The Lyle Mays Group @ IU
[ STEVE HOUGHTON ]
I’ve taught at Indiana University since 2001 and just recently retired. I had always wanted to bring in Lyle in to work with the students and share his musical ideas and views on the Metheny/Mays music, but also his own compositions. It was my desire to have the students experience Lyle discussing many of his performance and rehearsal concepts such as: attention to detail, selecting the perfect tempo, patience, confidence, feel, blend, levels, soloing, comping, orchestration, dynamics, flow, serving the music, sound quality, listening, rehearsal techniques, etc. It’s this kind of detailed focus and “setting the bar very high” that makes his music very special and unlike any other, in my opinion.
In that one and only visit, he worked with a combo on an intro to a PMG tune. He spent an hour on those 16 bars and by the end it was amazingly close to the original and believe me, those college players weren’t the PMG. Lyle was simply laying out broad concepts and showing the players how to function as a band and shape an intro, which on the surface was a simple four bar repeat.
On the same visit, I asked Lyle if he wanted to play a trio concert? While he wanted to play, there were too many variables such as: inadequate rehearsals, sound issues with mics, piano quality. In short, he didn’t want to risk having the music not be up to the level he was accustomed to. I loved and respected that. Know that he never made much time for jam sessions, or Real Book gigs.
Fast forward - 2018
The Lyle Mays Group
Lyle Mays – musical director via email/phone/dropbox
Steve Houghton – Director
Members:
Barclay Moffitt - tenor and soprano sax
Elena Escudero – vocals
Ellie Pruneau – acoustic piano
Garrett Spoelhof – synthesizers
Brendan Keller-Tuberg – electric and acoustic bass
Camila Mennetti Pereyra – drums
Cole Stover – percussion
Ana Nelson – clarinet and bass clarinet
Cole Stover, Barclay Moffitt, Garrett Spoelhof, Brendan Keller-Tuberg, Elena Escudero (seated), Ellie Pruneau (kneeling), Camila Mennetti Pereyra, Steve Houghton
Since that early visit to IU, I wanted to form a combo at school that performed the music of Lyle Mays. In the summer of 2018, I ran the idea by Lyle and he sounded interested to see what might happen and said he would help out from CA. In the fall, I had my assigned group with a few instrumental suggestions from Lyle. He wanted piano, bass, drums, vocals, saxophones, percussion, synth, and bass clarinet. We started out by selecting some of Lyle’s music and having the students put together some lead sheets…. Off we go…………
I sent the pdf’s to Lyle for his approval…..!@$(*&$%^
This was Lyle’s first email to the band after the students sent him the charts they found or transcribed. As we know, his printed music has always been very hard to find. This email set the tone for the experience. He not only said fix the parts!!! But also challenged the students to learn to listen in a different and more elevated way.
Lyle: In the best spirit of academia, this exchange should be a dialogue. How shall we address the discrepancies in the historical record? Some of the pdf's you included are remarkably accurate, others are way off, sometimes due to recorded versions changing the original scribbles (often for the better) and sometimes because of really horrible transcriptions by others. The pdf of “Before You Go” is an example of the latter and must be updated somehow. I found so many errors in the first 4 measures that I didn't have to waste my time further. Do you have a student/group who might care about getting the notes right?
Or how about this? Current brain science implies that we can only perceive what we focus our attention on. Therefore if an individual is listening for the melody, the bass line, harmony, and rhythm parts are, practically speaking, not even there. But in a group setting, with each member focusing on a targeted aspect of the music, the whole may be discoverable with a local version of crowd sourcing, conceptually speaking. In other words, I am proposing a version of ear training on steroids for the modern world, where the composer himself can offer guidance, and you may get a publishable paper out of it in the end.
Steve: Lyle, Thanks so much for your inspired email.
As an honorary "plus one" of our combo, we will strive to meet your high standards, which I've always admired.
Regarding the lead sheets....yes, to get the group started last week, I grabbed the lame “Before You Go” transcription off of the internet as the students didn't have time before our first rehearsal.
Your suggestion is perfect and it will take place today!!! The players, have been sorting out the corrected parts on their own as well.
(I didn't send you the sheet floating around on “Fictionary” as you would have puked:)
I can assure you that the music (historical record) will be corrected as we speak.
