AJ Kluth: News

My Chris Potter Transcription Book is now available at Jamey Aebersold's www.jazzbooks.com as well as right here from me under the Potter Book, Etc tab, as well as at PM Woodwind in Evanston, IL and IMC in Green Bay WI (my old stomping grounds). Hopefully the book will find its way into the hands of more and more players. Hope everyone had a great time on New Years Eve, I certainly did.

Thank you all for the great response to my new Chris Potter Transcription book. I've already sold books to people in the US, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia and I'm getting great feedback about the content. If you haven't checked it out yet, check out the book in the "Potter Book, Etc." tab on the navigation bar. In other news: beginning immediately, I am now an instructor for Greg Fishman Jazz Studios. I'll be teaching for Greg Fishman at his studio in PM Woodwind at 824 Custer Ave in Evanston IL and using Greg's independantly published educational materials (which are awesome). If you're interested in, as Greg says, improving your improv on saxophone, clarinet, or flute, give me a call and lets set something up. The studio itself is wonderful, and the student gets to take home a CD with a recording of the lesson after each session. Oh, and Greg has recently relocated to Phoenix, AZ and is accepting students there. To set up a lesson with Greg in Phoenix, AZ, contact him via email at: greg1111@aol.com or call 602-795-4545 or 847-334-3634 today to schedule. So, in review: book sales are great, thank you thank you, teaching at PM Woodwind for Greg Fishman Jazz Studios, go drink some egg nog. Happy Holidays!

I'm terribly pleased to let the world know that my long awaited transcription book, CHRIS POTTER ON STANDARDS: TEN NOTE-FOR-NOTE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF IMPROVISATIONS OVER STANDARD AND STANDARD STYLE TUNES, is now available. Click on the "BUY" tab to check it out. I'm very happy with how the book has turned out: the binding, cover design, content, everything. If anyone out there is wondering if it is hard work self publishing, the answer is "YES"! Regardless, I am very excited to be offering what I think is a valuable educational tool to improvising musicians. I hope everyone is well out there - have a great holiday season, drink lots of egg nog, and keep in touch.

Only a few more things to hammer out with my book, "Chris Potter on Standards: Ten Note For Note Transcriptions of Standards and Standard Style Tunes". Who knew it was soooo much work to self publish a book. I thought the actual trascribing was hard enough! Anyway, if you're interested in the book, keep coming back, it'll be done and available before you know it. Also, my quintet, the AJKQ has a few shows coming up. Come on out and hear some original music, arrangements of contemporary artists, and tunes from the Dave Holland Quintet and the like. Good times.

hey ya'll. i've put up the chris potter transcription and analysis of 'The Jones' that was in DownBeat last October for your Downloading pleasure. scroll on down to my October 20 entry and click away. also, the book's coming along. yipee!

so. sarah and i moved to pilsen to enjoy the low rent and wonderful atmosphere. the aj kluth quintet (ajkq) is looking for performance opportunities, the chris potter transcription book is still in progress, teaching many folks on now six different instruments. lots going on. sign up on the email list, i'll let ya'll know what's happenning as it goes down.

... with a 1955 Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone. it was silver plated and played like i didn't know a saxophone could. wow. i need $9600 for it fast. any ideas?

I'm making progress on a big project I've been working on for some time. I'm in the final stages of putting together a book of transcriptions of saxophonist Chris Potter's improvisations. The book consists of ten standards/standard form tunes from a span of six records. Tunes include: Stella by Starlight and 7.5(a truncated Bb blues form) from "Lift: Live At The Village Vanguard", Star Eyes, High Noon, Body and Soul, and The Source, from "Gratitude", Giant Steps from "Concord Duos" with Kenny Werner, Children Go from "Traveling Mercies", You And The Night And The Music from "Concentric Circles", and Lotus Blossom from "Underground". I'm just finishing up the manuscript and trying to get copyright permission so I can go to press. I'll let you folks know when it's done. If you're a horn player who stumbled upon my site, give me an email or leave a comment to let me know if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, as I'm curious as to what the market for the book looks like. And, come back in a few months, maybe the finished product will be available. Also, the quintet has been doing some recording, and a rough cut of Avishai Cohen's tune Mediterranean Sun is up for your listening pleasure. Thats all for now, folks. As they say, keep it real.

