Jazz Improv Magazine
Stanislav Gasanenko
it could be: Guitar Player and JustJazzGuitar. Also I heard that new mag
- Jazz Improv - is a pretty good one and better than Down Beat. Is this
true? May be somebody can share experience or give advises on mags? Or
newsgroups and Internet sufficient enough for gathering information on
guitar, jazz and CDs? I really appreciate this.
Thank you, and sorry my mistakes (English is my second language)
David Stephens
I much prefer it to Down Beat. JazzIzz is aimed more at smooth jazz or
fusion, if you're into that. JazzTimes has many articles aimed at musicians
and over 100 CD reviews per issue.
Dave
Stanislav Gasanenko <sg...@columbia.edu> wrote in message
news:39FA3F2F...@columbia.edu...
Stanislav Gasanenko
> For general jazz reviews, great articles and photography, I like JazzTimes.
> I much prefer it to Down Beat. JazzIzz is aimed more at smooth jazz or
> fusion, if you're into that. JazzTimes has many articles aimed at musicians
> and over 100 CD reviews per issue.
>
> Dave
>
Thank you, Dave!
Well, in past I did receive a JazzTimes...and canceled subscription. All
reviews were the same: praise and glory and "buy it!":o) At least in Down Beat
some useful information: reviews with stars, transcriptions and interviews of
greatest cats. But it seems to me that DB also corrupted:o) Now I'm with
Cadence (independent magazine), but the size of magazine extremely awkward,
clumsy...and fonts are so small - it's pain to read the mag:o) I just thought
that may be JazzImprov is better than DB/JazzTimes - I mean more
professional... But still no responces from folks:o)
Thank you again!
(and sorry my mistakes:o)
Kent Burnside
jazz guitar information in one issue than you will in a whole year's worth
of <Guitar Player>.
Does anyone here remember when <Guitar Player> was a really good periodical?
This was before it was part of a large corporate conglomerate. I recall
buying issues (70s and 80s) with great players like Martino, Ellis, and Hall
on the cover; now it's mostly players I've either never heard of or don't
care about (though Jeff Beck has been on the cover twice in less than 2
years, so maybe there's hope yet). Old fogie syndrome on my part, perhaps,
but I really do miss the days when you could read about great players in
that magazine. Anyone else here feel the same way?
Kent Burnside
----------
In article <39FA3F2F...@columbia.edu>, Stanislav Gasanenko
Faizal Ali
it. It's a very different publication than DB or JazzTimes. Jazz Improv
focuses entirely on instructional material and has no artist interviews etc.
It did have what appeared to be record reviews, but seemed on closer
inspection to just be descriptive blurbs put together by the record
companies. In fact, most of the material it contained was simply reprinted
excerpts from other books. (In other words, advertising). It did have some
original articles, but these were unsigned and usual consisted of bland
truisms ("use space in your solos") or bitter rants about the music
industry. Also, it's layout and graphics were extremely ugly and
amateurish.
One good idea it did have was to include a CD recording of the solo
transcriptions it contained. Personally, I see little value in written solo
transcriptions, but for other these could be a plus.
I should qualify my comments by saying this is based on the early issues.
It could have improved since then.
Stanislav Gasanenko
> I tried the first three issues of Jazz Improv and decided not to stick with
> it. It's a very different publication than DB or JazzTimes. Jazz Improv
> focuses entirely on instructional material and has no artist interviews etc.
> It did have what appeared to be record reviews, but seemed on closer
> inspection to just be descriptive blurbs put together by the record
> companies. In fact, most of the material it contained was simply reprinted
> excerpts from other books. (In other words, advertising). It did have some
> original articles, but these were unsigned and usual consisted of bland
> truisms ("use space in your solos") or bitter rants about the music
> industry. Also, it's layout and graphics were extremely ugly and
> amateurish.
>
> One good idea it did have was to include a CD recording of the solo
> transcriptions it contained. Personally, I see little value in written solo
> transcriptions, but for other these could be a plus.
