Herbie Hancock Sidestepping Post-Bop Lines (LOTW #139)
Listen to Herbie do his thing on his fourth album as a leader, “Empyrean Isles.” This tune “One Finger Snap” would later go on to become a jazz standard. After some more conventional bop playing, Herbie takes it outside in the last two measures of this lick with his signature “sidestepping” technique. This piece of […]
Bill Evans Extended Chords Comping (LOTW #138)
Bill Evans is a master of using upper extensions of chords to create beautiful and colorful harmony. On his trio record, “Explorations” (1961) he begins comping for Scott LaFaro’s bass solo with crystalline structures of stacked thirds and makes some unique sonorities, all while maintaining a sense of melody in his accompaniment. https://youtu.be/VaX6FPBVu84 CLICK HERE […]
Early McCoy Tyner Line from Reaching Fourth (LOTW #137)
Here is a quintessential bit of McCoy Tyner vocabulary. McCoy influenced everyone that came after him when it came to playing in a post-bop modal style, and this line from “Reaching Fourth” (1963) captures the essence of his style. He plays over a static A7 chord and puts his characteristic McCoy spin on it. See […]
Burning Oscar Peterson Lick (LOTW #136)
Oscar Peterson is undoubtedly one of the most burning piano players out there. What is his secret? If we look at this lick from “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,” we can notice by putting it on the keyboard that it actually fits in the hand very naturally. While it is certainly virtuosic, it is […]
Jazz Fusion: The Electric, Rock-Infused Cousin of Jazz
Of course we’re talking about… As an American art form, jazz has continually evolved to absorb elements of the culture and technology around it. Jazz had progressed from its Dixieland roots in New Orleans into the swing tradition of the 30’s, bebop in the 40’s to hard bop, modal, and cool jazz styles of the […]
A Shifty Turnaround by Brad Mehldau on “It Might as Well Be Spring” (LOTW #132)
Brad Mehldau demonstrates his individual style on his first album as a leader, “Introducing Brad Mehldau.” He spices it up by playing the standard tune “It Might as Well Be Spring” in 7/8 with a clave ostinato pattern. Listen how he navigates the odd meter while adding his own flavor to the turnaround at the […]
Phineas Newborn Plays the Blues (LOTW #131)
Hear how Phineas Newborn plays the blues on “Cheryl” from his classic album “A World of Piano” in 1961. His use of chromaticism and blues vocabulary gives his playing a modern edge that still cuts through by today’s standards.
Sonny Clark’s Classic Improv Lines on “All of You” (LOTW #130)
Here is some classic hard bop vocabulary over the tune “All of You,” originally made famous by Miles Davis. Sonny Clark outlines the changes in his solo with clarity and grace from his album “Blues in the Night.”
Quirky Polytonal Lick by Paul Bley on “All the Things You Are” (LOTW #129)
Paul Bley is known for his individual approach to creating melodies. Check out this line from “All the Things You Are” on a recording with Coleman Hawkins from 1963. He starts out with a chromatically ascending motive and cadences in A major, a half step above!
Bill Evans’ Swinging Two-Five Lick from “Peri’s Scope” (LOTW #128)
On his classic 1960 recording of “Peri’s Scope” from Portrait in Jazz, Bill Evans comes out swinging! In this phrase, he riffs on a C in rhythm over a 3-6-2-5 progression, and resolves it with a flourish outlining a D minor 11th chord. Quintessential Bill Evans right here!
