Josh Walsh @ Jazz-Library
Each week you'll receive 2 transcribed phrases, 5 observations, from 1 new tune. (2-5-1... get it?)
One of the all time great 🎷 solos by Coleman Hawkins
Reader, Body and Soul by Johnny Green is one of the most important ballads in jazz history. The recording we're transcribing today comes from a legendary tenor sax player, Coleman Hawkins. Happy New Year, and welcome to all the new members who joined us over the holiday special. I'm glad you're hear, and I hope you'll join us on an upcoming Zoom workshop. Join our workshop this Friday Topic: This week we're continuing our series stylizing traditional melodies so that they swing in a jazz...
Oscar Peterson Plays the Blues at Christmas 🎅🏻🎹
Reader, Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. What better way to celebrate this joyous week than by playing the blues, am I right? Thats exactly what Oscar Peterson plays over Santa Claus is Coming to Town in our transcription this week. Live Workshop This Friday This week will will be talking about how to take a traditional holiday melody and transform, embellish and improvise to make it swing. On Zoom at 1pm Eastern, this Friday, Dec 27. Yes, I'm coming Today's 2-5-1 Each week I share 2...
My holiday gift to you 🎹🎄 the full Charlie Brown transcription
Reader, This holiday season I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for you and the rest of this amazing community. I know the joy, the happiness, the stress relief, that comes from sitting at the piano at the end of a long day, with your drink of choice, playing some jazz. I feel so fortunate that you've trusted me to be a part of your journey. I don't have a normal 2-5-1 newsletter for you this week. Instead, I spent the week preparing the following for you: My gift to you - A full transcription Two...
Beegie Adair's Christmas albums are masterpieces 🎄🎹
Reader, You can't go anywhere this time of year without hearing Christmas jazz in every storefront. I love it, especially when some of the great Beegie Adair recordings are played. Beegie is a modern legend of all kinds of swing, ballads, and love songs. But perhaps best known for her holiday albums. So let's take a look inside one of her solos over Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Free Workshop this Friday 🎄🎹 This week we'll be exploring some simple block chord movements, ala George...
What can we learn about jazz from Charlie Brown?
Reader, Now that it's December, let's talk about playing some Christmas jazz. And what better way to do so than with O' Tannenbaum from Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas. During my piano lessons as a kid, I learned this song by playing it right out of the sheet music. But, I always wanted to play Vince's solo, and it always bothered me that the book only had the first part transcribed. So, today I decided to fix that and transcribe the whole solo. Welcome, new members. Also, our sale...
Vince Guaraldi 🎹 sets the tone for Thanksgiving 🍗
Reader, The 1973 CBS Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special featured an original soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi and John Scott Trotter. This soundtrack, along with the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, has arguably exposed more people to authentic jazz music than any other recording. As we gather with friends and family this week, even those who don’t like jazz (nobody’s perfect), here are some things you can share with them to help them appreciate this great music… and perhaps inspire...
Is this Roy Hargrove 🎺 album the best jazz album of the 2000's?
Reader, In my opinion, Earfood, from the Roy Hargrove Quintet, is one of the most important jazz albums to come out of the 2000's. While the tune we are featuring today, Strasbourg / St. Denis, is one of newest tunes to earn its place as a "Standard," the rest of the album doesn't get enough love. It's worth listening to from start to finish. I believe Strasbourg / St. Denis is a reference to the Paris Metro station of the same name. Some have theorized that the call and response lines are...