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Examples of learning and entertainment from Jazz Chat

As I continue to improve and test Jazz Master Chat, my AI that uses interviews, course, blog posts, and books as it’s ‘brain’, I asked it two questions.

1. How can I learn to play the Blues?

This was a question that can from last week’s member’s Zoom call. It’s a good question considering that the Blues is fundamental to improvising jazz. Here is the answer given by Jazz Master Chat: (click to enlarge on a computer or turn phone in its side to read on mobile)

All good answers for a beginning jazz player. I followed that up with asking what blues artists I should listen to. The answers it gave came from the audio listening suggestions throughout the course Pocket Jazz. All of the Pocket Jazz lessons, interview snippets, and listening suggestions are now part of Jazz Master Chat.

As for the listening suggestions, it provided this:

2. Making a horror show out of sitting in

Let’s have some fun with this one. After all, I hope that people will stretch the boundaries of this AI for a little entertainment.

Knowing that pianist Richie Beirach told some great stories in our book Teaching and Learning Jazz, I asked Jazz Master Chat to tell Richie’s story of a gig early in his career playing with Stan Getz. One night Sonny Stitt walked into the club and sat in. As Richie tells it, Stitt was being difficult, seeing if he could stump young Richie.

So, I asked it to tell the story as a Stephen King horror story as a nod to the upcoming Halloween holiday! Here’s what it wrote… (click to enlarge on a computer or turn phone in its side to read on mobile)

3 thoughts on “Examples of learning and entertainment from Jazz Chat”

Neil Ripsch
October 3, 2024 at 8:56 am

Love it and maybe a subtle whisper to me to explore songs in different key shapes. Mike, you’ve advocated that for years, take those birthday songs, etc., and walk them around different keys. Richie must have felt like a million dollars after that event.

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1. Michael Lake
  October 3, 2024 at 10:16 am
  
  Neil, Richie always had confidence beyond most people, which was one ingredient that allowed him to become a great artist. But even so, I know that moment was a proud one for him.
  
  Let me also add that, as we discussed in the subscriber’s call last week, that it wasn’t because Richie memorized the changes to All The Things in every key. It was that he HEARD the tune so deeply that it really didn’t matter what key he played it in. Especially at a fast tempo, there is no time to think, “Let’s see, the first chord is a half step above F-7.”
  
  Reply
Sharilynn Horhota
October 3, 2024 at 4:57 pm

This was great! Jazz has so many stories! I am a big fan of both Stan Getz and Sonny Stitt; it’s wonderful to hear about their interactions. Richie’s story about Chet Baker’s lesson in playing soft still stays with me. Richie is an amazing player as well. Thank you for sharing this!

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