>
+++ Actually, written solos could be helpful, but there is a lot of books with
solos. At least you can choose what you want and don't relay on magazine.
>
> I should qualify my comments by saying this is based on the early issues.
> It could have improved since then.
It's seems to me, that for unknow reasons, it's very difficult to change
something in any magazine:o) If it's not good, that it's takes forever to
improve at least layout or level of reviews. So, for now, still "Cadence" only
seems to me desereve a respect...but again, it's so clumsy:o)
Thank you for your input, it was really interesting.
Regards!
Stephen G. Carl
Coryell, Jerry Hahn, Michael Lorimer, etc. I subscribed from
1972 to 1983, and again in 1997 when I started to play again,
but let it expire after 1 year, since I found very little of
interest or value in it.
Michael Fitzgerald
wrote:
>I tried the first three issues of Jazz Improv and decided not to stick with
>it. It's a very different publication than DB or JazzTimes. Jazz Improv
>focuses entirely on instructional material and has no artist interviews etc.
>It did have what appeared to be record reviews, but seemed on closer
>inspection to just be descriptive blurbs put together by the record
>companies. In fact, most of the material it contained was simply reprinted
>excerpts from other books. (In other words, advertising). It did have some
>original articles, but these were unsigned and usual consisted of bland
>truisms ("use space in your solos") or bitter rants about the music
>industry. Also, it's layout and graphics were extremely ugly and
>amateurish.
I agree that the earliest issues weren't so wonderful in terms of
layout, variety of authors, etc. It is basically a husband-wife
operation - did you really believe the names in the credits for art
director "Al Terrigo" and for design "Dewitt Yahrself"????
But now that the magazine has established itself (v1n1 was Winter
1997-1998), there are more contributors (even some big name players
like Mel Martin, Brian Torff, Todd Coolman, Hal Galper) and things
look and read much better - the lastest issue even has some color
pages inside. I have continued to subscribe and find it a very useful
magazine. There are only 4 issues a year, but each issue is the size
of a BOOK! v2n4 is 240 pages (8.5" x 11").
There are always good interviews done by musicians that address
serious topics. Subjects have included:
v1n3: Pat Martino, Sue Mingus
v1n4: Billy Cobham, Mike Nock, Jack Chambers
v2n1: Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, Mike Longo
v2n2: Michael Brecker, Lynne Arriale, Frank Tiberi, Alyn Shipton,
Amandah Jantzen
v2n3: Wayne Shorter, Bob Brookmeyer, Tom Harrell, Deanna Witkowski
v2n4: Buddy Montgomery, John Patitucci, Jimmy Bruno, Joe Diorio, Chuck
Mangione, Ronnie Cuber, Claire Daly, Mark Elf, Charlie Mariano,
They also include chapters from published books (mostly biographies).
I find these are very useful when deciding whether or not to buy. I
don't consider these to be just "advertising".
v1n1: Nisenson: Ascension
v1n2: Berliner: Thinking In Jazz (pt 1); Gourse: Straight, No Chaser
v1n3: Berliner: Thinking In Jazz (pt 2); DeVeaux: The Birth Of Bebop;
Pettinger: How My Heart Sings
v1n4: Chambers: Milestones
v2n1: Rosenthal: Hard Bop; King: What Jazz Is
v2n2: Shipton: Groovin' High
v2n3: Mathieson: Giant Steps; MacDonald: Tadd
v2n4: Murray: Good Morning Blues
They have also done excerpts from music books.
CD reviews vary based on the author (most of the writers are readers,
I think). Some are very good, some are useless. But there are now
about 100 in each issue.
