stucat
Stu Miller
I have been a professional musician since I was 18, and since I have a family now, the whole complexion of working in the
music business has changed, from being the most important thing, to being something I do for my family. The family is
much more important than the music. Of course, I still experience a thrill, and sometimes it gets so good, I don't want to go
home. Still, being a homebody has advantages over being a gypsy. Now if I could just find a gig (like teaching) that would
get me home at a decent hour everyday...
The Mother of Invention
Neccessity warrants. The whole world thrives on change, on learning what to preserve and what to dissolve. It used to be I
would do all my gigs on Fender bass. Then I became acquainted with Bebop, Texas swing, and torchy ballads. I retrained
on bass viol, learning from some of the great players of the big band era. I became a more grounded player. Bebop itself
grew from neccessity. Within its limits, Bebop has more ties to formal classic music than any other music I know.
The Notebinder System
The Notebinder System is a way to condense the musical form of a piece onto a half-page or less, in the player's own
handwriting, before trying to perform the music. It is musical shorthand, simple and unencumbered. It is a throwback, to a
time when computers and sequencers didn't exist to write music. Having a computer write a piece for you is great, but
reading a live performance is a human task. Along with learning a strange musical form (Bebop) came the need to write the
forms down quickly. I could either write and develop, or try to read the music of someone else. I chose to write. I found
that writing anything down increased my ability to read and understand the performance.
A Proving Ground
Some people see Denver as an overgrown cowtown, as a place where everything slows down to a crawl, not unlike New
Zealand. Those people haven't been to Pueblo. Denver isn't as radical as L.A. ; in fact, it's rather dreary to stop off in
Denver after being in other parts of the world. Regardless, the people here have heart, and they try to support what they
enjoy. Denver has a long history of being a place of support for the Fine Arts. True, the music industry settled on either
coast. However, Denver is a major stop for musicians, and it's amazing how many of them would like to live around here.
So, just maybe, we Denverites are lucky to be here, even if the grass is greener elsewhere.
stucat@ecentral.com
Some Great Sites
Denver Musicians Association
Swallow Hill Music Association
Celeste Krenz
Jazz Central Station
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