What started out as a one-day, free event in Florida in 1980 has turned into an impressive festival, one of the country's largest, almost 30 years later.
More than just strictly a jazz festival, this event also boasts the Great American Jazz Piano competition, which takes place at the start of the fest. The winner of that gets to play a featured set at the festival, held yearly in Jacksonville's Metropolitan Park.
Wine lovers also have the rare opportunity to not only sample some of the more than 50 featured wines at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, but also speak with representatives from the highlighted wineries. That makes it a double-bonus weekend for devotees of jazz and wine - always a winning combination, anyway. In addition to good drink and good music, good food is served as well at the festival's traditional Sunday morning brunch.
The Jacksonville Jazz Festivals has spotlighted a variety of categories from straight-up jazz - the Ramsey Lewis Trio and Chick Corea - to the smoother side of things with David Sanborn and Chris Botti.
Mt. Hood Jazz Festival
Now in its 28th year, the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival offers jazz lovers a premier reason to travel to the beautiful state of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
Not too far out of Portland, the base of majestic Mt. Hood serves as setting for the festival, located in Gresham, Oregon, on the campus of Mt. Hood Community College.
Held in mid-August, the Mt. Hood Jazz festival has certainly seen its share of jazz legends take the stage. Those that have performed at the event that first started back in 1982 include: Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, The Crusaders and Buddy Rich, among others.
The Mt. Hood Adventures in Jazz series also brings in musicians from outside the region to play at various venues in Portland throughout the year.
Telluride Jazz Celebration
Talk about your scenic backdrops.
Located in the middle of the breath-taking San Juan Mountains, the Telluride Jazz Celebration cannot be matched in the landscaping department.
Mountain range above, gorgeous Beer Creek and San Miguel River below - that makes for an amazing setting to listen to jazz.
As such, this festival is definitely for the nature lover. Camping spots are available for those who really want to take advantage of all Telluride, now in its 33rd year of hosting a jazz fest, has to offer. Early June is usually when the Telluride Jazz Celebration is held. A jam-friendly jazz festival, Telluride welcomes an eclectic roster, featuring bands like Licorice, Ozomalti, Benvento-Russo Duo, Rebirth Brass Band and the Jimmy Herring Band.
The festival's Jazz after Dark series takes over the nearby Sheridan Opera House and Nugget Theater.
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Jazz piano is one of the most vibrant, energetic, specialized types of music. Famous jazz artists you may want to listen to are Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret, Bill Evans, to name but a few. To learn jazz piano you need to take some time to listen to jazz CD's and maybe watch DVD's as well. To learn jazz piano, one needs to be very patient and dedicated to practicing the genre.
Jazz piano is characterized by a lot of improvisation. A jazz musician can be given a fake music sheet or chord chart and he can improvise on the spot over those chord progressions. It is recommended that a jazz musician know or have standard songs in their repertoire. Standard songs include songs like "Willow Weep for Me," "Summertime," and "Georgia on My Mind" to name but a few. Standard songs are songs that have been covered by many recording artists in the past, usually every year. For example one may consider the gospel song "Amazing Grace" a standard gospel song because a lot of artists have covered the song throughout the years.
Knowledge of scales and chords are essential tools needed to be a good jazz musician, let alone the technique needed to play this genre. As a jazz musician you will need to practice different types of scales, chords, arpeggios, staccato playing, legato playing, playing chords on the left hand while playing scales in the right hand at the same time.
To learn jazz you need to start with the basics: minor and major scales and minor and major chords. Once you master these then you can go forth to learning advanced chords(jazz chords) and scales. These chords include diminished, dominant, major nine, tritone chords, etc. Advanced scales will entail learning lydian, diminished, chromatic, melodic minor scales, for example.
You must remember that when it comes to playing the piano, it is not how you play but how you play is very essential as well. This is the reason why you need technique: how hard or soft do you play the notes, how you sit at the piano, breathing, how you position your hands and fingers on the piano, playing chords and scales, etc.
You will definitely need resources to play the piano, someone to hold you by the hand. The key to mastering jazz piano is to learn (get as much information as possible), patience and practice!practice!practice!
If you know your piano chords well, try this next step. Say the song you are playing asks for a C7 chord. That is called a dominant seventh. Here's what you do. With your left hand, play just the root and seventh of the chord, so that would be C with your pinky and Bb with your thumb.
Now for the right hand. Go up one half step from the C7 and play a minor chord. This would bring you to C#minor. The notes in a C#minor chord are C#-E-G#. By playing the C and Bb in the left hand, and the C#, E and G# in your right hand, you will be adding a flatted 9th and sharp 5th to the chord. Those chord alterations are very common in jazz and will add a beautiful sound to your chord - lots of flavor for sure!
Here is another way to jazz up a chord. When the required chord is a C, again, play the C and Bb in the left hand. Now with the right hand, go down one whole step from the C and you get Bb. Build a Bb major chord on the Bb. So in the right hand, you will now be playing Bb-D-F. What are those notes in the key of C? They are the 7th, 9th and 11th. Very dissonant but beautiful.
When you put one chord in the right hand and another in the left to achieve these tensions, these are called upper structure chords. Use them wisely. They won't always work for every chord in every song. It's a matter of taste so listen carefully and have fun with it!
