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hey Joel and Poly, let me ask you a question. Have either of you gotten paid 3 or 4 figures a night for playing piano? If not then you better start hustling. "Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing....be bop a do bop..."

If you guys want some lessons on improv, my rates are most likely too high for you, hehehe

There are some excellent teachers in the jazz section.

Look up Dave Frank or Mark Polishook's vids and posts. those guys know their stuff. WAYYY better than me.

hey Joel, with close to 5000 posts in 2 years surely you got some time to put up a tune or 2. Let's hear it buddy.

hahaha

Is that "hahaha" just a natural reflex or do you really have nothing better to say.

You have learned well from your master Poly, the 7000 post man. Soon you as the protege will overtake him and his "kingdom"...

I gotta ask do you have real lives or do you just spend all your time at the forums? Don't you have friends or something.

Gotta run, got a date with a pretty lady at a jazz show, then dinner. Don't miss me too much.

Hi FSO, I finally listened to the improvisation e-cital. I thought it was quite exceptional especially with the addition of golden age of the piano evoker Polyphonist. I am looking forward to another if it is in the cards to happen. This one was well done by everyone!

The Wind, you are absolutely right.

The Wind is really blowin' hard today, isn't it?

I'm reminded of a comment a member once made regarding one of The Wind's wise, insightful posts trashing all classical music and its proponents - "Well, with a nickname like Wind, we pretty much know all we'll get from you is hot air."

Apt indeed.

(Oh, by the way - The Wind, you are absolutely right.)

Sings nineties Mariah Carey pseudo jazz tune," You'll only faaa-da in...to..the win-n-nnnnd."

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Poly for a guy who's done 7300 POSTS in 1 year (is that a record here btw? HAHAHAH) I reckon you got about .01 % worth reading.

I know I'm right man, esp when it come to critiquing your music. You should bow down and take some lessons man, might do you some good to prostrate yourself from your self-proclaimed perch.

And your minion Joel following you around like a needy puppy, not sure if that's endearing or just annoying. Can't blame him, he's just a kid looking for a role model. Shame he picked you.

I recommend the both of you take a few months hiatus from this forum. Sounds like you guys are addicted to the sound of your own voice. I feel the narcissism oozing out of your inflated brains. Certainly doesn't help you learn or play music better.

That cover made the composer of the tune a TON of $$. Mariah Carey may be considered gauche, but damn that girl SELLS.

Wow Poly! Didn't know you had this in ya! Very nice. I listened to it while I was having dinner and frankly, sometimes I forgot it was improvisation! Good job to the three of you.

True dat. I'm sure Russ is/was rollin in it. Ironically, that song wasn't even a single on one of her least successful albums.

according to Wikipedia, that album "Emotions" went 4x Platinum in the USA alone. Worldwide sales of 8 million.

Not too shabby, Ol Russ was laughing to the bank. Royalties baby!

Re: the improvisation styles: without theme(s), can sound more like "noodling", a la Hoffman interludes and Cziffra pre-concert warm-ups. Themes, please.
Yes, I'm sure all the jazz greats who played "progressive" jazz were geniuses, but I prefer Brubeck (often derided by jazz DJs as "Richard Rogers" music).

Poly's sixth chords and lush harmonies are present just as in his compositions, kind of like Rachmaninoff: even Rachmaninoff's Bach transcriptions sound like Rachmaninoff. I'm thinking of Manfred Clynes and his computer that detects a composer's unique "fingerprint" as a wave/shape that is the same for any composition by the same composer.

Oh, and "we" would like very much to hear some of that Wangian technique by the longest contributor, used in recordings of standard repertoire by 1) Chopin, 2) Rachmaninoff, 3) Bach, 4) Schumann, 5) Ravel, 6) Scriabin, 7) Godowsky, pretty much in that order.

And before y'all do this again (and "we" do want you to do it again, please!), have (one of) the contributors watch Dudley Moore's video of the almost-never-ending Beethoven Over the River Kwai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazlqD4mLvw

Probably won't help..."we" like him anyway.

I'm a little confused by your post, doctor S, but...


...my improvisation does contain several good themes. Did you listen to the whole thing?

Yes! The whole thing! And it's doggone wonderful!! But me of little brain needs more obvious themes (kind of like a goldfish gaping at the control panel wall of a nuclear power plant), "we" would like a "melody" (ie theme and variations??). Just a request for more. (a la Oliver, the musical..."More?!? You want MORE?!?")

Still a bit confused. My improvisation is stuffed with melodies. For example:

16:04
17:59
23:23
25:04
25:35
29:03

to name just a few of the best ones, the last two being the finale and coda themes respectively.

Agree. Themes. (Did I mention I (the goldfish) really, really liked it/them?)