Jake Baynes Quarter Two Blog

Finished Coltrane Book After reading about the life of John Coltrane and the life of Stevie Ray Vaughan, I have a lot to think about as far as music is concerned. Both Coltrane and Stevie where very different as far as their personalities and mentalities towards music. However, one thing that they both would have connected through is this mentality of getting what they wanted through hard work and determination. Stevie got his fame through constant gigging and practicing to become the best blues musician that he could be. Coltrane got his fame the same way. Coltrane never stopped attempting to go somewhere new and raise the bar on what is and is not possible with Jazz. It was said that Stevie began the second wave of Blues guitarists since he added this whole new flavor to the genre with effects and intensity through adding a level of rock n roll to his playing. This mindset reminded me a lot of a John Mayer speech about how John had made all of his career happen by himself. The spee...

Recently, I found this musician named Hailey Niswanger who is part of a group called MAE.SUN. They are a group from Berklee. Her style of improvisation is very like minded of that to Coltrane with the way that she plays out side of the changes. I reached out to her through Instagram to ask her about her influences in music. I was delighted to find that she was a large Coltrane fan!!

355-431 John Coltrane Coming close to the end of this book on the life of John Coltrane, I have learnt a lot about his connection to music as well as his over all mentality as a musician. Looking at Coltrane's life in entirety with both of his parents dying at the age of 12, nothing seemed to stop Coltrane from achieving what he wanted. He was always determined to get what he wanted, even if it meant that he would have to work extremely hard to achieve it. There were a few people in this book that had said that Coltrane was willing to work harder, practice more, listen more, and play more than anyone else in order to get where he wanted too musically. After reading about his later years with learning under Ornett Coleman, this is absolutely validated. Coltrane spent a lot of time learning about the super imposition style that Coleman had been using through his playing. This idea of super imposing changes is something that really gives musicians a sound that is absolutely superson...

Lydian (311) - A mode that Coltrane loved to experiment with due to the tritone that was placed at the center of the scale. Reed (315) - The wooden part of the saxophone where the mouth goes. Smooth Jazz (312) - Jazz that contains very little tension.. for example, David Sanborn Blanketing (322) - A flurry of notes Impressions (323) - the song Coltrane wrote inspired by Miles’ tune “So What” So What (323) The modal tune that Miles wrote that was semi controvercial due to its half step key changes. A Love Supreme (324) - the album coltrane wrote in one week after he had a child. Cold Turkey (325) - The term used for quitting drugs immediately. Pslam (326) - Sacred song or hymn Blues For Alice (330) - written for his wife Alice. Circle Of Fifths (337) - the ordering of keys which coltrane used to write songs. Ravi Coltrane (338) - coltranes son that inspired the writing of A Love Supreme 26-2 (338) - The song that Ravi recorded that got me into ravi!

313-355 John Coltrane The way that Coltrane practiced as well as what and how he learned was a huge factor throughout his life. Compared to other musicians, Coltrane definitely practiced the most. Not only did he practice the most, but he also practiced in the most diverse way to all other musicians of his and current times. Coltrane was known for practicing in hotel rooms, taxi cabs, bathrooms and in the dressing rooms before shows. In one interview Coltrane had said that an interviewer told him that his music sounded angry and conflicted. Following this, Coltrane responded that he just had so many ideas going on from all of the practicing that he was doing, that when he played, he attempted to fit in all of his new ideas so that he could wrap his ears around them. This all relates to an essential question that I had, "how does the way in which someone practices, effect their overall playing as a musician?" In Coltrane's case, it seems that the excessive playing and pr...

I thought for this quick burst blog, I would share a song that really changed the way that I look at music. Back before I really got into playing the guitar, I was really into playing metal and shred guitar! My favorite band was Metallica! Then, my guitar teacher introduced me to Robben Ford's "Revelation". This song absolutely changed my life. I remember the first time that I heard this song. I was sitting where I am right now, noodling on my guitar. I then received the link to the song and decided to take a listen to it. This song embraced the soul of the blues and the technicality of the jazz, which I did not know that I would like until later on. From this song, I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan and immediately fell in love with the blues.

