[Monday Notes No. 51] Tenor Madness is the most classic of blues, the piece that beginners play in jam sessions. In this performance we hear an amazing duet between Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane.Continue readingSonny Rollins and John Coltrane, Tenor Madness. Dialogue of giants
[Monday Notes No. 50] Dolores Duran made a career out of music when she was still a child, using her exceptional talent to support her family after the death of her father. When she met Antonio Carlos Jobim, he was not yet a legend of Brazilian music and the term bossanova had not yet been…Continue readingPor causa de voce, Dolores Duran meets Antonio Carlos Jobim
[Monday’s Note No. 49] Take Five is one of the few pieces in the jazz repertoire to have the unusual time of 5/4, hence the double meaning of the title, which in English means “taking five minutes off” but also hints at the rhythmic tempo of the piece.Continue readingDave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, Take Five. An unexpected success
[Monday Notes No.48] Georgia on My Mind was composed by the great songwriter Hoagy Carmichael in 1930, but Ray Charles’ interpretation in 1960 surpassed the original in popularity, the pianist-singer turning it into one of his biggest hits.Continue readingGeorgia On My Mind, Ray Charles and soul music
[Monday Notes no. 47] Eighteen months after taking part in the recording of the famous album Kind Of Blue, John Coltrane recorded My Favorite Things and continued in the direction of that first journey led by Miles Davis: modal jazz. Unlike Davis, John Coltrane does not compose original pieces but interprets and transforms the beloved…Continue readingMy Favorite Things, John Coltrane and the good old jazz standards
[Monday Notes no.46] The most famous work of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, the Concierto de Aranjuez has also been much appreciated by jazz musicians. I have analysed Jim Hall’s beautiful interpretation.Continue readingJim Hall, Concierto de Aranjuez. Jazz meets Spanish music
[Monday Notes no. 45] Noel Rosa is one of the most important authors of Brazilian Popular Music. Noel Rosa sings about the lives of the miserable, describing small details in an ironic and poetic way, always with a benevolent and optimistic outlook.Continue readingNoel Rosa, Conversa de Botequim. A conversation in the bar
[Monday Notes no. 44] John Lennon was an imaginative musician who constantly broke the mould. Some of his songs have become an anti-militarist and libertarian symbol and make us miss a time when music had the ambition to change the world.Continue readingJohn Lennon, Imagine. A white piano for an everlasting song
[Monday Notes no. 42] Roberto Murolo was a great interpreter of Neapolitan popular song, to which he devoted years of study and research. Few cities have given Italian popular music a contribution comparable to that of Naples. Let us listen to and analyse a lovely song entitled ‘O Ciucciariello.Continue readingRoberto Murolo and the Neapolitan song, ‘O Ciucciariello
Those who begin to play the piano have to deal with four subjects simultaneously: piano technique, music reading, hand independence and music theory. In what order and how should they be approached in the first few months of the piano course?Continue readingLearning to play the piano: how to study technique, music reading, hand independence and music theory