Brass School Woodshed PRO SESSION

BY JOHN RAYMOND

jump to thinking that they need to learn more

ERIC RYAN ANDERSON

things—more scales, more theory, more vocab-
ulary, etc. But what if we thought more careful-
ly about how we do what we do, instead? What
if we paid more attention to the emotional and
intuitive side of things, rather than focusing on
the intellectual side? Maybe if we did things
this way, we’d come closer to embodying the
essence of this music that our heroes personi-
fy when they play. We’d develop an approach
that is genuine and unique to who we are, and
we ultimately would have a musical voice that
is all our own.

Develop Your Taste

A major step in developing your own voice
happens through the process of listening and
developing your taste for what you like and
don’t like. Often, particularly in academic envi-
ronments, musicians feel as though they need
to dig everything they hear. In my opinion,
though, this shouldn’t be the case. We should
respect and appreciate things, yes, but we don’t
need to like it all. Ultimately, your musical pref-
erences and inclinations play a major role in
distinguishing your style and your voice as an
artist. So we shouldn’t avoid having opinions,
even if they don’t meet the status quo. If this
was the case throughout jazz history, many of
the musicians we revere wouldn’t have shaped
the music in the myriad of ways they have.
First, we simply have to digest lots of music.
Literally, listen to everything you can get your
hands on. Don’t just listen to one or two people
that you really like. Listen to as many different
musicians and albums as possible. Get under-
neath and inside of every recording, hear past
John Raymond
the notes and rhythms, and hear the nuances
of what makes someone sound the way they do.
A good routine could be to schedule time every

Discovering a Voice single day to listen to one record you already

know, as well as one new record you don’t (at
the very least). Also, switch up what you lis-
ten to in terms of when it was recorded. Listen

That’s All Your Own to old records, new records and everything in
between. Doing this helps give you context, and

I
without context you can’t have an accurate pic-
t’s no secret that, in the world of jazz educa- There’s only one problem. Knowing all ture of the evolution of the music (let alone fig-
tion today, there are an abundance of there is to know about playing jazz doesn’t nec- ure out where you fit into things).
resources to help musicians become more essarily mean you’ll sound different than any- A lot of musicians get this far. But, if the
competent improvisers. You can learn from one else. You might be able to hang playing any process stops here and you don’t form opin-
great teachers and players in school, by check- tune at any tempo and be able to play “all the ions about what you like and dislike, then you
ing out a plethora of books and pedagogi- right stuff,” but at the end of the day, you’ll still miss the opportunity to learn something about
cal material, watching videos or finding other be just one fish in a large ocean of musicians yourself. The key here is that you have to be
resources online. A higher number of musi- who can do all the exact same thing as you. honest. Make note of what resonates with you
cians than ever before understand jazz the- Thus, it’s no surprise that the question, and try to figure out why it does so. You might
ory, know all their scales, have learned lots of “How do I find my own voice?” is arguably the not be able to define it right away, but once you
tunes, transcribed solos and have a good, gen- most frequently asked by jazz students around can you’ll have a window into understanding
eral grasp on how to play this music. the world. In an effort to find the answer, most who you are as an artist. For me, this happened

86 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2018

Raymond's trio Real Feels released the album Joy Ride this year.

when I got hip to Art Farmer. There was some- cy and evenness of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s sound. what’s important here is our motive for tran-
thing about the way he played, how melodic (Not all of your influences have to be from your scription. We want to do so for the purpose of
and unique it was, that I couldn’t help but be instrument.) imitation, not to directly copy someone else.
enamored with him (it even led me to adopt the Oftentimes, though, there are musicians or This is huge. It’s the one degree of difference
flugelhorn exclusively in my band Real Feels). I recordings that inspire us in ways that don’t fit that, while you might not see it in the short-
remember reading an interview where he talk- into any of these categories. Perhaps there’s an term, has a massive long-term effect on the tra-
ed about how one thing that helped him find his album you love the vibe or mood of, and when- jectory of your growth.
voice was when he realized he was a ballad play- ever you want to feel a certain way you put it The key with imitation is that we have to
er. That really stuck with me for some reason. on. Put it on your list. Or maybe you seem to deal with both the logical and the emotion-
As I thought about it more and more, I realized notice how “assertive” a particular musician al aspects of the music. We have to internalize
that this resonated with me because I, too, was sounds and you’re drawn to this. Write this on specific notes, rhythms and gestures, as well as
a ballad player. It was in that moment that I had your list, too. We often become aware of specific conceptual ideas like the feeling you get from
discovered a major clue to who I was as a musi- things in recordings because they’re things that a certain sound, someone’s time feel, or the
cian. And that is precisely the goal of listening: we want more of in our playing. The more spe- humor or pain you sense in their playing. If we
to give us clues into what our musical voice is. cific and exhaustive you are about your tastes, only learn one or the other, it will be impossible
the more complete of a picture you’re going to to fully understand—and to synthesize into our
Get a Concept start to envision in your head of who you are own playing—what we’re influenced by.
From here you can put all the clues you find and what you want to sound like. For the logical side of things, we have to be
together to start formulating a concept that One other thought here. You can also begin able to be internalize the things we transcribe
genuinely reflects your influences. This con- to find your musical voice by figuring out who on an intuitive level. Why? Because the process
cept will then shape how and what you practice, you are personally, outside of music. The truth we use to improvise is an intuitive one, not a
and it ultimately will guide all of your musical is that all of the different aspects of our person- conscious one. (I’m sure we’ve all had the expe-
decisions. To start, make a long list of the musi- ality should reflect themselves in our music in rience of trying to insert licks we’ve learned into
cians you love, as well as their specific traits one way or another. Thus, the more self-aware solos, and we all know how poorly that works
that resonate with you. This should include you become, the more that can help you in out.) In order to do this, I’ve found that sing-
(but not be limited to) areas of your playing like determining how you can honestly express ing an idea and specifically not focusing on
sound, time/feel, melodic approach, harmon- yourself through your instrument. what notes or rhythms you’re playing helps us
ic approach, phrasing, articulation, dynamics, get outside of how we intellectually conceive of
etc. Don’t be afraid to list multiple influences Imitate the Logical & the Emotional it. This often results in immediately being able
for a particular aspect of your playing, too. For You’ve listened to and digested a lot of to play the idea with much more clarity and
example, when I made a list like this years ago, I music. You’ve started to develop a concept confidence.
wanted my sound to be a hybrid of the warmth based on your influences. Now it’s time to get You can also take notice of the context in
of Art Farmer’s sound, the soaring quality of down-and-dirty by transcribing the musicians which the things you transcribe occur. What
Kenny Wheeler’s sound and the consisten- and sounds that you’re most inspired by. But chord is an idea being played over? What’s hap-

