In my teaching days, I had a craving for questions, for people to ask about what we were doing. That craving hasn’t left me. I would still love to hear from readers.
On the job I often have people ask why we don’t have any music in front of us. Sometimes people say "I really like what you’re doing but I don’t have any idea what’s going on."
I was lucky in that I grew up surrounded by music. Lots of people didn’t, and these days the opportunities to see music in live performance are getting more rare. So jazz may seem puzzling.
Today I’m going to make up my own question: what is the piano player in this band doing when he’s not singing and not soloing? The answer is he’s "comping," a delicate art in itself and a very important part of a jazz performance.
All songs have patterns and chord structures (I’ll be happy to expand on that if invited). The soloist–me on vibes, for example–is improvising over the pattern. The comping pianist is doing three things: keeping the chord structure in the minds of both soloist and audience, complimenting or "decorating" what the soloist is doing, and providing some of the rhythmic drive.
Clark Terry is one of the greatest trumpet players in jazz. In "Mumbles," though, he is not playing. He’s singing. In his way. Enjoy the song. Then listen again and concentrate on what the pianist Oscar Peterson is doing behind Terry.
When you see us at the Longbranch or wherever, listen for our version of Lionel Hampton’s "Midnight Sun." You will hear how important the interplay is between my solo and Eddie’s comping.
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