Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Members Recordings - Pianist Corner Ellington--"In A Sentimental Mood," (arr. Bill Boyd)

Freshly tuned Steinway L (EBVT III), the property of one of the residents at an assisted living center where I play regularly. The piano is located in the dining hall. I've been privileged to tune and play this piano for almost a year, now. What a joy!

I know I could have stretched the tempo a bit, especially at the beginning, but I pulled this out of my satchel to play on a whim... It's been awhile since I've practiced it, and it shows.

Hope you like it!

https://app.box.com/s/yegfj888p37c9ja5efb9

--Andy

Nice arrangement, nicely played.

What recording equipment do you use, and how is it set up in relation to the piano?

Thank you.

Regards,

Thanks, Bruce! And thanks for listening!

I used a Tascam DP-004 for this recording. Here are some pictures of it in use on a different piano, but I used the same orientation on the Steinway, today.

Here's the digital recorder and the settings:



I placed the recorder on the right of the music desk with the microphones pointed into the piano (with the lid fully open), oriented at an angle:





I transferred the file from the digital recorder into CuBase, where I increased its volume using the "gain" setting (not "Normalize," after reading your Brahms Op. 118 thread, and wondering long about all of that), and then converted it from .wav to .mp3 and uploaded it to Boxnet.

Truly gorgeous.

That was wonderful, Andy My assisted living residents would love it, too. I'm glad I saw the post -

Cathy

Andy - I enjoyed the background noise and conversation - gave a real sense of the assisted living center.

I also loved the sound of the piano!!! How lucky you are to be able to tune and play it from time to time.

Thanks for posting the photos. The Tascam DP-004 is an impressive little unit - with great mics. Looks much different that my own Tascam DR-100 (which is even smaller).

And last - but not least - thanks for your very pleasing rendition of the Ellington tune!!! Hope you can get a chance in the future to make more recordings on this instrument.

Hey, friends! Thanks for listening and for the kind words.

Cathy--this arrangement is from this book:

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/jazz-favorites-sheet-music/2894255?ac=1

If you can play "G.I. Jive," (and I know you can!), then you can play any of the tunes in "Jazz Favorites"!

--Andy

Thanks, Andy! The Great Karnak feels a Christmas wish coming on

Cathy

Thanks for the info Andy !!

Back in 1970 in NYC when I was singing with a community choral group, I walked into the rehearsal hall - and was surprised to find myself standing a few feet away from Ellington as he was finishing up his own rehearsal. Recognized him immediately - and realized I was in the presence of greatness !!

Andy,

Let me know what you think of the following arrangement of "In a Sentimental Mood" as it also has been one of my favorite tunes to play. Here is my recording of a transcription (done by another transcriber I hired) of an excellent rendition by the French pianist, Pascal Wintz - and, I play the transcription below on a Kawai CA95 digital piano:

https://app.box.com/s/gueyivgg5ybrzmk2qgtq

Now, to compare to the original - here it is, by Pascal Wintz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laQg85rM4As

The transcription I play from is note-for-note precise and accurate and the arrangement by Pascal is one of the best I have found. You will find that I improvise (or, add in) a few small embellishments to the given score.

As you can hear - Pascal Wintz is a great jazz pianist!

Ooh I'm a massive fan of Duke Ellington I shall listen to this later!

Very ornate and slidey, pv88! You play it well! One of the challenges to playing transcriptions and/or arrangements, I think, is to bring that feel of spontaneity to the keys--that sense of unfolding thought, quickness of feeling, and finding a freshness in the attack. The transcription you shared provides good material with which to practice all of those qualities.

Since we're trading links, here is one of my current fave versions of "In A Sentimental Mood." I realize the voice may not be to everyone's liking, but I love some of the tones and the expression the singer brings to it. The piano solo is somewhat un-imaginative, and the odd two-piano sound is a little distracting, but it's the overall mood of this rendition and the sonic intimacy that I really dig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcwc...O2cGcztiv7jS915XYpYRe9OvDOf&index=15

This rendition, though, cannot be beat :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtfL...O2cGczi4pfjbUcOf_Pd7TacfiIR&index=15

--Andy