Selections from a Dave Brubeck Christmas [Paperback] Review

Exactly as described and exactly what our grandson disabled with spina bifida wanted to give his Piano Playing Dad for Christmas. They both love jazz and Dave Brubeck.It is so nice to be able to find what I want on Amazon.com and have it delivered in a timely manner!

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Product Description:
Dave Brubeck, the genius of jazz, provides us with his distinctive renditions of Christmastime favorites. Titles are: Away in a Manger * Cantos Para Pedir las Posadas * "Homecoming" Jingle Bells * Joy to the World * O Tannenbaum * Silent Night * To Us Is Given * What Child Is This (Greensleeves) * Winter Wonderland.

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The Contemporary Keyboardist and Expanded (Instructional) [Plastic Comb] Review

John Novello is an amazing musician.Having a book that gives insite into his approach would be quite valuable all by itself, but he has put together a very comprehensive work that is a must have for any musician looking to expand his/her knowledge and abilities.In this modern age where the electronic keyboard provides the easiest access to the world of instrumentation, as a songwriter/arranger I find John's Contemporary Keyboardist to be an essential reference, especially as my main instrument is the guitar.

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Product Description:
This comprehensive, 562-page method, called "Solid, readable and relevant" by Keyboard magazine and "The major work for today's pianists" by International Musician, is divided into four sections. The first, "A Philosophy of Music," deals with communication, cause-effect principles and practice disciplines. The second section, "Mechanics," covers all the basics of keyboard music and playing (notation, harmony, improv, sight reading, etc.), as well as their applications. The third section, "The Business Scene," contains guidelines and industry advice for contemporary keyboardists. Section four, "Interviews," provides insights into the artistry and technique of famous players such as Herbie Hancock, Henry Mancini, Edgar Winter, Keith Emerson, Paul Shaffer and many more. Includes an index.

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Metaphors for the Musician [Spiral-bound] Review

This book makes you think.But it also fills your practice sessions with "Aha!" moments.While the format is simple, the author does put you through your paces and you will emerge a much better pianist with a deeper understanding of pop piano, blues, gospel, funk and country.The riffs and cliche sounds of each are showcased in a way that sets them apart and distinguishes your playing style.This is a rare book.You ought to have it whether you're still struggling with faking or already working the music circuit.

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Product Description:
This book is a gold mine of insights into almost every aspect of jazz musicianship, including scale/chord theory, practice strategies, composing techniques, performance psychology and how to create the states of mind that produce the best improvisations. Designed for any level of player, on any instrument, the book provides numerous exercises throughout to help the reader turn these concepts into musical reality. Endorsed by Jessica Williams, Jerry Bergonzi and others.

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Marian McPartland's Jazz World: All in Good Time (Music in American Life) [Hardcover] Review

If you're a fan of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz show on NPR, you'll adore reading this fabulous book about her life in the music business. Music flows through her writing. It's clear that her radio skills stem from her uncanny ability to really listen to what's going on around her, and she achieves the same warm and intelligent result with her writing. As my friend Daryl Sherman says, Marian is one of the wonders of the world.

[ASIN:0879308826 Piano Girl: A Memoir]]

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Product Description:
In this collection of musical portraits, jazz pianist and radio host Marian McPartland pays tribute to such beloved and legendary figures as Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Alec Wilder, Mary Lou Williams, and others. McPartland's reminiscences and anecdotes about these jazz greats are informed by her encyclopedic knowledge of their music, making this richly detailed collection an important addition to the literature of jazz.
In a preface to this new edition -- originally published as All in Good Time -- McPartland extends her commentary to include details of her long-running National Public Radio show "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" and memories of her late husband, famed Chicago trumpeter Jimmy McPartland.

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The Artistry of Bill Evans Vol.2 [Paperback] Review

This is actually Volume 2 (1995), and contains EIGHT (not eighty) transcriptions of Bill Evans piano parts off the recordings. This collection is better than Vol. 1.First, vol. 1 did not transcribe thecomping behind the bass solos.Second, vol. 1 focused on the late Fantasy& early Warner Bros. recordings (1970s), while this collection rangesfrom the first trio on Riverside, some Verve solo and trio sides, and solosides from Fantasy. Gripe: when transcribing trio recordings, is it toomuch to ask that the bass part also be transcribed? Songs: "AutumnLeaves" (mono version), "Spring is Here," and "What isThis Thing Called Love" from PORTRAIT IN JAZZ; "Here's That RainyDay" from ALONE; "I Should Care" and "Make SomeoneHappy" from TOWN HALL; "The Touch of Your Lips" and"What Kind of Fool am I" from ALONE (AGAIN). No extras (vol. 1had a short essay and photos).

