This is a tune that has great melodic and harmonic structure. It gives the player a lot t
This is a tune that has great melodic and harmonic structure. It gives the player a lot to work with because the tension and release are so well built into the song. I decided to to a slower, out of time version that highlights the harmonic movement of the song.
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Added: 9 months ago
Views: 5,136
Sorry for the scrappy video. This was a quick video capture that was done spur of the mom
Sorry for the scrappy video. This was a quick video capture that was done spur of the moment. This is a song by Burt Bacharach, which I have loved from the first time I heard it. My version of this song borders on being overly sentimental, but that is what came to me when I recorded it late Saturday night after midnight, reflecting my mood at the time, I guess. This is not a jazz piece per se, but Bill Evans covered it on one of his albums. In fact, I borrowed heavily from him on this piece. I do improvise for most of it. My approach to this piece is an attempt to balance intimacy against the grand gesture. Pull back too much and it gets sloggy, push the runs too much and it gets bombastic. Runs (arppegios) are a guilty pleasure of mine, takes me back to my gospel days. I hope you enjoy this piece. I enjoyed playing it.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 23,774
This is waaay looser playing than my other posts. I give the blame/credit to the Korean r
This is waaay looser playing than my other posts. I give the blame/credit to the Korean restaurant we ate at last night. They made my order twice as hot as I had requested. Additional beer was quaffed to dull the burn. I am a total alcohol lightweight. Anyway, I came home, immediatly sat down and recorded this last night. It's a good thing I didn't drive if this is an indication of how I was operating heavy machinery! I only did one take, because at the time I thought I sounded *Great* I mean why get hung up on hitting the right notes, right? ...This morning, listening in the light of day, I'm not so sure about this recording. I had to laugh at myself a little bit. I'm going to post it because I had so much fun playing last night.
This tune has great changes. I especially like the George Shearing version off of his My Ship album, which is one of the best solo jazz piano albums of all time. Also, I did this without a metronome, which is probably self evident. I hope you like it.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 7,242
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I am a little embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with this Benny Golson tune befor
I am a little embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with this Benny Golson tune before I heard the terrific video of I Remember Clifford posted by volvoxburger. There is also a fine teaching video of this song done by Jazz2511. I learned this song about one month ago. I waited to record it until after it had marinated in my head for a while. The structure of this tune is a little bit difficult to learn and it's easy to lose your place while improvising if your mind wanders. This tune is a remembrance of Clifford Brown who died suddenly, accidentally and very young. Taking this into account, I took the liberty of changing some of the chords in order to make the tune sound more overtly funereal. I used fairly long flowing lines because it fit with the slow tempo and the flow of the chord changes. I also decided not to swing in the usual way of delaying and accenting the upbeat. Instead, I play the eights straight and even, but I delay the notes behind the beat much of the time. Do it a little bit and it sounds calming and laid back. Delay the notes behind the beat a lot and it increases tension. This is resolved by speeding up and ending on top of the beat. Personally, I found it interesting to go in and out of this. I tried for a minimalist approach with no showboating. I don't know if I succeeded, but that was what I was thinking about when I recorded it. I hope you enjoy it.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 19,076
I did this version as a contrast to my first I Loves You Porgy post, which can be found at
I did this version as a contrast to my first I Loves You Porgy post, which can be found at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKme90czc8o
The first Porgy was done in the key of F major. This version was played in G major. I think the overtone series in G major is more open and more accommodative of this style. I recently had a conversation with Lot2Learn and Volvoxburger about different approaches to music theory and how it is applied in real time. This piece references that conversation.
The first version was laid out using chord progressions to create arcs of tension and resolution. Consonance and dissonance are used to create this dynamic. There is a hierarchy of intervals that is used where some are considered harmonious, others are considered to be dissonant. In this version of Porgy, I did away with chords per se, and thought about the structure of the piece as a series of modes. Most of the modes have seven different notes. I do my best to only play notes within the mode (one of the 7 notes of the modal scale), and I try to make no value judgment as to which intervals are more or less harmonic . All intervals are treated as if they are equally pleasing to the ear. I didn't do this completely and I use a fair amount of major voicings, but I did try to move in that direction. I don't know if it will come across on the audio on youtube, but I made liberal use of the pedal, which is unusual for me. I am trying to stretch and emphasis the overtones of the piano as an effect. I try to repedal decisively between mode changes so it doesn't sound sloppy, but I let the pedal linger as long as I am in the same mode. All of this analysis flies out the window when I am playing, but I did think about it before and after I played the piece.
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Added: 11 months ago
Views: 7,465
This tune has such an interesting history. The melody was first documented in the 1850's
This tune has such an interesting history. The melody was first documented in the 1850's by a woman collecting tunes or 'airs' from street musicians in Ireland. It was collected in the county of Londonderry and was originally called "Londonderry Air" In the early 1900's lyrics were put to the song by an Englishman and the song became known as Danny Boy. In the seventies, the great southern gospel songwriter Dottie Rambo wrote the most inspired lyrics to this tune. Here is a link to a beautiful a cappella version by a youtube contributor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51dQHgfEVcw
Bill Evans extensively covered this tune as Danny Boy. I started out in that direction, but went back to the Gospel form in the end, which is the way I first learned this tune as a teenager. I play very differently now compared to then, but I still enjoy going back to my gospel roots.
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Added: 7 months ago
Views: 8,955
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This is a great Victor Young tune. It's usually played fairly slowly, but this is an up t
This is a great Victor Young tune. It's usually played fairly slowly, but this is an up tempo version. The chord changes make this song interesting to me.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 36,840
This Hancock tune is usually played in a restrained, laid back style, i.e. with a "west co
This Hancock tune is usually played in a restrained, laid back style, i.e. with a "west coast cool jazz" feel. The brilliant and unusual chord changes give this piece a floating feeling that does away with the usual dynamic arcs of tension and resolution found in more traditional "I-VI-II-V-I" type jazz compositions. In order to make it sound a little bit different, I decided to play it slightly uptempo and to play the changes as if it called for the same dynamic rise and fall of more traditional tunes, even when that is not what the chords changes are calling for, at least from my perspective.
Something else I try to do in order to switch it up a bit is to vary my comping between light and dense voicings. I play two or three notes that imply a chord without explicitly stating it, or I try to go really dense, with lots of color tones to obscure the underlying chord. That is pretty much what I was thinking when I played this piece.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 23,405
This is a Chick Corea tune that is haunting and spare. The modal changes interest me the
This is a Chick Corea tune that is haunting and spare. The modal changes interest me the most with this song. His duo with Burton on vibes is amazing. I play it out of time and without swing to maximize the feel, but it is improvised. If I were to do this over, I would not do this as slow and would put more energy into it, but I was thinking "tranquil" at the time.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 59,215
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