Memphis Stomp by Dave Grusin

Great piano solo from the the film 'The Firm'. This was tough to memorise and I've done my best to copy Dave Grusin's own phrasing.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• jazz
• solo
• piano
• rock
• blues
• Dr John
• Dave Grusin
• Gary Preston
• The Firm Soundtrack
• New Orleans

[Zona57Bob]

A wonderful accomplishment, Gary. I know you've worked hard at it, and I'm impressed with your efforts. To meld within the 'Grusin mind' all you have to do now is consider: intonation, volume dymamics, fluidity - and a lot of work on the 'sustain' pedals. Ease back a little on the stacatto to attain the fluidity. You've got the 'technical' part - now work on the 'soul' of it. Watch and listen to Dave doing this 'live' in Germany on Youtube. Use Youtube's search engine, insert 'live.'

[garyjpreston]

@Zona57Bob Thanks for the comments. At the time it was just about the best I could do, but now I can hear a lot of weaknesses. I'll play it in a concert in a few months, and will be working hard on it. The Dave Grusin live version was fabulous. Thanks for telling me about it, and your encouragement.

[florhand]

As hard to memorize as Rachmaninoff's 2nd sonata? Great stuff, I'd love to play that - is there a score?

[garyjpreston]

That's uncanny. How did you know I'd played that?! Do I know you?

The Rachmaninoff was so hard to learn that memorising it was not the problem. The Grusin, was hard because the style is relatively new to me I suppose. There is a score, a book of music from the film, but there are many inaccuracies.

Once I'd learned the notes from the book, I memorsied it by learning it again, by ear, bit by bit, from the recording.

ps. The Liszt sounds great. I'm wondereing who this mysterious pianist is!

[prelevich]

Ok, here's your second comment - excellent job, man! Keep up the great work!

[garyjpreston]

Cheers prelevich! Favourited too - I am pleased!

[garyprestonpianist]

Thanks Obsto123. I don't mind the dislikes. I'd rather people have an opinion!

[Obsto123]

I hate the Memphis stomp dislikers

No life?

[joskam092]

why are there so many dislikes? This is legit!

[iftyshifty]

@TheGamerSpeaks I don't understand either to be honest. I really enjoyed it.

[TheGamerSpeaks]

why the dislikes?

[Zona57Bob]

ps/ it's not Scott Joplin, Gary - it's Dave Grusin. You gotta 'own' it.

[raqulka96]

Very well done, love your phrasing

[smbdy555]

woww....great work... .)))

[jazzpianobrian]

Fantastic rendition!!! Great job keeping with Grusin's recording. This deserves many more views than 1700.

[halcyon77]

Very nice. Best I've seen on YouTube so far. Most people I've seen pay too much attention to just playing all the notes, and forget about correct pedaling, phrasing and dynamics. You have all that here. It's still a bit rough compared to the original, but you're definitely on the right track. Good job!

[shaz365able]

Wow! Puts my study into perspective. Tons of work ahead to reach anything like this level. Once again wow!

[TheLibertyLion]

Definitey one of the best, if not the best version, on YouTube. I'm currently learning this piece and am about 1:10 into the song, and I can tesitfy to it's difficulty, so I heartily applaud your skills!

[NoOtherNamesWereLeft]

A-MAZING! I'm about to give this one a try myself, but I'm not sure I'll even come close to this. You phrasing is perfect!

Faved.

[pesten2]

Awesome performance. I think you captured the tune brilliantly. Heard too many versions done slightly faster or the rhythm off. But I think this was spot on. Lovely work ;)

[mondlichtsterne]

very nice

[atomo79]

WOW! The best Cover on Youtube!!!!

[leverarch001]

Brilliant!!

[kirshpro]

Well done. Brilliant actually. I have wrestled and courted with getting this done on and off for years as well so hearing you say that, in addition to the groove being the toughest thing, makes me feel a little better.

It is a remarkable composition and you've served it well. If you have any recommendations other than hard work, of course, on getting there, I'm all for it.  The feel, emphasis, groove are all there. Great job.