Debbie Gruber is the author of many instructional piano CDs, books and DVDs. She operates a private teaching studio in Burlington, MA and holds a Master of Music degree. She is the Creator of http://www.EasyPianoStyles.com and she teaches at many Adult Education Centers in Massachusetts.
Imagine sitting down at a piano, fingers calmly hovering over the keys. You begin to play, not just any old tune: a jazz tune, a swing full of rhythm, full of improvisation, full of life. It would not be possible without your dedication, your devotion, your training.
Learning jazz piano is not an easy task. To become a jazz musician you must be able to improvise. You must be able to play by ear, take off in a solo, and play with the group. It is a demanding art form to say the least.
Jazz piano is taught to all ages. It is taught at all levels of difficulty. You should have no trouble finding lessons for your level of skill. If you cannot find lessons locally, look online.
There is a ton of Jazz piano music lessons online. There are systematic tutorials, DVDs, CDs, eBooks, videos and more. Some free, the rest ranging from a couple of dollars to hundreds or more.
If you are brand new to Jazz piano there are many beginner lessons available online for free. These free online tutorials are a way for you to break the ice, get down the basics, and begin on your journey to becoming a jazz pianist. You can build confidence, practice the basics, and start the important core work of improvisation all from the comfort of home.
When you begin your training, you should focus on the technical side of jazz first. Apply this to common jazz songs. As you get better, stronger, and more confident with the technical side, move forward with your own improv. Bring out your creativity and explore your senses.
The most important piece of advice is to embrace your jazz piano lessons, never give up. Keep focused. Have fun with it. If you find yourself getting frustrated, if you find yourself not enjoying your lessons, step back. Figure out what is bothering you. Find a way to make it fun, create excitement, and take the work out of it.
So you want to learn how to play jazz on the piano. This is really fun and exciting music to play, and there are courses available that can get you playing jazz in no time at all. You will need special instructions in order to learn how to play it, and by far the best place to find jazz piano lessons is online. Take a look at this article to find out why you need a course that includes jazz as part of its course outline, and why regular piano lessons are not good enough.
Jazz is fun
The difference between playing jazz and other forms of music is that you as a performer can interpret the song in your own individual way, and you can play the song a different way every time. There is a certain beat that can be found in jazz that you cannot find anywhere else, and this kind of beat is totally fun and alive. No wonder you have an interest in playing jazz!
The jazz mood
Jazz is so interesting because when you play it the songs will sound different every time based on your mood or the mood of the audience you are performing it to. Your performance of jazz will be directly influenced by your mood when you are playing. If you get together with a few people you will find that jazz takes on a life of its own, and the mood of every individual performer will help decide how a particular piece is performed.
Improvisation
With jazz you are given more freedom to improvise and create. You are able to change the harmonies, the timing and the melodies according to your own personal style and abilities. There is a lot of creativity involved when you play jazz, but the best thing about it is you can change the tone every time you play the same song.
Jazz piano lessons
In order to play jazz properly you will need to have a basic understanding of the piano and reading music. It is also important to learn how to play some music by ear to help you improvise. There are courses available that can instruct you on everything you need to know to become an incredible jazz player.
Jazz piano lessons can be found on the Internet at very affordable prices. Finding a teacher at a music school will be extremely costly, and it is difficult to find one that can teach jazz properly. Most of these instructors are highly qualified to teach classical and traditional music. Your best bet is to go online and find a great course so that you can play the jazz you've always wanted to play.
My name is Bryan and I have been playing the piano for over ten years. I personally know what it takes to become a good piano player. If you want to learn how to play the piano, visit http://www.lifesmusic.com
Jazz. Just the word alone sounds musical. If you're looking for jazz piano lessons and a new way to play jazz piano, read on!
For the most part, jazz piano lessons begin with the study of chords. And that's a good thing! But chords alone will not help you make music. Sure, chords are important. But so is the other half of learning piano improvisation and that has everything to do with TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION!
This is where the usual jazz piano lesson routine falls apart. You're taught chords yes. But what do you do with these chords? You create music with them.
Now, most jazz students have as their goal, the ability to comp. They want to be part of a trio or duo or some other combination of musical group. The most common of these is the jazz trio. Here we have keyboards, bass, and drums. And this makes a very nice combo. But if you're interested in playing solo, you have a different problem.
The solo jazz pianist has to not only know how to play chords, but how to read from a lead sheet. A lead sheet gives you the chord symbols and the melody line and that is all you need to create your own arrangements.
There are many fine books out there for the aspiring jazz pianist to learn the art of soloing. But one thing most of these books don't teach you is how to improvise and compose YOUR OWN MUSIC!
It's no surprise that there's a shortage on this kind of instruction. It's not in high demand. As I mentioned before, most jazz pianists in training want to learn how to play in a group setting. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to learn how to compose your own music?
If you understand and can play 4 and 8-bar phrases, you're already aware of the importance of repetition and contrast in music. Repetition and contrast are the cornerstones of composition.
Listen, if you're already taking jazz piano lessons and want to learn the art of composition on your own, study and learn how to play in 4 and 8-bar phrases. It will serve you well in the long run.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit http://www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!
Voicings are no doubt what have given all famous jazz pianists their identity. Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Brad Mehldau all use unique, interesting voicings when making music. However, even though the idea of playing jazz is to create something unique and spontaneous, jazz is also a language, and in order to be effective at playing jazz piano, one must understand the standard set of jazz voicings, because there sure as heck is one!
