Alaadeen Writes The Rest of the Story,
Jazz Improvization and History
Kansas City, Missouri: Jazz Master Alaadeen of Kansas City, MO., has developed a jazz methods manual based on his personal teaching approach, which is rooted in oral tradition. The Rest of the Story, Jazz Improvization and History is designed to give a foundation to the art of Improvisation. It is written from a performer’s perspective presented in a simplified manner and easy to understand terms in Old School Script. It is not a step by step primer to teach how to improvise but rather is a method to guide the musician in finding his or herself as a soloist. The manual includes stories that convey lessons learned and struggles drawn from his sixty years of experience performing with Jay McShann and other jazz greats. The manual is hoped to reach and inspire musicians across a broad spectrum to reach deeper inside the music to find their own expression.
This project is made possible by generous grant from the Fund for Folk Culture’s Artist Support Program, underwritten by the Ford Foundation with additional support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Based in Austin, Texas, the Fund for Folk Culture is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the dynamic practice and conservation of folk and traditional arts and culture throughout the United States. Additional funding is provided by the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City and the ArtsKC Fund.
Alaadeen states: “I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri in the 18th and Vine area, the neighborhood which was the center of a vital African-American community and the place where the distinctive sound of Kansas City Jazz emerged. I learned Jazz immersed in this community, from the oral tradition, directly from that first generation of jazz masters. Over the years I’ve seen jazz moving away from the traditional way I learned it into the jazz studies programs found in universities. In many jazz studies programs in formal institutions, music theorists write down on paper what a particular jazz master was playing and teach that to the student. When I was coming up if you took a solo and sounded like anyone else, you would be booted off the stage.”
In addition to sales at www.Alaadeen.com, the manual will be made available to download and will also be distributed to schools and jazz organizations in the Kansas City area, and beyond, where Alaadeen has been conducting youth jazz clinics for over thirty-five years.
With this book, Alaadeen has opned the door to the complex mind of the jazz musician. The
information inside this book is extremely personal and informative at the same time. It is very
specific but still leaves room for the user to discover for themselves, their own paths to self
expression using the information provided. I am very happy Alaadeen has chosen to share his personal discoveries in the "old school" way with us so that we may continue to grow as musicians, and learn more about the history of this music called jazz in the traditional way.
...Bobby Watson
Professor of Jazz Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City
A bird’s eye view by someone who was a witness to how this music was put together by the Masters. A must read and study for the young artist.
...Najee
2 Grammy nominated saxophone and flautist
When I opened this unique book I was struck immediately by this very cogent passage in the
Author’s Introduction: “I feel that a musician should have a basic knowledge of what came
before him and use this knowledge as a platform to build on…” This book is indeed one such knowledge platform. Ahmad Alaadeen is a wise elder in this music we call jazz and young musicians would do well to devour the practical wisdom he lays down in The Rest of the Story. Delivered in an unpretentious manner with requisite humility, the advice and lessons Alaadeen delivers in this book will be priceless in the development process of any musician who has the good fortune to encounter it.
...Willard Jenkins
Journalist/Broadcaster/Producer www.openskyjazz.com
You can’t miss as an added teaching or learning tool. ...Tom Alexios
Director of Education Outreach Programs for the Duke Ellington Family
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