This is the first entry for me in what is scheduled to be a series I’ll be writing on A Cappella Jazz. I’m not a star, but I have a deep dedication to a cappella and an abiding love for singing jazz. I’ve studied with some names you might recognize, performed and recorded with others, and over the course of my career I’ve taught people probably very much like you - from children through middle school, high school, college students and adults.
“A Cappella Jazz” will include some thoughts, some technical and musical analysis, some interviews, and some old fashioned soap-boxing (not to be confused with beat-boxing). Last weekend I had the opportunity to sit for two sessions interviewing one of the most impressive and influential a cappella jazz performers ever, Don Shelton (The Hi-Lo’s, The Singers Unlimited). I’m planning to share that with you very soon. To begin with, I’d like to take a look at a small part of what it means to sing jazz, especially in a voices-only context.
I’ve been asked a couple of times in the past week whether someone can earn a living singing a cappella jazz. The short answer, for the most part, is no. It’s kind of like hoping to be a professional sports star, but with fewer actual success stories to point to, and much less money being thrown around, at the top. There are a few groups in the world who make a full-time living at it. The Real Group, the Swingle Singers, and The Idea Of North come to mind. Interestingly, none of those groups is based in the United States. There are probably others, and there may be a small number in the U.S. making a go of it full-time. But nobody’s getting rich in this niche within a niche. On the other hand, some folks are creating some pretty amazing music.
Surely, there are other groups that perform a wider variety of music and they include some jazz in their repertoires. Chanticleer and The Kings Singers come to mind. There are a much larger number of high school and college vocal groups that devote themselves primarily to the study and performance of jazz (or as I heard Phil Mattson say recently, “something that is related to jazz”).
I don’t mean to be discouraging here. I’m just setting some parameters for the discussion to follow. I’ve been doing this kind of thing much of my life, and when I was younger I really wanted to know from the elder generation what I needed to do to make my living at it. Now, I find myself in an elder generation, and the high probability answer is to make your living with something else, and continue to do this without the added pressure of trying to make a living at it. Even The Singers Unlimited basically lost money when they flew to Germany to record each of their albums. For them, each album was more of a working vacation completed over the course of a week (that’s two songs a day!).
In that context, another famous phrase comes to mind. It comes from Zen Buddhism and it relates to how one’s goals in life fit into the actual context of one’s life: “Before enlightenment: Chop wood and carry water; After enlightenment: Chop wood and carry water.” My read of it is that one needs to do the work of living as one pursues his or her life goals, but even after attaining some or all of them, the work of life continues.
For me, chopping wood and carrying water has for the past 17 years or so involved a straight job in the computer industry. Most of my clients and co-workers have known few details about my playing or singing, though many have known that I was involved in music somehow. There have been quite a few times when a co-worker has come to a gig and been completely thunderstruck that that guy they thought they knew pretty well was also doing this kind of thing, and so seriously.
More commonly, there have been times when I have participated in a really life-changing event, or even just a very cool gig. Then, after it was done, returning to my more normal working world was almost torture. It happened after the group I sing with, Clockwork, took second place in the 2004 Harmony Sweepstakes national finals (we’re headed back to the finals again this year, after winning the San Francisco regionals at the end of February – more on that another time). It happened after we shared a wonderful weekend of gigs with The Idea of North when they were visiting from Australia in 2005. It sometimes happens after a jazz festival or recording session when things are really clicking.
It takes a lot of discipline to bring yourself back down from that personal high and get back to the business of chopping wood and carrying water. Maybe you’ve got a family to support. Maybe you have student loans or a mortgage to pay off. Or maybe it’s enough of a challenge for you to simply pay rent and come up with the essentials of life.
I think there are many people out there who have felt this juxtaposition of life contexts. I have no secrets or tricks for it. Each of us finds our own way through it. But I think it is helpful sometimes to simply recognize that it’s at the same time real and also not unique to your own life – that others are going through similar experiences. The knowledge that you’re not alone in that can sometimes be enough of a support to help make it more manageable.
So that’s my opening message this time around: You’re not alone.
In coming installments I am planning to look at how to construct a convincing walking bass line, that interview with Don Shelton I mentioned earlier, and some ideas and techniques for jazz arranging and improvisation. Please feel free to write with impressions and ideas of what you’d like to read. Send them to jazz@saxon.com. Add as favorites (90) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 4785
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