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Product Description:
Eighty transcriptions from the late, great jazz master Bill Evans. Titles are: Autumn LeavesHere's That Rainy DayI Should CareMake Someone HappySpring is HereThe Touch of Your LipsWhat Is This Thing Called Love?What Kind of Fool Am I?

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The Very Best of Oscar Peterson: Piano Artist Transcriptions [Paperback] Review

Any transcription of OP is worth serious attention especially when we should be doing our own... However, this book is a gem and kudos to the guy(s) who did the transcriptions.The Hal Leonard series of Artist Transcriptions are all uniformly excellent (I have many) and are absolutely indispensible for learning from the greats.What's more all the books are beautifully produced.For what it contains this book is essential.So, do not hesitate.Buy it now!

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Product Description:

18 transcriptions from one of the greatest and most revered jazz pianists, including: A Child Is Born • The Continental • The Girl from Ipanema • Gravy Waltz • I'm Old Fashioned • It Ain't Necessarily So • Little Girl Blue &b



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Jazz Piano Voicings Skill [Paperback] Review

When my teacher recommended I buy this book, I found not too many people know about it. It was hard to find. That's too bad, this is really a great book.

This book is basically a collection of piano voicings for many different types of chords, in all keys. There's not too much explanation, just the guidelines so we can use the exercises properly and learn how to voice open chords. This is not a Chord Dictionary, it's about how to voice chords. You must know how to read music to benefit from this.

If you are a beginner at jazz piano, this is a great tool to learn open chords.

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Product Description:
Jazz Piano Voicing Skills by Dan Haerle. APPLICABLE FOR ALL INSTRUMENTS. A graded course on piano voicing skills, starting with simple block chords over Major and Minor and logically and methodically progressing into more exotic and advanced polychords and substitutions. Includes 123 skills in all twelve keys, designed to initiate a feel and understanding of piano voicings and how they work. Each new chapter includes a page of concise instructions for the teacher or the student. Works well for both classroom or individual study. The 156 spiral bound pages allow the book to open fully and easily on your keyboard music rack

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Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine - The Drop 2 Book [Spiral-bound] Review

This book is a welcome follow-up to Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book. The only frustration I had with the Jazz Piano Book is that it could not tell me EVERYTHING. The Jazz Piano book only introduced Drop 2 techniques, leaving the voracious student wondering where to find more information. The Drop 2 Book fills that void with the same clarity and pace that made the Jazz Piano Book so useful and popular. The book explains major, minor and dominant progressions, tweaks to make chords sound "modern", applications, problems and work-arounds, soloing, comping, the Altered Bebop Minor Scale, and suggested practice routines. Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine(With CD) can also be purchased with recorded examples. Most students at this level could hammer out the examples, but the relative volumes of the left and right hands are important to this technique. Such nuances cannot be expressed clearly with standard music notation, so the CD is more than just a nice afterthought. If you have worked through the Jazz Piano Book and feel ready to explore Drop 2 voicings in greater depth, this book will take you there. Buy it and recommend it to all your friends so that we can see more Masterclass books by Mark Levine.

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Product Description:
The 'Drop 2 Book' is the first and only publication to explore the 4-note, block-chord approach to jazz piano playing---as used by piano masters like Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton and Bill Evans. In this book, world-renowned educator and pianist Mark Levine gives the reader a comprehensive, step-by-step, beginning to advanced Masterclass on this fascinating approach to voicing chords. Included in the book are complete chapters on: The basic Drop 2 approach More advanced Drop 2 techniques Soloing and 'comping in Drop 2 Techniques for practicing Drop 2 Plus a CD is included of Mark demonstrating each exercise! An invaluable insight into the harmonic minds of some of our greatest piano players, by the author of "The Jazz Piano Book".

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Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making (Roth Family Foundation Music in America Imprint) [Paperback] Review

Monk's Music is a fine read that will repay your attention.It will appeal to you if you are interested in music, especially jazz, and the way it interacts with and is given context by the culture it exists in.Jazz fans, Monk fans, music fans, and anyone with an itnterest in music and culture will want to read this book.

This is a book grounded in the academic tradition--yes, it uses big words and knotty concepts.It requires focus and attention to read.On the other hand, if you are willing to put in a bit of effort, the average music fan will find much of interest, and your effort will be repaid amply.

Solis sets about examining some very interesting questions, like "how does someone become a Jazz icon?""In an evolving musical genre, where slavish reproduction of a musical work is not valued and is indeed a source of disrespect, how does the ongoing evolution of a set of musical works take life and substance?"

