where are the Root, 3, 5, and 7th? Are there chord tensions (9,11,13) on the chords? When do I harmonize the melody? When don't I? The goal here is first for you to write your own arrangement in this style, and then second, for you to improvise an arrangement in this style. 12.Danny Boy Bill Evans Solo 13.Never Let Me Go Alone. Make it a point to know where the chord tones of each harmony are. Bill Evans:Rare Transcriptions 2 Song Recording 1.I Hear A Rhapsody(with Jim Hall) Undercurrent 2.Skating In Central Park 3.Night And Day(with Stan Getz) Stan Getz & Bill Evans. When learning this arrangement, it's important to notice what choices I made. In essence, the two hands are divided in three roles:ġ) Left hand plays Root + 7th or Root + 3rd/10thĢ) Fifth finger of right hand plays melodyģ) Fingers 1 & 2 of right hand plays chord tones This arrangement is great for intermediate level jazz pianists or non-piano instrumentalists who are looking for a way to play tunes using more open voicings. Check out the sheet music and the youTube video to hear it played measure by measure. What I've done for you here at the Shed is to write one of those arrangements to get you started. Now you'll have something new up your sleeve when you flip to a random page in the Real Book and try to "improvise" a new arrangement. But write them in a similar way, in a way that is new to you. That is, write an arrangement of a tune for solo piano. Take a lesson from Bill Evans and plan ahead. I'm hear to tell you that you don't have to just "know" how to do everything all at once. Jazz is a lot more pre-planned than many of us believe. But my Bill Evans discovery changed my thinking - I don't have to know how to improvise solo piano arrangements in that way - Instead, I can PLAN AHEAD and PRACTICE these techniques. I thought, like many of us do, I could NEVER do that. ![]() What they were creating was so innovative and mysterious to me that it seemed like they were just pulling it out of thin air. I tell you this because like many jazz pianists, I've always been intimidated by playing solo piano - how do I play the melody/chord/bassline/rhythmic pulse all at once? How do I make the harmony sound as open as Bill Evans? How do I create rhythms as hip as Monk? And so on. (In a similar way, Thelonious Monk was said to plan improvisations for various songs - as he put it, he would plan what his "story" would be) They were the product of practice and careful planning. This made me realize that his creation of beautiful solo piano arrangements was much more intentional than pure improvisation. That is, it was a stroke of pure genius created in a single moment of time, something someone only with the musical mastery of Bill Evans could achieve.īut years later, my thinking changed while I was listening to the Bill Evans solo piano record "Alone." I made an interesting discovery: Take 1 of one song sounds an awful lot like Take 2 - in fact, his statement of the melody was almost the same note-for-note! I was convinced that his work was the purest form of improvisation. He had this way of deconstructing (and then reconstructing) jazz standards in a way that I just loved. Here’s a live take.Įnter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.As a young student of jazz, I was always mesmerized by the solo piano work of Bill Evans. Lastly, check out Jacky Terrasson’s version of “Smile” by the great Charlie Chaplin. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a full recording online, but it is from the album Night & The Music. Then, on to “So In Love” as played by the masterful Fred Hersch. Taken from the album Urban Nomad which features fantastic Chicago-based pianist Ron Perillo. The A sections are in a quick 5/4 and the bridge is in a slower 4. Next, from great Chicago saxophonist Geof Bradfield, “Con Alma”. From Art Of The Trio Vol 1, a nice version in 5/4 time. ![]() ![]() ![]() Next up – “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” from one of the masters of the odd meter – Brad Mehldau. Yahel does the tune in Ab (instead of the traditional Eb) and it opens with a very cool diminished vamp. And if you’re unfamiliar with Joshua Redman’s Elastic Band, you need to check them out. For those who are unfamiliar with Sam Yahel, he is the organist/keyboardist from Joshua Redman’s burnin’ Elastic Band. Next, a really hip version of “Like Someone In Love” also in 5/4 from the Sam Yahel trio (w. It features a fantastic bass riff (which is to be expected with Esperanza) and some great solo work by pianist Leo Genovese. ( Check out Part 2 – Standards in 7/4 time)įirst off, from the exceptionally talented Esperanza Spaulding is “ Body and Soul” (Cuerpo y Alma) in 5/4 time. I’d love to make a post of favorite odd-meter originals, but it would probably be dominated by Dave Holland tunes. I’ve been working on odd meters lately, 5/4 and 7/4 in particular, so I thought a list of my favorite odd-metered standards would make a good post. Or is it “7 is the new 4”? I can never remember.
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