Latch Music's Ezine #42
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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: "Burn Out" by Dave Latchaw
- Guest Artist: Thomas Walbum - Piano magic.
- Featured Web Site: IPJustice.org
- Featured Web Video: Michael Wolff and Impure Thoughts
- CD Pick: Jack DeJohnette "Parallel Realities"
Burn Out
by Dave Latchaw
Trying not to burn out. This is a challenge for anyone who is obsessed with an activity that is mentally all-consuming. Music is that for me. We have all seen or been the musician who has burned out on playing, teaching or just about any aspect of music. Music is too important to get burned out on. Too much of any good thing can lead to burn out, and one needs to watch out for it and take the appropriate steps to avoid it.
If a musician is playing on autopilot, it's a good sign that they are burned out. You can see this when one is playing Autumn Leaves or Old Time Rock and Roll for the millionth time and approaching it with the same non-intensity as putting kogs into the kog machine. One is surely burned out when autopilot is happening. It is not fair to the music and the people you are playing for when you are just going through the motions. Performing on autopilot just leads to crappy music. Playing music deserves more respect than that. When one is burned out it may be a sign to take a break from the musical situation causing it. You could possibly need to take a break from music all together to be able to adjust your attitude. It is important for the uninspired musician to take appropriate action to help get rid of their burn out. Finding new musical endeavors that can rekindle your spark of inspiration for music is absolutely necessary. The process may be different from person to person and whatever it may take to have you keep your own personal music drive is up to you to figure out. When you are inspired it might help jump start the other players you are working with to a level of engagement that can make a routine gig fun for everyone. Inspiration can be contagious on the band stand, teaching and so on.
It is hard not to burn out when music is the way you make your living. One needs to make a living. Usually a musician that depends on music for a living will have several musical activities going on at the same time. This is to help make the financial ends meet. Because the full time musician needs to thinks of themselves as a business it leads to a variety of sources of income. As with any good business diversity is important. Having a variety of music jobs might make ones music activities easy to deal with for some period of time. Even then, doing a variety of the same things for a great length of time can create a situation that becomes mundane and mind numbing. It is even harder for those that playing, teaching or engineering is their only musical outlet. For both groups of people things may be cool for awhile but the probability of burn out is high. It is hard sometimes to recognize personal burn out sometimes because anyone with a gig should feel lucky to have it. If steak and potatoes was your favorite meal and you ate it every day you would eventually get tired of it.
Mixing things up between your musical work and your own creative interest will help keep things fresh for the musician and help in avoiding burn out. Your creative efforts may not make you any money but they can help with conquering that burned out vibe towards music, which is valuable just in it self. Outlets for your creative efforts which ignites that spark of inspiration about music is amazingly important. When you have projects that inspire you because they are new and exciting it becomes easier to deal with the jobbing side of your musical work. The routine of the jobbing gig can be easier to deal with just knowing that you also have your creative efforts going on. If you are into composing start your own record label, build your own website, start your own internet radio station can be just some ideas of a fun and viable ways of presenting your musical interest. The worse thing that could happen is that you might start making some money from your creative pursuits and have less time to do your jobbing activities.
Learning to say no is hard is also important in helping avoid burnout. When starting out in the music bizz you say yes to every type of gig that comes in. It is part of the conditioning that comes from struggling to become financially sufficient with music. When one starts getting more established it is hard to cross the bridge of saying no to musical situations. Learning to say no to the dodgy gig that has you on the road for more hours more than the gig and does not pay enough to cover your time and gas money has to stop at some point. If you can do it and dig it, cool for you, but there are people that have done that kind work for years and will say yes to that and hate the whole thing. Let some one else play that gig. A downer attitude just makes the musical vibe a drag. Just say "No" to any gig that you can't have a cool attitude about. It is not worth it. It will eventually do your head in.
One has to look inward and work at creating a musical situation for a high level of personal inspiration and satisfaction which aids from getting burned out. It may take time to get where your ideal music situation may be. But, if you have something to shoot for it can make the time you spend on your jobbing side of music easier to deal with. Set goals, work hard and just say no to being burned out.
Thomas Walbum
#1 Where on the internet can people find out more about you and your musical activities?
I have a website on www.thomaswalbum.dk which contains information about my career to date, tours, recordings and life experiences, as well as info about my new Cd. I also lead a jazz ensemble with vocalist Jeanett Debb, and more information can be found about that at www.allthatjazz.dk.
