Nothin'! ! Jim Hession/ Luckeyth (Luckey) Roberts /stride

[chubbsmasterson]

Lets see a 5 year old play this lol

[pianiplunker]

Wonderful composition and playing. I remember reading someone told me once that the c strain sounds like a duet between a trombone and a piccolo.

[bluekeytony]

Jim...this is still amazing every time I listen to it. You truly are a master!!

[steowe]

where can I buy the sheet music for Nothin by Luckey roberts?

[nezkeys79]

how do you practice getting good at jumping gaps that big continously in the LH without making any errors?

[jazznbear]

Practice the notes slowly then build up your speed to the correct tempo. Always try for accuracy before speed. Stride takes time and patience to master and we all still work to perfect this style. Stride piano is an energetic and powerful playing style and more than just perfecting the notes, it requires the ability to produce a "swinging groove" that drives the piece.  Remember, your right hand plays all the horn parts and your left hand plays the guitar, bass and drums.

[nezkeys79]

obviously the size of your hand matters. I think one day I could pssoibly learn to play the leaps fast with no wrong notes, but I will never be able to play a 10th interval in this context, and quite a lot of ragtime and stride have 10th intervsls.

[jazznbear]

Many years ago I met two of my musical favorites: when I met Oscar Peterson my hand disappeared inside of his.....very big man. Johnny Guarnieri, a brilliant classical and jazz pianist had very small hands. Finally at the age 52 he was able to stretch a tenth. His advice: try breaking your tenths or invert them to sixths with the 5th in the bass to create the harmonic accompaniment. Try this and let me know how it works for you.

[nezkeys79]

if its C7 you are saying play G-E(6th) instead of C-E(10th)?. but if i do that there will be no root note.

[jazznbear]

Yes and No. The C7would have a Bb-G for the 6th interval. In the inverted 10th the root is implied, unless you played E-C with the root on top. Try different combinations and see what works best for you. You can also break your 10ths by playing the low note just before the beat, leading to the 10th on the beat.

[nezkeys79]

Yeah I already know about spread chords, (or breaking them as you call it) but they just dont sound the same as hitting the interval at the same time

[jazznbear]

Broken tenths are not going to sound the same as solid tenths unless you are playing fast.Players with a span of a 12th or more(Waller, Tatum,Peterson,Roberts) hit solid tenths as if they were octaves.The rest of us have to make adjustments. Check out recordings/videos of Willie the Lion Smith, Eubie Blake,Teddy Wilson,Johnny Guarnieri and some of my stride videos. You can still stride if you don't have hands as big as catchers mitts! good luck!

[spassgamer]

your playing is absolutely fantastic, how can you jump with your left hand that fast? I cant imagine although I play Boogie Woogie and the left hand can be quite fast there too...

[jazznbear]

The left hand in a stride piano piece relies on accuracy and measurement. The best way to develop that is to practice slowly and gradually build up your speed.Use the same approach as in boogie woogie;the left hand must provide a solid support for the right.  The action on a piano plays an important part.

Many pianos don't have a repeating action that can handle the extremely complex figures.Best of luck to you.

[thepirate42]

Superb, but doesn't it have a name ?

[jazznbear]

Thank you. The title of the piece is "Nothin'".I usually introduce this Roberts number by saying, "Here goes Nothin'" and my most common audience comment is "That was good for Nothin'".

[thepirate42]

Oh it was good for somethin' - also a Robert's tune - can you do the one with Railroad in the title?

[jazznbear]

The name of that piece is "Railroad Blues" written in 1920 by Roberts with words by Haven Gillespie and Howard Washington. I'll give it a go sometime down the line.

[jazznbear]

We did add Luckeyth Roberts early solo, "Spanish Venus" as arranged by Eubie Blake.

[pianopicia]

you are amaizing. I saw all of your performance films and I don't know how do you do it. you are all great and all your performences are simply amazizing. for me, you are the best pianist in our history. you are god of music, piano, jazz, blues etc.... ohh... briliant, briliant briliant!!!!!!!!!!!

[jazznbear]

I still work as hard now at the piano as I did when I was 16 years old. I am constantly exploring new rhythms, voicings and figures with every performance of every tune. With the early historical pieces I constantly try to be true to the original structure and style, yet make use of new ideas and variations to make the music come alive with every performance.

[jazznbear]

Part deux.. Eubie even in his 90's was always interested in what the younger players had to say musically. He was also directly responsible for teaching Lucky Roberts the chromatic glissando technique back in the early 1900's. Roberts was a true American genius as was Eubie. Glad you enjoyed the cut!

[nickus32000]

Good performance, it would be hard to attempt to duplicate roberts' who was a freak of a piano player with all his chromatic runs.

[jazznbear]

Always emulate....NEVER duplicate! The goal of every jazz artist should be to be one of a kind.Eubie Blake summed it up beautifully when talking about the "greats" of the past...LEARN FROM THEM...PLAY IT YOUR WAY!

[sunshinecapers]

Amazing! =o.. You really get through this Luckey Roberts piece. I wish I could play like you. Thanks for sharing.