Gaucho; Melonious Quartet
We're big fans of the edgy, sophisticated sound and stage sensibilities of France's "Melonious Quartet." For a taste of their incredible ensemble ability, let alone Read more»
Advanced Pentatonic
We mentioned this book over five years ago, Berklee professor and Austin, Texas based jazz guitarist Bruce Saunder's book Jazz Pentatonics (Mel Bay Private Lessons Read more»
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"Good improvisation communicates harmonic progression melodically. Effective melodies manipulate harmonic content through the use of guide tones and preparatory gravity notes, masterfully woven in systematic tension, release, and transparent harmonic definition."
May 17, 2012 | Gaucho; Melonious Quartet
We're big fans of the edgy, sophisticated sound and stage sensibilities of France's "Melonious Quartet." For a taste of their incredible ensemble ability, let alone their eye catching instruments, check out the video below.
May 15, 2012 | Special opportunity: Mann 2-Point Flatback Oval Hole Mandolin
We'd like to make you aware of a special instrument from JazzMando sponsor and perennial emando builder fave, Jonathon Mann. You may not be aware that the Tennessee builder is responsible for producing some intriguing acoustic mandolin family instruments, and he's offering one of his 2-points on his site to assist in funding a church mission trip to Honduras that his wife and son will be going on in June.
You have a chance to get an amazing instrument just off his bench AND all proceeds from the sale of this mando will go to help fund the outreach.
Click for closeup
Specs: Neck-thru/flatback construction. Red Spruce, X braced carved top in a gloss vintage amber finish, Quilted Maple back in a satin Cremona finish. Ebony with sapwood peghead overlay. 12" radius Ebony fretboard 1-3/16" wide at nut. Grover 309 tuning machines. Banjo size frets. Tortoise/white/black binding on top and sound hole. Cumberland Acoustic bridge and 2 way truss rod. Price with case, $1500.
We mentioned this book over five years ago, Berklee professor and Austin, Texas based jazz guitarist Bruce Saunder's book Jazz Pentatonics(Mel Bay Private Lessons Series) as a great source for digging into the concept of advance Pentatonic scale use. Every folk musician knows the power of the pentatonic, five little notes and formulaic traid-plus-benign-notes capability. Mandolinists are prone to imprison themselves to just the simplicity of the Pentatonic scale in the key(s) of the song itself, beginning and most advanced, as well.
The great Bebop musicians, 'Trane, Diz, Bird, were able to take these scales further, base them on upper extensions of the chords. If you have drilled these scales into your frets, you can take the next step of injecting them into your music as a way of voicing the upper chord extensions of some juicy chords. If you improvise these 5 notes with certain 7th chord variations, you can voice melodically, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, without thinking 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths.
Below are sample Pentatonic "Opportunities" for Maj7, Min7, Dom7, an m7b57 chords. Especially effective in modal jazz where the song sits on a chord for several measures, these can bend the year in an interesting but tastefully appropriate way. We've listed the 7th chord variation, the "Old School" Pentatonic scale used, and a new and improved "Upgrade." We've also noted the chord tones you infer by using the particular scale.
One suggestion, have another player comp the chord in a background first, or use some sort of "Band in a Box" software program or iReal B iPad app to generate an accompaniment. Once you get comfortable with one or two chords, play along with some familiar changes like a 12-bar blues or Rhythm Changes.
Open your ears and have fun!