#2 Who were the artists that inspired you to pursue music and why?
My earliest jazz inspirations came from the great Oscar Peterson and Errol Garner. I grew up in a very musical family, as both my parents, my sister and brother played the piano. My uncle, Niels Viggo Bentzon, was one of Denmark’s most prolific modern classical composers, who wrote a lot of symphonies, chamber works and piano pieces. I started out with classical piano lessons but became instantly converted to jazz after hearing Night Train for the first time. I listened constantly to the music of Garner, Peterson and Duke Ellington, and played as many of their transcriptions and arrangements as I could get my hands on.
What I really dug about jazz compared to what I had experienced in classical music lessons was the incredible sense of freedom and exploration. I felt as if I was in a musical playground where anything could happen, and my curiosity about all the different avenues and byways improvisation opened up was basically endless. My first experience playing in a jazz ensemble came when my first jazz piano teacher encouraged me to set up my own jazz trio. So there I was, eleven years old, playing my first gigs in a local venue. I got a big kick out of being able to play with other musicians, playing off each other, feeling the support of a rhythm section for the first time- it was just so much fun.
Later important influences which keep me fascinated with jazz include Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch, Kenny Barron, and Ahmad Jamal. There are just so many great musicians out there…..
#3 Of the great instructors you have studied with, who has influenced your playing and teaching style the most and why?
I guess the main influence would be Joanne Brackeen. Previous teachers I had in Copenhagen gave me great theoretical knowledge, and most of the tools I needed to be a solid jazz pianist, but you know there’s a great saying in jazz- first you gotta learn the rules, then you gotta forget about them. Joanne was the master of learning how to forget the rules and just go for it, releasing all the creative forces at your disposal without the hindrance of shoulds and should nots. For me, this was a real musical breakthrough where I discovered a whole new realm of possibilities in my own playing. Joanne also directed a lot of attention to the use of the left hand as a source of more exciting and unusual rhythmic patterns, which adds a whole new dimension.
Greg Hopkins, with whom I studied composing and arranging techniques, has also been an important influence on me. He has a great way of de-mystifying the composition process and giving you a bag of tools you can use in your playing as well as in your composing.
#4 What kind of musical training has been most important in helping you to have music performed for Danish television and video productions such as TV Gruppen, TV2, TV3 and AF?
My studies in composing and arranging at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen were a good resource for me to draw upon when it came to writing for TV and video. In the 80’s I was really fascinated by synthesizers and electronics, and played keyboards in several different bands. This way I got my training in the usage and exploration of the many possibilities and sound effects available in electronic mediums. This combined with my compostion studies gave me all the tools I needed for composing and recording sound tracks for educational videos as well as sport programs on Danish TV. I also did a few commercial jingles. What’s interesting about composing for video productions is that the main objective is enhancing the visual image, and getting someone else’s message across, whereas when I compose for a jazz ensemble my own musical imagination is free to take any form it desires.- depending on my mood and current inspiration.
#5 What do you want the audience to get from a performance by singer Jeanett Debb and the Thomas Walbum Trio?
An evening out to hear Jeanett Debb and my trio is really just about having a good time and enjoying the warm easy atmosphere created by listening to a mix of old time jazz standards done in fun, refreshing new ways. We also throw in a few pop tunes arranged in a jazz way for good measure. Its an ensemble that combines elegance and modernity with good old fashioned swing, and the fact that the band members always have such a great time making music, seems to come across to the audience, creating some really nice vibes and a good atmosphere. Jeanett and I also perform as a duo.
#6 How did you start performing two-piano concerts with Dan Alleger, and what is it about each other's styles that makes it work?
I went to Boston in 1998 to study at Berklee/Boston Conservatory and stayed for the next three years. When I first arrived from Denmark, I had nowhere to stay, and with his characteristic impulsive generosity, Dan offered for me to stay at his apartment. I ended up living there for six weeks and making a lifelong friend. Dan and I used to enjoy jamming together after hours at the conservatory where we were both enrolled in a Master of Music degree in jazz. Through Dan’s old professor Enrique Graf we were offered a duo gig at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, playing a program of two piano jazz arrangements. We had so much fun arranging the tunes for two pianos and performing them that we thought it would be a great idea to keep the project running. Musically we bounce off each other really well - Dan has a lot of interesting ideas from his classical training, and I have some different elements in my playing coming as I do from a Scandinavian jazz background. We have a lot of the same influences and jazz heroes so I guess a lot of our ideas are very mutual and seem to hang together in an effortless organic way. Being really close friends helps too, as we just have so much fun playing together.
