Month: October 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj2wVxcYZHc   This is the most amazing technical trumpet soloing I have ever seen. I remember my professor showing this back to the class in freshman year and I was blown away then. Now that I understand the level of dedication needed to reach this level of skill with the trumpet I am very impressed.…

  This is a great song. Again, he uses simple ideas and elaborates on them. I like how he is unafraid to rest in between his phrases. Sometimes he takes enough of a break to clap haha. I thought this video was neat because in relation to what we talked about in class on Thursday,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOzcnxzQZSs So many things I could say about this performance and about Oscar Peterson…I guess the first thing I noticed was his attention to voicing. Though not quite as explicit as Keith Garrett, Peterson carries his voicings to completion and you can hear the movement of the lines, especially in the beginning of the piece.…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU2ze9tE6S4   This is a random live piece I stumbled upon a couple years ago when looking for jazz flute solos. The jazz flute solo in this piece sounds incredibly done to me. I love the way it works so well with the more latin style music. The piece also features a wonderful piano solo.…

Apparently this is one of the best-selling jazz singles of all time, so I may be a little late to the party. The thing I first noticed about this piece was the 5/4 meter. Quintuple meter always unsettles me, personally, but it keeps the energy in this piece high. (Fun fact: this piece was inspired…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krrfgAd4wFc   This is one of Elton’s classic transition techniques between songs. I think it’s cool how you can definitely see that he’s making intentional eye contact with his band members as he navigates them out of the song and into his solo. I like that he uses a lot grace notes in his licks.…

  The way he incorporates harmonics into his solo is beautiful. I also like how he creates a groove for himself that he can build on, leave, and then come back to it later. Also a very good using of the tapping technique to create a great sound.  I love how at the end he…

Art Tatum uses a lot of parallel movement in his licks. I can’t quite figure out what intervals they are, but they sound so rich and full. I also noticed his technicality – the arpeggiation he does in his left hand is something I only associated with classical music, but he does it so effortlessly.