Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Problems with Abersold PT.2

I was using abersolds to practice, and I realize some tracks rush quite a bit... in fact some of the playing sound pretty sloppy to me. I've talked good number of people who doesn't like using abersold for that reason, and because rhythm section is sloppy and not swinging.

It seems to me that the quality of playing can vary greatly depending on which volume you get. and I wonder if it's really good for a student to play along with abersold tracks that rushes a lot. I wonder if you can build bad habits that way.

Do you guys have any particular volume you guys like or not like. I have the Vol 25 "All time standards" and I really don't like that one at all. I feel like tempo is all over the place on that one.

The only ones worth getting in my opinion are the ones with Ron Carter on bass. Ive been working some with the Charlie Parker one and they do rush on some tracks but I don't think it's that big of a deal.
All Bird vol 6
Herbie Hancock vol 11
Paying Dues vol 15
John Coltrane vol 27 - 28 (Adam Nussbaum on drums)
Wayne Shorter vol 33

There's a few more that I haven't tried that features Ron Carter; Horace Silver and Duke Ellington ie.

I like to recommend two other play alongs that isn't Abersold: The Hal Leonard Chick Corea play along is really great and it features John Patitucci on bass and Steve Davis on drums (Steve Davis plays on some of the Abersold records with Ron Carter) The Jerry Bergonzi play along volume 6 is great too, some of the most known standards on that one, Stella, All the things etc

KlinkKlonk,

Yea. I guess next time I get an abersold or any other play-along. I should check who is actually playing the tracks.

I do worry about people who are beginners and they might not know any better. I don't think I would have realized how much the tracks on Vol.25 if it was me couple of years ago.

BTW I am not saying abersolds should be metronomic. It's not a big deal if it speeds up a little.. but some of the tracks on Vol 25 are just absolutely horrible. They start out in medium tempo and by the end, they are playing at a pretty up tempo. And sometimes I wonder if the speeding up is deliberate.. and I wonder why they decided to do that if that is the case.

I'm not sure how they record the play-alongs, if it's with a real soloist or some imaginative soloist, if it's the latter maybe that will explain why they can't hold down the tempo.
While we're still at it I'd like to warn you not to buy the Miles Davis (vol 50) or Bill Evans (vol 45), they're both incredibly lame and uninspiring.

Hey etcetra. RE: Aebersold Play-A-Longs, I really like the Wayne Shorter Duo CD/Book with Kenny Barron, the Miles Davis CD/Book vol 50 with Mark Levine, Jerome Kern with Hal Galper and The Killer Joe with Jamie on Piano. I also bought the piano voicing transcription books for the MD, JK, and Killer series. The 12 Key Rhythm book/CD is great.

The transcription books helped me a lot, because I learned many voicings that I was hearing on records and studying those books helped my ear and comping in groups. I really recommend to any jazz piano players to get the transcription books on voicings. It will open up a whole new world in jazz harmony, plus hearing it played in real time on the CDs.

I also have many of the Bill Evans transcription books that I get ideas from, although I pick up piano voicings and solo fragments from many sources by ear almost daily when I'm practicing. Just my $$

BTW, just read someone doesn't like the Miles Davis Vol 50, sorry I disagree, the transcription book with this CD of Mark Levine's comping is the best, IMHO anyway.

katt

The Volumes with bassist Tyron Wheeler are among the funnest for me to play along with, his time and intonation is good. He blends really well. Ron Carter is very good but more difficult because he is edgier, more dissonant, more agressive, and sometimes his intonation suffers a little as they all do (check the Coltrane set some parts are embarrassing they are so out of tune). "Paying Dues" is a good one with Ron Carter, Kenny Barron and Grady Tate. I avoid the other Aebersold bass players, especially anything with with Todd Coleman on it because I find him almost impossible to play with. Coleman has poor intonation and a weird stiff swing feel. And on top of all that he plays too many notes making it even more annoying. I would never hire Todd Coleman for any gig.