Joe Alessi jazz

[tbdana]

And before we start, because I remember all of you burning me at the stake for advocating this, watch Joe play A-flat in first position at the 0:30 mark and a bunch of them in a row at the 1:41 mark.



I love that he keeps it simple and stays on the basic chord tones and blues scale (except he can't help himself and plays a bunch of A naturals on a Bb7 chord...oops). Doesn't try to do too much. Plays it safe, and plays what he was taught. In other words, he performs from the middle of his jazz skill set and doesn't get over-ambitious.

He plays jazz the way more students should play jazz.

[JTeagarden]

Re Ab in first, my orchestra teachers all distinguished between short passing notes that the ear corrects, and longer notes where you need to hear the meat of the note, all the more so when Joe Alessi does it!

Peter Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Symphony is a pretty good jazz player, well beyond the "not bad for a legit player" level...

[tbdana]

As I keep preaching, if first position isn’t all the way in, you can play that Ab in tune.

[Doug Elliott]

The only time I play Ab in 1st is if I have to turn a page while playing.

[tbdana]

I play Ab in 1st and Bb in 3rd. Because I'm a rebel, dammit.

[Doug Elliott]

Enough of a rebel to play major 7's on dominant chords?

[tbdana]

LOL! Touché! Yeah, but not the way Joe does. Ya know, the intent of my post was to compliment him for his solid approach to learning. I'm sure there's temptation to try to play catch-up, but he shows none of it in any of the jazz I've heard him play. When you hear a few of these you can tell he plays like someone doing the right things and trying to learn the right way. Like any good student should, no matter their rung on the ladder. If it's good enough for Joe Alessi...

[harrisonreed]

Wooooooow

Speaking of being a rebel, Dana -- you just "atta-boyed" Joseph Alessi for learning how to play the trombone.

[tbdana]

Okay, I surrender.

I had a serious point about learning, using Joe as a model example for the rest of us. But I guess I can't really express it, so never mind.

[Doug Elliott]

Well you know, with the right training, guys can learn to play pretty good too. It's not just a girlie thing.

[tbdana]

Having fun are you?

[Doug Elliott]

Always

[JTeagarden]

I agree with Dana that it shows a great degree of humility for someone of Alessi's abilities to know the limits of what he can do, and put it out there anyway, how easy would it be for him to stay in his lane?

[pbone3b]

Props for the tritone sub at the end of the second chorus.

[Doug Elliott]

Definitely

[tbdana]

I'm going to ignore the shit posters and continue to celebrate Joe Alessi playing jazz.

Here's Joe playing "I Cover The Waterfront" and I really like it. I like the key he plays it in, as I love the trombone in that range and play a lot in that register, myself. The improvisation here is pretty good, even if a bit stiff, and the ballad part is wonderful.

[harrisonreed]

I'll just drop this here:

[Burgerbob]

I have to wonder if this whole thread is a troll thread

[tbdana]

Not on my end it's not. I'm trying to communicate that Joe comes to jazz late and as an "add-on" to his arsenal, but he's still learning the right way, not the superstar way, not with any shortcuts. And the rest of us learning to play jazz should take to heart that if the slow and steady, basics first, way is good enough for Joe Alessi, it's good enough for the rest of us.

But hey, if it feels like a troll thread, the mods can delete it. I don't care. If you feel that way, then I'm obviously not saying this well. And the shit posting in the thread isn't doing anything to clarify it.

[harrisonreed]

My point was to show that there is other evidence of commercial playing by Joe that goes much earlier than 2019 or whenever the video Dana posted was from. The Japan ITF videos are from 1991 I believe! Not trying to take away from the discussion or "shit post". Kind of unfair that I can post a video of the same person playing in the same idiom in the thread about that person playing in that idiom and it gets called out (I'm assuming it's me)

Dana is very very good at starting threads that really dig in deep on whatever topic. And it's always a good discussion.

I do think, Dana, that it is ludicrous that you are lumping yourself in with "the rest of us learning jazz". I get that there is a constant progression, and that nobody is ever truly happy with their ability, but I mean, come on! Give yourself at least some credit. There's humble and then there's ... I don't know. Makes me feel bad about how bad my jazz chops are because I'm definitely a lot lower than "the rest of us learning jazz"

[GabrielRice]

Joe's brother is a highly accomplished jazz trumpeter.

https://ralphalessi.com/about-ralph/