Well, this began when Dave started watching a documentary about jazz in New York in the late 1950s. There was a piano player that caught his fancy. He showed the documentary to me, and I got interested, too. The performer was Willie "The Lion" Smith, a stride pianist. While others played faster, Smith's tune, "Echoes of Spring," was beautiful and lyrical as well as being an example of virtuosity.
My birthday is Jan. 27. Dave is always happy when he can come up with a gift he he'll know I'll like. He found note-for-note transcriptions of Smith's piano solos, including Echoes of Spring. He ordered the book as a PDF and it arrived a few hours later.
I've been working on this song for less than 24 hours. Although it is MUCH slower than Smith's version, I think you can hear some of the beauty in the song. I plan to continue to blog the progress I'm making on the song, hoping to speed it up and make it more fluid. Please search YouTube for recordings of Smith playing the song.
How's that for something new to do in 2011? Heck with losing 20 pounds! Ha! Eight pages total, one down, for the record.
Well, this began when Dave started watching a documentary about jazz in New York in the late 1950s. There was a piano player that caught his fancy. He showed the documentary to me, and I got interested, too. The performer was Willie "The Lion" Smith, a stride pianist. While others played faster, Smith's tune, "Echoes of Spring," was beautiful and lyrical as well as being an example of virtuosity.
2 comments:
Wow. Nice. Totally enjoyed it and love hearing you play! Only, the next time you are going to video tape yourself playing. Call me, I'll set up the camera so we can see your hands better AND I'll be your page turner!
Keep playing and keep sharing!
It was beautiful. I am looking forward to hearing the complete piece. Thank God for your talent with music.
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