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While most of you are frantically preparing your pieces for Recital #33, I'll open the February Piano Bar.

I really needed something to shake off these Polar Vortex Blues (good name for a song BTW) in the frigid Boston area. Here is a take on Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra. Spyro Gyra was a popular jazz fusion band in the US in the mid-1970s. I don't know if they were popular outside of the US, but for those of us of a "certain age", you couldn't help but be influenced by their uplifting music.

I'll also offer this patently absurd video to go along with the song if you need more uplifting...



Morning Dance

Morning Dance Blog

A little jam from last Thursday. Just in time for the bar.

Afro Blue
https://app.box.com/s/sbc3yyl3ssn7598j0sm1

Wow -- that's just super Ken. I think I'll have to learn this tune. Spyro Gyra is still popular and is frequently heard on Smooth Jazz radio here. Such a great recording and you're making that piano sound just heavenly.

SWEET!

I'm dividing this piece into divisions to practice , this is the first. Any tips would help.
[video]

Claire de Lune Piano practice 1 from Pianonewbie1 on Vimeo.

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The coloring is for effect... (lol)
it's built on a chromatic scale.

Your solo was awesome! So much movement within that vamp. Was there a model that you guys were shooting for? This wasn't quite the Mongo Santamaria or the Coltrane version either. Is there someone else that you heard do it this way, or is this the band's innovation? Either way it sounds great.

Thanks Ken! We just use Afro blue is a platform for any minor vamp so yes, it is a band thing and was not intended to copy Mongo or Coltrane. Afro blue just gives a 3/4 minor vamp rhythmic platform. Really fun to do because they're so unpredictable. If the singer wasn't strumming a guitar I'd have more freedom. We'd probably play it free. But sometimes putting a limit makes one more imaginative.

BTW the singer sang it in a different key (without stating it) so there was initial panic....LOL.

My first take of Bach prelude f minor from Book I. I decided to record something everyday. It's good. I am finding all the kind of improvement needs. Goal is to make it better my recital on March 1st. Fugue won't be ready until ready. I have not started it yet.

The strange sound you hear is, oh, shoot, I'm counting.

Ken - nice tune. Love it. also love your family picture. both babies, I mean.
Pianonewbie - that's a beautiful piece. It may take a long time but it's worth it. I think it's kind of the piece people come back to time and time again.

HaHa. Thank you FarmGirl and Jazzwee for the nice comments. But those are not my kids! I just found the cutest possible kids, babies and puppies frolicking that I could find on the internet that would go along with an uplifting Morning Dance...

Pianonewbie - I agree with Farmgirl on this one. My Mother-in-Law plays this so beautifully. She learned it as one of her first pieces and has it locked into muscle memory. Of all the pieces that she knows, it is the one that she always returns to.

Farmgirl - That didn't sound like a first attempt to me! Very nice.

Lovely playing Pianonewbie1! Looking forward to the rest of the piece.

Hey FarmGirl, that sounded great! Volume is a little low though (for next time).

Ken, it's been a long time since hearing Syro Gyra! Great smooth jazz tune you chose and your playing is ever-growing more relaxed and confident with each submission - thanks for your music, Ken - Love that compilation of dancing children, too - a fun way to start a Sunday morning, or any morning for that matter!

Jazzwee~ the interplay between you and your players is fantastic! Your bass player's got some serious chops. The accompaniment and solo you put forth sounds very second-nature to you - it's been very interesting and inspiring to me following your development over the past few years. Your musical vocabulary has grown exponentially! The folks in the club are really tuned in to your music.

pianonewbie1 - Claire de Lune is such a beautiful piece of music and it certainly is worthy of learning in parts. The fingering is tricky in a few sections and I am interested in watching how you work through those. Look forward to hearing the final version.

FarmGirl~ Your Bach is quite nice. As a first take for that Prelude, you play it very relaxed and no doubt you'll be ready to present it for your March recital.

Glen

Guys thanks for your warm comments. Your words gave me courage. I was mulling the idea to post it in the member recording section of the pianist corner because I do need people's advise on the piece. I don't know how to take it further from trills to dynamics within a month until my recital. I probably will receive VERY direct feedback there. So coming her first and getting your warm review was very important for me. Thanks.

Blimey, this place is frenetic at the moment! Everything`s happening; Can`t keep up . . . Here`s an old `un . . .Poor old Roberta must be turning in her grave. If she`s dead that is . . . .

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=izA6htJVWYg[/video]

kenjazz
Ken, that was really something! Kids tell their own story. Little black lad got me. Future boxer? With a smile on his face? That`d be a first!
Lovely slow bossa. Real easy listening jazz. Gotta give it a crack soon . . .

You`re having far too much fun! Really great atmospherics there. I could smell the cigarette smoke (in my dreams) taste the beer . . . wonderful stuff. Touch of "The Doors" in your playing?

pianonewbie1
You have a methodical approach here which will bear fruit. Time produces fluency and you`ll soon have more of this under your belt. Well done!

FarmGirl

It`s easy to see why some folk are stuck in a genre. Some genre! Who couldn`t lose themselves in Bach? Like shopping at the supermarket. Too much choice now isn`t there? Lovely job, girl, and a clean recording (could be louder, mind). Is that one of the "48"?

Peter yes it is number 12 of the book 1. You are absolutely right for the choices. I would like to learn to play well. After I decided it I realized that I actually don't know how. Or should I say that I have realized that I don't have experience of bringing anything to performance level.