Before we cut to the chase, I want to first identify the difference between a VOICING and a CHORD. A CHORD refers to a set of given CHORD TONES to be used. So a C chord contains the chord tones C, E, and G. BUT, I might VOICE the chord with E under C and G above C. Or E under G under C. So to VOICE the chord is to actively place the chord tones wherever you like.
1) SHELL VOICINGS: The name "shell voicing" speaks for itself. It is the basic framework of the given chord. Shell voicings are useful because they give off the color and characteristic of the chord with the least amount of notes. SO, if I wanted to play a Cmaj7 shell voicing, I might play, from bottom to top, C, B, and E. Try it for yourself. Sit down at the piano, and hold down these notes. It will sound the strongest if you play the C under middle C, B under middle C, and E above middle C.
The concept is that you are playing the ROOT, 3rd, and 7th of the CHORD. However, I VOICED the chord with the ROOT, 7th, THEN 3rd. This concept works with ALL chords. So if I wanted to play a Cmin7 shell instead, I would probably voice it with C, Bb, and Eb.
2) FOUR NOTE VOICINGS: I use these voicings all the time, especially with my left hand when I am taking a solo! So, with a Cmaj7 chord, the chord tones are C, E, G, and B. However, the D ABOVE B also sounds GREAT. So, in this case we have two options. We can either voice the chord using C, E, G, and B, OR we can voice it using E, G, B, and D. If we use the second option, we will stay out of the way of a bass player if we have one, because most likely HE'LL be playing C.
The great thing about four note voicings is that we can invert them! What this means is, if I were to use the second option, I could play it the way it is, or play G, B, D, E, or B, D, E, G, etc. That's a LOT of options! And once again this works with all minor chords and flat seventh chords, too!
Frankly, you ALREADY know enough to get on the bandstand and play voicings that fit behind the soloists and yourself! But, I'll give you one more, which is the bread and butter of modern jazz.
3) FOURTH VOICINGS: Sometimes people call this a "Quartal" voicing. McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea use these voicings ALL the time! The idea behind this is you can take any old scale, say Cmajor which is C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, and play a chord where each note is a fourth away from the next one, but ONLY using notes from that scale.
A fourth away from C is F, a fourth from D is G, etc. So if I have a Cmaj7 chord, one fourth voicing I can play is E, A, and D. I am only using notes in the C major scale, and they're all a fourth apart! But, I can completely do this randomly, with any group of notes, just as long as they're IN THE SCALE, and are each a FOURTH apart! This is the secret to achieving that "hip and modern" sound!
At this point I have given you enough information for you to REALLY start exploring jazz piano voicings over tunes. BUT, mastering jazz piano voicings is a process that takes time, energy, love for the music, and most importantly, the proper guidance. If you visit my blog at http://marksmusicreview.blogspot.com, I will tell you about my journey, and hopefully help you along with yours! Also, if you would like to hear my music, visit my brand new MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/markdanielsjazz
Jazz piano is one of the most vibrant, energetic, specialized types of music. Famous jazz artists you may want to listen to are Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret, Bill Evans, to name but a few. To learn jazz piano you need to take some time to listen to jazz CD's and maybe watch DVD's as well. To learn jazz piano, one needs to be very patient and dedicated to practicing the genre.
Jazz piano is characterized by a lot of improvisation. A jazz musician can be given a fake music sheet or chord chart and he can improvise on the spot over those chord progressions. It is recommended that a jazz musician know or have standard songs in their repertoire. Standard songs include songs like "Willow Weep for Me," "Summertime," and "Georgia on My Mind" to name but a few. Standard songs are songs that have been covered by many recording artists in the past, usually every year. For example one may consider the gospel song "Amazing Grace" a standard gospel song because a lot of artists have covered the song throughout the years.
Knowledge of scales and chords are essential tools needed to be a good jazz musician, let alone the technique needed to play this genre. As a jazz musician you will need to practice different types of scales, chords, arpeggios, staccato playing, legato playing, playing chords on the left hand while playing scales in the right hand at the same time.
To learn jazz you need to start with the basics: minor and major scales and minor and major chords. Once you master these then you can go forth to learning advanced chords(jazz chords) and scales. These chords include diminished, dominant, major nine, tritone chords, etc. Advanced scales will entail learning lydian, diminished, chromatic, melodic minor scales, for example.
You must remember that when it comes to playing the piano, it is not how you play but how you play is very essential as well. This is the reason why you need technique: how hard or soft do you play the notes, how you sit at the piano, breathing, how you position your hands and fingers on the piano, playing chords and scales, etc.
You will definitely need resources to play the piano, someone to hold you by the hand. The key to mastering jazz piano is to learn (get as much information as possible), patience and practice!practice!practice!
Being born blind never proved to go against the music in Arthur Tatum Jr's heart. One of the most technically sound pianists, his technique and compositions manage to boggle musicians even in this advanced day and age.
Born on the 13th of October 1909, Arthur Tatum could barely see from one eye after having cataracts in one eye with the other having limited vision - a condition which he had from when he was just months old. A child prodigy, he started by learning how to play the piano rolls from recordings which his mother used to play at home. He slowly started playing duets not knowing that they were meant to be played as duets but playing both the parts himself.
