How Deep is the Ocean? Pt. 1: John Stowell and Tim Lerch Jazz Guitar Conversations

John Stowell and Tim Lerch sit down for a wide-ranging jazz guitar conversation built around a tune they both love: How Deep Is the Ocean. In this first installment, the two masters each work through a solo guitar rendition of the opening eight bars — in C minor — and compare notes on how differently (and how similarly) they see it, touching on jazz improvisation and learning strategies along the way.

What's covered

• Tim's approach: propelling a simple chord progression with bass movement and inversions, plus a B diminished color and a D7 substitution borrowed from the Bill Evans version
• John's approach: keeping movement on top — turning the stock A half-diminished into an A7#11, and using melodic minor voicings for added color
• How context shapes your voicings: heavy bass movement works when playing solo, less so with a bassist covering that role
• Two philosophies side by side: expressing the harmony through melody vs. finding the melody through the harmony
• Moving a melody note on top without shifting every voice underneath at once

Hear how two seasoned players think out loud, question each other, and meet in the middle. Tim Lerch is a member of the legendary Northwest gypsy jazz group Pearl Django, performs in a popular duo with Jamie Findlay, and plays as many solo guitar performances as his schedule allows.