Thanks for the comments, Denis!! You are always kind and polite to boot!!

And, you are right; Elssa’s hands are as lovely as her playing! (Don’t tell Tatiana I said that… she’ll think I’m a two-timer!! )

Take care!

Rick

Home at last after a long trip, with minimal access to computers. So I'm behind on everything, but priorities are priorities, and first things must be put first, so I'm going to concentrate on getting up to speed on --- ta da - the ABF piano bar and recital!

Herewith some comments:

TB, nice composition. To me, it has a very nostalgic feeling to it.

Bill, boy, that scat voice sounds like fun! Great job, as usual with the arrangement and performance.

Rick, liked your improv, very mellow. It had a very nice feeling to it. A restorative, you might say!

Jazzwee, aw c'mon, admit that was a duet! No? Well, then, you have really made some kind of a breakthrough, improvising simultaneously with both hands. So hard to do, and quite fascinating!

Augustina, if you have only played that three times, you are a heck of a good reader and player! Note: I got a laugh out of the break for page change - there is a law that says if you have a perfect recording going, just before the ending your music will fall on the floor, or the cat will jump up on the keyboard. Never fails.

HIMS, there was something quite beautiful and quite refreshing about that. Yes, this would have been a top notch recital piece!

Joe, nice work on Shadow of Your Smile - great song, nifty LH arpeggios, beautiful ending.

z32 - that was superb. I wish I could play with such perfect expression, touch, control. Interesting that the beginning notes of the melody are roughly the same as Quando Quando - but what a different feeling! Great intro, btw.

Elssa, another polished and very professional performance. Your intro's, endings, and fills are so cool!

My piece is a song called Nardis, By Miles Davis. I am playing the piano, but all other instruments are computer generated.

http://www.box.net/shared/zbed4gjlps

Ed

P.S. Dennis - careful now; I don't want to have to call the vice squad about your hand fetish!

Ed - you know Nardis is one of my most favorite tunes so you get me excited here BTW - your piano touch is really good. Those chords sound so nicely balanced. You always do a serious production with these submissions. Amazing I like it a lot.

BTW - the two-handed thing is a work in progress. Taking a queue from Brad Mehldau here. I've been just taking baby steps to teach the LH how to improvise. When you combine the two, it's really distracting so it affects my time. In a few months though this will be quite natural. I'm already feeling the difference.

Dennis - Thanks for the kudos. I think I will submit a similar two-handed approach for the Nov. Recital. We'll see if I've made any progress since I posted ATTYA.

I like that Ed. This is jazz with just the right amount of notes, and the right notes. Sounds professional.

Hi everyone, I like all you music, this is a great place and I am glad I found it.
I am a beginer at the piano and I am totaly self taught, I don't know how to read music and I don't know what chords I am playing, I started by learning to play Georg Winston pieces and then after learning some of his work I was able to start creating my own piano pieces so here is mine, this is called Ka'u Pilialoha - My Bond of Love.
I composed this about 3 years ago and I composed it for my wife.
I use a Yamaha P-80 going into my Soundblaster soundcard and then using the soundblaster software I burned it to CD,
I have some more piano pieces I will try to post later on,

The link I first tried did not work so I put it in the html of my website,
I put the link at the top of my website so click onto - Download Unknown Artist - Track 1
and you will see it at http://www.koawoodhawaii.com/
Comments are welcom, good or bad, take care and aloha.

Chris

Elssa, so smooth and seemingly effortless.
Riddler, I always enjoy the band. A great listen. It's been on repeat for at least fifteen minutes now.

Chris: A lovely composition and delightfully played.

Very nice kalai1.

Ed - your piano work on this one is first rate - you are playing with real confidence and your skill really shines on this uptempo piece. Nice strong finish. Well done.

What model Yamaha are you playing? It has a very nice sound.

Riddler, your Nardis is another very fine performance. Quite enjoyable, and as Joe said just the right amount of notes. While I love to listen to Oscar Peterson and the like, a simpler arrangement is more listenable for most of us casual jazz fans. A very nice and professional sounding recording.

Chris, I think it's wonderful that you wrote this for your wife. I wish I were that talented. Well, okay, once I wrote a song for my wife when we were dating, but it's sort of a country-comedy piece called Influenza about the fact that I caught the flu from her while we were dating. Maybe one day I will have the guts to record it and post it here.

Back to your piece, though. This is a sweet gentle melody that conveys your feelings for your wife beautifully. Beautifully played as well. I am listening to it for the second time now.

Augustina - your dueling violins made me smile A very creative use of your keyboard - don't lose that perspective!

