Any Jazz players/fans here?

Great stuff, also a big fan of Wes and Django (could listen to Django all day), they are the definition of natural talent
Also love Al Di Meola, he's a great example of the more composed side to jazz-fusion, He takes great pride in his arrangements and compositions, and rightly so, crazy to think he recorded Elegant Gypsy at age 23...

Im also a lover of the more avante-garde forms of jazz, and the free-improvisation featured on albums like 'Bitches brew' by Miles Davis, i love it because its so free and is such an honest form of expression, yet the players listening skills have to be extremely well developed to communicate in such an advanced way. Improvisation is becoming a lost art-form in most of todays music sadly

I still need to check out Pat Methany, his name has popped up a lot recently so i'll investigate further Thanks for the input Coach

Yes, you do, and NOT just because he's from my home town...   

If I might make a suggestion, start here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EE … mp;sr=1-31

I´m a  George Benson/ Wes Montgomery Fan and "Secret Story" by Pat Metheny got be one of my all time favorites.

For learning the theory I spend some time with the Real Book and a Teacher and played in Big Bands.
Improvising and understanding tunes with many key changes was really difficult and a ongoing process for me.

But without playing to much jazz nowadays I´m able to play more fitting for the changes in every kind of genre which is really satisfying.

For the question regarding the tune you´ve posted. First try to analyse what the main theme has to say about the intepretation of the chords and look out for sort of guiding notes. Another good approach would be to group the chords you can relate to one another and play the fitting key for them so you don´t have to change scales so frequently

I dip in and out of appreciation of jazz, - well put another way I always appreciate it but am not always in the mood for it. - Jazz musicians are some of the best IMO, - jazz drummers very hard to beat, - and when they cross over into rock you get a very interesting sound, - example Charlie Watts, Bill Bruford and Matt Abts.... looking at him play a few weeks ago i would put money on him having some jazz influence in there.

My son's guitar teacher is a jazz session guitarists, - my chain of thought when looking for a teacher a few years ago being they are so precise in what they do and they know music structure better than most or else how would they play a song without structure...?

Went to school and was good friends with Iain Ballamy who is one the words best jazz saxophonists some of his stuff was really "out there" so have to say that it was he who introduced me to the sound of jazz without fully knowing way it was! I got into Loose Tubes, - from there into Ashley Slater who went on to work with Norman Cook.... - Hate music in boxes!!!

Yea i think you're right about the chords being there purely to support the melody (as only the piano player is playing chords in the original recording, whilst the guitar & violin outline the melody), it reminds me of something i read in a theory book a while back, about chords acting as the vertical posts (of a fence) holding up the long horizontal lines of the melody. Im just a very analytical person who wants to know why these things work, so that i can have a greater understanding of what the composer was aiming for, and therefore i can replicate that approach if required.
Anyone got any tips on how to improvise over non-diatonic changes? Im still working my way around the modes of the harmonic minor scale

Thanks to everyone who has replied to this btw, im genuinely overwhelmed by the responses in such a short amount of time, and so happy to see people chiming in with their jazz influences, wish i could reply to each of your responses individually.

Anyone here currently/been in a jazz band?