When I play easier pieces such as this one, I don't need to watch the hands so much, also the room only appears that dark on the camera, I don't think it was impossible to see, it was just dark enough to set the mood.


Thanks for all the comments.

I have an exam in sight-reading and transposition coming up soon, I need to stop playing what I like and do more practice.

KaptenKawai: What a performance! I thought I was listening to the radio... it was that good! Can't believe you haven't played piano that long. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to more from you on here!!

jazzwee~ Very nice Footprints! It's an interesting piece of music and the idea you played it so well by sight-reading the score, then improvising on the fly is simply fantastic. That's no easy task, further magnified by the fact you had to bring up the rear after everyone had been put through the ringer. I never looked at this piece as a waltz since it's in 6/4. The waltz intention really changes it's face. Great work. Must have been fantastic learning from Bill Cunliffe.

Glen

Small Minor
Man I Love
April8-004

A good way to start the day. Been a busy week and glad I started by catching up on some fine music.

Elssa~ Windmills of Your Mind is one of my favorite Michel Legrand pieces.

Larry~ I really enjoyed the second version of Blue Smoke. Great melody you bring out in the bass. Love the theme of this piece! Very cool all this has stayed with you while you've been doing other things only to come back to it with such confidence!

Saucermancer~ very sweet tune you brought to the bar this month. Look forward to more.

Ladypayne~ good rendition of Heart and Soul

LBE~ That was some fine accordion playing there! Your left hand is fantastic. What fun to be able to create music like that!

LadyChen~ thank you for the hymns. You play very well and welcome to the Piano Bar.

Trap~ so glad you are playing again! Love your intro to Schubert's b-min waltz. You really expressed it well. You bring out the melody very sensitively.

ppp~ never heard of Bertini - very sweet piece of music, delicately played. Love the modern sound of Bartok. Good job!

Teo~ Final Fantasy was nicely done. Good to see you playing.

Bill~ Danny Boy was wonderful! I am amazed by the fact you can accompany yourself so well while singing. Very good rendition.

Amaruk~ Good work on Pachelbel's Canon. My preference is for the slower version. Its a beautiful piece of music. Seems like you relaxed a bit when you went to the slower version.

CK~ Hasten Down the Wind was great! You've got some seriously good skills being able to sing and accompany yourself so well. It's incredible you play like that, especially considering you've not been at the keyboard that long. Great musicianship, indeed.

Small Minor
Man I Love
April8-004

I haven't participated in the piano bar lately, but I have been peeping in and listening to some of the great presentations! Great stuff!

I've been working on a new blues tune entitled "I thought you loved my baby"; I finally got it together enough for a rough recording... it ain't all that good, but it is original.

"I thought you loved me baby"

I made a few errors, but nothing too bad... you all can judge for yourselves.

Rick

Thanks, all, for your kind comments. =^o^=

Teodor: I really enjoyed your Final Fantasy.. Now that's the type of music I could listen to all day. Very well done.

Bill: Wonderful playing and singing as always with Danny Boy - just beautiful.

Amaruk: Canon in D was lovely - great flow - enjoyed both versions.

Rick: That was loads of fun - someday would love a video of how you do that.

Well, one more film theme here.. EXODUS. Hope you enjoy.

A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was working on a two-song holiday medley, but I realized yesterday when I couldn't finish it in time that my only hope of salvaging all my work was to do one at a time. Here is the first song. Hope to have the other done by tomorrow night.

I've enjoyed everyone's contributions and listened to many twice on breaks from working on my pieces. I wanted to get this posted before the holiday weekend ended, but I will definitely comment on all of your wonderful contributions as soon as I finish the other song I've been working on.

Elssa~ Your playing Exodus brought back so many memories. When I first heard it, I just could not get the melody out of my mind. You play this with such feeling = a fabulous rendition - Thank you!

Rick~ I always enjoy your high-energy swinging and boogie blues piano and your timely lyrics. Always puts a smile on my face. Good work.

Starr~ So glad you've been able to play some. That was a fantastic arrangement!! Great left hand work keeping the pulse. Your playing is so much more relaxed. I loved it

Here's a very short, light, bluesy cut from the other night.

Hullo! Its a piece by Joe Hisaishi, "Always With Me" or "Itsudemo Nando Demo" in Japanese romanji.



Thanks! Will work more on my technique!

Thank you so much, Glen. I worked a lot harder on the left hand (as I'm sure was obvious:)) as I tried as much as possible to spare my bad right arm._ The stride and walking bass were all my own embellishments--the original easy piano score used mostly single notes in the bass, mainly the 1 and the 5.

Rick - I've listened to a few of your songs but that was definitely the best so far. That could grace any blues performer repertoire. It has all the right characteristics and interesting lyrics for the form.

Elssa - As always you pick good material. I love those old movie themes.

Starr Keys - good work

In landing - that was a little different for you, I couldn't quite place it stylistically in my head.

Thanks all for the compliments.

(Trying to put ego aside)it never occurred to me to do anything other than sing and play piano at the same time - the same as I always have on the guitar. I'm blessed in that it comes pretty naturally to me. The challenge for me is to fill out my simplistic chord style (eg. to fill things out like Bill does) and to move beyond playing root and 5th in the left hand.

I credit my progress to date to many decades of guitar playing in bands plus at least 10 hours practice a week and sometimes more (I've done 10 hours alone on a weekend many times) since I got my piano - somewhere upwards of 500 hours in the last (almost) one year.

Thanks, Captain. Beautiful job with Hasten Down the Wind! I don't remember that song, but it's perfect for your voice. Those 10-hour practice days really seem to be paying off. A word of caution, though, just be careful doing it too often. I practiced that long each day for a week and had tendonitus the next.