Having learnt to play in this unusual manner, his playing style was very fast which he could surprisingly play with acute accuracy. While he was developing his talent, he also made sure that the piano was always tuned right and would insist that it be tuned right.
He underwent surgery to improve the condition of his eye which didn't give him relief for too long. In around 1930 when he was around 20 years old, he was inflicted which damaged his eye again. He started his career in Ohio where he was born. He later shifted base to New York in 1932.
His music influences grew over the years and he started taking after James P Johnson and Fats Waller who were considered the best stride piano players. His claim to fame was a cutting contest. A cutting contest was a contest between stride piano players in Harlem where one player would "cut" into the piece the other player was playing and in the process try to outdo him. In a cutting contest in 1933, he beat his heroes at the keys - Fats Waller.
At these contests, the standard songs that used to be played were Harlem Strut, Carolina Shout and Handful Keys - all of which were composed between Johnson and Waller. Tatum competed against them with his own arrangement of Tiger Rag - a tune originally composed by the Original Dixie Land Jazz Band. He out beat them and all the other competition making the event one that marked the phasing out of the stride era. After that, he became known to be the authority on the stride style of playing the piano. He held the record for being the best at the instrument only to be challenged by Donald "The Lamb" Lambert who came the closest to challenging Tatum at the instrument that he had come to master.
The immediate reaction of a pianist to one of Tatum's recording would leave him baffled at what he was doing where and how. His fingers flowed like water on the keys. He was consequently free stylist in his method of playing the piano. His mastery of being able to move his fingers fast over the keys of a piano with accuracy like as if one is listening to a sped up version of the player using the same techniques. This allowed him to fly like a breeze through a part that any other pianist would cringe to play because it was difficult.
The technique itself was not the complicated. Jimmy Rowles, an admirer and colleague, confessed that the despite slowing down the faster parts of his signature piece "Tiger Rag", you'd find a perfectly coherent, syncopated rhythm. Taking ground from his stride piano roots, he took the same genius to playing jazz like the good usage of pentatonic scales which allowed for jazz to grow a form of music which was ideal for solos. He influenced many jazz masters of the period like Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Billy Taylor, Bill Evans, and Chick Corea.
Another handy work of the genius that Tatum was is the introduction of swinging the beat of a jazz song. He was firm believer that melody was king which showed in his music. He never attempted going away from the original melody of the song and preferred working with the original melody of the tune innovating with the chord progressions to suit the melody.
The man was such a genius at the piano because most musicians couldn't keep up with his speed and extensive techniques. He will go down in history as the virtuoso of jazz piano.
Jazz piano has been a part of jazz since its beginnings. Piano is one of the rare instruments in a jazz combo which can play chords, unlike saxophone or trumpet which can only play single notes. The early jazz piano was mainly stride. Stride is also known as New York ragtime is a pioneering jazz piano style. It was developed in Harlem during the World war one. As you can see from the name (New York ragtime) it was influenced by ragtime but it featured improvisations, blue notes and swing rhythms which were new in this type of music.
The great performers of that time were Earl Hines, James P. Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Willie "The Lion" Smith , Art Tatum, Thomas "Fats" Waller, Mary Lou Williams, Teddy Wilson and many others who often attended cutting contests (battles between stride piano players in the early 1920s) where they showed of their skills.
It continued to develop specially during the 50s and 60s with pianists like Red Garland and McCoy Tyner. In that time one of the most widely spread types of jazz called Free Jazz was becoming more and more popular. Some great works of art still reminds us of that time which surely was a gold age of jazz existence. The beginnings of free jazz can be set with recordings of Ornette Coleman for Contemporary and with the Jazz Advance and Looking Ahead, two great albums by Cecil Taylor.
Today jazz piano is still popular among many pianists just to mention few Michael Weiss, Bill Charlap, Geoffrey Keezer, Brad Mehldau, Mulgrew Miller, Danilo Perez and many others.
To learn more about jazz piano and how to play it visit Learn 2 play piano
If you are looking for an instrument that is a little bit different but is still immensely fun to play then one of the best instruments could be the piano with all of its different styles. The piano is one of the most endearing and popular instruments of all time and knowing all about playing jazz piano provides many players with endless amount of fun and many great challenges. Whether it's to entertain friends and family with a unique style of playing or to join a band or ensemble, being able to offer piano improvisation ensures that this style of playing is one that appeals to many.
This means that whether jazz piano chords are what you learn first or you concentrate on building melodies, there are many great options to take your first steps into the world of jazz piano and all that it entails. This type of music may not be at the top of the charts but there has been resurgence in the popularity of jazz in recent years and many key artists of different styles have been known to introduce a jazz style or motif to their own songs. This creates a greater demand for musicians who can play jazz which makes it a useful skill for musicians to have and knowing how to play jazz piano could keep any budding musician busy.
Uncover the spirit of jazz - Learn how to play jazz piano
A major reason why so many people have a fondness of jazz is due to the way that it can take it change its style or speed dramatically and is not as stuck in a traditional style as some other musical styles. People who do not like to be constrained or tied to a generic style appreciate the freedom that jazz allows and piano improvisation is a skill that is greatly admired by many fans of the style. Jazz is becoming increasingly popular and whether it is being played live in a jazz club or on a CD at home, jazz music can bring people together. A lot of this is down to jazz piano chords and the spirit and energy they bring to songs.
