Oleo - Phineas Newborn.mov

[420Jelbaz]

very underrated. but even though i think i'm one of his biggest fans i find that sometimes the virtuosity of his lines sort of undermines their lyricism

[BuckshotLaFunke1]

Let me reiterate: the only pianist Oscar P. was scared of.

[y34r]

holy shit.....

[winpointmedia]

I just heard Phineas Newborn on a Teddy Edwards album and I had to run through his YouTube videos. I just think PN is incredible...just incredible....

[MichaelBrandonSax]

What if he was really playing in B major?

[hremdldw]

Drummer Is Kenny Dennis at the time married to Nancy Wilson

[cfxcooper]

Unbelievable technique. I find his harmonic language a little predictable and lacking in invention. Have you heard his version of all the things you are? His technique is unreal on that recording

[battaglia01]

@cfxcooper You find his harmonic language predictable? This is a rhythm changes dude, what do you expect? He even throws a pretty hip sus chord substitution in at 1:18, so I'm not sure what else you're looking for

[cfxcooper]

@battaglia01 I was referring to his solo rather than his left hand voicings so i guess i mean his melodic language. It's just a bit dull. Give me Bill Evans any day. I personally think you can really tell how good a player is when hearing how they play on rhythm changes and 12 bars etc. Its easy to keep your solo interesting on tunes like 'there will never be another you' as the changes do the work for you.

[ugnex3]

@cfxcooper The melodic language in this is purely of Phineas Newborn Jr, I can't even imagine pitting Spanish against Chinese.

[battaglia01]

@cfxcooper You find his harmonic language predictable? This is a rhythm changes dude, what do you expect? He even throws a pretty hip sus chord substitution in at 1:18, so I'm not sure what else you're looking for

[battaglia01]

This is sped up - it's coming out closer to B major, but you can see that on the piano he's playing as though it were Bb major. Rhythm changes is usually played in Bb major anyway. Still an awesome recording though

[Jubinator2012]

Too bad one critic was the ruin of this pure genius. Phineas Newborn Jr.-Piano, Sam Jones- Bass, Louis Hayes- Drums

[spadge1able]

100 MILES AN HOUR .NO TIME TO STOP. WOW.

[savagemailbox]

@spadge1able

word. amazing better than coffee in the am!! love it.

[jderevere]

Burning rubber in all gears !

[redtone11]

just watch his hand & hear the music

[sachemtlord]

Sped up? I don't believe the camera would move through so smoothly if it were sped up. I'm no virtuoso, but I do think this is really cool.

[himynameississy]

denzel washington should play him in a bio-pic

[hippiesruleon]

@himynameississy YES

[fenley69]

This fine pianist was ruined by prescription drugs. He is at his finest here.

I saw him at Blue Note back in the late 50's. Stan Kenton was there to see him and was virtually awe struck.

Leonard Feather was correct about Phineas' incredible talent.

[ZackPomerleau]

Who is the drummer? Roy Haynes?

[mrboppman1]

@ZackPomerleau I don't know who, but it's not Roy

[MarkEisenman]

@ZackPomerleau

The Drummer is probably Kenny Dennis

[BOPPJONSER]

this is the real stuff folks...there are a lot of academy trained people playing good Jazz ,but not like this !!

[wrinkledquarter]

holy crap.



[hippiesruleon]

Phineas is a bad mothafucka

[Sandemose]

WTF just happened?

best, Sandemose

[javijazztazz]

That was pretty fast and amazing

[ziggynice]

How many recordings do you have that the tunes ar out of tune? I believe that they played on this tempo.

[hremdldw]

The Drummer Is Kenny Dennis.Once married too Nancy Wilson.

[SALLEMJAZZ]

half a step too high....it's fast enough already.

[fiddlercrab3]

I think I agree- the question is, was the video sped up so it moved from Bb to B, or is he just a bad motha(shutyomouth!)?

It looks like it's sped up. You're right. Good eye. Still awesome.

[CraigLaSota]

@fiddlercrab3 no no no. it's not sped up. phineus truly is just one bad mutha

[jakedam]

@CraigLaSota at 1:21, you can see (not hear) that Phineas clearly hits a Bb on the downbeat of the 5th bar of the form (right before the drummer takes his first four bars of the trading). The first chord of the 5th bar of Oleo is Bb6. The video makes it sound like B natural, so sorry, it is sped up. Don't worry though, Phineas is still one bad mutha.

[ziggynice]

@jakedam Are you crazy? Man, like i said, how many records do you have that are out of tune? There are several reasons for that but no speed up. Don't blame yourself because you can't play at this tempo. No excuses! Phineas is great!

[BuckshotLaFunke]

@CraigLaSota & @fiddlercrab3 Oscar Peterson once confessed that the only piano player he was afraid of, was Phineas Newborn.

[nitekatt2007]

I have always been a Phineas fan, as he inspired me as a jazz piano player. Oscar Peterson also spoke of him highly. OP became a jazz piano superstar, public television interviews with Andre Previn, books written about him, NPR show with Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, endless publicity, wealth. Phineas on the other hand, more introspective, seemed shy of publicity, All that talent and he struggled throughout his career. For the reason, who knows. But little did we know of Phineas the man.

[newballet726]

The sad part is that all of the greats mentioned in these comments come to the front of the mind because of the fame achieved and success realized. Phineas ("Finas" as he was called here at home) couldn't earn a living as a musician in Memphis. His facility was amazing, even after his illness and decline but he was undervalued here. Memphis is also home to the late James Williams (Art Blakely pianist) and Mulgrew Miller.

[TheTeflonGuy]

He has this technique in which he synchronizes his hands - no one has ever done this before or after him. It's incredible!

[Ghtthomps]

Don't forget Oscar Peterson. He could play with synchronize hands.

[TheTeflonGuy]

Okay, I didn't know that :) Is there a clip where I can see Oscar Peterson play with synchronize hands?

[ThaloniousP]

Chick Corea . . Herbie Hancock . . Brad Mehldau . .A lot of Cats do it. Bill Mays will Play two Different Be-BOP heads at the Same time

[Ghtthomps]

Kenny Drew Jr. also. I saw him do it on a jazz cruise ship trip I made in the pass.

[TheTeflonGuy]

But do they do it that fast and advanced...? :)

[jakedam]

yes

[fiddlercrab3]

WTF?! Damn. I'll check him out. Any particular favorite examples of this monstrosity on Youtube I should see?

[jimraw1]

Don't forget Tatum - don't think there was any technique he couldn't do.

[gns134]

ho...ly...shit.

[davidje1000]

incredible. Anyone knows who are bassist and drummer?

[Ghtthomps]

The bassist looks like Al Mckibbon. The drummer looks like Paul Humphries. It's my guess.

[itmsjim]

The audio is a hair sped up (granted this is still rippin'!!!) He's playing in Bb but the audio is closer to B.

[itmsjim]

Wow!!!!!!!!

[Soulnik]

Phineas! ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

[corrector14]

Excelente pianista es uno de mis favoritos, y en Oleo se nota que fué uno de los mejores

[ocram9791]

Il jazzista più sottovalutato della storia.