If you are expecting a biography of Monk, or a simple analysis of his music, you will be disappointed--although the book does provide an excellent synopsis of Mon's life to provide contest, and also provides lucid analysis and commentary on the music.

Solis gives life and context to his discussion by incorporating the results of extensive interviews with musicians who played with Monk, a primary resource that has depth.

A unique and interesting book, I recommend it to anyone interested in jazz, music, and culture, and of course anyone interested in Monk and his music.

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Product Description:
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) was one of jazz's greatest and most enigmatic figures. As a composer, pianist, and bandleader, Monk both extended the piano tradition known as Harlem stride and was at the center of modern jazz's creation during the 1940s, setting the stage for the experimentalism of the 1960s and '70s. This pathbreaking study combines cultural theory, biography, and musical analysis to shed new light on Monk's music and on the jazz canon itself. Gabriel Solis shows how the work of this stubbornly nonconformist composer emerged from the jazz world's fringes to find a central place in its canon. Solis reaches well beyond the usual life-and-times biography to address larger issues in jazz scholarship--ethnography and the role of memory in history's construction. He considers how Monk's stature has grown, from the narrowly focused wing of the avant-garde in the 1960s and '70s to the present, where he is claimed as an influence by musicians of all kinds. He looks at the ways musical lineages are created in the jazz world and, in the process, addresses the question of how musicians use performance itself to maintain, interpret, and debate the history of the musical tradition we call jazz.

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Modern Jazz Piano: A Study In Harmony And Improvisation (Music Sales America) [Paperback] Review

This book completely changed my understanding and level of jazz piano playing.It is short and to the point, yet carefully written and complete.I like the fact that the author is a trained engineer.As a computerprogrammer I can identify with the way the book is layed out very logicallywith the assumption that the reader is intelligent, interested,andmotivated.I read the entire book while on trains going to and from work. I think it would have been a distraction to have read it while at a piano. The chord pattern excercises at the end of the book are excellent; I ammethododically going through all of them using a PC based sequencerconnected via midi to an electronic keyboard.If you only buy one bookon jazz piano, I think it should be this one. The next book to readafter this one, in my opinion is "All about Chords".I am almostfinished reading it;I could never have handled it if I hadn't read"Modern Jazz Piano" first. The two books together aremagnificently complete. I have a quite a library of jazz piano and jazzbooks; most of them are padded and not of much use."Modern JazzPiano" is by contrast a classic that every jazz pianist should have.I lost many years because I was brain-washed into believing the JohnMehegan jazz system as taught at Julliard was the only way to learn jazz. Inow believe the Julliard system is hopelessly complicated and noteffective.The traditional harmony systems used in "Modern JazzPiano" are the best and also the most popular.It is not somethingesoteric that only propeller heads know about. Buy it and hold onto it. Even if it sits on your bookshelf for years, there will come a day when itwill speak eloquently to you and change your level of playing andunderstanding.

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Product Description:
Based on the authorÂ's experience in teaching in jazz workshop, explains the principles of this art form. Useful for teachers wishing to include jazz in the music curriculum.

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Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine(With CD) [Spiral-bound] Review

This book is a welcome follow-up to Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book.The only frustration I had with the Jazz Piano Book is that it could not tell me EVERYTHING.The Jazz Piano book only introduced Drop 2 techniques, leaving the voracious student wondering where to find more information.The Drop 2 Book fills that void with the same clarity and pace that made the Jazz Piano Book so useful and popular.The book explains major, minor and dominant progressions, tweaks to make chords sound "modern", applications, problems and work-arounds, soloing, comping, the Altered Bebop Minor Scale, and suggested practice routines.As an added bonus, this book includes a CD with recorded examples.Most students at this level could hammer out the examples, but the relative volumes of the left and right hands are important to this technique.Such nuances cannot be expressed clearly with standard music notation, so the CD is more than just a nice afterthought.If you have worked through the Jazz Piano Book and feel ready to explore Drop 2 voicings in greater depth, this book will take you there.Buy it and recommend it to all your friends so that we can see more Masterclass books by Mark Levine.

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Product Description:
"Jazz Piano Masterclass With Mark Levine: The Drop 2 Book".Mark is the author of the widely-acclaimed text, "The Jazz Piano Book" and pianists will be thrilled to see that he has come up with a second piano book. This one deals exclusively with how to play "Drop 2" piano voicings---the block-chord technique used by Bill Evans, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton, McCoy Tyner, and many other jazz piano greats. Mark gives the reader a step-by-step, beginning-to-advanced approach to learning this technique, just as he would in a live masterclass. The accompanying CD has Mark demonstrating each exercise.

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