Latch Music's Ezine #18
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* "The Zine" content is contributed by Dave Latchaw and colleagues who use the Internet to promote their musical projects. You can check out previous issues at "The Zine" Archives.
- Article: "Patience-Persistence-Progress" by Dave Latchaw
- Guest Artist: Just The Facts - Wonderful expressive fusion.
- Featured Web Site: HowToSellYourMusicOnline.com
- Featured Web Video: Will Calhoun Live At "The Blue Note"
- CD Pick: Sting "All This Time"
Patience-Persistence-Progress
by Dave Latchaw
Patience and persistence are important qualities needed to progress at any challenging task, especially music. The older I get, the more I see students, colleagues, and sometimes myself, needing more and more instant gratification. When working at a task that doesn't give instant results, the tendency is that more people will bail than follow through. As technology improves, we are all being conditioned to get results immediately. As a society, we are constantly going at a faster pace, which causes us to get caught up in a collective maelstrom and lose our ability to be patient. The need for instant gratification is completely contrary to the qualities of patience and persistence. Some things are just going to take time.
Lack of patience leads to frustration. Frustration is very capable of creating the desire to quit working on what ever demanding project you may have going. One has to be aware of which things cause personal frustration, and then come up with a method to overcome that frustration. For example, if I have a keyboard part to learn that I can't play yet, I like to look at the whole thing first, so I can map out a plan of attack. I usually will break down the challenging task into small workable chunks. My belief is you have to walk before you can run. After I've made a plan, I will put the keyboard part together chunk by chunk till I can play it. To be able to play more interesting and complex music, you have to be willing to be patient and take the steps necessary to see and understand the complete picture. By understanding more of the musical puzzle, playing more complex music will eventually happen with greater ease. By breaking things down and being thorough, you can achieve your goals. If playing music was easy, everyone would do it!
So often, I encounter students that would rather bail on learning a piece of music than take the time to really work it out. It seems easier to have the "I Just Can't Do It" attitude. One reason for this is that they may have not developed the skill of being patient while working at a challenging task. Teaching a student to be patient and figure out all the details is an important part of learning music. If they develop patience and planning, they will be more likely to achieve their goals, and eventually become more independent. Another reason for the "I Just Can't Do It" attitude is that ego makes the student self-aware. Being self-aware makes you realize that you may not be playing up to a certain musical ideal, which is a good thing as long as you don't get completely discouraged. For some, the ego has become hyper-sensitive, which leads to the desire to avoid the demanding music ideal all together. No one wants to play badly, but if you are going to progress you have to be willing to crash and burn to learn. Being patient and persistent through the crashing and burning process builds character, and eventually for most, the ability to achieve what they set out to conquer. Through patient, persistent repetition when practicing, over time one can achieve most anything. On the other hand, minimal effort achieves minimal results.
On the other hand, ego can also can lead to a false sense of actual ability, which is bad for progress. You can see this in a musician or student who's arrogance far outweighs their ability. This person is in denial. They do not want to acknowledge any shortcomings they have in their ability, but usually are keen to point out other players lack of abilities. This aspect of the ego causes them to not set goals and target musical achievements past what they can already do. They're quite sure that they have everything together, and don't need to be working on broadening their skills at all. This type of person thinks they have it so together, they don't even have to deal with being patient and persistent. Generally, this person is insecure or an oblivious jerk, or both.
To progress, you have to be disciplined and stay persistent. If you are not naturally a patient person, being disciplined will be a challenge, and there is no way to be persistent without being disciplined. Your attitudes are all intertwined and directly affect your ability to achieve past what you are naturally capable of, or can already do. If one can't get a grip on being disciplined, they will be challenged to find their consistent practice routine. With out keeping a persistent attitude towards practice and expanding ones ability, a musician can't help but be stagnant in their growth. Stagnation then stifles creativity. Stifled creativity is just bad for all of us!
Just The Facts
#1 Where on the Internet can people find out more about your band and your music?
www.just-the-facts.org
www.mp3.com/just_the_facts
#2 How long has the band been together, and how did it form?
Just The Facts has been together for 6 years. I was looking to form jazz/funk-ish band and started with a drummer friend of mine. He ended up moving East, so I hooked with some other musician friends and we would get together for a jam night now and then. Through that connection, Erich, Ted and I had a similar vision for a band that was based on fun, and not trying to play only for money. I recruited Bob (my best friend) to play tenor sax for a few gigs, and we eventually hooked up with Dave who Bob and I played drums with in college. From then on, he have played together adding other players & vocalists as needed for gigs. We have formed a great friendship that comes first before the music.
#3 What is the band's compositional process, and how are the arrangements decided?
