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Kenjazz - you should be happy with this assignment, you have created a very cohesive solo and as usual a really good feel.

I saw the line up for the Newport Festival , looked fantastic, pity about the rain.

Thanks for posting that, Starr Keys. I love Kristen's version as much as Shirley Jones' in the movie. Would also love to hear your singing/playing version of this song sometime. I think you'd enjoy playing the beautiful and interesting chords/harmony along with singing the melody, and you have the skill to do both IMO. Just to give you an idea, I'm playing it in key of Eb (my favorite key), so the opening chords/progression along with the melody that I am playing are:

Ebmaj7, Edim7, Fm7...So you have a half-step ascending chromatic bass/chord progression.

Till There Was You:

There were bells (Ebmaj9), on the hill (Edim7), but I never (Fm7) heard them ringing (Abm7)....

There are other places you can use those nice jazzy chromatic chord progressions in this song.

Thank you Jazztpt. It was funny that they are all such superb musicians that they were able to adjust their set lists on the fly to include some "rainy day" kind of number. Dick Hyman also went for Sunny Side of the Street when it was coming down in buckets to get people laughing.

The founder of the event ( can't remember his name) told an interesting story. He said that the very first Newport Jazz Festival also featured pouring rain. The photos of crazy jazz fans sitting in the deluge to hear their favorite performers went world-wide, and that is how Newport became this big yearly jazz event.

I got notified by Google/YouTube that someone "shared" my video. Of course, I'm always flattered when someone likes or comments. I can't believe I did this in my "rookie year" as an adult beginner. This was the 2nd Joplin piece that I learned and it was the height of my piano obsession when I was practicing 3-4 hours a day. smile
FIVE YEARS later, there's nothing I'd really change in my interpretation either aside from getting rid of some of the flubs.


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I'm almost embarrassed to post this as a reply to Kenjazz after his masterful recording, but here's my attempt at Blue Bossa anyway. This is my first music post and only my third post overall since joining the forum a couple days ago. Still shaky, but making progress.

https://soundcloud.com/wfeiereisen/blue-bossa-8-7-14-take-1

I've been back at the piano for about two years after having been away for more than 40 years. I took lessons as a child, and again while in college, but never progressed very far. These last two years have been great fun. I only regret that I was away for so long.

WJF, I think this sounds great! I'm only playing it fast because of the exercise, but I'm much more drawn to the smoother sound and tempo in yours. You have very nice melodic lines and accent chords to end the phrases. Keep it going!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Elssa. I'd love to try to tackle this sometime as a cocktail piano/vocal with some of the runs from your tutorial.

Also, thanks for pointing out the chromatic progression, and the fact that you can use it in more than one place--always on the lookout for songs that have this because they are generally easier to play and sing. I use them more than once in my accompaniment arrangement of Emily. But I'm afraid if I sung this it would have to be a smoky jazzy interpretation. No way I'm going to be able to sing it like Kristen or Shirley.

Riddler - Close enough for love - another one new to me, though it's now wormed its way into my head and I have been going round the house humming it. Certainly a haunting theme with changes that twist and turn. Your version beautifully played and paced.

I agree with the above and would add you have great time, look forward to hearing more, well done.

Thanks again - I can send you a PM about those other chromatic chord progressions if interested. I'm so frustrated with my Roland keyboard, can't do all the frills and trills that I want to because of the sticky keys.. Still looking for someone that doesn't charge an arm and a leg to fix it. Oh, well..

I think your "smoky jazzy" version would be great. I might even try to sing it myself sometime, but I have a very soft voice, so I don't know how it would come out on a recording - probably need to get a mike. lol

I really think with a beautiful song like this, any style would fit.. I especially love the Beatles' version with the Latin rhythm. Might try it with some kind of bossa nova rhythm sometime.

TILL THERE WAS YOU

Elssa - Thanks. I PMd re the PDF. Nice bossa on the McCartney version but a strange take on the lyric, sounds like someone's delivering a box of roses to him in a meadow. LOL! Maybe you have to be British.

