Ugetsu is a difficult song, with interesting and challenging harmony and a bit unusual form.
This is definitely a song we could talk for a long time; it has modal sections, as well as some tonal movements, which are common in Cedar Waltonās compositions.
Just curious, when you have a moment, can you do another take where you just play with your right hand and donāt comp on the left? This is an exercise I find helpful when dealing with difficult changes; it gives me more focus on the melodies, and later on left hand is easy to add to it.
Thanks so much, Tuomo! Iāll try some RH-only practice for awhileāseems like a great suggestion in general.
For anyone whoās interested, thereās a few versions of this tune available but the one I liked the best is a version from Cedar Waltonās Trio Vol 3 album:
Itās been awhile since Iāve shared anything in this threadā¦
This is a version of Spring can really hang you up the most that Iāve been working on as an exerciseāthe assignment is to apply the āPeace pieceā comping pattern to a ballad of oneās choice. Itās a work in progress and a little bit off the beaten track of my usual fare. Iāll be interested in any feedback/advice/comments.
As mentioned in another thread, this is recorded with a Garritan CFX VST, which I think works well for ballads.
I am Rishi, a scientist by day-time and a jazz pianist by night-time I am a long-time student at PianoGroove and a fellow musician with a deep passion for Jazz and Indian classical music. As an integral part of my musical journey, Iāve recently begun to post things on youtube.
Here are the links to the covers:
I am UTTERLY grateful to this platform as it has helped me cope with some of the darkest times in my life. A big shout out to @Hayden for his gracious support wether through comments or a phone call. I am here to learn, grow, and contribute to our musical community, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Letās continue to make beautiful music together!
Thanks for sharing this and for your kind words - it means a lot!
I really like your rendition of āThe Nearness Of Youā. Itās full of interesting chord colours and textures. I also like your melodic embellishments which add character whilst keeping the melody recognisable which is important when playing ballads. Beautifully done!
Perhaps have you already seen my recent course on this tune. The lessons focus on the options we have to fill in the space, you can find that course here:
Also hereās a playlist that I used for inspiration when creating the course which might be of interest:
Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more of your playing!
Hi Rishi,
I particularly liked the first piece. It sounded modal but I couldnāt figure out whether it was dorian or something else. You nave a nice touch there.
Meant to reply to @rishi earlierāthese are both very nice renditions, and the production quality is outstanding!
I would call āLetter from Homeā pretty tonal with the use of modal borrowingāusing chords from the parallel minor key to go in and out of different key centers and shift from major to minor and back again. Brad Mehldau does this a lot, although I think Letter from Home is 90% major, while Mehldau tunes tend to be 90% minor!
Have a listen to Unrequited or Resignation. In fact, hereās a link to a version of Unrequited from the Metheny/Mehldau album:
Seeing George and Rishiās posts reminded me that I hadnāt contributed anything in awhile so Iāll try to make up for it with two tracks!
I recorded these for a different music sharing siteāproduction quality is mediocre, especially compared to George and Rishi, but hopefully the sound quality is OK.
āWhat is this thing called loveā, with a bass+drums backing track:
And, motivated by last monthās community challenge and @scott1, a Jobim track (solo piano arrangement): Fotografia.
Hereās something different from Jobim, āDerradeira primaveraā (Last/Final Spring). Itās a short piece that is unlike his bossa tunes. Iām playing VSLās Fazioli F308. Hope you enjoy!
I wasnāt familiar with this tuneāas you say, itās very different from what I think of as the āJobim soundā. I think your version captures a somewhat melancholy mood which I imagine is what the song is about.
Hi Greg. Great tunes as always! I donāt have any comments about āthis thing called loveā - your jazz improvisation is way ahead of mine. It sounded really good. Thatās the first time Iāve heard Fotographia. I thought there were a couple of things you could do to give it a more āBrazilianā sound. In Jobinās standard masterclass in the live seminars section he talks about the chromatic descent that creates movement as the root moves in fourths (around 25:30 in the seminar). You do some chromatic descent in your left hand at around 0:34 but there are lots of other areas you could insert the chromatic 13, b13, going to the 9 and b9 in a five of five. At 1:26, 3:50 and 4:40 for example. Jovino also talks about the mixolydian raised fourth as a typically Brazilian sound against a minor 6th in improvisation. (Around 28:00 in the seminar) It took me a while to figure that out but it does work and sounds really cool.
Cheers,
George
Very nice Scott. Your playing has really advanced over the past year. Sounds like a lot of the posters here are following Jovino. My wife and I took a trip to Portugal a while ago and while taking a short river cruise met a boatload of Brazilian students on an exchange trip. Boy, did they ever ramp up the level of music and dancing on the boat! Music is in the Brazilian blood.
Thanks so much, George! Very helpful and I appreciate your suggestions. I had listened to part of Jovinoās seminar on Corcovado since that was last monthās community challenge, but hadnāt gotten to the section where he talks about Mixolydian raised fourth (which I usually think of as a āLydian dominantāāmeans exactly the same thing).
I am a long-time student at PianoGroove and a fellow musician with a deep passion for Jazz and Indian classical music. As an integral part of my musical journey, Iāve recently begun to post things on youtube.
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