all-levels

“Bluesette” by the great Toots Thielemans from Brussels who passed in 2016 at the age of 94. I’m a big fan of Toots and his beautiful harmonica playing. I’m improvising here on his most famous song with a focus on using the top three mallets along with a few improv concepts. I think it’s important when practicing to isolate the parameters and techniques/concepts. My students and I will work in the lessons this way with good results. Gary Burton did the same with me when I was studying with him.

“Emily” - composed by Johnny Mandel in 1964 for the movie “The Americanization of Emily”. The version from the great pianist Bill Evans is a classic. I learned a great deal from Bill. Everything from lines, voicings and harmony to touch and sound. I saw him many times in Boston at the Jazz Workshop. I caught the trio with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell as well as the trio with Joe LaBarbera and Mark Johnson. With Joe and Mark, I remember sitting very close to the piano and was struck on how swollen Bill’s hands were at the time. In spite of that, Bill and the trio were playing superb.

Here's a simple chord melody on All The Things You Are. I tried to incorporate many of the things we talked about in the Beginner's Course. Sorry about the pedal sound, didn't have time to mess with it today :)

Here’s a brief clip of a dampening etude for the vibraphone titled “Spring” that I just finished composing. The piece features chordal playing along with the dampened stepwise movement of one of the four voices. This will be included in a new book that I began working on a few weeks ago. The book will focus on dampening and pedaling for the vibraphone. I have also been working on a book for solo vibraphone playing. Both topics definitely go hand in hand but I wanted to cover in depth the dampening/pedaling aspect of playing the vibraphone.

“Here’s that Rainy Day” by James Van Heusen and Johnny Burke written in 1953. Still on a semester break and keeping busy with two vibe book projects along with some shedding. Working here in this clip with a few improv concepts including the Symmetrical Diminished scale and the Pentatonic b2 scale. Both concepts are covered in depth in my four volume improv series The Complete Guide to Improvisation. The Table of Contents for all of the books are on the FB page The Complete Guide To Improvisation.

"Forevermore" - a new composition for solo vibraphone with a focus on various dampening techniques. The lead sheet can be viewed and downloaded here via googledocs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lEszbF7igVuCHd6TMqaOalnldIvBqB9j/view?…

"Both Sides Now" - a timeless classic from Joni Mitchell written in 1967. A very special song with great lyrics and a wonderful melody. I heard pianist Fred Hersch play this solo. It was a gorgeous rendition which inspired me to try it on vibes.