What Record Are You Listening To Today?

wow… such a beautiful rendition. lots of feels in there,… love it :heart_eyes: Thanks for sharing Scott.

It’s the 60th anniversary of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, recorded in 1959 and released in 1960. I just came across Tommy Flanagan’s piano trio version–Giant Steps (1982 Enja; re-released 2017 Yellowbird). George Mraz is on bass and Al Foster on drums. I thought it was worth sharing a couple of tunes from the album: “Naima” and “Central Park West.” Love the piano-centered take. Enjoy. :musical_keyboard:

(And check out Tuomo’s great lesson on “Naima”–https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/naima-solo-piano-tutorial/).

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I’m listening to Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert.
For the first time ever; moved to tears, really.

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Hey @lisanicole :wave: welcome to the community area and thanks for sharing this beautiful recording!

Here’s one of my favourite solo piano albums that you might like, also by Keith Jarrett:

We cover some of the tunes from this album in the jazz standard tutorials on PianoGroove. The album contains some delightful renditions. Here’s a YouTube playlist with the same tunes:

Such an emotive performer and it was saddening to hear the news last month that he may never perform in public again.

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Arturo Sandoval is best known for his brilliant trumpet skills in both jazz and orchestral settings, as well as for scoring films. He won an Emmy for the score for the HBO film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000) [Well worth a look if you can find it.] and was nominated for a Grammy for his work on The Mambo Kings (1992). He also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

I was checking out his Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban work with Chucho Valdés and Paquito D’Rivera when I came across his album My Passion for Piano (2002 Crescent Moon). I knew that there were other examples of players who recorded with two different instruments. Joey de Francesco, the B3 great, plays trumpet, and Charles Mingus, the bassist, recorded a solo jazz album, Mingus Plays Piano (1964). But Sandoval on piano is a cut above those.

I’ve included two tunes with him playing his Bosendorfer grand piano with 10 extra keys that was originally custom-made for Oscar Peterson and donated to Sandoval by Peterson’s widow, followed by a ballad from his album. It was written for his wife and was included in the HBO film. Then, for those who might not know Sandoval’s trumpet playing, I tacked on “Claudia,” a Chucho Valdés tune covered by Paquito D’Rivera (sax) and Sandoval on trumpet. Danilo Pérez is on piano and worth checking out.

It’s amazing the fun he seems to have on the keys. Enjoy. :musical_keyboard:

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Awesome - I didn’t know Arturo was also a piano player. Love his performance of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”.

I’m sure I’ve shared this before in the forum, but one of my favourite renditions of “There Will Never be Another You” - the solos from Arturo and his bandmates are fantastic:

He looks like a fun guy to jam with! :grinning:

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Brilliant, Hayden. Thanks for sharing! Seems like he just has fun whenever he’s playing. And check this out.

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Thank you Hayden. It’s lovely and a nice list, I have added it to my Youtube account. And I am looking forward to getting to it here. I am not that tech oriented so couldn’t find it, maybe you could point me… thanks again!

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Nice Scott!!! love the dynamics in his playing and arrangement! His runs are thrilling!

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Hey @lisanicole,

Yes a nice tune to start with from that album would be “Someone To Watch Over Me”.

Here’s myself performing the arrangement that I teach on PianoGroove:

We have 3 lessons on that tune, a beginner version, and 2 lessons on the advanced arrangement, find them here, first the beginner tutorial:

and the 2 more advanced lessons here:

It’s a very beautiful tune - have fun playing around with it.

Keith Jarrett’s version is sublime, check that out here and perhaps study it for more inspiration:

His use of inner voices is delightful and I also love how he phrases the melody; a true master of playing the jazz ballads!

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super nice - really love this thread - we get to check the lovely jazz videos each one share :blush:

This tune has never left my head since the time I started watching the lesson from PianoGroove … :heart_eyes: am like super ambitious trying to even learn to play it… :blush: then I found this version on YT … I really love the part too where all three instruments complemented each other - really served the song well… :clap:

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Yay! super :heart_eyes: love this song! Thanks for sharing Hayden.

@Scott - checked Arturo Sandoval’s vid - amazing musician!

Kristeta,

Very nice version of “Waltz for Debby.” I’m a great fan of Eliane Elias. Thanks for sharing!

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Yay Really? wow only my first time to have watched her and I guess I’ll be checking her music now hehe Thank You Scott! Glad you liked it! :blush:

I’ve been working on Tuomo’s lesson for “You Must Believe in Spring.” (https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/you-must-believe-in-spring/)

I came across this version on Frank Morgan’s album You Must Believe in Spring (1992 Antilles). It features Hank Jones on the piano.

You might want to check out the album. It features duets with Morgan on alto sax and Kenny Barron, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Roland Hanna, and Hank Jones on the piano. There’s some good stuff here.

[If you let the video keep playing, there’s another very fine version that follows.] Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

Here’s a great Bill Evans version of “I Loves You, Porgy” (Milestone 1992). Check out Tuomo’s tutorial, where he references this in his transcription.

It’s another great challenge. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

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Now that I’m comfortable with the basic of TNOY, I’ve been searching around for an approachable version which I can learn from. This version of TNOY from Farao is a great listen.

@toby2
That is a nice version! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to take a look at some of Farao’s other work.

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Nice find Toby.

To start with just try pick out some of those extra notes that Farao adds into the melody, or perhaps the subtle nuances of how he phrases the melody.

We can also transcribe some of the fills, such as the descending F Blues lick that he plays at the end of the second A Section - around 1:21 in the recording.

Here’s a rough attempt at transcribing it:

Once we have a rough idea of the notes the next step is to play along with the record to try to match the exact phrasing, placement, and accents.

We could also take that phrase and play it over common progressions such as a 251 in F major:

or a 36251 in F Major:

These little things that we transcribe become part of our vocabulary and of course they can be applied in many other situations that the tune that we heard them in.

Start with simple fills and embellishments and then gradually work onto more complicated fills, improvised lines, and entire solos!

Our Ear Training & Transcription Exercises are helpful for getting our ears up to speed.

First try to work out the notes using just your ears, and if needed you can then check the answer PDF files to make sure your transcription is correct.

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I’ve been listening to the Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés lately, and came across these videos. The first is Gershwin’s “But Not for Me” with an intro featuring bits of “A Time for Love” and “Waltz for Debby.” The second is a tribute to Duke Ellington. All with a Latin feel and bits of montunos here and there. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard: