Excellent thread Shambles, and excellent points folks.

I decided to take up Jazz fiddle 3 weeks ago, and since it's been many years since I learned a new instrument (I was able to scratch out "boil 'em Cabbage Down" in the key of "A"...but not very well) I'm finding the process fascinating, frustrating, and amazing. Just trying to improvise melodies from a five note scale is reminding me once again the astonishing number of combinations of notes available.

By the way, the impetus for this new project came from Mudcatter Jeri, a website called Redhotjazz, and some illuminating posts on Mudcat. Plus reading a wonderful book by Eddie Condon, called "We Called It Jazz".

Rick