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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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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Jazz Improvisation: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles [Paperback] Review

This serious, authoritative book turned me on to jazz.The author presents the material inbite size chunks.He has a gift for pulling structure from the chaos. This is not Jazz-For-Dummies.The reader isexpected to be hard working, but needs no previous experience with jazz. The reader should have access to a piano to play the various chordsequences, but the lessons are invaluable to all instrumentalists.
Onedownside to this book it that you have to learn the author's unusualnotation (figured bass), but the power of this notation is also the book'sgreatest strength.The notation reveals the structure of jazz and thesimilarities between the songs.And, hey, Bach used the same notation, soit can't be all bad.
The author gives the chord changes to many commonjazz songs.Usually no particular artist or recording is referenced.So,the reader has to hunt around to find performances that resemble thechanges the author has given.
Once again, this is my favorite book on thesubject.It is never unnecessarily pedantic.It never waters downdifficult concepts.The way the book talks about music is how musiciansthink about music.If this book is not enough, other books in this seriesby John Mehegan pick up where this one leaves off.

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The fundamentals of jazz are here explained and systemized in 70 lessons based on 60 jazz standards. It covers the styles of musicians from Buddy Bolden to Dizzy Gillespie.

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Intermediate Blues Keyboard: The Complete Blues Keyboard Method [Paperback] Review

This little book has distilled quite a bit of blues music history and style into an easy-to-understand format.It's really directed at quickly playing blues concepts with just enough explanation and practice exercises.I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I could play the material and use it in my more traditional jazz playing

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This book is great for keyboardists who have learned the basics of blues improvisation and composing. Beginning with a review of concepts and skills covered in Beginning Blues Keyboard, this book explores further into topics such as chord extensions, blues techniques, building basslines, playing in the key, ii-V substitutions and slow blues.Blues forms such as the twelve-bar blues and the eight-bar blues are explored. Packed with sample licks and songs, this book is essential for any keyboardist serious about learning the blues.

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Beginning Jazz Keyboard (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

This book is a great investment if you are new to piano and love jazz or are stuck in major/minor boredom and want to look into more exotic chords and scales. I am a drummer/guitarist who wanted to learn more about theory, finally go beyond the "hunt-and-peck" stage on my keyboard, and understand the world beyond the pentatonic scale on my guitar. I feel very enlightened, and especially love the tables that summarize all the key info, and a CD is always a bonus. Enjoy!

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Product Description:
Anyone with basic keyboard skills (equivalent to Alfred's Basic Piano, Lesson Book 2) can dig right in and begin learning jazz right away. Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way through 7th chords, pentatonic scales and modulating chord progressions, this book features a full etude or tune demonstrating every new concept introduced. Beginning Jazz keyboard breaks the age-old tradition of dry, intimidating and confusing jazz books, and provides an actual step-by-step and enjoyable method for learning to play in this style. The CD demonstrates examples and offers opportunity to play along.

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Jazz Hanon (Hanon Series) [Paperback] Review

I have mixed opinions on this one... To be honest, you can probably get an even better bang for the buck by purchasing the full version of Hanon's Virtuoso Pianist and practising the exersizes with swing feel (play chords in your LH and the patterns in your RH), then you could then go out and get some of David Baker's Bebop Pattern books and dig down even deeper... (If you don't know what swing time and swing feel is, you should probably sit in a few lessons with a Jazz improv instructor anyway... sometimes it doesn't come through in writing anyway.)- - Of course what's most important is being able to take the pattern concepts, and applying them to the scales and modes that fit in with different chords, so for that purpose, you should definitely get your hand on a good Jazz Improv book... and also be sure to learn them in all keys... whatever the case, the most important thing to realize is that this is a TECHNIQUE book... not an improv book... hence,you should use this book for the purpose of building your dexterity not for solo ideas...If you're looking for a good HOW TO PLAY JAZZ book, check out my AMAZON list on Essential Jazz Learning Resources.

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Product Description:
Here are graded études and progressive exercises for developing strength, facility, and necessary techniques in jazz piano styles. Included are elements of jazz harmony, chromatic alterations, voicing, swing, bebop, and a chord symbol appendix.

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The Definitive Jazz Collection (Definitive Collections) [Paperback] Review

No "fake book", or "real book" this.You get full, well-thought-out harmonizations.This isn't how Jazz pianists acquire their numbers, but hey, this graduate of the weekly visit to the traditional read-the-music-and-play-it-exactly-as-written piano teacher likes it just fine this way.Having played through about 25% of the songs, I'll say there are no really bad arrangements, and quite a few very good ones.The technical difficulty is toward the higher end of the non-classical stuff you find in the music stores -- the average song is about as hard (if you want to play all the notes) as a Chopin Waltz or a Clementi Sonatina.

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A once-in-a-lifetime collection of 90 of the greatest jazz songs ever compiled into one volume. Includes: Ain't Misbehavin' * All the Things You Are * Birdland * Body and Soul * A Foggy Day * Girl From Ipanema * Here's That Rainy Day * The Lady Is a Tramp * Love for Sale * Mercy, Mercy, Mercy * Midnight Sun * Moonlight in Vermont * Night and Day * Skylark * Stormy Weather * Sweet Georgia Brown.

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The Best Chord Changes for the Most Requested Standards (Fake Book) [Plastic Comb] Review

This is the best book for someone who wants to move up into the jazz arena.I was a musician for twenty years before I was brave enough to play solo jazz piano and this is one of the books that allowed me to get much better. I had bought everyother jazz piano book and I did not get anything out of them.Only this and one other Mantooth book did it,with a little help from one other book. Buy it, you'll never regret it.

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Includes: All the Things You Are * Button Up Your Overcoat * Chances Are * It's Only a Paper Moon * Just the Way You Are * Misty * On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) * Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars * Smoke Gets in Your Eyes * Tuxedo Junction * What a Diff'rence a Day Made * more.

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Tons of Runs: For the Contemporary Pianist [Paperback] Review

I'm not a big fan of lick and pattern books, but this one has my seal of approval... and more than that, I HIGHLY reccomend it.There are lot's of ideas in here, some powerful stuff. Really hands on Jazz language material, some that if you're a more experienced improviser you might be using instinctively already, and some you wonder why you haven't touched on all along. The idea is to take them and build upon them...Within hours of getting the book, I immediately tuned out the outside world and was having fun experimenting with it... Some other things I like about it :The licks are in more than one key, suggested fingerings for more difficult ones, they're over a nice variety of patterns, typography is nice, and they're stuff that real people actually play, not just text book prototypes.
I venture to say, that of the books I'm familiar with, this is the best one out !!! Great stuff for professionals as well as folks just getting into improv... and not just for pianists !

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Product Description:
TONS OF RUNS is a wide-ranging compendium of runs, licks, and lines found in the jazz vernacular, each written in three different keys, and presented in a straightforward style without ponderous analysis.This book contains useful phrases derived from chord tones, passing tones, resultant scales, and scale-tone chords that piano players can use right away as vocabulary enhancers. These are the raw material and tools that piano players everywhere can use to polish their performance and improvisation skills, and even create new and more interesting ways to play the music they already know!

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