I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with Bill Frisell last night. He had his trio that is touring Australia and it was a small group attending a couple of hours with him.

I was front row and it was amazing to see such a player up close..

He answered a lot of technical questions but in the end it was clear he works with emotions and feelings on songs rather than just technique. A few good takeaways I thought might benefit those here were:

1. Search for the melody in everything including chords and solos. Really get inside the melody…that is what draws him to music. And then search for as many versions of it as you can regardless of musical style..
   
2. Don’t be frightened to keep it simple as long as it’s beautiful,,,search for the beauty in music no matter what the song is..
   
3. Don’t be frightened to make errors and try things.Find people who will work with you. He used the example of his band supporting an error to make music rather than drawing attention to it.
   
4. Don’t judge your limitations but rather work on building them. But also realise they may be part of what develops your style as you work around them.
   
   Don’t compare but work towards building your music towards your own personality, and how you hear things regardless of outside influences. This is why he covers surf, guitar instrumentals, pop/rock and country/bluegrass in his repertoire…because he used his jazz chops to reach the music that means something to him.
   
   This was backed up by him talking about hearing the Bonanza theme that day, and trying to playing but not having the chops and speed to actually match the original. So he played it the way he could make music of it at their sound check that day and they worked up a version of it. He then demonstrated what eh was talking about showing us what he couldn’t do and then did a fantastic version with the band that really was so great to listen to.
   
   That was fun hearing Bonanza and some country music at a jazz college…:-)
   
5. What was interesting was he uses a lot of memories and associations with the music, hence playing pop and movies themes etc because he said he feels emotion when playing them from memories and experiences…and this is what he is thinking about all the time when he plays. The beauty and emotion…
   
   As someone who gets stuck in the nuts and bolts I thought it was a great reminder of what music is about…

That suggestion of learning the basics of tune,and searching for the melody and beauty within a tune, will teach you the tune more deeply, and stay with you, really was an eye opener…I am struggling at the moment with where to start on tunes and not wanting to just rote learn things so this was a challenging reminder…I feel at the moment like I need a system and learning path laying everything out to understand it and that was raised by some students.He said it’s the mystery of it all that should lead us to grow…there is no one way to learn and play music…..it was a very different workshop to anything I have attended before..

Been having a bit of fun doing some jazzy recording. See if you recognise this…careful though, it’s an ear worm and you’ll end up humming it all day. Answers in the comments please. 🙂

A HUGE THANK YOU! To everyone that came along to the Soleil Couchant yesterday for the final Jazz n Blues session. It was great, just great! I loved every moment. Here is a copy of the souvenir poster that I gave out….I wanted to share some of the moments from the last 5 years. I want to thank everyone who was ever a been a part of it whether as a musician, or a supporter. Thank You! THANK YOU! MERCI! DANKE JE!

Here are the photographs of the day from ace photographer Ian Wilson.

This Boxing Day at the Soleil Couchant starting at 1pm. The last ever “Bennetti’s Jazz n Blues Club” session. This will be the 5th edition and the last. After 5 years I have decided to stop running these sessions. They are still as popular as ever, but they are a lot of hard work, and I have other things I want to give my time to.

There will be souvenir posters available on the day. They are free, but you have to be there in person to collect one. See you there! 🙂

Another fab session! A huge THANK YOU, MERCI, DANK JE, to everyone involved. Thanks to the crew at the Soleil Couchant for looking after us and making us feel so welcome. Thanks to all the supporters for your energy and enthusiasm. Thanks to all the superb musicians, you were brilliant! …..and thanks to the house band for an excellent job. I really can’t thank you all enough.

Here’s some video footage of the action….

Bennetti’s open Jazz n Blues sessions this year are last Thursday of March, May, July, September, November. All held at the Soleil Couchant, 16310 Verneuil, France. Starting around 8pm.

These sessions are open to all musicians but you must make contact beforehand. You will also need to become an adherent to our association at a cost of 5 euros.

Ces sessions sont ouvertes à tous les musiciens mais vous devez prendre contact à l’avance. Vous devrez également adhérer à notre association à un coût de 5 euros.

Here’s the skinny….

Objective – to create a warm loving environment in which like minded musicians can meet, play, share, grow, and get hip!

A list of songs for the session will be posted by me well in advance. This gives those wishing to take part a chance to brush up on them. We want people to feel comfortable, so, no surprises – please don’t just turn up and ask to play something
that isn’t on the list. This may make people uncomfortable, and while ‘outside the comfort zone’ is often where the magic happens we don’t want to put people on the spot or embarrass them.

We usually include Jazz standards – easy ones that everybody knows and some more challenging ones. We also include a good dollop of blues.

The ‘house band’ is made up of very experienced pro’ standard players.

Here is an example ‘hit list’ from last year….the hit list is compiled by me. I do take suggestions.

All Your Love – Otis Rush
Smoke on thw Water – Deep Purple
Tulsa Time – Don Williams
Moondance – Van Morrison
Summertime – Gershwin
Caught a Touch of Your Love – Diane Schuur
This Masquerade – Leon Russell
Sunny – Bobby Hebb – Am
Mornin – Al Jarreau – F
Out of Time – Chris Farlowe
Before You Accuse Me – Bo Diddley – E
Nothing Takes the Place of You – Tab Benoit
Help the Poor – Robben Ford – Dm
Be Authentic – Tim Bragg – D
Shoe on the Other Foot – D
The Thrill is Gone – Gm
Rainy Day Women – – Bob Dylan
To Be Alone With You – Bob Dylan

I provide PA and mics. 2 guitar amplifiers (no effect pedals allowed – bring own guitar and lead.
There is a drummer, who lets drummers play his kit (bring own sticks)
Keyboard player who lets players play.
Bassist who lets players use his rig (bring own bass)

It has become a tradition over recent years. Bennetti’s Jazz n Blues Club Boxing Day session at the Soleil Couchant….starting about 1pm.
It’s always packed, it’s always great! Can’t wait! Merry Christmas Everyone! 🙂

The October session is at the Soleil Couchant on 27th starting around 8pm. This should be a great session. We have a real Jazz guitarist visiting for the first time. Also we have Steve Trotter’s new band ‘Blues System’ kicking off the second half…..playing a short set including a song from local musician/songwriter Tim Bragg’s latest album ‘Be Authentic. Come along and join in why don’tcha? 🙂