There's a Good Chance Monk Would Have Been Fired From Your Gig

Yes, I'm serious, and no, I'm not just picking on Monk. I'll explain.

Every now and then I've caught myself feeling a bit down at a gig, in a very specific way. The inner-dialogue goes something like this:

"I've spent all these years studying the greats. But at this moment, I feel disconnected from them, and as if my playing is somehow flat."

I think there could be a few different causes for this, but in the above case I eventually realized it was actually because I was doing something right: I was adjusting (and to some extent, limiting) my playing style to suit the appropriate boundaries of the gig.

Now, back to Monk. Imagine Monk playing background music at a restaurant. Or imagine him playing with a trio for a cocktail hour at a corporate party gig. Imagine him doing his thing, including those wonderfully percussive dissonances and those aggressive and unusual intervalic leaps. Now imagine a couple sitting at a table 10 feet away, trying to enjoy the evening and hear each other talk. Do you think it would go over well?

I'm not saying Monk never played any parties. He probably played lots of them. But hopefully my point is still made: certain gigs call for staying within certain boundaries. That means that certain kinds of playing should perhaps be avoided, because they may be outside of those boundaries.

Alright...let's stop picking on Monk and use perhaps an even more relevant example. Think about the "ideal modern jazz sound," to the extent there is one. Think about your favorite modern player, or your favorite professor at a big, "forward-thinking" jazz school. Think of hardcore pro jazz players at a big-city jazz club. Think of jazz festivals and other events that showcase these top players. Think about their "sound," which is likely to include things like playing "outside," using complex and aggressive rhythms, heavy use of dissonance, and long, dramatic, and drawn-out solos.

For many of us, those modern players represent our end-goal. We may transcribe their solos and study their methods and practice, practice, practice. We may dream of someday playing at a big club or at a concert hall or on a festival stage, bringing down the house with an amazing, energetic performance.

Making sense out of the "disconnect"

By now, hopefully the "disconnect" I mentioned earlier makes more sense. This is related to connecting your gigs to your goals. In my case, I was sensing a disconnect between sounds of some of my "idols," which I felt an almost reflexive urge (or obligation) to emulate as a "serious" player, and the comparatively more "tame" sounds I was playing at the time, which were actually appropriate for those gigs.

If you happen to only play "hardcore jazz" gigs, this may not be an issue for you- and I think that's great. However, if, like me, you play a variety of gigs, then this may be worth reflecting on. The fact that a gig doesn't call for particularly ambitious or "high art" playing doesn't necessarily mean that you are incapable of playing in a "high art" way, or that your playing is particularly "flat." It may actually mean you're doing a good job, and playing what is appropriate to the gig!