Opening Remarks

My name is Joel Fass. I am a guitarist-composer based in NYC. I was born 57 years ago in Brooklyn, NY and still call NY my home.

To read more about my vitae and hear many performances go to www.myspace.com/joelfass or www.smallsjazzclub.com (go to 'audio archive', select the guitar icon and click on my name enter my name in the search box to hear group and solo shows dating back to 2009).

Now that I've gotten that over with I pledge not to use this space as a vanity blog, but a way to reach out to people and share views. Music, prose, and quotidian interaction are all opportunities for humans to communicate.

The main thing irking me about our current world (particularly in my hometown of NYC---though I am told it is a worldwide phenomenon): the obsession of people with gadgets they seem to prefer engaging with to actual communication with others. In my view it seems to point to a dissatisfaction with the external world. I saw a fellow on the train yesterday that had the whole 9: headphones, iphone, kindle. He couldn't decide, seemingly, which to fixate on first. I worry about young people particularly, and that they will end up bereft of social skills having inhabited as their main social lodging a cocoon-like cyber-world. Remember the song It's Only a Paper Moon?..............

As a musician I am keenly aware of the need for social interaction in our society. I would go so far as to call this a near-primal need. I played my first gig at age 14 at a local temple. I have seen many people come together and be lifted out of dismal moods in my many years playing before the public. I don't put much faith in politics or religion as it is commonly known. I only know that music, friendship, and a belief in human potential work for me.

Sadly, the self-absorption/disconnect syndrome I generally lament has permeated much of the music world, including that of jazz. Long solos often without much purpose or engagement with either the audience or the composition being played---well, I think there's been enough of that. And by no means does that apply to everyone playing, but IMO it does often enough to be disconcerting. I think the greatest musical artists are humanitarians and communicators in their art---not to mention ingenious self-editors---as exemplified by Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz--- or in pop music Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, the Beatles---and I should include here the world-class guitarist-songwriter-singer Toninho Horta. I strive toward this in my own work even as I grow and mature creatively. The two are mutually supportive IMO.

Along with communication and warmth I champion purpose in musical art. Another way to put it might be: don't waste peoples' time. 'Woodshed' and think things through enough in advance of performance that there is clarity along with spontaneity. Audiences are not mind-readers and should not be asked to be. In this connection I believe composition to be a real pathway to meaning and purpose in improvising.

Finally, I would like to mention some of my peers,---and betters---many not all that well-known outside of music circles---whose work I think should be heard live or at least on recording (only a partial list): Guitar: Saul (Zebulon) Rubin; Joe Cohn; Ed Cherry; James Chirillo; Michael Howell; Ray Macchiarolla; Sean Harkness. Piano: Burt Eckoff; Johnny O'Neal (also a smooth singer and good entertainer), Tardo Hammer, Ray Gallon. Bass: Tim Givens, Sean Smith (also a fine songwriter); Ari Roland. Trombone: Britta Langschoen; Mike Fahn (valve trombone). Trumpet: John Eckert; Kerry McKellan; Don Hahn. Composition/Arranging: Glenn Mills; Frank Griffith; Donald Brown; Sarah Jane Cion; Joel Forrester; Neil Kirkwood . Songwriters: Ellen Weiss; Bruce Gordon; Barrett Zinn. (Special mention should be made of the late Jimmy Norman. We co-wrote one song and I know what he could do). Vocalists: Shawnn Monteiro, Deanna Kirk.

Hope this was a decent opening chorus. More to come when I have something to say......