The Harmony of Bill Evans (keyboard instruction) [Paperback] Review

This book is unique in a couple of ways.It is a compilation of articles on how Bill Evans used harmony.Obviously, Evans' extensive studies in college and beyond went far beyond what one thin book can cover, but it does what it does efficiently and well.The author is an unabashedly effusive fan of Evans and throws this energy into the work to make it as clear and understandable as possible.

Articles include:
Peri's Scope-Harmonic Analysis (includes Evans' intensive regimen for learning new songs)
Peri's Scope-Thematic Analysis (good discussion of developing a musical theme)
Times Remembered-Harmonic Analysis
Times Remembered-Modal Analysis
Times Remembered-Intervalic Analysis
"Funny Man" and "I Should Care" (lots of practical discussion of reharmonization techniques
I Fall in Love Too Easily (more reharmonization)
Twelve Tone Tune (probably of more academic than practical interest)
How Deep is the Ocean (advanced reharmonization)
B Minor Waltz (more advanced reharmonization)

For instant gratification, the book provides a rigorous method for learning new songs.For reassurance, it reminds the reader of how much Bill Evans worked on songs before they were "battle ready" and how long the author took to work out fingerings to one Evans song (eight months).It is amazing that jazz musicians have any time to perform at all, given all the techniques they have to learn.For future reference, the book constantly trumpets the virtue of Arnold Schoenberg's 1911 Theory of Harmony, the influence of which is pointed out periodically in Evans' work.

The book presents articles in a fairly logical order of increasing difficulty.It is presented in a fashion easily understandable to me, who knows a good deal of theory, but has no degree in music.

The bad news is, this book will not have an instant and noticeable effect on your piano playing.The good news is, this book is by a highly skilled, true blue Evans fan, who provides enough material to keep most musicians of above-average skill very busy for a long time.Plus, with careful reading and intensive practice, the book should eventually move the dedicated Evans fan a few steps closer to understanding how to play a bit more like him.

I may be a little hard giving this bargain of a music book only four stars.Except for the author's "groupie" tone, the lack of instant magic for my piano playing, and lack of chapters on my favorite tunes, this book would rate five stars from me.It definitely gets my recommendation for people seeking what it offers.

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Product Description:
Bill Evans, the pianist, is a towering figure acknowledged by the jazz world, fans, musicians and critics. However Bill Evans, the composer, has yet to take his place alongside the great masters of composition. Therein lies the sole purpose of this book. A compilation of articles - now revised and expanded - that originally appeared in the quarterly newsletter Letter from Evans, this unique folio features extensive analysis of Evans' work. Pieces examined include: B Minor Waltz * Funny Man * How Deep Is the Ocean * I Fall in Love Too Easily * I Should Care * Peri's Scope * Time Remembered * and Twelve Tone Tune.Author Jack Reilly is a pianist, composer and educator in both the jazz and classical genres. He has chaired the Jazz Studies departments of the New England Conservatory of Music, Mannes College of Music, and The New School. He is presently Jazz Piano Professor at Rowan College in New Jersey.

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Charlie Parker for Piano Featuring the Paul Smith Trio BK/CD (Artist Transcriptions) [Paperback] Review

I was searching for a piano jazz book with a cd.My background is years of classical and I play by ear too-rock,pop,blues etc.but struggle with jazz.This lets me hear it and then i can see how the jazz scale patterns are used.Without the cd-the reading alone would be too much work.knowing what the outcome is is the greatest help.The cd is great too-wonderful and upbeat,and outstanding piano riffs!The only thing to be aware of,is that this is written to the cd...as the piano sounds with the bass and drums,so when playing it solo,it doesnt work well with the left hand(at least for me)But ...the chords are written above so what I do is mix some of the left hand part in-use the chord symbols-do walking bass at times.I would also like cds with other jazz piano solo books

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The Label: The Story of Columbia Records [Hardcover] Review

THE LABEL has to be one of the finest ever books about music, the music industry, and pop culture.And it has to be the coolest looking!It traces the history of Columbia Records from the invention of the phonograph to the present, and all the greats are there:Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Barbra Streisand, Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, Billie Holliday, Michael Jackson, Janis Joplin, Benny Goodman, Sinatra, Horowitz, Kostelanetz, and on and on!And of course Walter Yetnikoff and the ever-present Clive Davis.What a feast -- you won't want to put it down!The writing is very graceful and astute, filled with fascinating details about deals and star-making and egos, trends and manias and feuds and so on.And the book, with its multiple photo sections and 50 pages of footnotes, is impeccably researched.

Music fiends are going to adore this book - what a great gift idea!I'm giving it to several of my music-fanatic friends, 'cause I know they'll REALLY like it.Very hip.GREAT COVER.A book to disappear into for days...

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Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History [Hardcover] Review

With vivid descriptions of the "wide-open" town of Jazz era Kansas City and its dramatic denizens, you can envision the scenes of Basie's coming of age, Charlie Parker's KC childhood and musical evolution, big bands dueling each other, glamorous theaters and giant dance halls, bars open 24 hours, remarkable women, "sporting men," police looking the other way, and so much more.The extensive research really pays off with quotations from reviews and ads from "back in the day," interviews with legends, a generous array of photographs, and a cohesive and accessible presentation of information from many sources.The sights, sounds, scents, and sentiments conveyed by Chuck Haddix and Frank Driggs in Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop are the next best thing to a time-machine.Next, Oxford needs to put out a companion CD (or DVD with photos and copies of the original media) with the recordings of the music and performers to help us fully appreciate the musical innovations from the Paris of the Plains.

