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Close enough for jazz?


Flying Officer Jevans

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You've probably heard the term 'Well, it's close enough for jazz.' Whether you were actually playing jazz (and what jazz is) at the time is a matter for another day, but when is it close enough for jazz?

 

As you may know, I play the Sax. Recently, I was playing a twelve bar blues with some others, and one we had finished( quite difficult with no drummer!) the bassist said to me "Next time,can you stick in the same key for all of it, please?" Now, I wasn't offended by this, but it stuck me that, it had sounded quite good to me, and surely that is the point of music?

 

And surely it was "Close enough for jazz?"

 

Of course, I might have slipped a few buff notes in here and there, but I don't think our audience will have noticed this in our rather impromptu performance. And I'm sure we all did. But it sounded good, and if it sounds good, I don't complain. It was close enough for jazz.

 

By the way, we eventually screeched to a stop after about 20 repetitions by everyone trying to nod at each other at once. Quite amusing, and wasn't exactly a clean stop!

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FOJ,

 

There is a long tradition in blues-rooted music of playing whole songs without ever getting out of D or whatever -- no chord progressions at all. So while I might have a different opinion were I familiar with the particular piece you guys had been playing, I have no problem with the one-key concept in principle.

 

I'll cite as an example a funk oldies number I was listening to just last night, Play That Funky Music. The (very long) verses are all in ... what ... D sharp? Similarly the (long) second halves of the (very long) choruses are all in ... been so long ... what's the IV of D sharp ... B flat?

 

This kind of thing works when the emphasis is on rhythm and melody rather than on harmony and melody.

 

Over to you ...

 

No ... One more thing. If musically speaking it sounds good and feels good, do it. As you must know by now there's a joy in playing that transcends simply listening. I'm also very familiar with hypnotic long songs. In fact, I have a James Brown track, 14 minutes of Rapp Payback, entirely in E I think -- and they simply faded it out. The actual recording could well have gone on another 14 minutes.

Edited by xxmikexx
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