Cmaj7 Old School: C Pentatonic C D E G A Upgrade: D Pentatonic D E F# A B
You get: 9, (3), +11, 6, 7 Relation to root: Plus one step
Cm7 Old School: Eb Pentatonic (Cm Pentatonic) Eb F G Bb C Upgrade: Bb Pentatonic Bb C D F G
You get: (7), (1), 9, 11, (5) Relation to root: Down one step (up m7)
C7 Old School: C Pentatonic C D E G A Upgrade: Bb Pentatonic Bb C D F G Better Upgrade: Gb Pentatonic (Alt chord) Gb Ab Bb Db Eb
You get: b5, b13, b7, b9, +9 Relation to root: Plus diminished 5th (tritone)
Cm7b5
Ab Pentatonic Ab Bb C Eb F
You get: b13, b7, (1), (3), 11 Relation to root: Plus m6
May 11, 2012 | AirTurn BT-105 Wireless Page Turner for iPad
We've fully embraced the iPad as a performance tool for set lists and song charts. We've enjoyed and had success using such apps as the UnrealBook, Planning Center Online (Music Stand), and PDF Reader Pro on stage, and for practicing jazz tunes with accompaniment for sheer indulgence, the world's leading real book app, iReal B.
Recently, we acquired the new AirTurn Bluetooth page turner for hands free reading we first spotted at this year's winter NAMM show, and couldn't be happier. Scrolling back and forth for practice is as easy as the tap of a foot. The pedal is extremely quiet and communicates with the iPad (and other tablets or computers) through bluetooth technology. No fuss installing, we were up and running seconds out of the box after charging the unit.
Pricing seemed a little steep with it's $129.95 suggested retail, but you can probably do a little better than that (see link below). It comes with a USB connection for juicing up its rechargeable battery, and features no-slip traction to keep it from sliding around on a smooth floor or stage. We recommend the BT-105PK package with dual footswitches in order to move both forward and backwards.
From the website: The AirTurn BT-105 is a wireless Bluetooth page turner that is operated by two ATFS-2 silent pedals for forwards and backwards page turns. Works with most document and presentation programs for Mac and PC, as well as a growing number of apps for the iPadand Android tablets.
The AirTurn BT-105 page turner and ATFS-2 pedals are proudly made in the U.S.A.
This AirTurn dual foot switch kit comes with the AirTurn BT-105 Bluetooth page turning transmitter, 2 ATFS-2 black silent foot switches that connect to the BT-105, the AirTurn non-slip pedal board, and a USB recharging cable. Fully assembled. The BT-105 Transceiver may be easily removed for use in other applications.
Joe Craven is a man so talented he could make licking an envelope a musical experience. We've mentioned the West Coast multi-instrumentalist phenom before, reaping praise on his past projects such as Camptown and Django Latino . Arguably best known for his stint with acoustic legend David Grisman, he is equally adept at percussion, fiddle, mandolin, as well as an in-demand clinician, rounded ethnomusicologist, and sideman for Jerry Garcia and Alison Brown. He's wowed the world with his solo career as well, but it's his latest "trio" project that we can't get enough of. Traditional American Folk, Blues, New Orleans, Swing, Funk, as well as the music of Brazil, Haiti, Ireland, Cuba and Puerto Rico, this CD has it all, and at a level of energy and polished execution that can't help but draw you in.
Joined by drummer Kendrick Freeman and keyboardist John Burr who also holds a high pedigree on the international stage (Maria Muldaur, Paul Chambers, Robben Ford, Paul Brady), the trio crank out what will likely prove one of the best folk/jazz albums of the year, "All Four One." Also playing a strong guest role is bassist/accordian, Rich Kuhns. The musicians play with spry precision and anoetic spontaneity, each song an engaging tour, a plethora of ethinic styles with a very distinctly jazz vocabulary. Craven's fiddling is great. His mandolinning will blow you away.
This is one of those genre breaking CDs we insist you add to your permanent collection.
We have a wealth of free downloadable exercises on the site. Some are a sneak peak of the "Getting Into Jazz Mandolin" book, a snapshot of more advanced concepts developed further there. At very minimum, these drills are stand alone concepts that work the fingers into better facility, at best they put you down the path to a deeper, more profound intellectual understanding of music theory.
