Mike Mckenna Music

Jazz Improv Magazine

Mike Mckenna — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:01:37 +0000

Jazz Improv^® Magazine is the most comprehensive periodical reference about jazz improvisation, designed for enthusiasts and improvisers alike. Jazz Improv is a magazine for all Jazz enthusiasts. Each reference-sized edition comes with a companion compact disc that provides jazz lovers an opportunity to preview full-length tracks from new and essential/reissued recordings by leading and emerging artists.

Exclusive in-depth interviews, excerpts from books about jazz supply insights into the ever-evolving lives, events, ideas and contributions of jazz music’s most famous luminaries. You’ll also find as many as 100 detailed jazz CD reviews. Along with the full-length tracks on the companion CD, these comprehensive and insightful reviews help you make informed buying decisions.

Packed with a wealth of philosophical and motivational articles, perspectives and quotations, each issue of Jazz Improv will assist you in developing a deeper appreciation and intimate understanding of America’s Original Classic Art form.

If you have a passion for making music, each edition of Jazz Improv is a jazz improvisation resource, including an abundance of song charts, note-for-note transcriptions and analyses of improvised solos by master practitioners, as well as “how-to” features and columns. As an added bonus, the companion CD includes play-along tracks that complement the featured solo transcriptions, and help bring your own improvisations to life.

Order your subscription today!

Jazz Improv NY is a free download. A directory of NY area Jazz clubs, interviews, venue reviews, and performance reviews. To download visit Jazz Improv NY

*Excerpt taken from http://www.jazzimprov.com/about/index.cfm

Are you ready for Freddie?

Mike Mckenna — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:33:17 +0000

A transcription of Freddie Hubbard’s solo on his blues composition birdlike. This tune was written for trumpeter Donald Byrd, and is featured on the album Ready for Freddie. This solo is one that every young trumpeter studying Jazz needs to learn and study. It is packed full of ideas and hip phrasing that continue through the solo, and the intensity doesn’t stop. It is also a good idea to learn the intro and the melody for this tune as it is prominent in the jam session scene. The album features Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Art Davis, Elvin Jones, and Bernard Mckinney.

Purchase Ready for Freddie | Download the solo

Practicing scales for Jazz improv

Mike Mckenna — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:55:32 +0000

A fundamental part of learning how to improvise is becoming familiar with the major, minor, and dominant 7 scales. This lesson will cover how to practice these scales and can be applied to any other scale you want to use it on. I learned this method during a master class with Dr. Barry Harris, and after practicing it for a while I noticed it was much easier to play fluently in the harder keys. One thing most of us will do is shy away from unfamiliar territory, and after this scale workout in all keys you will notice that the harder keys are much easier to blow through. Unfortunately this is the boring part of learning how to improvise, but if you spend some time with it now it will never be an issue in the future.

Download this lesson

Jazziz Magazine Open To The Public

Mike Mckenna — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:04:50 +0000

Have you checked out Jazziz Magazine online? For the rest of the summer http://www.jazziz.com is open to the public while they update the website. The website is media rich and features a number of past editions of the magazine free in digital format. Normally these would only be available to subscribers, but for now they are free for everyone to check out. The website also offers music, videos, interviews, record reviews and current news. Check out the website at http://jazziz.com.

Jeremy Pelt live @ Smalls

Mike Mckenna — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:43:43 +0000

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt & Wired will be performing at Smalls Jazz Club August 21 & 22. The performance is part of the Trumpet August promotion which features a different trumpet player each weekend. The Wired band includes Jeremy Pelt on Trumpet, Frank LoCrasto on Piano, Gavin Fallow on Bass, and Dana Hawkins on Drums. Showtimes are 10:30 and 12 pm both nights. If you aren’t in the NY area and would like to watch this concert for free via webcam visit http://smallsjazzclub.com and click on the live video link to watch the concert. A big thank you to Smalls Jazz Club for providing this service.

For more information on Jeremy Pelt visit http://peltjazz.com

Norman Granz – Improvisation

Mike Mckenna — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:23:40 +0000

Years ago I was at Clark Terry’s house and he had a video called Improvisation presented by Norman Granz. Clark told me to put that video on and the first scene in the video was Charlie Parker playing with Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, Hank Jones and Coleman Hawkins. I had heard that there was video of Bird playing and here it was. The video is narrated by Norman Granz and includes a series of clips by a number of different musicians including Duke Ellington, Count Baise, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Roy Eldridge, Zoot Sims, “Sweets” Edison, and Clark Terry only to name a few.

Yesterday I was in a little record shop in Portsmouth, NH and found this on DVD. I was excited to see that it was finally released in the US and on DVD. The DVD does feature some extras including interviews about Charlie Parker and an Oscar nominated 1944 film called Jammin’ The Blues. I highly recommend this DVD to all Jazz students, fans and musicians.

Free Jazz Concerts Online

Mike Mckenna — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:06:33 +0000

I came across the Smalls Jazz Club website recently and saw that they stream most of the concerts online for free. This is an incredible opportunity to check out the scene in NY, and keep up with all of the local talent. The shows range from jam sessions to the top NY players on the scene, and its all free no matter who is playing. Smalls currently has Jazz seven nights a week, and most of those nights will include a jam session. The great thing about being able to watch a jam session online is you never know who might stop by to play a tune or two. Those of you interested in how a jam session may work or what you need in preparation for one can watch and learn from your computer at home.

Not only does the Smalls website offer streaming live concerts, they archive all of the concerts and have an all access section to listen to them free of charge. Concerts are archived by instrument and artist. Once you navigate to the artists and audio archive you will see a number of instruments on the page. Simply click on the instrument you would like to hear and a list of artists will come up. Click on an artist and you will get bio information and a list of concerts that artist played at Smalls. There are hundreds of artists and thousands of concerts archived on this website, and all of you should take advantage of this while it is available. Smalls could easily charge a monthly or membership fee, but for now its free.

Visit the Smalls Jazz Club website @ http://smallsjazzclub.com

Body Huff

Mike Mckenna — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:23:48 +0000

Clark Terry explains what he refers to as the “body huff” in this short clip from youtube. This clip was taken from an instructional video that Clark made for trumpet players. The body huff is the correct way to use your diaphragm to produce a sound on the trumpet. Clark always talked about breathing correctly and having enough gas in the tank before you can correctly produce a sound. This method can also be used for articulation along with doodle tonguing. In my early years of playing the horn I was never taught how to breathe or use my diaphragm to produce a sound, and I had to go back and fix this once I got older. Once I learned how to do this I was able to develop my own sound and control the horn. The video goes for a little over 6 minutes and about 5 minutes into it you will hear Clark explain more on this method.

Clark Terry trumpet lesson on youtube

Purchase the Trumpet Course: Beginner to Intermediate with Clark Terry [VHS]

Study In Brown

Mike Mckenna — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:36:42 +0000

Here is a transcription of Clifford Brown’s solo on Gerkin for Perkin. Transcribed by my top student Andrew D. Thanks Andrew!

Download the solo

Purchase Study in Brown

Top 10 Clark Terry Recordings

Mike Mckenna — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:21:42 +0000

Top 10 must have Clark Terry recordings. For more information and listening examples click on the title of the recording.