Let me know when a good time for Ellie (piano) to call you as she has many questions about the music, your playing concepts, compositional concepts, and synthesizers. We just purchased a Nord Stage 3. Apparently, it's the newest model and folks are excited about it.
Moving forward, I don't want you to feel in any way that this is a drag and is taking too much time. We'll check in and keep the dialogue going only as needed. Of course, we'll take any and all suggestions of yours along the way. Personally, I'm interested in your rehearsal concepts. I've been in several groups with you and I know the attention to detail and the striving for perfection but do you have a broader concept that you and the PMG have used over the years, that brings out that special quality to the music?
Finally, I'll shoot you a call after I enjoy our first Packer game and we can just shoot the shit and stay in touch. I'm excited to hookup as usual.
Lyle: This is the opposite of a drag for me and I'm already finding the issues brought up to be stimulating. Case in point: I've never considered the broad overview of my approach to rehearsing before. My first impulse is to bring up the concepts laid out in Gawande's great little book, The Checklist Manifesto. Even though his book was written for surgeons and uses examples from the airline industry, the larger concepts are easily applied to many things in music from sound checks to mixing/mastering final recordings. I took the following quote from an online review because it gets to the heart of the matter.
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...the volume and complexity of knowledge today has exceeded our ability as individuals to properly deliver it to people—consistently, correctly, safely. We train longer, specialize more, use ever-advancing technologies, and still we fail. Atul Gawande makes a compelling argument that we can do better, using the simplest of methods: the checklist.
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The way I think the checklist idea can be applied to music starts with a take on music that is influenced by physics. We were taught that music is essentially melody, harmony and rhythm – a three dimensional metaphorical model that was compatible with Newtonian physics. But I ask what if music is more like a ten dimensional world where aspects like orchestration, drama, form, dynamics, texture, and pace are considered equal in importance to the big three of melody harmony and rhythm? In that model, equal attention needs to be given to all those added dimensions if the music is to be fully realized. This implies that a checklist of sorts should be very helpful in rehearsals so that solving one problem (like a tricky rhythm) doesn't cause us to neglect things like dynamics, groove or blend.
At this point I've internalized my notion of the multi-dimensional aspect of music and probably relegated my own checklists to something like an instinctual level, but I bet it would be helpful for your students to spend a bit of time pondering which eight to twelve elements might be included in their model of what makes for interesting music, and, by extension, what their own rehearsal checklist might look like.
Again, since current brain science tells us that we only perceive what we focus on, maybe each member of the group could be assigned a different dimension to focus on towards the end of each rehearsal just to keep focusing abilities fluid, sharp and versatile. Ideally, the director as well as all of the players, should use the complete checklist frequently until it becomes second nature.
Let me know if this is helpful, what your thoughts on the subject are, what the real world applications are like, etc. I still remember our discussions on how nobody in the "rhythm section" is really responsible for time, but if we accept Plato's idea of an ideal time feel and play "with" that, everything kinda works.
As for Elle, her schedule is probably far tighter than mine! She should email me times she is free haha. Generally, I can make time Mon-Fri between 10 AM and 2 PM with a few days notice. Evenings are possible to as long as there are no NFL games on.
Keep your emails coming man, I love this shit!!!
Lyle
[ THE LYLE MAYS GROUP @ IU ]
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF STEVE HOUGHTON
“Before You Go” first appeared on his CD Street Dreams. Over the years, he turned it into a Samba. He loved voice on this.
“Chorinho” was also on Street Dreams. We utilized voice and clarinet, which he loved.
“Long Life” was a song that he recorded as a solo piece, but I first played this with Lyle in 1978 in Dallas when he came to record some music. That session also birthed "Mars" later called "Close To Home." Other tunes on that session eventually made their way to the PMG.
“L” (our title) was an unnamed song that Lyle sent me on one of his demos - no sheet music of course. It's never been recorded....wow.
[ SUMMARY ]
A few takeaways from the LMG experience
• Illusion of Confidence –
This was something Lyle talked about quite a bit. It related to the players getting down on themselves for not playing better more quickly or absorbing a concept and putting it into action immediately or being able to listen through the band at will or learning a completely new style. The fact that they all have studied music most of their lives, and specifically jazz studies in college means nothing in terms of learning and internalizing new material, especially in jazz. New concepts and ways of thinking and listening take time to internalize.
• Brain science
• Playing music is indeed a gift!!!
• It’s not about you – ever. Be selfless.
