Piano Jazz 2024

The center of the city of Naples is a labyrinth of narrow streets, frequently called “vico”. In Vincenzo Caruso’s definition, a vico is “a narrow street – an alley that winds between large Italian historic buildings”. Unless one knows the map by heart, it is practically impossible not to get lost in that intricate web of minuscule openings between old buildings. It is also fascinating to lose oneself, vico after vico, savouring the unmistakable and unique colours, sounds, scents and impressions of a city like no other. If one would feel the need for a further, imaginary vico after so many actual ones, the pianist and composer of this Da Vinci Classics album, Vincenzo Caruso, created a new, hidden vico just for his listeners. He called it Vico Novecento, and drew it, in an imagined map, as a line connecting the Conservatory of Naples (San Pietro a Majella) to a publishing company, Casa Musicale Simeoli, opposite it. Caruso explains: “I imagine a frequent coming and going of composers, teachers of the conservatory, who in a few steps were in the sheet music shop to check that their works had been printed correctly”.

In art, theory and practice often influence each other, and it is frequently impossible to establish which one comes first. In music, in particular, theorizations are most commonly an ex post formalization of what has been uncontroversially employed by performing musicians and “composers” (of written music or of improvised music). The relationship between improvisation, oral tradition and composition is also a multifaceted one: on the one hand, folk music can be more conservative than the “cultivated” repertoire, whose composers deliberately choose to explore new ways. On the other, however, folk tradition may be more open to new ideas, in the absence of written rules and of the dynamics of “academic” musicianship. (This does not imply, of course, that there are no rules in folk music, oral tradition, or improvisation: quite the contrary. A folk improviser is deeply rooted in a tradition made of implicit or explicit rules, which must be obeyed and can be transgressed only within a delicate balance of acknowledgment of the improviser’s genius and social approval).
One field in which the divergence between “cultivated” music and folk music can be very pronounced is that of modality. This technical word of the musical jargon refers to “modes” of organizing musical pitches.

The mixing of musical genres is now a widespread practice even among the so-called "classical musicians"; from the jazz influences that seduced Ravel and Stravinsky, to Mussorgsky Pictures reinterpreted in a rock key by Emerson Lake & Palmer, no matter what the musical form of origin and destination; the important thing is to experiment, and in the experimentation, keeping alive the character of the work itself, with a contribution of originality that brings different styles and audiences closer together.

AVID Jazz continues its "Four Classic Albums Plus" series with a second remastered 2CD release from Tubby Hayes, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel information. "Tubby Hayes & His Orchestra: Modern Jazz Scene" (1956); "Tubby Hayes Quintet: After Lights Out' (1956); 'The Jazz Couriers featuring Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott: The Last Word' (1957); 'Tubby Hayes: Tubby In N. Y.' (1961) plus two bonus tracks. For our long-awaited second set by arguably the best and most famous British jazz musician of all time, we present Mr. Tubby Hayes in various musical configurations. First, we experience the audience at Festival Hall in London on the evening of February 18, 1956, where we get to witness Tubby and his orchestra's set. Next we see Tubby with his quintet on "After Lights Out", where he is accompanied by Dickie Hawdon on trumpet, Harry South on piano, Pete Elderfield on bass and Bill Eyden on drums. Described as "England's greatest jazz combo", Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes formed the Couriers to show the world that British jazz is alive and well!

Learn Jazz Piano and Keyboard Piano With Piano Lessons In Music Theory, Music Harmony, Learn Piano Chords With Melody!

Nat King Cole at the Piano is the first studio album by jazz pianist Nat King Cole, released by Capitol in 1950. This album was recorded on August 13, 1947, released in a 78 r.p.m. record in 1949, and reissued in 1950 on a 10-inch LP.

Painter, graphic artist, but not least jazz pianist Svein Finnerud released the iconic album Plastic Sun in 1970 together with bassist Bjørnar Andresen and drummer Espen Rud. At the time, the Finnerud Trio was an important part of the Norwegian avant-garde jazz scene. They were not internationally known, but the ideas they represented would later become a trend-setting figure in European jazz with artists such as Garbarek, Rypdal and the "ECM sound". In 1971, they played two concerts during the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. One at the Byscenene and one in the cinema. The concert at the cinema is completely unique, as Finnerud plays both electric piano and acoustic piano at the same concert. With the blessing of his son Bendik Finnerud and Espen Rud, this album can now be made available on CD. The album contains compositions by Anette Peacock/Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett, in addition to his own songs.

Newly re-discovered in our vaults, the original recording sessions for Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown" now remastered for audiophiles and Peanuts® fans and election lovers everywhere. All versions of this release include the original 15 tracks of cues from the special - with extended performances available for the first time ever - plus 10 extra bonus tracks never before heard since their recording in 1972.