APRIL 2018 DOWNBEAT 87

pening in the rhythm section? At what point in cess equally as valuable as learning the logical of constant searching that takes lots of energy,
the overall development of the tune or solo does aspects of the music. honesty with yourself and humility to continu-
it take place? Once you’ve determined these ally assess where you’re at. Frankly, that’s why
sorts of things, you can then practice applying Don’t Sleep on Composition there are so few who go down this road. But the
what you’ve transcribed to other situations (try- It’s also worth mentioning how important feeling of cultivating a more intimate connec-
ing it over different chords, in different keys, on composition is in this entire process. Many of tion with your instrument—so that it becomes
different tunes), which helps build a more vivid our improvisational heroes also had a singular an extension of who you are—is one of the most
aural imagination of what something sounds voice as a composer, and this was no accident. rewarding gifts of playing this music.
and feels like. There’s an inexplicable link between compos- Moreover, upon spending years and years
Likewise, we can also take an abstract, ing and improvising: They complement each imitating and drawing from the musicians you
emotional concept and work on it in logical and other and they also inform each other. admire most, you realize that everyone has
intentional ways. You can create your own exer- Composition is yet another avenue that can something unique and special to offer—includ-
cises to help you focus on applying the ideas give us clues into what our musical voice is, ing yourself. You recognize that who you are,
you’re trying to incorporate into your playing. yet I often find that many student musicians what you have to say and how you want to say
For example, say you feel a distinct sense of don’t take near enough advantage of how valu- it are all valid. You can be yourself, and in fact
spontaneity in how a musician crafts his or able the process can be in their development. you need to be yourself. It would be a loss for
her melodic lines. While there might be a log- Perhaps this is because we only view composi- everyone if you settled for trying to be a clone
ical reason why this is (which you could deci- tion in terms of composing tunes or songs. But of someone else. This is one of the most liberat-
pher through transcription), it is likely that it’s much broader than this. Spend time com- ing and exciting parts about playing this music:
there’s a direct correlation to how they natu- posing your own exercises, scale patterns, solos, Your unique and individual voice matters, now
rally approach playing. So, why not try to, in a new melodies over existing chord changes, etc. more than ever. DB
sense, “transcribe” their approach? Get inside Anything and everything that you can write out
their head and imagine how they’re processing will only help connect the dots in your progress
With a singular voice on trumpet and flugelhorn, John
the music. Then create an exercise where you toward defining who you are as an artist. Raymond is making his mark as an up-and-coming
try to improvise in that same headspace. You international jazz musician. He has performed with Billy Hart,
Kurt Rosenwinkel, Orrin Evans, Linda Oh, Dan Tepfer and
might not be focusing on the minutiae of notes Your Voice Matters Gilad Hekselman, among others. He has also released five
and rhythms, but you will focus on a specific The process of “finding our own voice” is a albums since 2012, his latest being Joy Ride (Sunnyside), which
features his trio Real Feels. Raymond has established himself as
concept that will ultimately train your subcon- long journey that ultimately never ends. As a sought-after educator, both as the Professor of Jazz Trumpet
at Indiana University and as a guest clinician and soloist at
scious mind to approach things the same way Miles Davis said, “Man, sometimes it takes you schools around the world. Contact him at johnraymondmusic@
your influences do. And this makes the pro- a long time to sound like yourself.” It’s a process gmail.com or visit his website, johnraymondmusic.net.

88 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2018