Bill Evans – Five (Pt. 1, From the album “New Jazz Conceptions”) [LOTW #63]
Now here is a serious line. This is some great language to learn over sequential dominants. Meaning, dominants that are resolving down by 5ths. Bill Evans starts out with a simple triplet line that goes up to the #11 then resolves to the 1 of the B7. From here it begins to get interesting. Bill […]
Bill Evans – Waltz For Debby (From the album “Waltz For Debby”) [LOTW #62]
Here is a famous track by Bill called Waltz For Debby. This line is the beginning line of the 4/4 swing that happens after the 3/4 melody. This is a pretty simple line but Bill Evans has some nice approaches and movements in this that make it stand out at the beginnging of his solo. […]
Bill Evans – Beautiful Love, Take 2 (From the album “Explorations”) [LOTW #61]
We begin the Bill Evans series this week! Bill was such a huge influence on jazz pianists all over. His creativity and endless drive to push the boundaries have inspired so many. He was truly one of the greatest of all time. I chose this great quarter note triplet line to start off with because […]
Wynton Kelly – Kelly Blue (Pt. 2, From the album “Kelly Blue”) [LOTW #60]
This is a great 2-5-1 lick over the last measures in a blues. A few great things Wynton Kelly does in this one are his 16th trill, grace, notes and approaches, as always. In the first measure he chooses to use B natural over the C-7 chord. This note works because it is simply a […]
Wynton Kelly – On Green Dolphin Street (Pt. 2, From the album “Kelly Blue”) [LOTW #59]
Here is the second half of the Wynton Kelly line from #58. After coming from an Eb, he resolves down into the fifth of the G7 and walks down to the third and starts a two beat triplet pattern. After doing the Wynton Kelly series, I’m sure you can see he loves using triplet patterns. […]
Wynton Kelly, – On Green Dolphin Street (Pt. 1, From the album “Kelly Blue”) [LOTW #58]
There are so many learning components in this line by Wynton Kelly, I had to make it two parts. In this first part, Wynton starts off the line on the up beat of 2 which is a great thing to do. Starting lines on upbeats really intensifies the swing feel. He goes down a half […]
Jazz Piano Voicings – How To Create LH Voicings
Everyone always is looking for more jazz piano voicings. Whether its two handed, or one handed, it seems like a jazz pianists is on a never ending journey for more voicings. I can’t say I wasn’t in the same boat at one point in my life. This is how we all start. But if I […]
Wynton Kelly – Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (From the album “Soul Station”) [LOTW #57]
Here is some nice easy blues language from Wynton Kelly. All of this is blues scale but notice how he uses some grace note slides to spice things up along with a triplet note phrase. Always look for these characteristics to add flavor to your solo’s. Points for practicing this lick: Play with grace note […]
Wynton Kelly – This I Dig Of You (From the album “Soul Station”) [LOTW #56]
Here is a great break to have up your sleeve when you got the first solo. Wynton stays on Bb diatonic but it’s how he uses his approaches to certain chord tones that makes all the difference. The first part of this line is targeted towards the F, the fifth of Bb at the end […]
Wynton Kelly – Kelly Blue (Pt. 1, From the album “Kelly Blue”) [LOTW #55]
Another great one by Wynton Kelly. I just can’t get enough of him. Besides his melodic content, his swing and rhythmic feel is top notch. If there is any groove for you to mimic with your eighth notes, it is definitely Wynton Kelly’s. This line is a two measure approach into the 2 chord of […]
