The day after a high school jazz band concert, one of my teachers complimented my playing--with one caveat.
"You could have used more solos," he said.
"Thank you," I replied, "but the bass isn't usually a solo instrument. I don't mind solos when I'm allowed to play them, but I'm not asked to play them all that often."
Then again, improvisation is a hallmark of jazz. Besides, this was the ensemble that, during a rehearsal of "C Jam Blues," gave a trumpet player a chance to meander through the tune as if playing the instrument for the first time, a saxophone player space to start scatting stream-of-consciousness lyrics, such as "She was walkin' down the hall...Baby, you look so good...You looked so fine...walkin' down the hall," and the director time to stop conducting in order to ponder the score.
Maybe it wouldn't have been out of line for me to ask for a few more bass solos.
