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You are here: Home / Jazz Improvisation / Joel Frahm Jazz Improvisation Clinic

Joel Frahm Jazz Improvisation Clinic

December 24, 2013 by Steve 16 Comments

I emailed Joel Frahm the other day and asked if I could post this great masterclass he did in Prague years ago.  He said “No problem” which I was very excited about.  I have been a great fan of his going back many years.   I went through a stage where I was listening to a lot of Brad Mehldau and one day saw a Duo recording with Brad and Joel Frahm.  I bought it and loved it.  Since that day I have bought all of Joel’s recordings as a leader including Don’t Explain, Sorry No Decaf, The Navigator, We Used to Dance,  and many more with him as a sideman……….

Frahm

Joel Frahm Jazz Improvisation Clinic

 Here is a short history about him from Joel’s website:

“Joel Frahm’s May 1st release, We Used to Dance, places him in the company of master musicians Kenny Barron (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Victor Lewis (drums).  Frahm more than holds his own in showing both the chops and lyricism that has made him an irreplaceable part of so many sessions in his two decades on the jazz scene.   Surrounded by jazz legends, Frahm makes this recording a true “coming out party” for his maturing artistry. It is his most ambitious CD to date,  featuring six of his original compositions that come to life in beautiful and variegated ways in the hands of this remarkable band. “It was an honor and a watershed experience to make this record with these incredible musicians” he says. Having made a name for himself through his associations with singer Jane Monheit and boyhood friend,  pianist Brad Mehldau,  Frahm hones his own voice on this breakout recording. Joel has also worked with a vast array of musical peers and jazz legends including Maynard Ferguson, Betty Carter, Matt Wilson, Larry Goldings, Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andrew Hill, Ben Allison, Pat Martino, Ingrid Jensen, Dena Derose, The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Kyle Eastwood and many others. Born in Racine, WI in 1969, Frahm attended the Mason Gross School for the Arts and earned his B.A. in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. He released three highly regarded CDs on Palmetto: The Navigator, Don’t Explain (with Mehldau), and Sorry No Decaf. Don’t Explain, his latest, was the number one jazz release for radio play in the United States for two consecutive weeks in 2004, according to jazzweek.com airplay chart and also reached number one on college radio for one week, according to College Music Journal’s airplay chart.  Joel was also recently selected in DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll as a Rising Star in the category of tenor saxophone.”

This masterclass is on playing melodically and creating a story with your soloing.  Joel offers many great conceptual tips and demonstrates by playing a great solo on “My One and Only Love”.  His tone is just gorgeous!!  Dark, round and full.  Listen for the melodic phrases he uses when he starts his solo.  Try to hear how the phrases lead and connect to each other.  Listen for the tensions and releases…………

After the solo,  Joel starts out by talking about playing in 10th’s which is totally cool! (A 10th is a 3rd displaced by an octave).  He also talks about thinking of a melody or idea to start out before he even starts playing.

I love his quote at the 26:00 minute mark where he says “You don’t need a ton of vocabulary to start improvising”.  Listen to that section closely.   Give yourself time in your practice session to just improvise.  Forget the licks.  I love at 27:38 where they just play freely based off of 3 notes.

Check out 46:18 and the conceptual idea to play more rhythmically.  His playing as an example is so cool there.  Just thinking a slightly different way can really alter and open up your playing in a major way.  That is what jazz is all about

There is so much great advice and insight being communicated in this masterclass that it is worth listening to over and over…….………  Enjoy!!

PS.  Make sure you buy Joel’s recordings!  I have most of them and they are terrific!

https://public.neffmusic.com/Masterclass_JoelFrahm_Prague.mp3

Joel Frahm Jazz Improvisation Clinic

Filed Under: Jazz Improvisation Tagged With: jazz clinic, jazz sax, Joel Frahm, masterclass, tenor saxophone

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarContet says

    December 31, 2013 at 5:58 am

    This is a super Christmas present.
    Thank you so much Steve.
    Marc

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      January 5, 2014 at 5:23 pm

      No problem Marc. I’m surprised more people haven’t said thank you for this. I took the time to post it but Joel gave me permission to post it which was so nice of him. I hope people will say thank you by going out and buying some of his albums or seeing him in concert………

      Reply
  2. AvatarJason says

    January 5, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    Steve, I hadn’t checked your site lately and just saw this post. Amazing stuff. I only discovered Joel’s music about a year ago. You’re right; a tremendously talented player, with a gorgeous tone and great grasp of melodic playing.

    Thanks to you and especially Joel for allowing this to be posted!

    Reply
  3. AvatarMark Brown says

    January 6, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    Joel is absolutely amazing. I used to always go listen to him at La Lanterna in NYC with his trio with Joe Martin and Bill Campbell. It was ALWAYS on fire. Bill and Joel have a special bond. One of the highlights of my musical life was touring with Joel in Germany and recording the album with Tim Sund’s band back in 1998. I was playing bass.
    Thanx a million for posting this, Steve!

    Reply
  4. AvatarSteve Mann says

    January 10, 2014 at 5:09 pm

    I see him around NY all the time ..most unassuming guy. But wow ideas and tone like no one else always different and just a very mellow person to meet.

    Reply
  5. AvatarJonathan says

    January 11, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Thank you for this Steve – a lot of very motivating material within – Jonathan

    Reply
  6. Avatarguido says

    January 15, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    Thanks for posting this Steve! A great class indeed!

    Reply
  7. AvatarJim Metzendorf says

    January 25, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    Thank you for posting this, Steve, and thank you to Joel for sharing his knowledge. His playing is steeped in tradition, yet remains fresh and unique. I’m especially impressed by how well constructed his solos are. He always takes the listener on a journey, no matter how long or short the solo may be.

    Reply
  8. AvatarChris says

    February 21, 2014 at 8:17 am

    Thanks for posting! Tremendous!!

    Reply
  9. AvatarDave Fairall says

    February 28, 2014 at 10:42 am

    This is indeed wonderful. Thanks!!!!

    Reply
  10. Avatarutku vargi says

    March 14, 2015 at 10:01 am

    This is marvelous thank you so much.

    Reply
  11. AvatarTomasz Wendt says

    March 24, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Awesome, thakn you for posting this, lets listen to it one more time!

    Reply
  12. AvatarVincent says

    April 28, 2015 at 3:55 am

    This is so great. love it. I need to listen to more of these clinics. I will listen to it again soon.

    Reply
  13. AvatarBlagger says

    June 27, 2015 at 8:53 am

    Nice!

    Reply
  14. AvatarGlen Johnson says

    October 29, 2016 at 4:17 am

    This is fantastic. So much to absorb and to try out.

    Reply
  15. AvatarY says

    November 24, 2023 at 12:27 pm

    Still great stuff. Even almost 10 years after ?
    Thanks for posting and of course thanks to Joel for sharing.

    Reply

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I have not received my alto yet but have already gone through 14 lessons. I love your approach, style, knowledge and competence. I now regret so much to have stayed away from playing the sax for the past 45-50 years…(I am 65).  But It is never too late to get back to your first love. After 23 years in compuer sciences and 22 years in finances…I am now back to music for the rest of my life.

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Thanks again,
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Mark Peotter

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