On of our earlier entries was introduced in an April 2004 Mandolin Sessions on the topic of "Gravity" notes. The idea is to break from drilling scales in consecutive melodic steps and approach the scale from a harmonic perspective. Notes lead to important, defining chord tones, the accompanying exercise is not only good for the fingers, it's great for the ears and brain. Exploiting the best of the FFcP strategy, it tours the player through all twelve keys. It's a great flexibility builder for the 3rd and 4th fingers, too.
We mentioned our review of West Coast builder Steve Sorensen last week. He's posted some rather intriguing pictures of some other creations on his personal Facebook page, including some bold color finishes. Quite a visual treat!
Pondering what a mandolin shaped like the above would play and sound like.
May 3, 2012 | Bob McCarthy; Wounded, Mercy and Sudden Light
If your preference for jazz is on the lighter side--acoustic string folk, intimate and atmospheric without being cloying, clever but not not smugly so, you'll love the music of New Hampshire multi-instrumentalist Bob McCarthy. We first introduced you to the fretted stylings of one of New England's closest kept mandolin/guitar secrets in May of 2010 with the release of self-produced "Where I Live"
In addition to his mandolin/guitar picking prowess, Bob has a knack for grouping nontraditional instrumental timbres, cello with bass and drums, bluesy resonator guitar, and light world percussion, with his environmentally sound compositional skills. Room to breathe freely, fellow bandmates trade solos like sharing stories over a warm campfire.
The songs are melodic and catchy, and though sometimes the texture borderline dense with busy countermelody, there's an underlying unity that ties each song together and makes the entire CD whole. The personality in the instrumentation is consistently charming, and something you'd enjoy listening to over a glass of fine wine and good conversation.
It's always refreshing to catch up with Bob's latest.
May 1, 2012 | JM11 Strings now available in bulk pricing
We've received many recent requests to purchase the popular JM11 flatwound mandolin strings in larger quantities, so we're making it an official option in the JazzMando Merchandise Center, effective immediately. Known for their smooth comfort and warm tone, we've had customers from across many genres including classical, old time, blues, resonator mandolin, and of course jazz mandolinists purchase these.
You and your friends in the orchestra can pool your money an purchase a dozen JM11 for only $145 including US Domestic and Canadian shipping (add $7.00 international orders). We just received a huge shipment so a fresh supply is ready to ship, even if you just want to experiment with one or two sets.
The polished flatwound JM11 strings have a much closer, tighter wrap which resists corrosion and wear from oxidation and player perspiration. The steel alloys lends a crisp "punch" for a "bell-like" attack and articulation. Player comfort from the smooth strings makes these feel as great as they sound!
April 29, 2012 | Mel Bay publishes the last of the Mandolin Sessions
We knew it was final, so we pulled out all the stops. In March, the writers of Mel Bay'sMandolin Sessions were informed the series was coming to an end, and the April/May 2012 would be the curtain call. The near decade long run would be over.
We decided to go for it and make this one really count. In multiple interviews, we solicited the insights of a dozen of some of the world's most superb jazz mandolin artists asking them to offer their thoughts on improvisation, We asked the question below of Michael Lampert, Don Julin, Craig Schmoller, Jason Anick, Jamie Masefield, Will Patton, Danny Williams, Aaron Weinstein and Scott Tichenor. These are names you are very familiar with if you've been around JazzMando for long. Sadly, our interview was one of the last one's of the late John McGann who passed away suddenly in April. We also received some additional words of clarity from David Grisman and Mike Marshall.
The question:
"Where does your material come from? No doubt it's a blend of music theory and spontaneous "soul," but how would describe the sparks in your individual creative process? What are the elements, how do other great artists or other ensemble members impact your playing, what makes for a more satisfying solo for you, your bandmates, and your audience?"
Their answers won't necessarily surprise you, but at minimum, a healthy review of what music theory means to the whole process, in their fingers and ears. We're sure you'll also pick up some new ideas, too. Please take the time to read the article, and as a show of your support, give us a 5 star rating and/or weigh in with a user comment as a show of support.
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May 17, 2012 | Gaucho; Melonious Quartet
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