No gigs, no dinero… made me trim down my stuff. And practice more.

Put me in a philisophical mood. The question I’ve never asked myself, but I do now when I consider new (better, faster, shinier) gear: did Coltrane need it?

Turns out Trane didn’t need the new archtop, Nord piano, Kontakt library, Intel9 processor. Neither did Charlie Parker. Recently discovered Chet Baker’s trumpet was so beat up in the eighties even accomplished players couldn’t get a decent note out if it. He recorded some of his best stuff nevertheless.

Still struggling with the image of Wynton Marsalis and his macbook, though. Give me some time to process that. And those state of the art trumpets he plays. Duke Robillard playing a Gibson Centennial, Michael Brecker’s mouthpiece, Metheny’s Orchestrion, Jack deJohnette’s cymbals, Jarrett’s Steinway, … still.

Wise words, Billy.

Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums.
Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com