends and a fantastic website called airbnb.com (thanks to my Churchill mentor, Christina Katsimbardis for showing me this!). As I wandered the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and New York I felt as though I belonged here. The double decker buses in London, the perfect way to see the city and watch the people inhabiting it. The rolling countryside I saw from many a train window in France, Luxembourg, Belgium and up and down the East Coast of the US. In New York on Sundays they close some of the main thoroughfare avenues (much to the dismay of the disgruntled drivers) and open markets filled with cheap food and the many knock-offs of watches, clothing and jewelry. It was here that the sun once again caught my eye, reflected from one of the tall buildings that are so representative of this city. I looked up and saw the crowds of people, the haze and smoke from the street vendors and the sunlight beaming down onto the Avenue of the Americas. This is why people travel, I thought to myself, for moments like this that make us realise the immense beauty that encapsulates every city and all the people all over the world. I visited museums in every city I went to, the Pergamon and Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Guggenheim in New York, Stockholm s Gamla Stan (Old Town build in the 1200s!), and took a romantic cruise down the River Seine in Paris (as the third wheel with another couple ). A daunting reminder for me of the rich history to surrounds the Western Art Music that I practice and perform is the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which we passed on the cruise. I had been inside on a previous trip and felt awestruck by the presence and the voices emanating from the walls. The cathedral was the birthplace of the music we all listen to today. A thought that sent shivers down my spine. Two priests, Pérotin and Léonin, first sung and notated the medieval chants that formed the basis of all harmony, melody, and polyphonic texture. It offers a humbling perspective indeed to stand in this place. I recalled that experience on this chilly evening in Paris travelling past the looming greatness of the cathedral. This is the kind of inspiration that I needed. Musically my mind was swimming after every lesson, I was overwhelmed by the amount I would have to practice and the hours of recorded information I would be armed with on my return to Perth, but it was moments like these I have described that remind us that there is more to life than rushing around, being frantic and restless, there are times when it pays to stop and smile and appreciate our wonderous achievements and let these inspire us to create and offer our artistry to the world. Future for the young vibraphone? The future for the vibraphone is very bright. There are so many advocates for the instrument who are pushing the capabilities of what can be achieved on it further
every day. The level of technical ability being displayed is, quite simple, breathtaking and the vibes can create such a sweet and evocative sound that anyone who hears it is captivated. There are many beautiful new pieces being written for the vibes and it is recognised as a viable additional chordal instrument in ensembles. That being said, Mike Mainieri pointed out that most vibes players do tend to be the leaders of their own ensembles, and I found this to be true in my own experiences also. I will expand on my thoughts for how to increase the number of players and the potential for a greater detail of study in the Conclusions and Recommendations below. From a personal point of view, I believe that my playing, confidence, understanding and respect for the vibraphone has increased incredibly. Everything that I learned is included above but the highlights for me, the moments of expressive happiness came when I was playing with a bigger and fuller sound ( Make every note like a big drop of oil exclaimed David Friedman) and the difference that singing while playing had on my musicality. I loved learning more about jazz harmony and how to incorporate this on the vibes, but most of all I loved meeting some of my heroes on the instrument, discovering new heroes and making some fantastic new friends. Making music is about creating a community, bringing people together to express a common love for artistic freedom and searching for that moment during a performance or in a rehearsal when it all comes together when you finally understand what it all means. I would like to finish with quotes from two inspirational people: You have a lot of vibe craziness in your head right now! Anders Åstrand You need to be focused on another point. We are always focused on the right notes/ wrong notes, left hand/ right hand, we have to take care about the notes, but now we have to focus just a little bit higher. Just to say, we have this much already, we already know how to play, so now we have to go a bit higher with the music and the hearing and get it out of the vibes. If there are mistakes, it s not so important. We try to play the right thing but if its wrong, its ok. It s like if you say something wrong but you can fix it really easily after. Its not the same situation as before. Franck Tortiller
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions It is possible to conclude the following from my Churchill Fellowship: - There are a huge amount of amazing musicians performing outstanding music on the vibraphone all over the world. - The vibraphone is an instrument that demands respect and should be receiving more detailed training in Australia s tertiary music institutions. - There are a number of elements required for a high level of performance on the vibraphone that include sound, physical technique, pedal and dampening technique, and mallet skills. - There are a number of elements to becoming an excellent jazz musician which include learning and understanding the theory, knowing the modes, studying the history and repertoire, listening and reacting quickly, and expressing yourself through thoughtful and melodic improvisation. - For true musical and cultural enlightenment Australia must continue to embrace and support the arts. Recommendations One of the biggest issues that face Australian percussionists is that the vibraphone does not receive enough attention during the study of a music performance degree. It is difficult as a percussionist because there are literally hundreds of different instruments that any player must development a basic level of proficiency on in order to gain work once they complete their degree. In Europe and the USA the universities have specialist teachers for these various areas, for example orchestral percussion, hand percussion or mallets. In Australia there simply isn t the funding given to support this kind of system. At the very least the percussion teachers must allow the students access to this kind of training through the inclusion of master classes or specialist lessons during the year. As a professional vibraphone player I am able to offer my knowledge and experience to the many other percussionists that I come into contact with in my performance career. Many of the elements I have written about that I learned throughout my intensive training period are not overly difficult but it is imperative to create an awareness of these in order for students and other players to discover the potential of the instrument. I will continue to perform and display my newly discovered respect for the vibraphone and offer my insights to any interested musicians. From a cultural point of view I believe that Australia must learn how to embrace the arts and what it can offer to our growth as a society. One way to increase the knowledge of the arts is for more Australians to take part in it, however, we must also remember to be an audience. The easiest way for the arts to grow is for people to attend concerts, galleries, readings, and exhibitions. Our country is full of tireless and amazing artists and our national and state arts bodies do everything in their power to support them. Education and understanding is also vital for the arts to grow. Personally I can support this through my work as a performer and my involvement with arts companies like Musica Viva and the Western Australian Music Industry (WAM). I will continue to be an advocate for the growth of the arts in Australia.
THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Sarah & Julian Tompkin, Franck Tortiller & Aurélie Foucher, Nick Mancini & Afton Hefley and James Lehmann for their generosity in inviting me into their homes and showing me their cities. Anders Åstrand, Anthony Kerr, Christos Rafalides, Glen Velez, and Dave Samuels for driving me to and from train stations. To all of the friends and family I saw while I was away, thank you for making me feel like I have so many places in the world I can call home. All of the former Churchill recipients who helped me along the way, I couldn t have done it without you. And, of course, the fabulous staff at the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the Churchill Fellow s Association of Western Australia for always being available and helpful. I will be eternally grateful to all of the amazing players that I had the opportunity to meet and study with. Everyone was welcoming and supportive of my project and each had so many wonderful insights into the art of playing the vibraphone and to making music. They offered me more than just a vibraphone lesson, more than a walk from the station or a drink afterwards, they gave me a life changing experience.