Cathy

Thanks, guys, for your kind comments on my video - and my hands! It's amazing what a little dab of Pink Frost Polish will do to make the paws look spiffy. (I don't usually bother with it, but just thought I'd "dress up" for the video).

Just listened to "Nardis".. That was terrific, Ed! Such an exotic/jazzy sound, very polished and smoothly played.

Thanks to Jazzwee, Joe, HIMS, Bill, Dennis, and Elssa, for listening and for the kind comments.


Jazzwee, Re the "production": My ultimate goal is to play in jam sessions, so my BIAB arrangements simulate the arrangements that would be played at the local jazz club. That's why I always include comping for a soloist, and sometimes include trading fours with the drummer, tag endings, etc. Of course, in many cases, I can't play at the tempo they would play at, but someday - - as the song says - - my day will come!



Bill, it is a Yamaha P120. I don't think they make this exact model anymore, but there is a later model that is similar.






That's great, guys, 'cause I can't play any more!!

Ed

HomeInMyShoes - the Schumann was delightful!

Cathy

Here's a little recording of an old Russian folk song:

TWO GUITARS

Just jumping into here -- I've never participated in the piano bars because I've always felt overwhelmed by the talents here . Are there any rules? However even if a beginner like me posts up something, it's bound to be some lame piano piece

I've only listened to Riddler's Nardis so far, and I love it!! The piano is great, but the other computer-generated instruments (which I never even recognized as such) sound great too! Would you mind if I downloaded the file and put it in my mp3 player? What's this kind of music called, by the way? It sounds like something I'd hear at a bar XD

I'm looking forward to listening to the other participants' entries. You're all very inspiring!

marimorimo - only one rule: no rules! Except maybe the piece must be played by you (did this go without saying?) - all pieces by all players at all levels are very welcome - the only "lame" piece is the one not submitted...

JF

From Alfred 3 here's the study piece I just wrapped up - I recorded this using the Bright Piano "voice" on my DP, which sounds just a little honky tonky, although that's actually another of the 8 piano voices available. Some rascals might claim that it sounds like a Yamaha Grand Piano, but I think that might be a gross exaggeration

The piece is in 3 short sections, the 1st of which repeats at the end somewhat uptempo. It's often played as an accompaniment to "hornpipes".

From Wikipedia:

The term hornpipe refers to any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere from the late 17th century until the present day. It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels. Movements were those familiar to sailors of that time: "looking out to sea" with the right hand to the forehead, then the left, lurching as in heavy weather, and giving the occasional rhythmic tug to their breeches both fore and aft.

I think versions of this piece are, and have been, long time staples of many Celtic music soloists and bands, often performed on the "fiddle". You are welcome to dance along - rhythmic tugs on your breeches are optional

Soldier's Joy

Enjoy, JF

P.S. Why a piece danced to by sailors is called "Soldiers Joy" is anyone's guess ... except maybe soldiers watching sailors try to dance found it hilarious...

I've always felt the same. I'd thought about it because the threads were supposed to be less formal than the recitals, but every time I listened to anything posted I felt very intimidated.

Delightful little piece John, and sounds like a fun dance. I wish I could see a video of the dance being performed.

Your piano sounds good.

John Frank - Very nicely played. I am not familiar with this piece but enjoyed it and your performance very much.

Studio Joe - what a great rendition of Shadow of Your Smile! Very well done.

I think I'm thru the first page of the piano bar now. . .

Cathy

Thanks Cathy, I appreciate your time spent in listening and posting your compliments.

John Frank, very nice and peppy! Good playing! BTW you were late this month. Tsk. Tsk. Aren't you always first usually or nearly so

Thanks much - As Yogi used to say: "I would have been here sooner, but I just got here..."

JF

I was working on this piece for some time now and I still can't get it right. Nevertheless, I decided to record it anyway and post it here. Hope you'll like it.

It's Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude in E minor (BWV 941):



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai_zujcIgQ

Kalai1 (Chris),

Your composition is quite excellent, and played with a very nice touch and good feeling.

Welcome to the piano bar, and I hope you continue to contribute.

Ed

Kalai1, I missed your post. Nice composition. Pretty tune and well played. Great that you can join us here.

Thanks, Marimorimo, I'd be flattered to think my music was on your MP3 player!

As to the type of music - - this is an amateur's attempt at playing jazz. The song was written by Miles Davis, one of the all-time great jazz musicians. It is often played by jazz groups but is not well known outside of that community. I am trying to learn to play with a jazz group, so I use my computer and Band-In-A-Box software to emulate the other players.

I hope you decide to participate. I think you will find these folks to be very supportive and helpful.

Ed