We Not Me
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Episode 14 - The jazz ensemble: the ultimate team?
Show Notes
Professional double-bassist Craig Scott of the Sydney Conservatorium joins Dan and Pia to discuss the ultimate team: the jazz ensemble.
“There’s probably no better example of democracy than a jazz ensemble – individual freedom, but with responsibility to the group,” –Michelle Obama
Jazz improvisation follows a set of rules that enable creativity within a structure, so that out of a predictable pattern can come something different each time it’s performed. Within an ensemble, each member might get their own moment to lead, by taking on the melody of the piece and expanding on it. The musician in the lead role can then signal, through their solo, that it’s time for another musician to take up that leadership role. This requires all members of the band to be listening, not just to the notes, but for other cues to lead or make space for others.
Takeaways from Dan and Pia
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Meet the guests
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Craig has been one of Australia's leading bassists for over 40 years. He began his career in jazz in 1979 with the Keith Stirling Quartet. Since that time he has been a member of many other jazz groups led by such well-known jazz identities as:
Don Burrows, James Morrison, Julian Lee, Kerrie Biddell, Paul MacNamara, Steve Brien, Judy Bailey, Roger Frampton, Gordon Brisker, and many others. He leads his own quintet CSQ which has performed at many of Australia’s major jazz festivals including Manly, Bellingen, Darling Harbour, Walsh Bay and Wangaratta.
Craig has also accompanied a plethora of visiting international jazz artists including:
Joe Henderson, Red Rodney, Urbie Green, Bobby Shew, Clifford Jordan, Nat Adderley, Branford Marsalis, Lee Konitz, Mickey Tucker, Ronnie Scott, Frank Morgan, George Cables, Jim McNeely, and Mark Levine. Craig was Chair of Jazz Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 2004 to 2017, and remains involved as an Honorary Associate and part time lecturer. In July 2002 he was invited to be a guest lecturer at Berklee Music School in Boston for the International Association of Schools of Jazz. In 2008 he was invited to be on the adjudication panel for the National Jazz Awards - Bass.
Craig has conducted workshops for the EMBA program at the University of Sydney and at the John Grill Centre on the nexus between Improvisation and Leadership for over 10 years.
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