i'm reading too many books right now and somehow they all seem to be related to eschatology/mortality. I'm halfway through David Crowder's "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die - or The Eschatology of Bluegrass" and I just finished Neil Geiman and Terry Pratchett's "Good Omens" while just starting Dostoevsky's "Demons". also - are you familiar with the work of Hieronymous Bosch ? if you're not, do yourself a favor and do a google image search. wow. well then. i'm also doing some more session work these days and am playing the House of Blues here in chicago with the Trippin Billies this coming saturday. this'll be a fun week. also, the un-named quintet is sounding lovely and i'm hoping we'll get some recording done in february. hope you're all well - keep in touch.

i have recently acquired a melodica. i don't know if that excites you the same way it does me, but man - this is a wonderful little instrument. seriously. its a little wind powered keyboard. you blow in a tube, depress a few keys, and blammo, it sounds like an accordion/harmonica. so far the combination of aj and melodica has annoyed everyone in the immediate vicinity, but just wait. i'll figure out some interesting thing to do with it. they laughed at me, but i'll show them - i'll show all of them!!!
also, a little yorkshire terrier has recently found its residence in our apartment making my wife and i very happy and sleep deprived as it likes to play at 3am.
in musical news, the quintet rehearsals are coming along swimmingly and i'm on the road a bit more with trippin billies in the next couple of months. its going to be a fun new year for certain. i need to update my online calendar!

november is finding me as busy as ever. i'm working on a multitude of transcriptions (primarily Chris Potter) and trying to prepare some clarinet material (Mozart clarinet concerto) as well as writing for and rehearsing with my trio (trio contretemps). the more i transcribe the music of Chris Potter, the more i stand in awe of not only his virtuosity, but also his composition style and imagination. case in point, last week i saw saxophonist Eric Alexander at the Jazz Showcase here in Chicago. now, mind you, Alexander is an wonderful saxophonist, both technically astounding as well as thoroughly musical - yet, i felt that his quartet was only playing music that's already been played; albiet incredibly well as they swung HARD. what i was missing was a sense of something new. perhaps this sounds cliche but, i feel that in the music of some other groups i've seen/listened to recently that there is a general aire of "pushing" and exploration going on - the incorporation of odd meter, juxtaposed styles, esoteric harmony - yet all in the spirit of musicality. as if yet further spaces of the aural landscape need some light shown on them in order to manifest/realise a more complete representation of experience - whether real or imagined. i am referring to the music of: chris potter, the dave holland quintet, dave douglas' groups, ben monder, kurt rosenwinkel, avishai cohen (the bassist), etc. this is the yardstick i try to hold my own playing and compositions to, though i am constantly reminded of how deep this music is and how much further i have yet to explore before even hoping to tread on some new land of my own. wow. this all sounds so incredibly prolix. also in recent news, we made oatmeal-raisin cookies the other night. yay.

this month saw my first publication, a transcription/analyzation of Chris Potter's "The Jones" solo from Dave Douglas' "Strange Liberation" record. it appears right in the back of the October 06 edition. everything turned out allright save for the last two measures of the transcription which, for some reason, doesn't represent the actual solo, but rather has a quarter-note high 'G' on every beat. must have been an error in the file i sent or something. other than that, a very satisfying piece - for me that is. this month is also seeing a few seasonal obsessions: mortality, chess, dostoevsky, and soup.

Chris Potter The Jones Transcription
Chris Potter The Jones Analysis

welcome to the new 'ajkluth.com'. i thought i'd finally get myself a website from which to harangue you all with my current musical endeavors, thoughts, events, recipes, etc. so then. visit often as i'll try to keep things interesting.