Jason Lyon Music

Tag: Bill Evans

  • The Bill for Rehearsal Time

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    Jason
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcAuOVdxpY&t=756s Thanks to Jazz Video Guy on YT for finding this rare documentary footage of Bill Evans preparing for a TV taping in Denmark. There’s a lot to take away, but I’ll just zero in one aspect – this is a textbook example of how to rehearse. See here for my personal thoughts on this. Of…

  • The Set Menu

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    Here is an episode of a ’60s BBC TV series called Jazz 625 (yeah, our TVs had 625 scan lines at the time and the Beeboid techies came up with that really imaginative name). It’s Bill Evans with his second trio visiting London. Look at 0:16 – the tune is Nardis, and watch bassist Chuck…

  • Meet Aimee Nolte

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    Gang, this is Aimee; Aimee – the gang. She’s a prolific YouTuber (channel here) and I recommend you spend a couple of hours in her company. There’s not a lot she hasn’t already covered, or doesn’t plan to cover, but I’ve picked out this one. Somebody was asking me a while ago about how to harmonise…

  • The Universal Mind of Bill Evans

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    Jon Brantingham has just put a very good essay up at The Art of Composition. It’s an appraisal of an extended interview with Bill Evans, conducted by his brother Harry in 1966. The “Universal Mind” thing may sound a bit hippyish, but it just refers to the notion that there is a part of all of us,…

  • Super Locrian Meets the Dastardly Half Diminishedo

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    What do you play on a minor II in, say, C minor? D half-diminished, some kind of Ab7 or some kind of D7? Do you know the difference? Or, perhaps more importantly, do you know the similarity? This week I’ll look at some ideas from Bill Evans (jazz’s very own Clark Kent, and okay I’ll…

  • Rootless Voicings from Scratch

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    You simply can’t play modern jazz without knowing these voicings in all the keys. It’s a bit like getting the hang of the clutch when you’re learning to drive. While they’re not the only voicings used, they are the backbone of jazz piano and you need them so instinctively programmed into your hands that you can play…

  • Transcription: Bill Evans on Love for Sale

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    This is a transcription of the two-chorus solo that pianist Bill Evans takes with the Miles Davis Sextet on Love for Sale. It’s taken from the Columbia recording originally entitled Jazz Track, although these days you’re probably more likely to find it under the reissue title of ’58 Miles. I think this solo is one…