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I believe that it is essential to get as close to the origins of one's area of fascination as is possible. For me it is bebop - that meant moving to New York to apprentice with Barry Harris, Bud Powell's protege. Through my experiences I have come to regard jazz - the genuine tradition - not modal, fusion or so called free as an extension of European classical music's rich harmonic and improvisational history. As well, I don't subscribe to the somewhat popular notion that things have to be new or re-invented in order to advance. I am infinitely more interested in Coleman Hawkins' concept that music has to do with movements not chords. The way Bud Powell harmonized a tune. And perhaps most importantly, the framework which Barry Harris has developed for understanding harmony and digging ever deeper into this beautiful tradition.
THE JAZZ WORKSHOPS
The purpose of the jazz workshops is to provide a context where people at different levels of jazz proficiency can study the musical elements necessary for playing jazz - namely scale and chord relationships as a basis of improvisation and harmonic movement, phrasing and rhythm. The ensemble format allows for working on these aspects in an interactive workshop atmosphere and as well provides for developing group performance skills.
JAZZWORKSHOP PRODUCTIONS
As recently as 10 years ago, the legendary teachings of bebop's greatest thinker, Barry Harris, still remained an oral tradition. At that time a partnership was formed with Barry's active participation, to ensure that his invaluable 'mapping' of the music would survive and be available to future generations of jazz students. Tommy Flanagan called our first work, The Barry Harris Workshop Video , "the bebop bible".