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Greg Abate

3K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Strayhorn 
#1 ·
Just curious as to whether anyone here has taken private lessons with Greg Abate. I know he's a monster player, so that's not the issue. Any info as to his approach, methods, etc. would be helpful, thanks.
 
#6 ·
Greg is a fantastic player and a good guy too. I took a series of lessons from him in the mid-90's, when I was first coming back to the sax after a hiatus of about 10-years. We worked on playing out on the Omnibook mostly. Greg's teaching focused mostly on improvisation and I stopped studying with him because I was too weak in the basics of scales and chords to get the most benefit from his teaching.

I do have a great Greg Abate story, however. He recorded a CD at Chan's (a jazz/blues place in Woonsocket, RI) with Richie Cole and had a CD release party at Chan's, also with Richie. My wife and I were there the night of the recording and decided to bring our daughters to the release party. I was studying with Greg then and so we got a table right up front. As it happened, it was also my older daughter's 10th birthday. Between sets, I asked Greg if he'd do me a big favor and play "Happy Birthday" to her. At the beginning of the next set, Greg Abate and Richie Cole tore into the wildest version of the song you can imagine, dedicated of course to my daughter!
 
#7 ·
Old thread, but I thought I'd chime in here anyway since it's had a resurgence.

I haven't studied privately with him, but he was a visiting guest artist when I was in college & worked with our big band. I don't know if he was just unfamiliar with leading a large group rehearsal but he didn't seem comfortable at all & didn't give us much to work on. He later worked with a small improvisation class & instead of delving into theory, technique, etc. he just said "Just play something like this, man." while he busted out double-time be-bop for an entire chorus. No explanation of why what he just played "worked." Not very cool.

I hope if anyone ventures into private lessons with him that it's a great experience. Working in a small or large group setting with students you've never met before & will never see again is probably among the most difficult experiences as far as instruction goes.
 
#9 ·
Have booked Greg numerous times at a concert series I have run here in Florida and we've gotten to be friends somewhat. One of the best alto players on the planet, easily. Easily.

Have spent several days hanging out with him, running around to check out the sights. The best word to describe Greg is unorthodox. His mind doesn't work at all the way other folks do, totally out-of-the-box approach to everything he does whether it's playing sax or ordering food in a restaurant. Lives completely in an intuitive right-brain kind of space.

Don't think as a teacher he would be one to favor a very analytic approach to anything. More a "here's how I'd play that, listen and try it" kind of a teacher. Joe Henderson used to teach that way.

Might be a good teacher for someone who's come pretty far down the path and knows their theory and has developed their ear enough to try advanced things.




:glasses7:
 
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