First measure, why call it Db Lydian? The scale works great, but why would Db be the tonic in this case? Why not call it Eb myxolydian ? Is it that it allows you to think Lydian throughout?

Naima at home.

Recorded live at home on a H2 playing my 1928 Östlind & Almquist upright.



Note to self: oil the sustain pedal and get a new chair asap!

For those who might be curious, I'm playing (piano trio) the cocktail hour of a charity function this evening, and here is the likely set list. I've tried to keep it very mainstream, and no real ballads, but that might change when I get a feel for the event:

Four
Green Dolphin Street
Just Friends
Tenor Madness
Song for My Father
Peri's Scope
Morning
Bud Powell
How Insensative
St. Thomas
Take the A Train.

So here's my work in progress on Naima.

I'm wanting to try to incorporate some fills during the last A section (which I tried here, unsuccessfully), but it requires sostenuto to pull it off. I just got my piano tuned Monday after moving it so I've only had a chance to work on this a couple of times since then. No sostenuto on the keyboard.

Overall I still need to work on the timing, and I got lost during the improv, last 2 measures of the B section... oh well.

I think I like the idea of keeping the Eb and Bb pedals consistent throughout... kind of like a drone effect. But I'm not sure. What do you guys think?

http://www.box.net/shared/jnvvr3x11m9r7lqms6nd

Scott, that was great setting a groove on solo piano. Tough to maintain that. Really good ideas there. I really liked the effect of E7#11 and you went outside. It was tastefully done. What did you play there?

I don't have much piano time in today so I'll have to discuss things in theory here.

The above is of course all over the Eb pedal so it's just modal I guess. No harmonic functions that I'm aware of.

Wha....? The functions of the chords in bar three to four are cadencial. The Ab has to be a resting point.

As for bar the B section, one and two it really goes from stable to unstable, acting like I to V variants.

I guess I should work up a recording sometime soon too...

Yea, I see what you mean. I should've thought about it more . In particular if the Ab is the goal in the first section, the A7 is certainly moving towards that and even the first chord seen as Ebsus sets up the Ab as the resting point. There's no doubt that there is a constant shifting between stable and unstable. I just don't really see it as being conventional, but rather more obscured by the unusual harmonic structures. It seems that the underlying modes can be more easily traced back to conventional tonic-dominant relationships.

Thanks for the comments jazzwee. I'm going to keep working on it. Are you referring to my voicing for the E7#11 during the head or what I played during the improv?

Naima at home.

Recorded live at home on a H2 playing my 1928 Östlind & Almquist upright.



Note to self: oil the sustain pedal and get a new chair asap!