220-313 John Coltrane After Coltrane recorded "Giant Steps" he created his great quartet which included musicians, McCoy Tyner (piano) Elvin Jones (drums), Reggie Workman (bass). Coltrane played with these musicians from 1961-1962 and recorded the album "Africa/Brass". This album was extremely different from the last that Coltrane had released. This album featured a very selective section of brass as well as heavy influence from African music. This step was one of the first that Coltrane really made towards the music branch under jazz called Avant-Garde. Avant-Garde music is classified as music that showcases new and experimental ideas. The drive behind Coltrane attempting something new and wild like this was rooted in what he believed music was. Coltrane talked a lot about how he believed that music was one of the deepest connections to the human being. Being able to play different variations of music allowed for him to supposedly connect to more human beings on...

210-220 Modal (188) - A word describing the key changes of a tune. Giant steps (195) - A tune coltrane wrote that is regarded as one of the hardest songs in jazz. 1959 (201) - The year that jazz changed with the releases of “kind of blue” “Giant steps” and “The shape of jazz to come” Blanketing (201) technique that coltrane used. He would play many notes at once creating a blanket of notes. Quadtime (202) When the quarternote is multiplied by 4. Reed (204) - the wooden piece on a wind instrument that creates some of the tone. Bell (205) - the sound hole of the horn Horn (205) - broad term used for a sax or trumpet. Horizontal (207) Playing in one key Vertical (207) playing in many different keys Staff (208) what sheet music is written on

176-210 John Coltrane Throughout Coltrane's life, a devotion to finding unique sounds seemed to be prevalent. At the beginning of his career, Coltrane was unknown and somewhat undeveloped as a musician. This is simply due to the fact that he had not experienced much as far as new jazz was concerned. Coltrane's experience and level of musicianship can be explained by answering the essential question, "How does experience shape a musician?". So far, from what I have read about Coltrane's life, the answer is that experience outweighs everything as far as being a musician is concerned. In Coltrane's case, experience is what helped him develop such an interesting, progressive approach to jazz music that people are still amazed by! The book talked a lot about Coltrane's time with Miles and how it changed his views and perspectives on music. Before his time with Miles, Coltrane was playing standards, swing and bebop jazz as that is all he knew had existed. When...

This is a great recording to check out if you want to hear the difference between what Miles Davis had to say and what John Coltrane had to say when improvising. This tune is called "So What" the song is an extremely foundational modal tune. The whole tune works from the key of D to the key of Eb. If you listen, you can hear when they shift up a key and back down again! It is a great tune to analyze some of Coltrane's playing as the tunes simplicity allows for Coltrane's attitude in the way he plays to show and shine. 

157-176 Up to this point in John Coltrane's life, I have learnt a lot about how his life played out. Coltrane's first real musical influence was his father, who was a part time musician. Coltrane began to study the alto saxophone and the clarinet. He soon moved to Philadelphia and began schooling at "Ornstein School Of Music". From there Coltrane learnt about jazz. It was this knowledge that he then took too the navy as a member of the navy band. Once released, he began playing with Dizzy Gillespie. When looking at the style of Dizzy, I am not surprised where Coltrane got his sound. Dizzy was a very crazy outgoing musician who would play some things that the normal musician would not typically play. Yet the one thing that differentiated him from those like Ornett Colman, who would play outside for the technicality of it, Dizzy would play outside for the feeling of it. From here, Coltrane soon moved on and began playing with Miles in what was called the "First G...

46-157 Transcends (10) - To go beyond the limits of something. In this case, Coltrane is said to have transcended the limits of jazz during his time. Lester Young (13) - One of Coltrane's biggest early inspirations. Parker (13) - The nickname for Charlie Parker who was another large inspiration for Coltrane. Freelance (22) - Coltrane "Freelanced" in his early career. This meant that Coltrane was recording with and playing with many different bands. Obscurity (22) - Coltrane was sort of an obscurity in his early career as he followed many different paths in jazz. Stitt (32) - A very influential musician in Coltrane's life. Tenor (50) - A lower register saxophone which Coltrane occasionally played. Alto (50) - The register of saxophone that Coltrane spent most of his career playing. Soprano (51) - Coltrane began playing this instrument in the 60s when he recorded "My Favorite Things" earning him a lot of respect for it's new application in jazz. ...