• Serve the band and the music – always. You have to make adjustments to better serve the music-that’s how it works.
[ STUDENT TESTIMONIALS ]
In the fall of 2018 I was given the incredible opportunity to be be a part of a tribute ensemble honoring the music of the great Lyle Mays, under the instruction of his dear friend and famous jazz drummer/pedagogue Steve Houghton. I had known of his music through his collaborations with Pat Metheny as well his beautiful compositions that I always loved, like “James”. We studied his music and we were given an exciting chance to talk to him a number of times, and I was floored to hear him discuss music with us. He spoke like a sage. He pontificated in a confident but soft spoken voice on neuroscience, on the deeper meanings of the energy in melodies and how they work, and the orchestration of sounds and instruments and their importance. He also stressed playing the song, that the pursuance of a great solo or to garner attention through flashy playing fell flat at a simple beautiful performance of a song. I reached out to him when I moved to Pasadena and we had planned on meeting in person but unfortunately I was too late. Truly an unsung hero of piano and composition. Thank you for everything Lyle. - Barclay Moffitt
Lyle Mays was so kind, and generous with his time and attention. We didn't always get it right, but his patience in helping us bring his music to life was deeply appreciated, and personally floored me. A legend, humbly helping us to find a way into his brilliant mind. I will never forget that ensemble. - Elena Escudero
I was a member of a combo led by Steve Houghton in my first year at IU. The group's purpose was to perform and learn from the incredible music of Lyle Mays, and my role was as a synth/auxiliary keyboard player. It was an amazing and formative experience for me on multiple levels; due to the opportunity to dig into the revolutionary work Lyle did with synthesizers and keyboards, and due to the fact that I was a young player given the opportunity to perform alongside the heavyweights of the program at the time. I was tasked with researching and recreating the distinct ocarina sound, as well as a few of his signature string patches. Being in the combo and playing that music gave me great perspective on the idea of musical purpose, and the role of synth player allowed me to approach all of my future piano playing having new composition based ideas. - Garrett SpoeIhof
I would say that exploring this music helped me to really have ears on listening to the whole ensemble and seeing how my part fit in rather than focusing on how the music served me. When Barclay and I did improvising on “Long Life,” I was really thinking about how I could add to his lines and fit in with Elena singing the melody, which I hadn’t done my first time of playing the piece back in the rehearsal. - Ana Nelson
One of the true highlights of my musical education thus far was studying and performing the works of Lyle Mays under the tutelage of his close friend and master educator Steve Houghton. As ECM's jazz output has been a personal favorite for many years, it was a priceless opportunity to immerse myself in his musical world over the span of a semester. Over that time, it became increasingly clear to me that Lyle was a true visionary for his time, and a perhaps under-appreciated genius whose compositional voice set the stage for innumerable musicians since. However, to simply speak of his musical output is to undersell Lyle's impact on me. During the semester, I had the opportunity to speak to Lyle one-on-one and speak at length on his positions - and the musical philosophies he shared with me have irreversibly changed the way I perceive and compose music. His understanding of chord symbols as crude 'napkin sketches' of more specific and idiosyncratic voicings inspired and pushed me to search for alternative and more prescriptive approaches to harmony in my compositions. His notion of compositional 'clarity of presentation', which he conceptualized as separate to the complexity and specificity of the music itself, revolutionized the ways in which I thought about the challenge of jazz's accessibility to wider audiences. I will always look back on my experiences with Lyle and his music will great fondness and hope to honor his legacy through my present and future musical endeavors. - Brendan Keller-Tuberg
In my senior year at Indiana University, I had the opportunity to play piano in a group dedicated to performing the music of Lyle Mays. Since then, Lyle has been such a huge influence on me as a pianist and composer. His work is nothing short of extraordinary, and I wish that more students took the time to really delve into it the way we did. Having the opportunity to talk with Lyle on the phone was also a significant highlight of my education. He gave me and my classmates so much good advice and encouragement that I will keep with me forever. My particular favorite song of his to learn was “Chorinho,” because it was such a good challenge and helped boost my confidence, and I ended up including it on my senior recital because I connected with it so much. But the others we played such as “Fictionary,” “Bill’s Tune,” and “August” were so beautiful and heartfelt as well. All of his compositions I will most certainly revisit in the future and pass onto my students, so that his legacy lives on. - Ellie Pruneau