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Product Description:
There were but four major galaxies in the early jazz universe, and three of them--New Orleans, Chicago, and New York--have been well documented in print. But there has never been a serious history of the fourth, Kansas City, until now.In this colorful history, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix range from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. Readers will find a colorful portrait of old Kaycee itself, back then a neon riot of bars, gambling dens and taxi dance halls, all ruled over by Boss Tom Pendergast, who had transformed a dusty cowtown into the Paris of the Plains. We see how this wide-open, gin-soaked town gave birth to a music that was more basic and more viscerally exciting than other styles of jazz, its singers belting out a rough-and-tumble urban style of blues, its piano players pounding out a style later known as "boogie-woogie." We visit the great landmarks, like the Reno Club, the "Biggest Little Club in the World," where Lester Young and Count Basie made jazz history, and Charlie Parker began his musical education in the alley out back.And of course the authors illuminate the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with colorful profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Andy Kirk and his "Clouds of Joy."Here is the definitive account of the raw, hard-driving style that put Kansas City on the musical map. It is a must read for everyone who loves jazz or American music history.

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Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould [Paperback] Review

With this book, Otto Friedrich's biography of Glenn Gould is finally surpassed.Kevin Bazzana was able to get more people to talk about their memories of Gould, and the result is this very readable biography.The author brings back the impact that Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations had on the music world.One record executive said that it was as if there had been a big run on a new printing of the Enneads of Plotinus. Throughout, Gould's career and life is told in satisfying detail and insight.He tries hard to explain Gould's musical contrariness, as in his mauling of Mozart's sonatas, but often has to simply yield and accept Gould's contrariness as such (though he intriguingly suggests that Gould may have been a musical forerunner of the postmodernists).And of course there is ample celebration of Gould's genius and his enduring cult.

According to Bazzana, he's a regular Victor Borge in the humor department.But on this score as on so many others, Bazzana must largely concur with the received legend, while offering scattered counter-examples.On balance, Gould was an excruciatingly unfunny humorist, a clotted, unreadable essayist, but also an entertaining raconteur, an unaffected star, and a proud Canadian.

Bazzana's biography of Gould succeeds, but I was left wanting more.For example, there doesn't seem to be any discussion of Gould's mysterious failure to record the crown jewel of Bach's oeuvre, The Art of the Fugue.His organ rendition doesn't count, and may be seen as Gould's way of side-stepping the issue.He could certainly play the fugues: they appear in any number of his concerts, and I especially treasure those that appear in his Russian lecture/concert on a Harmonia Mundi disc I own.Fugue no. 1 sounds like the dawning of some grand insight.Yet Gould never committed the whole thing to record on piano, and disappointingly, Bazzana doesn't offer any insight on why.

There are some very minor errors of fact here and there.For example, Bazzana apparently didn't realize that the Last Letters From Stalingrad, for which Gould wrote vocal sketches, were later proven to be forgeries.

It is very good to have a mini-biography of Gould's teacher, Alberto Guerrero.It's a shame that he made no commercial recordings, so that we could assess his influence on his famous pupil.

Bazzana seeks to explain the oft-rumored Canadian Identity to his readers, as it applies to Gould.Marshal McLuhan and Stephen Leacock are presented as exemplars of the Canadian spirit in communications technology and understated humor, respectively.Like McLuhan, Gould's ideas about communications were ahead of their time.Indeed, even with satellite communications and the technological miracles of the Internet Age, we may doubt that we have caught up with him yet.Oscar Wilde would have been a natural on TV chat shows; maybe Gould would have fit right in sometime in the future, after a few more revolutions in technology.It's as if he was a natural born genius at some field of endeavor that hadn't been invented yet, and so had to settle for realizing his visions by splicing magnetic tape.And playing piano, of course.

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Ragtime Jubilee: 41 Piano Gems, 1911-21 [Paperback] Review

In fact, this collection shows some of the best development of ragtime towards the end of the era outside of the classic rags of Joplin, Scott, Lamb and Matthews. It also demonstrates to some extent the output from Tin Pan Alley, as well as a few dance tunes. There are challenges (Rufenreddy and Pork and Beans), great experiments (My Pet), parodies (Operatic Rag, Hungarian Rag and Russian Rag), and just plain good music (Midnight Trot, Hot-House Rag, etc.). Not all of these will challenge the average pianist, and some are actually easy to work out. Plus 42 pieces at this price? Some of them would take many years and many dollars to obtain now. Get the book instead. Thank me later! You can hear many of these pieces on my site as well.

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Product Description:
Treasury of old-time tunes, filled with distinctively energetic andsyncopated rhythms, includes "Angel Food," "Pork and Beans," "Tiddle-De-Winks," "Blue Moon," "The Foot Warmer,"37 other musical gems. Fun to play and hear, these songs are reprinted from rare music sheets, complete with original covers.


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At the Piano with Joplin (Alfred Masterwork Edition) [Paperback] Review

I learned some very basic Scott Joplin arrangements a while ago, then decided to learn how to play him the real way. This book has been a challenge, since I'm having to unlearn the old arrangements. But it is rewarding, as I hear myself playing the way Joplin really would have played his songs. Take one song and practice it over and over until you're proficient, and you will wow your friends!

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Product Description:
This outstanding collection of classic Joplin rags includes a concise guide to ragtime history, style and interpretation, plus a reprint of Scott Joplin's definitive document entitled School of Ragtime. Titles: The Cascades * The Chrysanthemum * The Easy Winners * The Entertainer * Heliotrope Bouquet * Maple Leaf Rag * Rag-Time Dance * Solace * The Strenuous Life * Sun Flower Slow Drag * Swipesy.

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