Concert Review
All Keys Concert
Piano Department Faculty Concert March 6, 2008
Berklee College of Music Performance Center
Pianists: Stephanie Tiernan, Joanne Brackeen, Francesca Tanksley, John Mulroy, John Arcaro, Jeff Covell, Bob Winter, Carmen Staaf, Bruce Thomas, Robert Christopherson, Tony Germain, Greg Wardson, Laslo Gardony, David Limina, Matt Jenson, Rebecca Cline, Leo Blanco.

It is amazing that one school can boast this many piano faculty. Berklee, in addition to being a jazz and pop-music school advertises that it also has a classical piano department. I don't know whether any of this list of faculty teaches classical or not. I can tell you that several of this list probably teach and perform in the pop area rather than jazz. It was a long concert and I did not stay to the bitter end as some of the later performing artists were touted as playing other keyboards in the concert, including those belonging to a laptop. There was also a great deal of non-acoustic hardware on the stage and since I heard all but the last 3 faculty listed and had not heard that extra hardware I counted myself as being lucky and left as I didn't want to press my luck.

It was a pleasurable surprise to see Joanne Brackeen's name as faculty. I have always loved her playing and have most of her trio albums. She played a duet with Stephanie Tiernan entitled "Moon Out," a massive reworking of the tune "Moonglow." The initial stride treatment became a point of departure for Joanne and Stephanie to take the audience by the hand, taking them "where no man has gone before" to paraphrase the opening title of the old TV series, "Star Trek." The gals were dressed in turn-of-the-century outfits. I don't think there was an ostrich feather left in Boston as their costumes used them all.

Francesca Tanksley did a trio version of "Nardis" with able assistance by members of the drums and bass faculties. She played quite nicely if exuberantly. She swapped 8's, 4's, 2's and tried to do 1's as Bill's later trio did. It's difficult to get things coordinated with a drummer and bassist you don't work with all the time, on a very reverberant stage, and with a decidedly non-jazz sound reinforcement crew but they did pretty well. I want to hear more of Francesca.

Next came Jeff Covell with guest Jim Cameron on tenor. Jeff tinkled on the piano for intro then launched into a sort of medium swing ostinato outlining a D minor to Eb 7 tonality - riff , reminiscent of Stan Kenton's "Intermission Riff." The tune turned out to be "Alone together." He used the same idea each time for the first 8. It was interesting and but got to sound a little cumbersome when played repeatedly. Jeff chose to play a lot of left hand bass lines. When piano players do this I'm reminded of an old friend's philosophy who's also a jazz pianist. When I worked with him as a duo, bass and piano, he would admonish me not to play in four. He said if you do that, the audience starts missing the drummer. When Jeff played so many walking left hand bass notes I missed the bass player in the group.

John Mulroy came on the stage by himself which was a welcome relief since this was a piano faculty concert and I wanted to hear the individual pianist's stuff. Mulroy's tune was an original called "Coin Toss," at times following a complex chord progression, perhaps with descending seventh chords, alternating with what was almost a blues. Mulroy was the first solo pianist to really makes use of a polite touch on the instrument and it was a pure pleasure to listen to. The tune sort of skittered between different tonalities, never over-bearing and always intriguing to the ear. I must get a lead sheet of that tune - which is probably the most sincere complement I can pay to the performer.

Next came John Arcaro for a solo piano tune. From his first few notes I could tell that he, like Mulroy, knew what the word touch meant regarding the piano. John played the great standard, "I Should Care" in a beautiful solo piano treatment, not unlike Bill Evans might have played, playing a variety of chord voicing, chord substitutions, and always varying the texture of the setting. His playing and insight into the tune, and the instrument was a continual pleasure from beginning to end. He also used a modulation scheme that Bill Evans might have played, starting in the key of C, moving to Eb after a few choruses, brightening things up considerably with a move to F then bringing it all back home to C again. Of all the pianists I heard that night I made it a point to find out more about him, where he is playing, and looking for a situation where I might get the opportunity to sit in with him.

Another two piano team played next, Bob Winter and Carmen Staaf. I can see where some of the faculty helped the long concert along by teaming up. These guys were delightful, playing the perennial favorite "Willow Weep For Me," first in a straight ahead style, then in an exciting Latino version where pianist Staff really shined. Winter's playing was the glue that help contain the powerful Staff's playing and made for a beautiful "sturm und drang" type of presentation.

Next the announcer, John Limina, (whom we heard later on the updated Hammond B3 organ) announced that the next tune was in tribute to NYC pianist Fred Hersch who was "very ill" and that pianist/faculty member Bruce Thomas would play Fred's composition "Ballad." Bruce played it tenderly and musically. I immediately emailed Fred when I got home and inquired about his illness. He responded with a return email the next morning stating that he had been very sick but he is fine now, good news for those of us who love his music.

Bob Christopherson followed with an original composition, "Natural Evolution" on solo piano. Bob also demonstrated a nice sense of touch. the music was interesting, tonal, with a nice sense of harmony but my immediate thought was that Bob's playing was plasma in search of some sort of bottle to pour it in to. The music was fine but just needed some form to go along with it.

A two piano version of "Softly As A Morning Sunrise" followed, played by Tony Germain and Greg Wardson. It was interesting in spots but seemed to go one or two choruses too many. The playing was a little too energetic for me and I detected no identifiable sections where one player soloed and the other accompanied, which is and absolute must in this type of format.

Next came pianist Laszlo Gordony who played something he called "In Transit" which appropriately was a signal to me that I had better be in transit out of there. The announcer, Limina, started a tribute to Chicago organ trio style of blues/jazz playing as I made my exit. Things were getting a little loud and commercial sounding for my taste so it was a good time to leave.

I look forward to more concerts at Berklee. My apologies to Matt Jenson, Rebecca Cline, and Leo Blanco - I hope to hear you play on another occasion. There is an upcoming tribute concert to recently deceased Herb Pomeroy on April 1st. Herb is the only jazzer that I know of who has a scale named after him.

Walking Bassics by Ed Fuqua

Walking Bassics
The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing
by Ed Fuqua
a Sher Music Publication

I heard of the bassist Ed Fuqua several years ago and was prompted to investigate further as my wife's maiden name is Fuqua. When I saw this book at Chuck Sher's web site it gave me reason to find more information about him and what better way to start than by reviewing his bass method book.

Walking Bassics is just that. It goes through several exercises and helps establish the right mind set for any bassist to get into walking. And, of course, if you don't agree that walking is the basis for all mainstream jazz bass playing you are probably playing a bass guitar and might not ever long to move up to the "real thing," a big double bass.

Ed states the four basic ways that a bassist can delineate the chord changes then he demonstrates each of these with a written line and that line is played by Ed and a minimalist drummer and pianist on the included CD. Then these four methods, or note choices, can be combined in various ways to play great bass lines.

On page 8 there is a quote by Ed that really sums up all jazz playing on all instruments, "Getting the sound of a tune's chord progression in your ears is vital to getting your head out of the way and letting your ears do the driving." To that end Ed advocates building a "chord line" chart. This is a process that works for all jazz musicians, not just bassists. For years I advocated that all jazz instrumentalists learn to play a walking jazz bass line on their instruments. This helps students develop a melodic but simple bass line for single voice instruments (like trumpet and sax, not guitar and piano) to learn to "comp," helping the soloist in the improvisation class know exactly where he/she is with regard to the chord changes and the form of the tune. (You can even pair like or different instruments up, to take turns soloing and comping - helping the soloist to keep his place in the changes, and the form, without having to read the tune from the music stand.) It is even possible to teach drummers to do this, first with the form, then by playing snare drum phrases in imitation of the melody or common riffs associated with the tune.

Ed's first chord line chart is based on the changes to "September In The Rain," a very typical 32 bar tune and a very good choice to illustrate his points. The only thing I missed from Ed here is emphasis in delineating the form of the tune, in this case a 32 bar chorus with AABA form. Since the 32 bar song forms are completely foreign territory to today's youth it would behoove the jazz teacher to spend some time on this subject. A "fifth" item to emphasize in addition to the chord line would be the form. I have my jazz students use a 8 column, 4 row table, 32 cells, one for each measure and its chord changes, to notate the chord line. This graphic representation makes the "blocks" of the tune's harmony easier to visualize and remember.

Another thing I would add is for all bassists to reach a level of simple jazz theory to be able to play chords on the piano or keyboard. Hearing the changes and the ability to "pre-hear" where the tune is going is something every bassist will need to "let your ears do the driving." I guess that some would argue that jazz theory and "jazz keyboarding" be taught elsewhere, perhaps in other classes. The benefit of the bass teacher teaching these is self evident - no one can teach what the harmony and form structure of a tune from the bass- perspective to the bass student better than the bass player himself.

Ed's sound on bass in the accompanying CD has just the right mix of "ping" and "ring" and is a great recorded sound to emulate. He also spends considerable time on the "drive," or sense of propelling things forward that a bassist (and drummer) must develop when playing mainstream jazz. The second half of the book is complete transcriptions of Ed's lines on the CD. I will recommend it to students as a first book to assimilate when working on a great walking technique and "feel." This is a great book and a necessary one for all bass players in the learning mode (including older students). (Ed, if you read this please get in touch. bighinx@gmail.com)

Tony Bennett, "The Music Never Ends"

"He played like an ocean in a storm," says Tony Bennett about Bill Evans in this 2007 retrospective about Tony's career on the PBS TV show, "American Masters, The Music Never Ends." When this show airs on your local PBS station make sure to have your Tivo, DVR, DVD recorder, computer, or VCR in the record mode as you will be treated to segments of Bill and Tony's appearance on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show as well as some notable footage of this country's greatest singing artist.

If you don't have the two Tony Bennett/Bill Evans collaborations you need to get them. The most memorable track to me is Tony singing Bill's "The Two Lonely People." Of all Bill's tunes this one is the perfect torch song with fantastic lyrics that beg to be sung. Also the tune, "The Bad And The Beautiful" makes a rare appearance and is sung very well here by Tony. Both CDs are available from Amazon and the usual sources.

Tony is always gracious and respectful to the Great American Songbook as this show pays homage to all of those who have gone down his path, from Jimmy Durante to the "chairman," Frank Sinatra. The production is directed by Bruce Ricker who at one time, produced the largest catalog of jazz videos available under his Rhapsody Films label. Clint Eastwood acts as sort of an anchor and probably paid the tab for this production. Tony needs no prompting in talking about his career and paying homage to the greats of his art form. In many ways the art of singing great songs is sort of dying and I hope this production will be the spark that prods others to continue along this road less traveled.

Pianist Dave Peck

I first became aware of pianist Dave Peck some 15 years ago. His music making has a magic, understated quality reminiscent of Bill's early playing. That magic has continued to grow over the years and recently I had the privilege to hear him play again. Two cuts from his new CD release, "All of You" and "How Deep Is The Ocean," as well as a short interview with veteran jazz broadcaster Jim Wilke are available from NPR station KPLU in Tacoma WA. Please do you ears the favor of listening to Dave's trio with Jeff Johnson on Bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. The altered space that Dave plays at the start of "All Of You" as well as the great trades between the pianist and Joe LaBarbera in "How Deep . . ." will be a pleasant experience for your ears and soul. I really look forward to hearing the rest of the CD. I also hope that this trio can have the opportunity to play together as often as possible - they are capable of some very serious music and I welcome it. If you cannot find Dave's recordings in your local music store go to www.davepeckmusic.com. Your ears will thank you.

Also check out KPLU FM jazz streams. Living in an area with no real jazz programming I constantly search the web for high quality streaming jazz. Two stations really stand out as programing quality music and good fidelity,WGBH FM in Boston (where I'm moving to) and KPLU FM in Tacoma WA. WGBO FM in Newark NJ plays some great music but unfortunately the bad quality of their stream makes it unsustainable.

New Mark Levine Publication

Pianist-educator Mark Levine has written another in his series of great piano publications, "The Drop 2 Book" available from Sher Music Co. www.shermusic.com. Drop 2 is a simple method in which a closed right hand voicing of the chord with the melody note in the top can be opened up for a different sound. The second note of the closed position voicing is dropped an octave. There can also be "drop 3" but drop 2 is the more common choice preferred by pianists and jazz arrangers. The book isspiral bound so it sits flat on your instrument and there is an attached CD with recordings of each example in the book.

"Chording" the melody of a tune, or the improvised melody for the more adventuresome, is a very common tool of the jazz pianist. Pianist George Shearing based his whole style on it. When Bill Evans was age 16 or so he went through a George Shearing period of practicing everything in a single or two handed chordal style. It's a fantastic way to really learn the harmony of a tune and applying it directly to a melody.

Mark starts with a sixth-chord approach on the chord tones and a diminished chord on passing tones. Then he gradually takes the user through "tweaked" versions of the chords to add different colors. Then the major seventh chord approach is explained and applied, giving a more modern like sound. The "tweaked" options become more plentiful and more demands are made upon the user to decide for himself if the resultant color is appropriate for the tune being played. The user may end up with fourth based chord voicing which is another technique, arrived at circuitously here.

To summarize, this book is a lot of fun to go through and can prove to be an invaluable step in developing a style vocabulary for the jazz pianist. Highly recommended.

My response to Jan Stevens plug

Jan,

Thank you for a great write-up of the Letter From Evans free availability on your web site, The Bill Evans Web Pages. It is very well done. The server where the pdf's are located has had a few problems in the past but it seems to have been upgraded recently. I think the download capacity is enough to handle those who want to download the publication.

