June 8, 2010 in Blues, Jazz Originals, Jazz Standards
This is a great standard tune by Miles Davis from his “Kind of Blue” album, which is touted by many to be the top-selling jazz album of all time. Rolling Stone rates this classic album as the #12 all-time greatest album of all time of any genre. This album definitely transcends jazz. This is the only song from that album …
June 7, 2010 in Blog, Learning Jazz
Transcribe, transcribe, transcribe. Then transcribe some more. Listen to recordings. Watch jazz dvds and youtube videos. If you like someone’s solo, learn it! Learn to play with the recording. Write down if you want. But most of all, learn to play it.
The first part of this article deals with Macro-transcription. This is transcribing on a large scale. The second …
June 5, 2010 in Great American Songbook, Jazz Standards
This is such a great standard tune, written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. At least, that’s what history tells us. Rumor has it that Fats Waller may have penned the tune and sold the rights, but who knows? At any rate, we know that it’s a great standard to blow over. This tune is done in many …
June 4, 2010 in Jazz Originals, Jazz Standards
Doxy is a great easy jazz original by Sonny Rollins. FSR, by Ray Brown, is another nice standard that uses the same chord changes. Learn them as a group. Be sure to check out the youtube recording of Conte Candoli! I could not find a reputable video recording of FSR, but Ray Brown recorded it on the album “Straight Ahead” …
June 3, 2010 in Jazz Recordings
This article will use three different recordings of the jazz standard “On the Sunny Side of the Street” to show how a jazz musician can approach learning the melody to a tune.
A jazz melody is often nebulous. I have heard many people say “just listen, you can learn the melody from the recordings.” However, it is often a difficult thing to …
June 2, 2010 in Blog, Learning Jazz
Do you remember coloring by number when you were a kid? Well, jazz musicians should have, in their arsenal of tricks, the ability to play chords by number. This allows them to transpose chords and tunes into different keys. This process is known as transposition.
What is the big deal about transposition? Why should I take the time to learn …