1-46 John Coltrane After digesting 46 pages of legendary jazz musician, John Coltrane early life, I am struck by quite a few things. John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina and moved to High Point, NC when he as about a year old. Growing up in High Point, NC, gave Coltrane a huge grasp on blues and gospel music. This leads me to the essential question of how does the location of a musician through their early life effect the music that they play later on in their career? This essential question I am going to answer with this blog as well as the next analytical blog that I post. From what I know of John Coltrane, he is a modal jazz player who makes the blues sound far from what the blues should sound like. (I will put two examples below so you can see what I mean)  To define modal jazz, it is best to compare Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Coltrane. Every Stevie Ray tune is in one key specific to the tune. The key does not change. However, with modal jazz, the key of the song...

Here is a quick burst blog about the time that I got to sit in with a friend of Reese Wynans, the pianist that played with Stevie Ray Vaughan up until his death. Last year I got invited to play on stage with southern rock and country legend Lee Roy Parnell down in Athens, Georgia! Here is the video! It was really cool because I got to hear a bunch of stories about the times that Reese and Lee Roy were with Stevie!

Finished Stevie Ray Vaughan After finishing the Stevie Ray Vaughan biography, I now have a very deep understanding about Stevie's life. Before reading this book, I knew a few pieces of information about his life, none of which really tied into who he was as a person and what he stood for. One large theme of this book is how he battled with addiction to drugs and alcohol all throughout his career. Stevie was such a caring person throughout his life with the way that he cared for his friends and his band and most importantly his family which includes Jimmy Vaughan. In 1986 Stevie got clean so that he could love his friends, family and music. This event in Stevie's life, I feel, really defines his personality and who he was. The reason personality is even relevant when it comes to a musician is all down to the feeling and the music that they put out.  When listening to Stevie's music  throughout his entire career, you can ...

273- 336 finish Stevie Ray Vaughan Tone (254) - The sound of the musical instrument Treble (254) - The sound that can be described as piercing. Bass (255) - Low rumbles Middle (255) - What fills out the sound in-between bass and treble. Impedance (255) - the resistance of a speaker. Ohms (261) - The unit that describes the resistance. One Twelve (262)  - The dimensions of a lot of Stevies amplifiers. Scuttle Buttin' (264) - One of Stevie's most famous songs due to its speed and intensity. Hammond (266) - the type of organ that Reese Wynans, Stevie's piano player used. 12 gauge (273) - The heaviest gauge of strings that one can put on an electric guitar. Stevie did it! ES 335 (280) - The guitar that Stevie is holding on the cover of his album "Soul to Soul" Montreux Jazz Festival (291) - A festival that Stevie got booed at once. After playing the first song, the crowd changed their minds. Tex-Mex (294) - The mixture of Texas and Mexico Brisket Tacos ...

250-273 Up to this point in the book, I have followed Stevie's career up to his break down. Stevie since the beginning of his career got very involved with all sorts of different drugs and alcohol. One of his favorite drugs was cocaine as it allowed him to stay awake and gig with more intensity. It was unfortunate that Stevie decided to use drugs and not the method of simply sleeping as it wore his health down until he had a breakdown. In the middle of his European tour of 1987, Stevie had a mental breakdown where, "I woke up one day in very bad shape. Woke up crying, scared to death and didn't know why. Physically, I was a wreck. Mentally, spiritually and emotionally it was chaos." I had heard this quote a while ago when I was really deep into Stevie's music. After reading this section of the book, it makes so much sense now! In this section, Stevie stated that he had been using forms of cocaine since he was six years old. According to Stevie, through his abusi...

197-250 Come Hell Or High Water (183) - This is like a promise to get something done Univibe (185) - Type of pedal Stevie adopted in the 80s that allowed him to achieve a unique sound that he liked Vibrolux (188) - One of Stevie's favorite fender amps Super Reverb (188) - another one of stevies favorite amps that featured a 4 ten inch speaker configuration allowing for him to get a lot more volume than the Vibrolux. Steel String Singer (189) The amp that Stevie used on "Riviera Paradise" Axe (200) - Term used by guitarists when referring to their guitars Hamilton (200) a guitar that was built for stevie in 1984 Lenny (201) the name of a guitar that was bought for Stevie by his Ex wife. He then released a song titled Lenny for his wife at the time using that guitar. Leslie (213) - The name of the Speaker effect that Stevie used. Sounded similar to a univibe. Ray (230) Vaughan's middle name that he did not start using until 1979. Before this, he was Stevie Va...

