Monthly Livestream #67 with Pablo Menares!
Thank you for tuning in to today's very special livestream, featuring the great Pablo Menares! Pablo is one of the best bass players in the world, and one of my oldest friends. We've traveled around the world together, playing together in many bands: most recently Melissa Aldana's Quartet (see "Lush Life" - Live at Blues Alley) and my wife Tomoko Omura's Roots Quintet.
We started things off with a few tunes - first Freddie Hubbard's "Happy Times", then a tune of mine called "The Path" (formerly called "Homestead" and recorded on my 2015 record Fellowship).
Then into some great questions:
a question about coming out of bass solos in a piano/bass duo setting
how do you internalize/learn the harmony of a tune as a bass player? (A great question that led to the importance of the melody for all instruments!)
a quick question about "upper extensions" and how they work, or don't work, in the bass/lower register.
about note choices in the lower register - and how harmony is never just one chord at a time, but always "leading somewhere".
a question about how to play in 6/8 as a bass player. This very open-ended question led to an impromptu reading of a new tune of mine called "Toninho" that is written in 6/8. (I also played this tune last month on the livestream, just solo piano) Pablo sight-read it perfectly! And we discussed the different ways of interpreting 6/8, which at times could basically just be 3/4, etc.
Pablo's amazing sight-reading and musical instinct lead to a question about "thinking ahead" - do you consciously think ahead when we are playing? And can we practice this?
When reading a chart, how do we make an "arrangement" on the spot? How does what we are playing affect the big picture, or the overall sound of the band?
Some pointers for pianists that are walking basslines.
A question about comping for a bass player. This lead to a funny story about a supposed conversation between Ron Carter and McCoy Tyner, and a demonstration of how the piano can (and should!) actually use the low register when they are comping with or for a bass player.
And one last quick question about cellos walking basslines. Pablo recommended Sam Jones on cello, which I was not familiar with! And, although this is not cello, Pablo recommended a Red Mitchell album called "Jam Your Bread" for some excellent bass solos. (I'll be checking this out this week!)
I've attached charts for "The Path", and "Toninho" below, so you can follow along while we're playing and get a sense for the great note choices Pablo is making, and have a more specific sense of the material we're working with.
Huge thanks to Pablo for coming here today and dropping some serious knowledge on us! If Pablo is playing near you don't miss it - he's truly one of the greatest out there.
And thanks to you for tuning in - see you next month!
Glenn
PS - Apologies for the problem with the overhead camera! It was only working for the first few minutes of "The Path", but otherwise it wasn't working, so I cropped it out of most of this video.