When I first published LFE I was pigeon-holed by Orrin Keepnews and a couple of others as starting a "fan magazine" - Keepnews has always considered LFE to be only a "fan rag" and nothing more. Of course, I wanted it to be more and to some degree, I was successful in communicating to others my deep respect for Bill, his family, and my commitment to his music. Thank you for continuing to devote your personal time to "keeping the flame alive" with your comprehensive website, the one constant beacon of Bill's effect on you, and giving others the valuable information that we all seek to continue our search for the poetry, the sensitivity, the powerful personal way of swinging that Bill pursued.

We both know how scary it is to let oneself get so inextricably attached to one artist who said so much and continues to reach all sensitive musicians with his many recordings. Bill's magic continues to reveal itself on the umpteenth listening of the standard repertoire of his recorded output such as the all too few LaFaro-Evans-Motian tracks. Each time I listen I hear some new magic in the unique communication and role-playing explorations that Bill and Scotty made on those sides. When listening I might be reminded of a particular musical avenue that the trio took which I want to explore even more deeply. We each try to speak our own mind when we play this fantastic art form called jazz but sometimes Bill's powerful musical statements will consume our ears, hearts and minds, exercising a control on our personal music making. Sometimes that ethereal life-force of Bill's magic can consume us in all of life's roles. Some (perhaps our shrinks and maybe our family) might think this to be a dangerous pursuit. It is, and we both know that occasionally we must stand outside ourselves, examining the effect of this powerful force on our personal lives, in order to swim up to the surface and take a breath of reality, lest the force totally consume us. But, I think this power Bill holds over us has been good - it drove me to produce Letter From Evans and it continues to drive your wonderful web site.

Along this magical Bill Evans "Fun Ride" my wife and I met a couple who were ardent LFE subscribers on a trip to California. I'll call them "John and Marsha" here. John was an amateur pianist and stricken with the "Bill Evans Force." My wife and I were having wine and some snacks at their place on the northern California coast as they put us up for the night. We were talking about Bill, listening to particular tracks and inevitably the tune "My Foolish Heart" came up in our conversation. Recently I was listening to WGBH-FM in Boston on there website - There is a jazz DJ show called Eric in the Evening - Eric played the Bill Evans cut of "Young and Foolish" (with Sam Jones and Philly Jo Jones) which is played the way Bill performed "My Foolish Heart" - an extremely slow ballad where the tempo is so slow that all forward motion seems to be in some alien time zone. The challenge in playing at those slow tempos is to keep the energy happening. Bill was an expert at that - it is a jazz skill challenge that few contemporary players can meet. First John went to his piano and started to play the opening notes. He stopped after about 3 measures and found one of Bill's tracks of this tune on his stereo and played it, of course it silenced us all. After the track finished John whispered something to his wife and left us to be by himself in another part of the house. Marsha later explained to us that John had been fighting the early stages of what might turn out to be Alzheimer's Disease. The music had grabbed hold of John's brain and would not let go. It immersed him in the music so much that he could no longer communicate with the rest of us on this planet and needed to be by himself for a while.

When I see any reference to "My Foolish Heart" I am immediately in church and this tune is a hymn. It may be paradoxical to some jazzers who are used to taking any tune and making it fair game to do it in any way or style. I am sorry but tradition is just too strong for this tune. There will be no no "My Foolish Heart" cha-chas, mambos, meringues, or screaming up tempo shouts. What would Billie Holiday do? It's at the opposite end of the tempo spectrum of say a Charlie Parker version of "Cherokee," or "The Song is You." The only way it can be done is a death-ballad, slower than your heart beat while sleeping, maybe the same tempo if your were in a coma. Like I said before, no one is playing those slow hot wind tempos any more, and that makes it even more important to carry on the tradition, keep the flame burning.

When I was publishing LFE Bill's hold on me was similar to John's predicament. I needed to stop and "come up for air" in order to keep myself sane, personally, and for my family. But I am glad that I did get so personally involved with the "force" and I want to share that experience with others, hence my action of making the publication freely available to all who want it.

Recently I was playing bass with a keyboardist who categorized himself a "jazz musician" and proceeded to play "My Foolish Heart" as an up-tempo vocal. After about 4 measures I just quit playing and let him and the vocalist attempt to finish by themselves. Naturally, the vocalist found it difficult to squeeze all the lyrics into the reduced time and she quit singing after about an 8 measure attempt. Due to my preconceived perception brought on by Bill Evans I could not render, nor contribute to that questionable musical endeavor. The keyboardist called me again but I found an excuse not to work with him again. It was a bad experience I want to forget but it made me realize just how much Bill's take on things affects me.

Thanks again, Jan.

slight change

Due to a server issue the LFE pdf files need to be downloaded with the following URL -

http://www2.selu.edu/orgs/34skid/html/3.pdf

where "3" is the number of the issue you want to request, 1 through 26.