Transcriptions and lead sheets/arrangements make this totally
different from Cadence (which is a great magazine). Jazz Improv is a
magazine by musicians for musicians.
v1n1 solos: Coltrane: Naima; Coltrane: Giant Steps (alt); Henderson:
Milestones; Mobley: The Best Things in Life Are Free; Green: The Best
Things in Life Are Free; Kelly: The Best Things in Life Are Free;
Evans: Turn Out the Stars
v1n1 songs: Evans: Two Lonely People; Nemeyer: Bananas and Cream;
Coltrane: Moment's Notice
v1n2 solos: Liebman: I Concentrate on You; Azarian: Get out of Town;
Broadbent: Ballad Impromptu; Brown: Joy Spring; Rodney: Woody'n You
v1n2 songs: Monk: Ruby, My Dear; Monk: Round Midnight; Monk:
Introspection; Brown: Joy Spring; Brecker (Randy): The Sleaze Factor;
Gillespie: Woody'n You
v1n3 solos: Martino: Uptown Down; Martino: Alone Together; Morgan:
Most Like Lee; Rollins: Airegin; Redman: Home Fries; Khan: Clafouti;
Kirby: Point of Balance; DellaRatta: Ara; Ponomarev: Dance Intoxicant
v1n3 songs: Martino: The Great Stream; Martino: You're Welcome to a
Prayer; Pohjola: Hair, Scarf and Fragrance; McCaslin: Mountain Mama;
Spaits: Dark Blue
v1n4 solos: Davis: Miles Away; Barron: There Is No Greater Love;
Barron: Anthropology; Ballin: Cat Paw Skipper; Mobley: Bye Bye
Blackbird; Kelly: Bye Bye Blackbird; Kelly: On Green Dolphin Street
v1n4 songs: Parker: Confirmation; Parker: Ornithology; Steen: Seven
Come Five; D'Agostino: Son Finite Le Vergini; Johnston: For Thomas;
Nock: Ozboppin; Nock: The Emperor's Clothes; Nock: The Philosophers;
Nock: Snafu; Kienle: Quiet Earth
v2n1 solos: Walton: Bolivia; Zellon: Cherokee Samba; Silver: Stop
Time; Silver: Satisfaction Guaranteed; Brecker: Yodel Lady Blues;
Brecker (Randy): Yodel Lady Blues; Mitchell: Ah So; Mobley: The More I
See You; Hubbard: The More I See You; Kelly: The More I See You;
Gordon: The Days of Wine and Roses
v2n1 songs: Walton: Bolivia, Zellon: Cherokee Samba, Warren: The More
I See You
v2n2 solos: Arriale: Turning; Tiberi: The Garz and I; Brecker:
Outrance; Brecker: Madame Toulouse; Tyner: Have You Met Miss Jones;
Christlieb: Shaw Nuff
v2n2 songs: Powell: Hallucinations; Tiberi: The Garz and I; Maslov:
Kolobok; Gillespie/Parker: Shaw Nuff
v2n3 solos: Shorter: Pinocchio; Shorter: Dolores; Hancock: Pinocchio;
Stitt: Our Delight; Garland: Our Delight; Harris: Hot House
v2n3 songs: Shorter: Pinocchio; Shorter: Dolores; Dameron: Our
Delight; Dameron: Hot House; Dameron: Good Bait; Dameron: The Scene is
Clean; Ellington: Sophisticated Lady;
v2n4 solos: Kelly: What's New; Kelly: Unit 7; Montgomery: Jingles;
Montgomery: In Your Own Sweet Way; Montgomery: Unit 7
v2n4 songs: Montgomery: Jingles; Brubeck: In Your Own Sweet Way;
Lacey: Theme for Ernie; Nemeyer: Zip-ta-toonie; Bruno: Polarity;
Montgomery: West Coast Blues; Diorio: Monk-ing
I'm not even going to get into the CDs which include classic things
(many related to the transcriptions or interviews) and also
play-alongs.
Just one last mention for the great photos - some rare ones by people
like Bob Parent, Lee Tanner, Jan Persson, etc.
At about $10 an issue, how could anyone not like this? Right now I'm
up for renewal and I'm going to do it again.
Mike
Davidguitar
I agree. The problem is, great players now days are in short supply, especially
in rock.
Jim Kangas
IMHO, Just Jazz Guitar is the one which I get the most from, and enjoy
reading from cover to cover. It suffers from a bit of "traditional
bias", but as long as you understand that, it's great.