The idea of a jazz club conjures up images of a bye gone era when cool people came together in small underground clubs to share the music they loved with people who held similar passions. Jazz may not belong to the mainstream like some musical forms but lovers of this genre are immensely proud and excited with the style of music available. This makes knowing how to play jazz piano an immensely enjoyable hobby for people to have.
Make it up as you go along
One of the best things about jazz music is that everyone can get involved and create their own style or take on a particular style of music that can please a great number of people. There are many instruments which can come together to make a fantastic piece of jazz music but one of the most vital is the piano. This means that piano improvisation skills are a vital part of any jazz musician or bands arsenal and it can really add a great touch to any piece of jazz music. It doesn't matter what type of jazz is your favorite to listen to or your favorite to play, the possibilities for making good jazz are almost limitless and learning the techniques of jazz can help you to create fantastic art forms. This means that having a firm understanding of jazz piano chords is a great way to improve your ability to make great jazz music.
Jazz is cool which makes jazz musicians extremely cool so it is easy to see why there are a great number of people who want to know how to play jazz piano Being able to indulge whilst imitating some of the greats is a fantastic past-time or hobby and a few jazz piano lessons are the ideal way to rekindle or begin a love affair with jazz music. To learn everything you need to know, please visit this website.
A jazz piano chord is much the same as any other piano chord. This means that when you learn the basics of piano chords and theory, you’ll be able to play any type of music, be it gospel or jazz. Many people enjoy the jazz style of music and will benefit from learning those chords that are most often used in jazz music. Once you learn these chords, you’ll be able to play a wide variety of music because you will understand the backbone of notes and scales that are the key to playing music on any instrument.
Any pianist who wants to learn how to play jazz needs to have charts they can reference frequently. You’ll first learn the basic intervals and how chords are built. You’ll also learn how these chords are used differently in each song you play. Once you have mastered the basic intervals of jazz chords, you’ll then be able to move on to advanced chords such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, drop voicings, and blues chords.
An online piano course will teach you all the functions of chords including clusters, polytonal clusters, and substitutions. You’ll be provided with numerous charts that you can use for help during practice or when you need to quickly reference a certain jazz piano chord. When you learn to play these jazz chords, you’ll also learn how to play with more harmony, variety, and passion.
Learning online is a great option when you’re starting out on the piano. You can learn at your own pace without having to plan around the schedule of a piano teacher. Online lessons also challenge you at your own playing level. This means that when it’s time to learn those jazz chords, you master one before moving on to the next.
The piano is a wonderful instrument full of history and culture. If you are interested in learning to play the piano, look into taking some lessons to help you learn the basics of all chords, including the most popular jazz chords. No matter where you decide to play the piano, you’ll be ready to play any song once you have the theory basics solidly behind you. You may find that family and friends are asking you to play more often!
At Hear and Play, located at http://www.hearandplay.com, we offer you the programs you need to learn how to play jazz music on the piano. Our online courses are designed to move you along at your own playing level so that you can easily learn and master each jazz piano chord. Contact us today for more details.
James Andrew Rushing born August 26, 1903 - died June 8, 1972. He was known to many as Jimmy Rushing. Jimmy was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he was famous and best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.
Jimmy Rushing was known as "Mr. Five by Five". He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927, then moved on and joined Bennie Moten's band in 1929. When Moten died in 1935, Count Basie took over the band and Jimmy stayed until 1948.
Rushing was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on August 26, 1903, into a family with musical talent and accomplishments. His father, Andrew Rushing, was a trumpeter and Jimmy’s mother and brother were singers. Young Jimmy just followed in the family footsteps and was a success, touring the Mid-West and California as an itinerant blues singer in the years 1923 and 1924 before moving to Los Angeles, California, where he sang with Jelly Roll Morton. Rushing got a gig singing with Billy King before moving on to Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927. He, along with other members of the Blue Devils, defected to the Bennie Moten band in 1929.
Moten died in 1935, and Rushing joined Count Basie for what would be a 13-year gig. Due to his tutelage under his mentor Moten, Rushing was a proponent of the Kansas City jump blues tradition, best evinced by his performances of "Sent For You Yesterday" and "Boogie Woogie" for the Count Basie Orchestra. After leaving Basie, his recording career soared, as a solo artist and a singer with other bands.
When the Basie band broke up in 1950 he briefly retired, then formed his own group. He also made a guest appearance with Duke Ellington for the 1959 album Jazz Party.
His build earned him a nickname and a signature song, "Mr. Five by Five" ("he's five feet tall and he's five feet wide"). His best known recordings are probably "Going to Chicago" with Basie, and "Harvard Blues", with a famous saxophone solo by Don Byas.
Rushing was a powerful singer who had a range from baritone to tenor. He could project his voice so that it soared over the horn and reed sections in a big-band setting. Count Basie claimed that Rushing "never had an equal" as a blues vocalist. George Frazier, author of "Harvard Blues", called Rushing's distinctive voice "a magnificent gargle".
After he became ill with leukemia in 1971, Rushing's performing career ended. He died on June 8, 1972, in New York City, and was buried at the Maple GroveCemetery, KewGardens, in Queens, New York.