Ed This is a lovely arrangement of one of my favorite composer's best songs. Gorgeous harmonies really compliment the melody without overwhelming its simplicity, and especially liked the bluesy part. Also listened to the Mehldaus' version and I agree, Brad's playing is brilliant, but overall my favorite version is by a singer-accompanist, the great Shirley Horn:

Kenjazz, great job on Blue Bossa, my favorite bossa tune. Your lines are very lyrical and satisfying, the way they weave between major and minor. It makes for wonderful listening! BTW, I am surprised and flattered to see that you associate me with Reflections in D! Glad you had a good time at Newport, rain or no!

Weiyan, well done. I think it has been a while since you participated – please continue!

Augustina, Ladypayne, a spirited rendition with lots of energy! Well done.

Lean to tail, Youtube says this is a private video now???

Starrkeys, interesting how Kristen Chenoweth starts out in the key of B (Yikes!!!), then modulates to Eb near the end for dramatic effect. Works for me. Also, I must say, I have no words to express how great that Shirley Horn version of Close Enough For Love is! Thanks so much for the link.

Cebukid, a tune that really grabs me, has a good Joplin feel to it. Like you, I can' t think of anything to change. Great job for rookie year!

WJF, another excellent rendition of Blue Bossa! You play with great rhythmic precision, which is so important for bossa. I am envious. Wonderful melodic solo, I really liked the lines. BTW, welcome to the crowd of people here who have restarted after a long hiatus - we all wish we had restarted earlier.

Ed

Here are a couple of great old tunes from the Great American Songbook:

Someone To Watch Over Me (Gershwin)



Our Love Is Here To Stay (Gershwin)




My favorite singer/player: Michael Feinstein

Jazztpt - I just have to say I really love this "great standards" phase you've been going through lately. I think you're doing a great service to the young aspiring pianists and singers on the site keeping "the Great American Songbook" alive and helping a new generation to fall in love with it all over again. And speaking of falling in love again, I know you will with this:

Teodor I think you sound amazing. What an experience it must be to create a sound like this with others. Preparing for piano performance can be such lonely work. I read your thread about your doubts over your choice of career and piano pedagogy program and thought of Veda in Mildred Pearce who in this scene tells the story of how after working for years to pursue a career as a concert pianist, discovered quite by accident that her real gift and vocation is for singing. Interestingly, the author of Mildred Pearce, James Cain, prepared for a career as an opera singer, only to discover through fat e that his real vocation was for writing. This was lucky for him in more ways than one, since he loved to drink and alcoholism suits a writer much better than it does an opera singer.

Thank you, Kenjazz. I am locked on tempo by the computer-generated accompaniment and that has helped my sense of tempo greatly. It's almost like playing with a band. I'm forced to keep going through mistakes and I'm forced to find my way back to the right place in the form, on its tempo and not mine. So much more pleasant that practicing with a metronome. :-)

jazztpt: (My Funny Valentine) That was a very creative and charming arrangement. Care to share what jazzy chord changes you were using here?

Here's another chromatic chord progression type of song from the Great American Song Book (sorry for the poor sound quality).

DEEP PURPLE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Purple_(song)

Not at all here's the chord chart from the iReal app.

https://app.box.com/s/io54ct1vle2kpd7i7rad

I usually make a few changes to these as below:

I play the decending bass line option
Bar 16 I play Bbsus b9 ( actualy I think of it as Bmajor b5 with a Bb root - and voice it that way )
2nd Bar of section B instead of Gm7 I play Eb/G , same in bar 4.
5th bar of section B I play |Ebmaj7 / D7b9 G7b9|
One other thing I do is on the turn arounds at the end of each section I tend to play G7sus b9 instead of G7b9 - ( again I think of this as AbMajor 7 b5 with a G root - and voice it that way)

I do the 7sus b9 thing a lot ( maybe too much ) but I really like the sound, Kenjazz had it sussed a while back , though as I say above I don't really think of it that way but that's just me. ie for G7sus 9b ( Abmaj7 b5 with a G root , I would use an Ab lydian type scale - starting on G of course )

Starr Keys- thanks for the YouTube link , I must watch that film again , great film and the piano playing is nothing less than superb.

Jazzpt, It's good to find another iRealPro user and thanks for chord chart. In return I'd be happy to post a couple of my charts. What is this app.box.com? Is it like dropbox? Are you able to post the actual .html file? Or is it restricted to .png of the chart?