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Originally Posted by pmerrill
What does "the pocket" mean? Is it a different term than "feel?" What are the roles of soloist, bassist, drummer, comper, or chomper regarding the feel/pocket in swing? How does eigth-note elasticity fit into your definition? Articulation? Tempo? I would appreciate any thoughts you might want to share.
Paul
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These terms are all pretty loosely defined, but when musicians talk about "the pocket," they're not necessarily describing a specific type of feel or even musical style. Playing in the pocket is just another way of saying the music feels good. It implies a sense that everyone is playing together and on the same page, musically. When a band locks into a feel and everyone is comfortable with it, it's in the pocket.
Musical terms are usually self-explanatory. Groove and pocket, for example, are both ways of describing how a band has found a musical togetherness that seems and feels so solid that it almost can't fall apart. Like the way a stylus falls into the groove of a record, or you put something in your pocket and it stays there. They're not technical terms, they're a visceral way of describing how a band seems to have found that often fleeting musical empathy that makes the music feel so good that it almost plays itself. The tempo, note values and all that are really not relevant. Music can be in the pocket in any style or tempo.
The pocket / jazz feel
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