Jacob Rex Zimmerman

Jacob Rex Zimmerman

As his website explains, Jacob Zimmerman is a sax and clarinet player based in Seattle. He's 32, and he has two records out focusing on jazz as it was played in the 1940s. The earlier one, Recording Ban, refers to the stoppage to commercial recording imposed by union boss James Petrillo, starting in August 1, 1942 and ending in 1943-44 (depending on the record label). The title of his latest record, More of That, sounds like a reference to the previous one, delving as it does in music from around those years.

Revivalism in jazz in a tricky subject, open to all sorts of questions, starting with whether it should be done at all. For the epicurean listener who enjoys the records of that kind of music, the chance to hear it re-recorded or, better still, live, will always be welcome, despite the obvious risk for disappointment, proportional to the listener's familiarity with the originals on record.

On transcribing music...

Part I

Ted Brown (b. 1927) is, to put it simply and unfairly, a second-rate Tristano-ite tenor sax. That is, he's not Warne Marsh, with whom he shared the album Jazz of Two Cities (tracks 1-12 in Spotify, 1-11 in MySpace). He may be less adventurous than Marsh, but with strong leanings towards Lester Young, he's one of those musicians deserving more attention than what they normally get. Both his albums for Criss Cross, Good Company, with Jimmy Raney, and Free Spirit can be listened to through Spotify (Good Company) or MySpace (Free Spirit; Good Company).

As a student with Tristano, Brown was into a strict discipline of studying great jazz solos. However, as he explains in the video below, his curiosity for the mechanics of jazz solos predates his days with Tristano. He also explains why it is important to devote time to transcribe solos, to go through the process of intense listening, lift the solos by ear, and put them on paper.

In general, one difference between current jazz musicians and their predecessors is that the older generations developed their playing in a more intuitive way. It could be say that, starting from a sufficient level of technical competence, the route to jazz excellence depended more on personal research and work. In a way, more of the older jazz musicians were actual cooks, while the younger generations seem to rely more on pre-cooked meals.

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Part II

For those interested in transcribing, or just in a deeper study of solos, 25-year old saxophonist Jacob Zimmerman has launched a blog devoted to slowed-down solos.

So far the selection is excellent, and he takes requests.