Jason Lyon Music

Tag: piano

  • Rooting for You

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    Piano students experience a great leap forward in the authenticity of their sound when they discover the classic rootless voicings. For a breakdown of what they are (and why they are what they are) see Rootless Voicings from Scratch. They happily get on with the business of: Using them in the RH over a LH…

  • The Daftest Job I’ve Ever Done

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    Jason
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    Well, what’s yours? Mine was hand doubling. And no, not that kind of film, behave yourself. A piano hand double. Although the other kind would probably pay better… A gig as a “stunt pianist” is quite interesting, really. Some actors put a lot of work into pretending they can play, most don’t and just focus…

  • The Death of the Death of David Debrizzi, Paul Micou

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    Jason
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    I simply cannot understand why this wonderful novel is out of print and languishing at 1p second-hand on Amazon. My own copy has been reread so often that it’s falling apart more than my Real Book is (and that looks like confetti). Actually, I can understand why. The current trend in fiction publishing seems to…

  • On Pianos – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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    Here comes another blast of unashamed opinion. Looking forward to the comments! I recently got involved in a discussion about a certain piano at a venue. One chap, a knowledgeable listener and amateur tinkler, maintained that the instrument was rubbish and cited a friend of his who had performed on it and refused to touch…

  • A Pianist’s A-Z, Alfred Brendel

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    Jason
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    I’m quite a fan of Alfred Brendel. Certainly as a pianist – his playing has great honesty and clarity, serving always the music, rather than himself. He is sincere about music without being precious about it, and heaven knows, we need more like that. He has made many excellent recordings, but I can single out…

  • Transcription: Tommy Flanagan on Eclypso

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    Jason
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    This is a transcription of the two-chorus solo that pianist Tommy Flanagan takes on his own composition Eclypso (solo starts at 0:45). You’ll find it on the 1959 album The Cats. This solo makes a good study for any number of reasons, but here are two. First, the harmony is very simple – as is fitting for…

  • Modern Merengue Piano Basics

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    Jason
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    If you’ve found this article, you probably don’t need to be told what merengue is. But let’s run things down very briefly to start us off. Merengue, the Latin-American musical style originating on the island of Hispaniola (comprising the Dominican Republic and Haiti), has over the past three or four decades become one of the most…

  • 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…

  • Transcription: Tommy Flanagan on Mr PC

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    Jason
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    I’ve posted this solo because someone recently asked me for advice on bebop playing over minor blues changes. I first transcribed it years ago and developed a bit of an obsession with it at the time. I can honestly say that studying this solo really unlocked the minor blues sound for me. I hope you’ll…