For our last project, "Only You" Erich and Ted contributed most of the material. These were primarily songs that they had been working on for several years, or songs that they may have written years ago. But not all the material was dated. Erich and Ted had chord charts and a melody for their material. After hearing the basic changes and melody, most of the songs got formulated from a drum and bass groove and it grows from there. "Two Lives" was penned by Bob, but really a collaboration of the entire band. Bob had the head and changes. Ted came up the the intro/outro, Erich's "Paul Jackson Jr." guitar part is the signature for this groove, and Dave and I formulated the solo section from a bass & drum hook. "Diane" for instance was written and originally played as a softer ballad. But one day we laid down a smooth r&b groove, and played the changes against it, and it worked out great. "The Shadow" was a similar situation. We were at a rehearsal, and a trumpet player friend of ours happened to start noodeling around on the song with a mute, and instantly gave it a new feel. From there we arranged it ala a 1980ies Miles Davis/Marcus Miller feel. After playing the material live for awhile, we tweak the arrangements based on how we pulled it off at a gig. Live playing usually pulls out all sorts of new ideas on the fly. And additional musicians we have sit in on gigs allay have a fresh approach to the songs. When we get back to rehearsal, we pull from the live gig ideas and continue to form the arrangements. In some cases, two songs were joined to form one. Just The Facts compositions are all about the band, and not necessarily just one composer idea.
#4 How would you describe your music on the release "Only You", and what do you want listeners to get from it?
Just The Facts fuses elements of jazz/funk/r&b and gospel into a unique style that has found broad appeal with audiences. Leaning towards an Adult Contemporary/Smooth Jazz feel. We hope our listeners gain a sense of our passion for writing, producing and performing great music. Our goal and purpose is to use our God given talents and abilities that we have developed through individual study and group practice to create live performances and recordings that are of the highest quality; both aesthetically and technically. We infuse our life's experiences; joys and heartaches, tears and laughter, into our music and strive to move listeners with these same emotions as we perform. It is our intention that these performances be entertaining, challenging, uplifting and most importantly that they point the listener in a direction that leads to closer relationships with other people and ultimately a closer relationship with God.
#5 How often does "Just The Facts" play out, and how would one book your band?
"Just The Facts" plays approximately 20-30 dates annually. Since we don't do the bar/club scene, we are selective about were we play. 30-40% of the gigs we do are of some type of benefit or fundraiser. The remainder of our gigs are negotiated private engagements, festivals, parties or special engagements. "Just The Facts" can be booked through either of our web sites, or we can be contacted at Just The Facts.org.
#6 What inspires the band?
Inspiration comes from having fun playing music and being a musicians. We are all students of our instruments and students of music, so we are always inspired to be better musicians. Inspiration is gained from our musical piers and masters of the craft of music. And our spiritual inspiration is gift from God, and we strive to use our music as a tool to inspire others.
#7 How has the Internet changed the band's activities?
The Internet, WOW! We have spent as much time online as we have in rehearsal & gigs in recent months. Based on the response from our mp3 site, we have been excited with the possibilities to share our music with others.
#8 What future projects should people look for?
"Just The Facts" would like to do a Christmas project in 2002. Look for us at local festivals this year.
HowToSellYourMusicOnline.com
If you don't have a record or management deal and are marketing your music yourself, this is a great place to get some guidance. HowToSellYourMusicOnline.com (www.sellyourmusiconline.com) covers useful information on how to optimize your site, accept credit cards, choose the best online vendors and distributors, and find the best resources about how to promote yourself. To sustain any kind of musical presence on the Internet, you need to learn how to promote your activities and build a home base for your online efforts. In this day of instant gratification, it is easy to feel like giving up on the steps needed to make your Internet activities pay off for you. This site gives useful information on what steps to take to make the time you dedicate to selling your music more efficient.
Will Calhoun Live At "The Blue Note"
**Update - December 2003**
Unfortunately, this video is no longer listed at Blue Note. The other links below are still active.
I became hip to Will Calhoun when he was in Living Colour, back while I was doing the "Rock Thing" in Scotland. What I appreciated about him and the band was that they were great musicians and could "Rock". Blue Note has made available a webcast of Will Calhoun performing with his quintet, live at the Blue Note on 6/5/00.
Related Sites
- Will Calhoun
- Living Color
Sting
"All This Time"
Sting does it again. It is important for the creative musician to explore, evolve and be fearless about trying ideas. Anyone who is familiar with Sting's solo music, and that of the "Police", will appreciate the new arrangements and the intimate vibe that he creates with this recording. This effort was recorded live using the Steerpike Portable system on September 11th, 2001 in Italy at Il Palagio. This recording is a brilliant example of an artist who has evolved from his Punk days to having a broad diverse pallet of musical colours to be expressive with, and create sonically interesting sound scapes. Worth a listen.
Musicians for "All This Time"
Sting - Bass, Guitar & Vocals
Dominic Miller - Guitar
Kipper - Keyboards & Programming
Chris Botti - Trumpet
Marcos Suzano - Percussion
Jaques Morelenbaum - Cello
Christian McBride - Acoustic Bass
Manu Katche - Drums
Jason Rebello - Piano
B. J. Cole - Pedal Steel
Janice Pendarvis - Backing Vocals
Katreese Barnes - Backing Vocals
Jeff Young - Backing Vocals & Organ
Haoua Abdenacer - Djarbuka
Clark Gayton - Trombone
Tracks for "All This Time"
- Fragile
- A Thousand Years
- Perfect Love...Gone Wrong
- All This Time
- The Hounds Of Winter
- Don't Stand So Close To Me
- When We Dance
- Dienda
- Roxanne
- If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
- Brand New Day
- Fields Of Gold
- Moon Over Bourbon Street
- If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
- Every Breath You Take
Click here to learn more about "All This Time"
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