#7 What do you hope the listener will get from your trio recording "Boston", and how did Joe Hunt on drums and John Lockwood on bass make it special for you?
Well I hope listeners will get out of it something close to what I got out of it - the joy of sharing good music. John and Joe are both superb musicians and playing with them really allowed me to just get right into making music and enjoying every minute of it. They both have a great sense of humour and that is something that also comes across in the positivity, warmth and good feeling in so much of their playing. I felt a real rapport with both of them right from the start, both musically and personally, and once we got into the studio, things just flowed so easily. We had actually booked two days in the recording studio, but ended up recording the whole CD on day one. Some of the tunes which I composed myself on the CD were written at times when I felt particularly blue, or else really excited about a new period beginning in my life. and I hope the emotions I tried to capture in the music communicate clearly to the listener.
#8 What future projects should people look for from you?
Right now I’m in the process of organizing a summer tour to Japan in 2004 with Joe Hunt on drums and Kazufumi Tsuchimura on bass. We are planning a project based on the idea of a tribute to Bill Evans, playing my arrangements of some of Bill Evans’ favourite standards and original compositions.
I’m currently working on a recording project with my duo partner, Jeanett Debb, making a vocal/piano CD featuring some of our favourite jazz standards.
John Lockwood and Joe Hunt have both responded enthusiastically to the idea of coming over to Denmark to play together as a trio again. The Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2005 would be a great starting point for a Europe tour.
Click here to hear Thomas Walbum playing
IPJustice.org
If you are one who is using the Internet for your musical creative endeavors or use the Internet to check out music outside of the corporate loop, you need to try to keep up with information that deals with intellectual property. IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law in a digital world. If the Internet is going to be a viable source of revenue for artists, the connection between the artist and consumer are going to have to find a way to be worked out.
IP Justice’s mission is very clear:
- Build international coalitions and networks between independent organizations working to protect freedom of expression.
- Promote laws and technologies that encourage further creativity and innovation, and fairly compensate creators.
- Raise global public awareness on the threat to individual freedoms posed by technological restrictions to control intellectual property.
- Empower individuals worldwide to advocate for balanced intellectual property laws that preserve traditional consumer rights such as private copying, the public domain, and reverse engineering.
There is also useful legal information at the IP Hot Spots and news articles from around the world at World IP News. IPJustice.org has a couple of campaigns they are involved with, one is CODE: Campaign for an Open Digital Environment and the other is The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). If you are into the Internet as a music consumer or an artist you may be surprised at some of the laws trying to be passed. Check out IPJustice.org.
Michael Wolff and Impure Thoughts
Keyboardist Michael Wolff has done such things as worked with Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson, Airto, Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley and was arranger and pianist for singer Nancy Wilson and was also music director for the Arsenio Hall show. The very cool Digital Club Network makes available two concerts from Michael Wolff and Impure Thoughts at the club Higher Ground on 04.19.2001 and 11.08.2002. Very cool band with a Weather Report vibe. Check out the concert videos here.
Jack DeJohnette
"Parallel Realities"
A wonderful collection of tunes, playing and studio orchestration by Jack DeJohnnette, Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock. Even though this is a Jack DeJohnette recording it could of easily been a Metheny / DeJohnette recording. There is a strong Pat vibe all over the compositions on this recording which is very cool. Very similar to many of the Pat Metheny Group recordings but with the drums allowed to cut loose more. Pat is a great composer, but the more dominant drumming just makes this recording more interesting to listen to than many of the Pat Metheny Group recordings. Obviously Herbie Hancock was brought in later on this recording project to add splashes of wonderful acoustic piano. The combination of Jack DeJohnnette, Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock is always going to be cool in any musical situation. If you want to add some very accessible music to your collection and yet have it be more interesting than your usual Weather Channel jazz, "Parallel Realities" is for you.
Musicians for "Parallel Realities"
Jack DeJohnette - Drums and Keyboard Bass
Pat Metheny - Guitar, Synclavier and Keyboard Bass
Herbie Hancock - Piano and Keyboards
Tracks for "Parallel Realities"
- Jack In
- Exotic Isles
- Dancing
- Nine over Reggae
- John McKee
- Indigo Dreamscapes
- Parallel Realities
Click here to learn more about "Parallel Realities"
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