Jazz Transcriptions » piano

Dave Brubeck – Home At Last

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:52:40 +0000

Brubeck recorded a fair bit of solo piano and while he’s not one of my favourite piano players out there he had a terrific combination of freedom and swing that makes his music infectious once to start to listen to it.

This track perfectly exemplifies Dave’s solo playing over a ballad – lots of use of harmonic devices and stride like left-hand devices. Definitely worth a bit of study this, enjoy!

Dave Brubeck – Home At Last (with reference MP3 file, 4.5MB)

Bill Evans – Gone With The Wind

admin — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:44:04 +0000

The album ‘Eloquence’ was actually published posthumously – probably because of the fact that while half the CD consists of four good duets tracks with bassist Eddie Gomez (of which Gone With The Wind Is One), the other half of the CD is just a few thrown together tracks that Bill probably didn’t want releasing after they were recorded. Still, an average Evans disc is still worth having, and this particular version of Gone With The Wind is one of the best tracks on the disc.

Bill Evans – Gone with the Wind (PDF and reference MP3)

Shorter, Hubbard, Hancock – Witch Hunt

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:51:57 +0000

‘Speak No Evil’ is one of the truly great modern jazz albums – brilliant writing combined with superb improvisational acumen. This ace transcription courtesy of Bert Ligon has concert versions of Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock playing through the changes. Just brilliant stuff, enjoy.

Witch Hunt (7MB, pdf with reference MP3)

Bob James – Angela (Taxi Theme)

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:27:08 +0000

Listening to this tune always makes me remember watching that great old TV show as a kid. Bob’s known as one of smooth-jazz’s first pioneers, but this is actually a great tune to play, especially on anything with a good Rhodes patch. If you’ve never come across this tune before, there are several YouTube vids, like this one, where you can listen to it. Sweet.

Angela (Theme from ‘Taxi’) by Bob James (PDF, 400KB)

Keith Jarrett – I’ll Remember April

admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:33:31 +0000

This Keith Jarrett transcription is a great example of how his trio really make a standard their own. Has a really catchy vamp to open the head that is simple but really nice! I found this transcription lurking around – it’s not my own so apologise for not knowing where it’s come from (if it’s yours, I’m happy to credit you!).

I’ve cut out the 3 minute drum solo that opens the track (sorry Mr Dejohnette) just to keep the MP3 file size down a bit for you. Enjoy!

Keith Jarrett – I’ll Remember April (with reference MP3, 4.5 MB, zip)

Bill Evans – Danny Boy

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:46:06 +0000

Bill Evans used to say he never saw himself as a solo pianist and that early on in his career he wasn’t even that comfortable playing solo. However, his solo albums and renditions are generally considered to be some of the best solo jazz piano efforts.

Taken from the album Empathy – and a couple of other compilations – this version of Danny Boy is a sensitive long take on this great theme. It starts so gently this, truly beautiful. Within about 10 seconds Bill has you hooked.

Bill Evans – Danny Boy (PDF and reference MP3 file – 11MB)

David Hazeltine – Alone Together

admin — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:31:37 +0000

I’m really getting into David Hazeltine’s playing – if you’re not familiar with him, head over to this blog and grab some of his brilliant Venus albums. He combines the clarity of someone like Cedar Walton with a advanced harmonic talent of Bill Evans. He’s definitely no clone though and he has written many great tunes, especially ensemble efforts with the super group he plays in One for All.

This transcription is taken from the album Manhatten, with George Mraz and Billy Drummond and it showcases his utter command of the be-bop language wrapped up in something more modern. This one comes courtesy of John Groves. Enjoy!

David Hazeltine – Alone Together (PDF and reference MP3)

Brad Mehldau – It Might As Well Be Spring

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:53:40 +0000

One of my favourite Brad Mehldau albums is still his first Warner album ‘Introducing Brad Mehldau’. He was only 25 when he recorded it and it has a lovely fresh feel without the sometimes overly-cerebral tone of his later albums (brilliant though they are).

This is a transcription of his solo on the opening track and demonstrates the brilliant quick-silver imagination and rhythmic devices that he’d explore further down the line in his career. Enjoy!

Brad Mehldau – It Might As Well Be Spring (with reference MP3, 6.5MB zip file)

Piano transcription and lesson 1

admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:06:51 +0000

Something new for the Spring! This is the first of a series of posts that link through to my friend Bill’s site, www.jazzpianoonline.com.

Periodically Bill will post a transcription excerpt for piano that moves into a full-blown lesson on his site. JazzPianoOnline I think is the premier source for learning jazz piano online – it covers virtually everything from transcriptions, voicings, style guides for the famous pianists and arrangements.

Please note that you will need to subscribe, although the site is well worth a recurring monthly membership of $32, especially if you were still learning the ropes.

For this first post, Bill has transcribed a bit of Tommy Flanagan’s recording of Oleo(1977 album, Eclypso) to demonstrate an improv lesson of Chord Scale theory:

http://www.jazzpianoonline.com/page6/page11/page185/page237/page237.php

Enjoy! And – via the comments – let me and Bill know how you find it.

Oscar Peterson – Hymn to Freedom

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:05:04 +0000

Possibly my first proper jazz piano CD was Oscar Peterson’s Night Train. I remember thinking that whoever could play with such soul and throw-away creativity must surely be some kind of god.

Most of the tracks on that album swing to such an extent that you can almost reach out and touch it. ‘Hymn to Freedom’ however is a slow gospel-shuffle affair. It a great piece for beginning to play and study because structurally and harmonically it’s fairly conventional. It’s all about the feel baby. Enjoy (YouTube of Oscar playing a very similar arrangement as to what’s written below).

Oscar Peterson – Hymn To Freedom (PDF)