Bill - Another classic. Great job.

Amarak - Really enjoyed your Canon variation. Steady ryhthm.

CapK - You have a seriously good voice.. and your piano skills are catching up...it won't be long till you're out there gigging.

I decided to do the responses first, as I'm not sure I feel up to recording my second piece. Tomorrow, my mom is going in for her second cancer-related surgery in two years and I wanted to at least record one for her before that.

LadyPayne -- Great classic Americana piece and 50's rock theme with a classical touch, both well played! you seem to have knack for finding unusual and striking arrangements. And you always seem up to their challenges.

Augustina -- Continuing your love affair with Asian-influenced music becomes you. And I always love your child's-heart picks. You are playing very well, these days.

BillM -- Nostalgia City! I love both songs and you did a great job with both.

Captain K -- I already stated earlier in this thread what I thought of your song and your voice, but your playing is amazing for one year.

Amaruk - Beautifully played and I loved the visuals.

Inlander -- very mystical sounding composition -- my favorite kind. A few more like this and you should have no trouble selling not only your cd's but also your sheet music collections.
Minor pice -- I love this style and you do it to perfection! Could you please please do it with Lush Life by Billy Strayhorn one of these days?!!
The Man I love --along with Jazzpoint's Porgy, my favorite standards of the bar this month.

Teodor -- I can see you're making the most out of your pedagogy degree!

Elssa -- Tchaikovsky and you were made for each other. Wonderful job with both pieces! And great--really great!--job with Gershwin.

beachcraft -- Lovely phrasing on this beautiful waltz. Your playing seems to have progressed by leaps and bounds.

Studio Joe -- very nice composition, well played. You might face some copyright infringement claims on the title, though.lol.

Jazzpoint -- This is one of my absolute favorites, and I can't find the words to express how beautifully you arranged and played it. Loveddddddd it!

Jazzwee -- I can see why they were so positive. What's to criticize! You do what you do like the pro you've become!

Rickster -Great Job! I agree with whoever said this is the best thing you've ever done. Loved the big Jerry Lee Lewis finish. You make it all look so easy!

Lady Chen -- Both Beautifully and inspiringly played! Makes me want to see you play!

ladypayne - Heart and Soul Variations - Is this a variations of the classic 2 person piano song popularized in the movie Big or is this a different Heart and Soul. Either way, I really liked your improv - an interesting composition.

Amaruk - Canon Fantasy - I usually prefer the sound of a digital to most acoustic pianos but I listened to both versions and couldn't come up with a clear favorite - they are both very well played and a pleasure to listen to. I guess the thumbs up at the end of the digital version gives this a slight edge although I prefer the wider angle of the acoustic version - I like watching people play (not just disjointed floating hands). You are a very good player and I liked the arrangement a lot.

CaptainKawai - Great song choice. I love the Linda Rondstadt version. Your voice is a good fit for this song.

Elssa - Theme from Exodus - You play this with majesty and power. An excellent job - you have a real knack for capturing the mood of these movie themes that you have been playing lately.

Starr Keys - Now if that doesn't bring a smile to your face nothing will. What a great old-timey sing along piece. I had to play it a couple of times and couldn't help singing along. Great tune!

Inlanding - What a cool and bouncy tune! The EP voice on your DP was just right for this groove. Speaking of groove - where did you get those pants???

Rickster - Way to shuffle those ivory, Killer. Between you and Starr Keys my mood has definitely improved this evening. This one hits your sweet spot.

Thanks Inlanding, Captain Kwai, and Amaruk. The support is great.

Thanks, Bill. I think you and I both love these 'old guy tunes' and have similar tastes in that vein.

Thanks again, all, for listening and the kind comments.

Starr Keys: I loved your rendition of Four Leaf Clover - nice and bouncy with great harmonies and stride style.. Good job!

Glen: Another great spicy, saucy, bluesy arrangement!

Well, here's another oldie that I had fun playing..

Love Letters in the Sand

Wow! Elssa, watching you ride those keys in Love Letters in the Sand is like watching an expert surfer ride the waves that leave those letters in the sand. Great job!

Thank you so much for your kind words on my attempt to simply stand upright on the board and keep her afloat.

Here is the second attempt on another Irish favorite that was, after "Clover", the second half of a two-song medley. It is done in a completely different style and one pretty new to me. I lose a little focus towards the end, but considering its my first real attempt at jazz improvisation and is, due to tendonitus, performed only with my left hand, I'm not unhappy with how it came out. Hope you like it:

http://www.box.com/s/91bc826887385cdf78cf

Hee hee, thanks, but recording the audio is nervewracking enough for me, nevermind video! lol

Starr~ What an interesting free-play. I get a visceral response from listening to it. The fact you play it entirely with your left hand is amazing.

Perhaps it's my own mood, but you leave lots of open, unresolved phrases hanging, then start another phrase, only to end the tune with a slow arpeggio up the keyboard on a very positive note. I like it very much.

Glen

Starr Keys: That was really nice! I know how it is.. I type for a living full time (medical transcription), and the tendinitis can really mess you up sometimes, but you did a great job!

Glen, thank you so much for your usual thoughtful and insightful feedback:



Thank you. I think working around limitations or within a smaller set of possibilities frees me for some reason. It was the same on being forced to work with only three chords and one key (C) at PM, it helped unlock my creativity. I've tried "free play" or jazz-style improvisation before many times but never really succeeded with it.

.

Thank you, but I'm not sure I was aware I was doing that. I was more focused on trying to vary the rhythms and chord colorings and fills so that playing the simple repetitive melodic phrases with only five fingers wouldn't sound too boring. At the same time, I tried not to alter it so much that people wouldn't recognize it.