173-197 Now that I have reached about half way through Stevie Ray Vaughan's life, I am quickly realizing that Stevie absolutely exploded onto the music scene. This seemed to be due to his natural talent, but also due to the scene that he was submersed in. Stevie grew up in Dallas Texas throughout the 60s and 70s. During this time musicians; Joe Louis Walker, BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Billy Gibbons, were all passing through the blues clubs in Dallas and around Dallas. This gave Stevie all the chances he could ask for to get to meet and learn from some of the best blues musicians in the world. Without these chances, I believe that Stevie would have been just as talented, but would have lacked a lot of experience that he showed throughout his career. You can really see how the experience effected him due to his lineage of bands. He started out as a rhythm guitarist for the band Blackbird in 1970. Blackbird featured a large horn section and many lead players. As Stevie grew...

160-173 I recently found this video. It is the earliest known recording of Stevie Ray Vaughan! It is very interesting to listen too as it shows the roots of his playing. However if you compare this video to something later on in his career when he had been influenced by other musicians, you can see how his playing had changed yet his roots stayed the same.

120-160 Leading up to this point in the book, I have learnt a lot about Stevie's early life. This entailed how he came to learning the guitar and getting into the blues. When Stevie was younger, his brother would bring the blues into his household in all forms. Jimmy Vaughan, Stevie's brother is still a famous musician today. According to Stevie, he got to play on one of the toy guitars that was laying around the house, inspired by his brother. He managed to teach himself how to play the blues through watching his brother and listening to his brothers blues records. It was around this time that Stevie also listened to artists like Kenny Burrell, who played the blues with a jazz approach, using chordal ideas with their playing. This is something a that a lot of old blues players would also do. With Stevie not having a band until he formed the Blackbirds in 1970, playing lead and rhythm was something that he would do when playing with himself. This is huge due to the impact t...

40-121 Stevie Ray Vaughan Blackbird 36 - The first blues band that Stevie formed in 1970 Number 1 45 - the name of Stevie's guitar that he obtained from Christopher Cross. Overwound 46 - When a guitar pickup is wound with more wire than usual producing more output Pole Pieces 46 - The metal pieces of a pickup. They are what pick up the vibration of the guitar strings. Staggered 47 - The pole pieces on Stevie's guitar were staggered. low resistance 52 - the cables that Stevie used for his rig were low resistance causing his guitar to have a fatter sound than usual Ibanez Tube Screamer 51 - The pedal that Stevie made famous. I personally own one.. it is a fantastic pedal. Used for overdrive. Tremelo arm 65 - This is what allowed him to add Jimi Hendrix type sounds to his playing. He would often snap them during performance due to his aggressive style. Frets 65 - The metal lines on the neck of a guitar. Stevie would also wear through these with his aggressive style. Epi...

Stevie Ray Vaughan (1-40) After beginning the Stevie Ray Vaughan biography, Stevie had a very similar introduction to the guitar that many other blues musicians had. At the age of 10, he was inspired to try to play the guitar by his older brother Jimi Vaughan. Stevie picked up a plastic Sears toy guitar on which he learned how to play the blues by ear. From here on, Stevie learned the styles of Albert King and BB King. This early influence is what stayed with him for the rest of his life. The early influence was given to him by his brother who brought blues into his home household. This experience for Stevie relates to the essential question of what childhood influence does to ones sound as an instrumentalist. Just listening to him, I can hear the BB King in his melodic lines and the Albert King in his bends and turn around ideas. The most important part to take away from knowing about Stevie's deep childhood inspirations is what it does to his playing. Later on in life, Stevie...

I have not gotten my books yet, but I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan's Riviera Paradise,  and I noticed that he uses a lot of jazz vocabulary in his playing. It sounds a lot like his ideas came from Kenny Burrell!

I have decided to continue studying the different musicians that I look up too. I have found after doing my previous blogs on some of the musicians that I find to me my favorites that I have really benefited in a musical and english sense. After digging into what these musicians value and what they do to achieve the music that I enjoy, I have now found myself looking at my music, and music as a whole in a different perspective. With my Berklee Audition coming up soon, this professional mentality around music is something that I really would like to gain even more knowledge on. Essential Questions: - Growing up, what influenced their music - What does this person value when producing music and/or when improvising - What is this person looking for when it comes to tonality - Does this person see music as an educational, or soulful device. - Scalular or soulful approach to music? Books: John Coltrane: His Life And Music by Lewis Porter (448 pages) Stevie Ray Vaughan:...