to quite a few videos i provide supplementary material (score pdfs, play-along audios, etc.) which you can open or download for free via the
links in the descriptions of the videos.
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playlists
for clarity each video is assigned to one of the following playlists:
*sonnymoon for two* (sonny rollins) - piano trio arrangement
while the melody of this riff blues tune is made of 3 identical 4-bar phrases, the
chordal arrangement is slightly different in each line to meet the chord progression
of the blues. best, andy
*never let me go* (livingston/evans) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
my basic 3-note accompaniment approach applied to this beautiful ballad.
i preceded most dominant chords with 4th suspensions, which you can do in
many instances - even if not indicated by the chord symbols. best, andy
*stone flower* (tom jobim) - piano trio arrangement
my piano trio arrangement of the title track of tom's 1970 album is inspired by herbie
hancock's rendition released on the 1997 *a twist of jobim* album. best, andy
*zingaro* (tom jobim) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
one of my favorite jobim tunes with its haunting chromatic melody. for more information
about my basic 3-note accompaniment approach please watch my video on tom's
*Insensatez*. best, andy
*nica's salsa* - 3 montuno patterns based on horace silver's composition
for the 'a' (latin) sections of the tune i created two 1-handed montunos with a typical
tumbao bass in the left hand, plus one 2-handed montuno, all of which would work underneath
(or around) the melody. best, andy
*nica's dream* (horace silver) - piano arrangement
for my solo piano arrangement i tried to stay as true as possible to the 1st recording of the
tune 1956 by art blakey's jazz messengers. i also played a considerably faster version of the
arrangement referring to the 1960 'horace-scope' album. best, andy
*bewitched, bothered & bewildered* (rodgers & hart) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
my basic 3-note accompaniment approach applied to this beautiful ballad. i included the verse
with a free rubato feel, then for the chorus switched to a swinging ballad
(even eighth notes optional). best, andy
*polkadots & moonbeams* (jimmy van heusen) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
here's another standard in my basic 3-note accompaniment approach. i played this ballad with
swinging eighth notes, while even eighths would work just as fine. best, andy
*stella by starlight* (victor young) - piano trio arrangement / bill evans changes & coda
my piano trio (or duo) arrangement of this standard using bill evans' changes of the mid 60s. for the coda
i transcribed his 1967 recording *bill evans trio - a simple matter of conviction*. best, andy
pat's wonderful tune first appeared on michael brecker's 1999 album *time is of the essence*.
the basis for my arrangement is the more recent version from pat's *side eye nyc* album. best, andy
the title of this classic up-tempo minor Blues from his 1960 *Giant Steps* album refers to
his bassist paul chambers. my 1st arrangement uses those left-hand bass anchors and quartal
voicings in the style of mccoy tyner (his pianist in later recordings). the approach for
the 2nd arrangement is more dense using clusters and a lot of minor 9th and major 7th
intervals in the individual voicings. best, andy
*desafinado* (tom jobim) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
here's another great bossa nova composition. i used the same 2-bar rhythm pattern as
introduced in my video on *girl from ipanema* https://youtu.be/nXbkpRzdWa4 best, andy
*the nearness of you* (hoagy carmichael) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
in my arrangement of this beautiful ballad i opted for a slightly different harmonization
on each 'a' section (sorry - i had do repost the vid due to an error in the voicing display). best, andy
in my solo piano version of this beautiful guajira tune i rearranged the original montuno
figure between both hands. i miss you dearly, clare. best, andy
my take on this beautiful tune by john carisi using the original key and chord changes as
recorded on miles davis' *birth of the cool* album. best, andy
*billie's bounce* (charlie parker) - piano arrangement
the left hand accompaniment I arranged for this classic bebop blues is mainly made of
'shell voicings' (roots & 7ths) in rhythms that either go together or interact with those
of the melody, in the same way as the accents of a drummer's snare and bass drum would.
i added the original piano intro as well as some counter melodies of my own. best, andy
*stolen moments* (oliver nelson) - drop-2 piano arrangement
while the 4 horns in the original recording (1961 album *the blues and the abstract truth*)
of this wonderful oliver nelson classic are mainly voiced in close position, i mostly used the
drop-2 technique for my arrangement. the improv section uses the standard 12-bar minor blues form.
best, andy
*over the rainbow* (harold arlen) - basic piano arrangement from lead sheet
another demonstration on how to apply a basic 3-note accompaniment to a ballad. also showing
a very effective way of creating suspense at the end of a piece. best, andy
*the shadow of your smile* (johnny mandel) - piano arrangement from lead sheet
applying my basic 3-part voicing concept to another famous standard tune. the bossa nova accompaniment refers
to astrud gilberto's 1965 version of the tune. for more detail about the voicing concept please watch other videos
of my 'basic jazz piano' playlist. best, andy
*cantaloupe island* (herbie hancock) - 2 piano arrangements in 1
the 1st chorus of my arrangement is based on herbie's original version from his 1964 *empyrean isles*
album. in the last 4 bars i switch to the style in which he used to play the tune in the 1990s - e.g.
