May 24

Today I practiced for 25mins. I started off with the chromatic scales # 3 and #4 because I have not practiced them in a while. They went pretty well and I should become familiar with them again after a couple more practices. I practiced this for 5mins. I then practiced the Bb minor scale. This went o.k. but I need to keep practicing even though I am very familiar with these flats because they are played in a bit a different sequence which was a little challenging for me. I then practiced my ISP songs for 15mins. They went o.k but I need to keep practicing them to become 100% fluent with them. This should happen after 3 or 4 more practiced by myself and 5 more practices with my quartet.

Cannonball Adderly

I have chosen Cannonball Adderly, a famous jazz alto saxophonist. Adderly has past away and was 46 years old living from 1928-1975. He started playing since he was a child as his family was into music and later attended The University of Tallahasse and studied music there. He then became a high school music teacher in Florida. He later moved to New York and thats when his career began, and it was by chance. He brought his sax to a cafe because he was afraid that it would get stolen and then they asked him to play and he became an instant star. He was noticed by Miles Davis and he joined his sextet. He was then signed by Savoy Jazz and started recording and playing with the group, and made some classics like "Know What I Mean" and "Kind of Blue". After that he made his own jazz group called the Cannonball Adderly Quintet, featuring his brother on Cornet. This band was way more successful and was enjoyed more by the public for it's crossover into pop music. Adderly's music then started to influence the electris-jazz scene and he then began doubling on the soprano sax in shows. Later that year his quintet was stared in the psychological thriller "Play Misty for Me" with Clint Eastwood and he also became an actor in the show "Kung Fu". After he stopped making music many songs and music types were influended and even named after his band or songs. Adderly, a few years later died form a stroke and was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. The song I chose was The Jive Samba. In this song I like the jazz solo licks that he preforms. In this song he plays notes from all the register but I really like the mellow, dark tone from his lower register and I also like his energetic, brilliant upper register. I like his technique, how he improvs and just go's with the flow in all of his solo's, and how in his music he includes all aspects of jazz,
(mellow, energetic, bluesy etc.) I especially love his trill near the end of his preformance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHFn0vHF6-c

May 7th

I practiced for 30mins today. I played the Db concert scale for 10mins today. This scale went well, but for the first couple minutes I need to go over the fingerings to become familiar with them again. I playedthis scale 85% fluent because I have not practiced it in a while. I need to keep working on the Scale Study though so I can master, but I have it 80% fluent right now. I then practiced Study no.9 in the red book. This went well as we have recently played it in class. It is fairly easy for me but I am slowing it down in the sections that change notes quickly. With a few more practices it should perfect for me. I then played Chillers and Thrillers for 10mins. This went well, but I still need 4 or 5 more practices to master the entire thing. I especially practiced section 143 in "Escape from the City". This went ok but I need to keep practicing it to master it.