A Video Of Count Basie's Take Me Back Baby Featuring Jimmy Rushing
Just browsing and found this amazing performance by the Count Basie orchestra, with vocals by Ledisi. WBGO, January 7, 2008 - From the new Yoshi's Jazz Club in San Francisco, the Count Basie Orchestra showcases its joyous swing sound, together with the big, resounding voice of Bay Area native Ledisi.
Bill Hughes leads the new Basie band, with its rhythmic intensity seeped in the blues. They're joined by a 2008 Grammy nominee for Best New Artist, Oakland's own Ledisi — her latest album Lost & Found has helped her achieve mainstream success. And after many midnights on Toast of the Nation from Yoshi's in Oakland, the expansion of this independent club into San Francisco was a major jazz story in 2007
The concert is presented with the help of KCSM San Mateo and KQED San Francisco, with host Jayne Sanchez.
Well, I finally have my new piano, a Yamaha P151, it's great! Below, is Watch What Happens' By Michel Legrand. Michel Legrand has composed more than two hundred film and television scores, several musicals, and made well over a hundred albums. He has won three Oscars (out of 13 nominations), five Grammys, and has been nominated for an Emmy. Hope you like it Haydn JazzUnleashed
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (15 August 1925 – 23 December 2007)
Oscar Peterson, in my opinion, was the greatest jazz pianist of all time. Duke Ellington reffered to him as the "Maharaja of the keyboard". He will be dearly missed, but always remembered.
He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received hundreds of other awards and honours over throughout his 65 year + jazz career. Not just me, but many believed him to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time.
I have included some classic numbers in this post, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
JazzUnleashed Haydn Huckle
oscar peterson biography
Oscar Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Montreal. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister, Daisy, taught young Oscar the classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practicing scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity.
As a child, Peterson also studied with Paul de Marky, a student of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano school. Meanwhile he was captivated by the traditional jazz and learned several ragtimes and especially the boogie-woogie. At that time Oscar Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie."
At age nine he played piano with control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of practice daily (only in his later years did Oscar Peterson decrease his daily practice to just one or two hours). In 1940, at age 14 Oscar Peterson won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of school and became a professional pianist working for a weekly radio show, and playing at hotels and music halls.
oscar peterson night train video
Oscar Peterson Influences Some of the artists who influenced Oscar Peterson's musicianship during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and the legendary Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Peterson in later years. One of his first exposures to the musical talents of Art Tatum came early in his teen years when his father played Art Tatum's Tiger Rag for him, and Peterson was so intimidated by what he heard that he became disillusioned about his own playing, in his own words "Tatum scared me to death" and Peterson was "never cocky again" about his mastery of the piano. Tatum was a model for Peterson's musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson eventually became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared with Tatum, and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.
Oscar Peterson has also credited[citation needed] his sister Daisy Sweeney — a noted piano teacher in Montreal who also taught several other noted Canadian jazz musicians — with being an important teacher and influence on his career. Under his sister's tutelage, Oscar Peterson expanded into classical piano training and broadened his range while mastering the core classical pianism from rigorous scales to such staples of every pianist's repertoire as preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Building on Art Tatum's pianism and aesthetics, Oscar Peterson also absorbed Tatum's musical influences, notably from piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov's harmonizations as well as direct quotations from his second piano concerto, are thrown here and there in many recordings by Oscar Peterson, including his work with the Ray Brown and Herb Ellis trio, such as "When Your Lover Has Gone" and other pieces. During the 1960s and 1970s Oscar Peterson made numerous solo recordings that reveal more of his eclectic style that absorbed influences from various genres of jazz, popular and classical music.
oscar peterson girl from ipanema video
Norman Granz An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve Records) and Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic project. Granz discovered Peterson in a peculiar manner: as the impresario was being taken to the Montreal airport by cab, the radio was playing a live broadcast of Oscar Peterson at a local night club. Granz was so smitten by what he heard that he ordered the driver to take him to the club so he could meet the pianist. So was born a lasting relationship, and Granz remained Peterson's manager for most of his career. In 1949 Granz introduced Peterson at a Carnegie Hall Jazz at the Philharmonic show in New York.
This was more than a managerial relationship. Oscar Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him (and other black jazz people) in the segregationist south of the 1950s and 1960s. For example, in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's two-part documentary video Music in the Key of Oscar, Peterson tells how Granz stood up to a gun-toting southern policeman who wanted to stop the trio from using "white-only" taxi cabs. The entire documentary is a fascinating account of Peterson's life from his Montreal childhood, to his career, to his family relations (with its ups and downs), and includes interviews with Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Ella Fitzgerald. Its narrative ends in 1993, just before Peterson's debilitating stroke.
In the course of his career, Peterson developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist, and became a regular on Canadian radio from the 1940s. His name was already recognized in the United States; however, his 1949 debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City, arranged by Norman Granz, was uncredited: owing to union restrictions his appearance could not be billed.[citation needed]
Through Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time: some of his musical associates included Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Anita O'Day, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz.
Duets Peterson made numerous duo performances and recordings with bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, and Niels-Henning Pedersen, guitarists Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Herb Ellis, and Barney Kessel, pianists Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Bennie Green, and Keith Emerson, trumpeters Clark Terry and Louis Armstrong, and many other important jazz players. His 1950s duo recordings with bassist Ray Brown mark the formation of one of the longest lasting partnerships in the history of jazz. Oscar Peterson's 1970's duo with guitarist Joe Pass has been considered one of the highest standards in the genre.