with the 'parallel realities' quartet (feat. pat metheny, dave holland & jack dejohnette). best, andy
*cantelope island* (herbie hancock) - piano arrangement
my arrangement refers to herbie's re-composition of his *cantaloupe island* for his 1976 *secrets* album.
while his 1964 original from *empyrean isles* had a latin/rock feel, this one has a shuffle feel.
also, its form and flavor are more blues-oriented. best, andy
in this drop-2 video i'll play a 4-bar melody consisting of chord arpeggios and enclosures, demonstrating the use of 'chromatic planing'.
the melody can be played over major-7th chords as well as their relative minor-7th chords using the exact same voicings. best, andy
our rendition of the title track from his 1970 'hermeto' album. kolja legde (b) & andreas apitz (p) live performance @ jazzclub singen oct 23 2022. best, andy
*wave* (tom jobim) - piano arrangement from lead sheet
a follow-up to my previous video on the bossa nova classic *insensatez* by tom jobim, where i demonstrated how i'd create a basic
piano arrangement from a lead sheet. this time i'll apply my approach to another famous jobim composition: *wave* - introducing alternating
bass lines and some slash chord voicings. best, andy
my solo piano arrangement of this lovely calypso inspired composition from 1957 by tommy flanagan who was john coltrane's pianist at
the time. best, andy
in this video i give an overview on my concept for building a basic vocabulary for improvising on II V I chord progressions.
it's a network of 24 melodic options derived from 6 basic lines (24/6) mainly using chord arpeggios. best, andy
*when your life was low* (joe sample) - piano arrangement
this beautiful ballad composed by will jennings and pianist joe sample first appeared on randy crawford's 1980 album *now we may begin*.
my arrangement is based on joe's and lalah hathaway's wonderful 1999 recording of this song. best, andy
hi everyone, recently i got requests for the play-along tracks that i used in my videos on minor II V I melodies/voicings. so i
uploaded 2 zip files:
II-V-I_minor_whole-bar_full_circle.zip
(size 12,3 mb) - this zip file contains 6 mp3 tracks in 3 different tempos
(80/100/120 bpm) of whole bar minor II V I changes through the circle of
5ths both ascending/descending
II-V-I_minor_whole-bar_circle_in_4_territories.zip
(size 107 mb) - this zip file contains 96 mp3 tracks in 3 different tempos
(80/100/120 bpm) of whole bar minor II V I changes through the circle of
5ths "in 4 territories" according to the concept i introduced in
detail in my ↓ 4-part video workout
best, andy
if you download, please consider to support my work by donating via paypal
*on green dolphin street* (bronislaw kaper) - piano arrangement
my arrangement of this standard tune. btw: the 4th last chord C7 add Δ7 is one of my favorites: i call it a dominant-major-7 chord - the minor 7th Bb resolving
downwards to the 3rd Ab of Fm7, while the major 7th B leads upward to the 5th C. best, andy
*spring ain't here* (pat metheny) - piano arrangement
this is my piano arrangement of another pat metheny composition from the 1989 *letter from home* album. sorry for the pumping autofocus on
the side cam. best, andy
*as it is* (pat metheny / lyle mays) - piano arrangement
this is my piano arrangement of a great pat metheny / lyle mays composition from the PMG 2002 *speaking of now* album. special greetings to
horacio sanchez. best, andy
exploring the form and the harmonic structure of the song and
correcting several errors in the real book sheet. best, andy
here's the free link to my transcription of the voicings
herbie uses for the head, as well as my basic piano
arrangement of the head that i refer to at the end of the video
if you download, please consider to support my work by donating via paypal
in memoriam lyle mays who passed on february 10, 2020, i wrote an easy piano arrangement of his and pat's *james*. recently i added a score view.
best, andy
despite the funny setup (blindfold frog in full lotus position / piano fallboard half-closed) there's some serious drop 2 stuff going on ;-) best, andy
some years ago jan fride invited me to come to his studio and improvise over some tracks he had composed. here's the 1st one / 1st take.
i especially like those accidental 'frog pond' culminations near the end. have fun, best, andy
drop 2 voicings for jazz piano # 4 - maj7 / 9th voicing
*drop 2* voicings for *maj7* chords: the *9th voicing*, which is featured in the opening phrases of 2 standard tunes, run through the circle of 5ths.
best, andy
drop 2 voicings for jazz piano # 3 - maj7 / 6th + root
*drop 2* voicings for *maj7* chords to voice the *root* and the *6th*, application in another short melody, taking it through the circle of 5ths. best, andy