Tag: jazz
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Frankly My Dear… He Gives a Damn
If you haven’t heard of pianist Dave Frank, this is your lucky day. He’s a formidable, eclectic performer; a former Piano Prof at Berkelee, before he founded his own school in NYC; author of two books and a DVD (published by Hal Leonard); and a genial, incredibly generous and prolific video educator. Check out his stuff…
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Drop 2 More
I wrote about Drop 2 last year here and I’ve had some feedback (a few people really loved the picture of the Golden Retriever with four tennis balls in her mouth – so here she is for a well-deserved encore). In particular, I’ve been asked variations on the following question: “All very well, mate, and…
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La Mer… Qu’on Voit Danser…
Got a few projects on, so I’m taking a little holiday from blogging for a couple of weeks. Hope my dedicated 51.2531 readers (it says here) will be able to handle the disappointment. Hey, I’m sanguine about it – the only time a jazz musician is ever going to be on a yacht, it won’t be…
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Carry On Regardless – er, no, Regardfully
I sometimes teach a bit of piano. It tends to be informal, and while I’ll certainly sometimes get waist-deep in technical or harmonic subtleties, it usually involves silly analogies with pint glasses and boxes of matches, sometimes even inventing a daft personality for your left foot – Tony the Tapper… Did a little impromptu one the other…
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The Silver Bullet
Adios then, Señor Blues. We did a couple of numbers as tributes to Horace Silver on the gig last Monday. Didn’t even know someone had written lyrics to Nica’s Dream. Cool though. Horace came up in the bebop era, but really hit his stride in the aftermath. Hard bop – the more accessible, downhome, bluesy,…
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Have You Listened to the Recordings?
Simple enough question. Have you? Or did you just learn Blue Bossa, All Blues, GDS, Canteloupe Island, Blues for Alice, ATUR and, um, all that jazz from courses? C’mon, be honest, I’m not going to set the dog on you… Jazz is as much a tradition as it is a means of personal expression. Or rather,…
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Lies, Damn Lies & Marketing, Part the Third – Putting a Sock in It
It’s so tempting isn’t it? You’ve got this great band, you want the world to know about a gig you’ve done or a fantastic new album you’re releasing. So you think about creating a sock puppet (an online pseudonym) and giving yourself a gushing five-star review on some website or another. Soooooo tempting… RELAX, DON’T…
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A Rose by Any Other Name…
…would smell as sweet. (That’s yer actual Shakespeare, folks.) But sometimes the rose isn’t what it seems. So when is a rose not a rose? When is a fifth a fourth (or eleventh) and a third not a third? Having possibly thoroughly confused you already, I’ll get to the point. This post is a response to someone…
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Marian Reforms
Marius “Butch” Nordal probably needs no introduction from me, but if you haven’t heard of him I strongly advise you to check him out. He’s got a lot of stuff on YouTube – his nom de toob is radiokid2, but the main website is here: http://mariusnordal.com. He’s my kind of musician and writer – tells…
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The Rhythm Changes of Doom
Someone who has been following my bebop stuff has asked for help in overcoming his fear of Rhythm changes. So I’ll give it a go. Getting a grip on Rhythm changes is a bit like crossing a high bridge (it is known as a bit of a “rite of passage”). When you’re on this side,…
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