I've subscribed to Jazz Improv from the beginning, and I've gotten a
lot out of it. It's true that the initial issues were really cheap,
but the latest issue had glossy paper. I think they beat some of the
instructional topics over the head, but I've gotten some useful stuff
out of it. And the CD's are really quite good.
Guitar Player, I'm afraid, just plain sucks. It was great in the 70's,
but the only part I look at is the "Sessions" section. And most of
this stuff is disappointing to me (how can you explain theory in a
half a page?).
-Jim
Cribcage
<< Does anyone here remember when <Guitar Player> was a really good periodical?
>>
oh, yeah. long time ago, though. ;-)
mick goodrick used to write a column for them.
can't beat that, in my book.
crib
Faizal Ali
"Michael Fitzgerald" <fitz...@eclipse.net> wrote in message
news:i8kovskdlo28gn3ho...@4ax.com...
>
> I agree that the earliest issues weren't so wonderful in terms of
> layout, variety of authors, etc. It is basically a husband-wife
> operation - did you really believe the names in the credits for art
> director "Al Terrigo" and for design "Dewitt Yahrself"????
>
Well, duh! I got that. I'm glad to hear the magazine has improved. Maybe
I'll give it another shot.
CurtSheller
I cut out every Howard Roberts article and Tommy T article. Still have all
those. I actually cut up all the old issues. I didn't cut up any Hendrix or
Djange cover issue and I can't find them anywhere. A Hendrix issue of 20 to
30 years ago is worth some money now. I bought every issue in the late 70's
after getting out of the Navy.
Today they just plain suck. Just Jazz Guitar is the mag for a jazz guitarist.
Jsut for all the luthier information. That is where I got most of the prginal
nformation for my guitarresoruces.com jazz guitar site. I have over 100 arch
top custom guitar builders listed.
--
-----------
Curt Sheller
curtsheller.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
RobinsonCHAZZ
<< kent burnside >>
<< I cut out every Howard Roberts article and Tommy T article >>
<< Curt Sheller >>
Those articles were great along with ones by Larry Coryell and Lenny Breau.
They or some other periodical should resume that tradition. CR
Ron Brewer
Once upon a time it was true treasure with pages and pages of great useful
information, and interviews with top guitarists of every style. Now it is mostly
rantings and ravings of unknown drug culture I-think-I'm-a-stars. Sometimes, on
rare ocassions, they accidently print something worthwhile.
I have copies of every issue printed since day one. I subscribe now mostly out
of habit.
I am glad that some of you still remember the good old days and some of the
great writers.
rb
JamesK7766
CurtSheller
Michael Fitzgerald
>What is the subscription address
Mike
ChuckMclea
<< Does anyone here remember when <Guitar Player> was a really good periodical?
>>
Oh man, back in the '70's and '80's, it was wonderful, they highlighted such a
diverse group of players and styles, with 8 - 10 full page lessons from some of
the best players around. It was a real class act and I miss it tremendously
<< For a guitar magazine, go with <Just Jazz Guitar>; you will get more useful
jazz guitar information in one issue than you will in a whole year's worth
of <Guitar Player>. >>
I could't agree more.
'nuff said.
Tom Lippincott
>Oh man, back in the '70's and '80's, it was wonderful, they highlighted such
>a
>diverse group of players and styles, with 8 - 10 full page lessons from some
>of
>the best players around. It was a real class act and I miss it tremendously
I thought Guitar Player also had a "renaissance" period in the mid and late
'90s when Joe Gore was one of the main guys there; they were really doing a
good job of covering a lot of different players and styles, including a lot of
stuff that wouldn't have gotten press otherwise. I still subscribe but as of
the last year or two, I do have to agree with most of you guys.
There's still some worthwhile stuff there even now, though. This month had a
pretty good article on getting started with sight reading.
Tom Lippincott
Guitarist, Composer, Teacher
audio samples, articles, CD's at:
http://www.tomlippincott.com