INSIDE MUSIC
by Rosemary Conte
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The Art of Accompanying
Every pianist or guitarist is not
an accompanist. Accompanying
is a whole other thing. I’ve sung
with piano players who comp
beautifully, supporting what I
sing and leaving me room to im-
provise. I’ve got to have room
to be adventurous if I’m singing
jazz. I’ve sung with others who
fill every part of a beat that I’m
not singing with a flourish that
crowds me, rendering my sing-
ing almost superfluous!
My friend, guitarist extraordi-
naire George Naha, who lives
and teaches in New Providence,
wrote an essay that recalls what
NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 6
one of his teachers, Ted Dunbar,
Livingston College, said about
accompanying. He calls it “The
Diamond and the Pillow.”
“When you’re accompanying
someone, be it a singer or an in-
strumental soloist, your job is to
get underneath the soloist and
support him or her. Picture the
soloist as a diamond that is on
display. The diamond is nestled
in a small pillow. You, as the ac-
companist, are the pillow. The
people who come into the room
to look at the display are there
to see the diamond. They’re not
there to check out the pillow,
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