Some of Oscar Peterson's best playing was as an understated accompanist to singers Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.
A very young oscar peterson i got rhythm video showing out of this world stride piano playing.
oscar peterson trio Oscar Peterson redefined the jazz trio by bringing musicianship of all three members to the highest level. The definitive trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis was, in his own words "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances as well as in studio recordings. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel. Kessel tired of touring after a year, and was succeeded by Herb Ellis. As Ellis was white, Peterson's trios were racially integrated, a controversial move at the time that was fraught with difficulties with segregationist whites and blacks.
"Oscar Peterson trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival" is widely regarded as the landmark album in Peterson's career, and one of the most influential trios in jazz. Their last recording, "On The Town with the Oscar Peterson trio", recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding between three players. All three musicians were equal contributors involved in a highly sophisticated improvisational interplay. When Herb Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis.
In the 1970s Oscar Peterson formed another landmark trio with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This trio emulated the success of the 1950's trio with Brown and Ellis, gave acclaimed performances at numerous festivals, and made best-selling recordings, most notably the 1978 double album recorded live in Paris. In 1974 Oscar added British drummer, Martin Drew, and this quartet toured and recorded extensively worldwide.
Quartet Quartet was a less permanent setting for Oscar Peterson, after the trio, or duo, as it was hard to find equally powerful musicians available for a tightly knit arrangement with him. After the loss of Ellis his next trio eventually turned into a quartet after he added a drummer — first Gene Gammage for a brief time, then Ed Thigpen. In this group Peterson became the dominant soloist. Later members of the group were Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, Ray Price, Sam Jones, George Mraz and Martin Drew.
Oscar Peterson often formed a quartet by adding a fourth player to his existing trios. He was open to experimental collaborations with jazz stars, such as saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson among others. In 1961 Peterson trio with Jackson recorded a highly praised album titled "Very tall."
Further career From the late 1950s, when Oscar Peterson gained worldwide recognition as one of the leading pianists in jazz, he played in a variety of settings: solo, duo, trio, quartet, small bands, and big bands. However, his solo piano recitals, as well as his solo piano recordings were rare, until he chose to make a series of solo albums titled "Exclusively for my friends." These solo piano sessions, made for the MPS label, were Peterson's response to the emergence of such stars as Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.
Some cognoscenti assert[citation needed] that Peterson's best recordings were made for the MPS label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For some years subsequently he recorded for Granz's Pablo Records after the label was founded in 1973. In the 1990s and 2000s he recorded several albums accompanied by a combo for the Telarc label.
In the 1980s he played successfully in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after the stroke, Peterson made performances and recordings with his protégé Benny Green.
Composer and teacher Oscar Peterson wrote pieces for piano, for trio, for quartet and for big band. He also wrote several songs, and made recordings as a singer. Probably his best-known composition is "Canadiana Suite."
Oscar Peterson taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto. He also published his original jazz piano etudes for practice. However, he asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Well Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and the The Art of Fugue, considering these piano pieces essential for every serious pianist. Pianists Benny Green and Oliver Jones were among his students.[15]
Stroke and later years Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. Never slender, his weight increased to 125 kg (275 pounds), hindering his mobility. He had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility still was not good. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chrétien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chrétien he declined, citing the health problems from his recent stroke.
After the stroke, Peterson recuperated for about two years. He gradually regained mobility and control of his hand. However, his virtuosity was never restored to the original level. In 1995 he returned to public performances on a limited basis, and also made several live and studio recordings for the Telarc label. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play.
In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD A Night in Vienna for the Verve label, with Niels Pedersen, Ulf Wakenius and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days' rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), David Young (bass) and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups.
Peterson's health declined rapidly in 2007. He had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, owing to illness. On December 23, 2007, Oscar Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, a western suburb of Toronto. He leaves seven children, his fourth wife (Kelly, several decades younger than him), and their 16-year-old daughter, Celine.
Awards and recognition
Musical awards and recognition Begone Dull Care is an abstract film presentation of Oscar's music, released in 1949.
His work earned him seven Grammy awards over the years and he was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1978. He also belongs to the Juno Awards Hall of Fame and the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame.
Peterson received the Roy Thomson Award (1987), a Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement (1991), the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1992), the Glenn Gould Prize (1993), the award of the International Society for Performing Artists (1995), the Loyola Medal of Concordia University (1997), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), the Praemium Imperiale World Art Award (1999), the UNESCO Music Prize (2000), and the Toronto Musicians' Association Musician of the Year award (2001).
In 1999, Concordia University in Montreal renamed their Loyola-campus concert hall Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in his honour.[19]
In 2005, Peterson celebrated his 80th birthday at the HMV flagship store in Toronto, where a crowd of about 200 gathered to celebrate with him. Diana Krall sang happy birthday to him and also performed a vocal version of one of Peterson's songs "When Summer Comes". The lyrics for this version were written by Elvis Costello, Krall's husband. Canada Post unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. The event was covered by a live radio broadcast by Toronto jazz station, JAZZ.FM.
Peterson received the BBC-Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, London, England.
"Technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable," he once told jazz writer Len Lyons. "You learn to play the instrument so you have a musical vocabulary, and you practice to get your technique to the point you need to express yourself, depending on how heavy your ideas are."
