Some things worthy of mentioning that are great here is the sparsity near the beginning (45). Knowing the autumn leaves melody makes this much more enjoyable, because you already have the expectation of what it will sound like, and then we he rests for most of it, it is pleasantly surprising. I kinda hear a […]

http://youtu.be/dZ9El7k4mNo This is a performance of Epistrophy by Thelonious Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (saxophone), Butch Warren (Bass), and Frankie Dunlop (Drums). An “epistrophe” is “the reputation of a word at the end of successive clauses” (Webster), which gives some insight into vamp played during the chorus. Rouse starts out his solo with short staccato notes, many of which are non-chord […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9eW6V_Slgs This is a performance of Butterfly featuring Herbie Hancock and Roy Hargrove and Marcus Miller. One thing I took note of from this performance was the way that Herbie Hancock was comping behind Roy Hargrove (around 6:00). He comes in strong with chord progressions after the each trumpet phrase, and towards the end the […]

Featured here are both solo trombonists (the masterful Frank Rosolino and Carl Fontana), bass and piano (I thought that was nice for our class. This is a bossa nova in the key of D, and I just love the melody. The countermelody in the second trombone is great it it’s own right too. I love […]

Welcome to the MUS 340 Jazz Improv II blog for Spring 2015. Here you will find course information and materials to assist you in preparing for each class. All students are required to post a weekly video of a jazz performance and provide a brief summary of the event. Please use the previously posted videos […]

This came up on my Pandora station! Smells like Giant Steps. Perhaps their improvisation over the chord changes sounds better than our first time playing it…

While working on a jazz arrangement of “Out of Nowhere” for a different class (ahem, Jazz Theory), I ran across this similarly titled piece by Acoustic Alchemy. Perhaps this is a long shot, but I think this is an arrangement of the same song. Here is a more traditional arrangement for comparison. The melody sounds very […]

Can someone explain again how to embed videos properly?

Has anybody heard of this style of jazz? Ebo Lala Mulatu Astatke — New York – Addis – London – The Story Of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975

With Hip-Hop’s sampling tradition, the jazz genre was inevitably going to act as a great resource due to the infinite amount of amazing musical moments that have been recorded. Tracks listed may contain explicit lyrical content. Curren$y – 04 – Hennessy Beach – (Verde Terrace) (Exclusive) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS5L9V92WKI Mac Miller – Traffic In The Sky This […]