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I'm excited about doing #1 as well. It sounds really pretty and was the one mentioned in Mark's blog.

Here is the thread
Chorales for CATS

Track from Monday night.
https://app.box.com/s/qr2gk51ik01zl77hsjua

Awesome playing, knotty. I enjoyed the solo and really loved how in sync your comping was with everyone else's playing.

Nice solo, knotty, very nice. A suggestion: lay off (or play less) in the LH during your first chorus, I really liked your lines and sometimes I felt the LH got in the way. But your lines have gotten much better, they are clearer.

Yeah, be very clear on the harmonies of the song, know the melody (and preferably also the lyrics), if the chord is a maj7 and the melody note is the root, don't play a maj7 voicing but a 6/9, dont play the melody as an intro, if you feel an inexorable need to play a lick or whatever to fill in the "empty" spaces do make sure its within the style, genre and melodic content of the song. As to comp in the high or low range I say it depends on how you voice the chords. The job of the accompanist is to make the singer sound and look good. So if they skip a bar or two or start off on a bum note, come to their aid and make it right.

I've accompanied many a singer; pros and semi-pros alike, so its a bit strange to be on the other side. Yes, that's right, I've started taking singing lessons and I already have a first gig lined up (apparently I'll be singing both a standard or two as well as a Schubert leider) in December. Which scares me sxxtless as of now, but I have confidence in my teacher (an excellent jazz and classical singer with many years of experience) and she apparently has faith in me (ha ha, little does she know . . ) So now I really have to learn the melodies and lyrics . . . ah well do be do be do be doo

Hey ! Your style is so diverse !
It must be difficult to know whether to practise your piano, bass or vocals.

Thanks for sharing your fun solo. In particular I liked:
1. how you continued seamlessly from the horn's solo using his theme.
2. how you developed your solo throughout. You had a story, and you told it as though you meant it.
3. your phrase shapes, especially the one where you started descending chromatically across the changes then ascended into the changes using wider intervals.

Thanks. Have no worries. The bass has been on a back-burner since Xmas, for several reasons. So I've been focusing on my pianistics. The voice, well, it was a weak-willed moment of saying yes, why not I can be your test pupil (after 30+ years of singing professionally, my soon-to-become-a-teacher decided to get a vocal coach degree and needed a male subject for her final exams) . . and then it struck me: holy larynx Batman, what have I agreed too?!
But I enjoy the challenge, and its great for the piano playing; singing forces me to slow down and really listen.

Thanks guys for the detailed feedback.
Chris, that is solid advice from you right there. Overall, I could have used more space on that solo.
Cus, thanks for picking up on those details. Esp. 1). That's something I try to do every time. It's kind of fun and gives you an idea as to where to start. Contrary to what one might think, it is much easier to do with a solid player than a weaker player. Weaker players tend to play a lot of stuff and it's hard to parse. Stronger player will often end with something easy to grab and recognize.
Bob, same as Cus, thanks for picking up on it. Also something easier to do with better players :-)

Great sound Knots. Your articulation has improved greatly. It's outstanding. Really good solo.

That Bass player though is distracting me with his time. He's causing the groove to falter.

Thanks JW. That's very nice to say. I find it much easier to play the acoustic than the digital piano, so that helps a lot.

It's funny you mention about the bass player. He is actually one of the guys that I play with who makes it easy for me. I don't have to work hard, things swing a lot easier. And he says the same about me, so we end up getting along. Though we don't often play together, but I always look forward to it.

I have a whole bunch more tracks, my buddy is trying to mix them better than I did. Might come out slightly better. It's all the zoom, which I thought made the piano sound pretty decent.

I just got back from Seattle, going to Keith Jarrett's show last night. Still on cloud nine. Man I was floored. Beautiful music and a great vibe, he didn't say anything snarky to the audience. They played 4(!!) encores, the crowd loved it.

Here's the tunes he played that I recognized: Blame it on my Youth, Fever, Answer me my love, God Bless the Child, When I fall in Love... lots more stuff. One tune I never heard before, In Your Own Sweet Way.

Funny I look it up and it's a Dave Brubeck song. I will have to learn that one.

The piano wasn't miked up too loud, I was in the 15th row and had a somewhat hard time hearing the piano. I can't imagine those 30 rows back or up in the higher balconies (there were 3 tiers, quite the setup).

Thankfully in the second set they turned it up slightly.

I can check off seeing one of my favourite pianists live now, maybe the only thing that could top it is going to a solo show. But he's playing only 4 shows in the USA this year so I'm thankful I could even see him.

Sounds like a great set list.
So you watched the trio ?
How were Gary and Jack ?

Why the Progress You Make in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight.
Good article about learning music.

Thanks for posting this Chris. I love this kind of stuff.

that explains why I actually have been able to learn things despite collison course with sage piano advice

Chris, really nice link w/advice that can go right to work right now!. Thanks for posting!

Yeah, its a good read.

So I've been busy for months, working my proverbial ass of, transferring hand-written scores into Finale - then creating the parts, proofreading, making suggestions, making changes (please repeat x amount) and then rehearsing the material together with the composer.
6 new pieces for big band (54 minutes total), commissioned by one of the great European big bands (Bohuslän Big band - this is a full time working big band, subsidised by private and governmental means).
The music was great (well still is), the band is stupendous (amazing readers), they swing like a mutha!
I'll post a tune or two once the video is edited and the rights are sorted out.
But here's a clip from a sound-check, Monica Dominique (the composer) is at the piano, singing (the song "Hey, John" written by Blossom Dearie, here with Swedish lyrics) together with three of Sweden's great on their respective instruments. This is swinging melodic piano playing.


Ps: she's old enough to be a grand-mother to some of you. Swing, groove and love and music knows no age limits.

Great stuff Chris. That must be so much fun. I'm looking forward to the big band. Grant is coming over in a few minutes. I'll say hi for you.

Haven't been around. Jury duty, etc... But just wanted to share this. Just saw it today. For whatever reason, I couldn't stop playing it over and over.