"Some may criticize Peterson for not advancing, for finding his niche and staying with it for an entire career, but while he may not be the most revolutionary artist in jazz, [the documentary] Music in the Key of Oscar demonstrates that breaking down barriers can be accomplished in more ways than one."
Ray Charles, in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Piano Blues (2003), said "Oscar Peterson is a mother fucking piano player!"
"Miles Davis once commented, 'Nearly everything Peterson plays, he plays with the same degree of force. He leaves no holes for the rhythm section.' But this merely describes the difference between the two players; Davis did not have Peterson's powerful technique, and found a different kind of expression."
Recognition in Canada
Stamp issued by Canada Post in 2005While Oscar Peterson was recognized as a great jazz pianist throughout the world, in Canada he was also seen as a leading personage and statesman. This can be seen in the acclaim and awards he received, especially in the last twenty or so years of his life.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1972, and promoted to Companion, its highest rank, in 1984. He was also a member of the Order of Ontario, a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, and an officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
From 1991 to 1994 Peterson was chancellor of York University in Toronto. The chancellor is the titular head of the university.
He received honourary doctorates from many Canadian universities: Carleton University, Queen's University, Concordia University, McMaster University, Mount Allison University, the University of Victoria, the University of Western Ontario, York University, the University of Toronto, and the Université Laval, as well as from Northwestern University in the United States.
In 2004 the City of Toronto named the courtyard of the Toronto-Dominion Centre "Oscar Peterson Square".
In 2005, the Peel District School Board (in suburban Toronto) opened the Oscar Peterson school in Mississauga, Ontario. Peterson said, "I must tell you that this is a most unexpected and moving tribute.... I wish to offer thanks for this unexpected honour."
Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wanted to appoint Peterson to the titular post of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario in 1993, but Peterson felt that his health could not stand up to the many ceremonial duties that this position would require. "He was the most famous Canadian in the world," said Chrétien. Chrétien also said that Nelson Mandela glowed when meeting Peterson: "It was very emotional. They were both moved to meet each other. These were two men with humble beginnings who rose to very illustrious levels."
(http://en.wikipedia.org)
I hope you enjoyed this post and videos, may the name Oscar Peterson live on for ever more! RIP Oscar Peterson
It is with deep sadness that I post this message. One of the worlds greatest jazz pianist, Oscar Peterson, has died aged 82.
The legendary jazz musician died on Sunday from kidney failure at his home near Toronto.
In a career spanning decades, Peterson performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and he found himself playing many of the artists he first heard as a kid, including Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie.
His awards and honours include a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 1997 and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award. Canada had also bestowed upon him a Companion of the Order of Canada, his country's highest civilian award.
Oscar Pterson, You will be dearly missed R.I.P. Oscar Peterson 1925 - 2007
Born Ronald Schatt in East London, Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of sixteen. he toured with Johnny Claes, the trumpeter, from 1944 to 1945, and with Ted Heath in 1946, as well as working with Ambrose, Cab Kaye, and Tito Burns. He was involved in the short-lived musicians' co-operative Club Eleven band and club (1948–1950), with Johnny Dankworth and others, and was a member of the generation of British musicians who worked on the Cunard liner Queen Mary (intermittently 1946–c. 1950) in order to visit New York and hear the new music directly.
In 1952 Scott joined Jack Parnell's orchestra, then led his own nine-piece group and quintet featuring among others, Pete King, with whom he would later open his jazz club, Victor Feldman, Hank Shaw and Phil Seamen from 1953 to 1956. He co-led The Jazz Couriers with Tubby Hayes from 1957 to 1959, and was leader of a quartet including Stan Tracey (1960–1967).
From 1967–69, Scott was a member of The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band which toured Europe extensively and which also featured fellow tenor players Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, at the same time running his own octet including John Surman and Kenny Wheeler (1968–1969), and a trio with Mike Carr on keyboards and Bobby Gien on drums (1971–1975). He then went on to lead various groups, most of which included John Critchinson on keyboards and Martin Drew on drums.
Scott was among the earliest British musicians to be influenced in his playing style by Charlie Parker and other bebop musicians. His playing was much admired on both sides of the Atlantic, Charles Mingus saying of him in 1961: "Of the white boys, Ronnie Scott gets closer to the negro blues feeling, the way Zoot Sims does."[1]
Despite his central position in the British jazz scene, Scott recorded infrequently during the last few decades of his career. He suffered periods of depression and, while recovering slowly from surgery for tooth implants, died accidentally from a mixture of brandy and prescription sleeping tablets - at the age of sixty-nine. At the subsequent inquest into his death, the coroner's verdict was "death by misadventure". (Wikipedia)
Video Of The Victor Feldman Trio featuring Ronnie Scott ~ Summer Love
An incredible recording of Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra, made in 1929. It recreates the atmosphere of a real concert situation at the Cotton Club. The band plays a medley, including: 1. Cotton Club Stomp 2. Misty Morning 3. Goin' To Town 4. Freeze And Melt
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899–May 24, 1974) The Duke was a jazz composer, pianist, and band leader, heo has been one of the most influential figures in jazz. Duke Ellington's reputation has increased since his death and now more than ever, with youtube, people who would never have heard of duke ellington. There are of course many albums by duke ellington but one of the biggest duke ellington hits has to be 'it don't mean a thing'
So below is a true duke ellington classic jazz video. it don't mean a thing by duke ellington
