Three Amazing Pianists Talk Music........

A rare conversation with Billy Taylor, George Shearing and Marian McPartland. They discuss composing, the influence of Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonoius Monk and Bebop in general, and Sarah Vaughan. Thanks to BillyTaylorJazz.net.......

~ The Lady with the Very Special Voice -

I always think of Sarah as having a built-in musical instrument, rather than just a voice. This video says it all, and I wish that it was longer.   You can see lots more on You Tube.......

- As Time Goes By -

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted - I've been working on a couple of CD's since my last post. One is called "Songs for Valerie", (my wife) and the other is called "Quiet Elegance" which is synthesized harp music. Both are on CDBaby.com. CDBaby.com is a great resource for unknown artists, like myself, to reach a broader audience and they even have resonably priced hosting for music websites.

Glen Gould - Goldberg Variations 1 - 7

I've never heard anyone play Bach with more feeling than Glen Gould.

[the following is a quotation from his biography at www.sonyclassical.com:]

In 1981 Gould departed from his custom of not rerecording a work and, twenty-six years after his first recording of the Goldberg Variations, went into the same New York studio for his second recording of the work with which he had become so closely identified. Gould viewed the two interpretations as substantially different because he came to see the variations not as separate and distinct exercises but as belonging to a larger whole, with one rhythmic pulse, harmony and ideology underlying the entire work and forming a definite unity of composition. Always acutely aware of the possibilities technology offers, Gould was also motivated in his decision to rerecord the Goldberg Variations by the vast changes in recording technology during the previous twenty-five years.

Click here to see his full biography

- Here's That Rainy Day -

Here's an arrangement that I did using GarageBand of this nice old jazz standard. It's title is a perfect description of today's weather here in Cottonwood.

- MISTY -

Erroll Garner was instrumental (no pun intended) in getting me to play the piano. I had piano lessons at an early age, but left music to do art and then came back to it with Erroll in my teens. Like Erroll, I don't read music, and play completely by ear. I saw him perform once at the 'Mogambo' night club on the old Sunset Strip. Here is a video of my version of 'Misty'