There’s a magic moment in jazz...a small window of time...between the musicians taking the stage and counting off the first tune.
It may not seem like a long time to the untrained eye, but a lot can happen in these magic moments. Just like David Attenborough in a nature documentary—if you stay perfectly still and observe musicians in their habitat without disturbance—you may even catch some of these magical and revealing moments yourself. Here are some things to watch out for:
Tuning up. Jazz musicians like to pretend to tune up, because one time they saw a classical orchestra do it. So, generally the Piano Player will provide a B-flat note (which is dubious enough given the condition of most of the pianos in jazz bars), and the musicians will blow/play a note and then fiddle with their instruments for a minute or two: pulling out tuning slides, mouthpieces, strings etc., until they end up getting exactly the same note that they started with. But this redundant ritual provides the audience with the impression of them being ‘serious’ musicians. (Don’t spoil it for them and tell them I told you.)
The Guitar Player. If there is any written music on the gig, the guitarist will look over the music with the intense concentration of someone trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphs. This is a last minute attempt to try and prove to the band that they can actually read music
