Academic literature on the topic 'Jazz Piano music (Jazz) Piano Jazz Adultes'

Katrina Wreede has an active career as a performer, teacher, and composer. Formerly the violist with the Turtle Island String Quartet, she performs with chamber music groups, a viola/piano duo, and a string trio, all of which explore free jazz sensibilities inside the chamber music form. While violist with TISQ, she performed to critical acclaim in more than 40 states and nine countries, appearing in numerous television specials. She teaches both privately and for several youth orchestras and presents workshops on improvisation and composition to children and adults. She also composes in her “Improvisational Chamber Music” style.

Several studies have not replicated Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky's 1993 finding that 10 minutes of exposure to Mozart piano music temporarily enhanced performance on three spatial reasoning tasks. Later Rauscher and Shaw argued that enhanced performance is unlikely unless three conditions are met. The present study was designed to meet those three conditions. 36 adults were exposed to one of six listening orders and one of six test orders. Listening and test orders had no systematic effect on spatial reasoning performance. A one-factor, repeated-measures analysis of variance yielded no significant difference on spatial reasoning performance after listening to classical music, jazz, or silence. A reanalysis, using only those items most likely to tap spatial reasoning, fell short of significance, and mean scores were in the direction opposite to that hypothesized. These results were inconsistent with studies that have supported a Mozart effect.

The article highlights the ways of development of jazz accompaniment skills of future music teacher in the process of his piano training. It examines the genre and stylistic peculiarities of solo piano jazz standards, specificity of jazz trio music playing. It suggests the methods and musical creative tasks for effective development of jazz accompaniment skills. A piano is an important musical instrument which plays a significant role in jazz development. The artaesthetic development of student, his creative abilities training and formation of music performing competence occur in the process of such education. An important aspect of development of jazz accompaniment skills is mastering the stride-piano technique. This style requires a perfect performing technique and ability to play with the left hand as fluently as with the right one. Considering the individual peculiarities of a future music teacher, his technical level and a step-by-step methodology will provide for effective stride-piano technique mastering in the process of his piano training. The use of the jazz accompaniment creation method will provide for the broadening of a performing capability of a future music teacher while accompanying a solo singer or a music band. In the following article the musical creative tasks and practical exercises aimed at the development of the left-hand playing technique and coordination on a piano keyboard and mastering the basic jazz accompaniment elements, its rythmic patterns have been suggested.

This article characterizes development trends in jazz piano from its origins in the “third-layer” (Konen, V., 1984) of music (ragtime and other “pre-jazz” forms) to the present time (avant-garde and retro styles of the late 20th – early 21st centuries). Main attention was devoted to the stylistic sphere, which represents an entirety of techniques and methods of jazz piano improvisation and combines genre and style parameters. In this context, the currently available information about jazz pianism and its sources (Kinus,Y., 2008; Stoliar, R., 2017) was reviewed, and sociocultural determinants, which contributed to the advent and changes of jazz piano styles were highlighted. Standing out among them at the first (traditional) stage are the schools and individual creative techniques known under generic name “stride piano” and based on the ragtime technique. At the second (contemporary) stage beginning from bebop, jazz piano stylistics gradually diverge from standardized textural formulas of homophonicharmonic type and attain fundamental diversity depending on creative attitudes of leading jazz pianists. The question of jazz piano stylistics is one of the least studied in jazz theory. The existing works devoted to this subject address mostly the sequence of the advent and changes of jazz piano styles along with the general characteristics of their representatives. Beginning from approximately the 1920s, jazz piano styles appeared and changed so fast that they left no time for their comprehension and perception (Kinus, Y., 2008). Only in the newest stylistics of the period after bebop, which divided the art of jazz into traditional and contemporary stages, did these styles attain a certain shape in new modifications and become the components of a phenomenon defined by the generic notion “jazz pianism”. It was stated that the genesis of this phenomenon is usually seen in the art of ragtime, carried in the United States of the late 19th – early 20th centuries by itinerant pianists. This variety of “third-layer” piano music playing produced a significant impact on the art of jazz in general, which is proved by its reproduction in the Dixieland and New Orleans styles as some of the first examples of jazz improvisation. The stylistics of ragtime influenced the entire first stage of jazz piano, which traces its origins back to approximately the 1910s. It combined mental features and esthetics of two traditions: European and Afro-American, which in the entirety produced the following picture: 1) popular and concert area of music playing; 2) gravitation toward demonstration of virtuosic play; 3) domination of comic esthetics; 4) objectivity of expression; 5) tendency toward the completeness of form; 6) inclination toward stage representation. In technological (texturalpianistic) aspect, ragtime, reproduced in the jazz stylistics of stride piano, demonstrated the tendency toward universalization of piano, which combined in the person of one performer the functions of solo and accompaniment, derived from the practice of minstrel banjoists related to the percussion-accented rhythmics of dance accompaniment (Konen, V., 1984). It was stated that ragtime as the transitional bridge to jazz piano existed simultaneously with other forms of “third-layer” music playing found in the Afro-American environment (unlike ragtime itself, which was an art of white musicians). These were semi-folklore styles known as “barrel house” and “honky-tonk(y) piano” cultivated in Wild West saloons. The subsequent development of jazz piano stylistic went along the lines of more vocal and specific directions related mostly to peculiarities of playing technique. Among the more global origins equal in significance to ragtime and stride pianists derivative, blues piano stylistics is worth noting. It represents an instrumental adaptation of vocal blues, which had the decisive influence over the melodics and rhythmics of the right hand party of jazz pianists (ragtime and stride piano highlighted and consolidated the typical texture of accompaniment, i.e., the left hand party). Blues piano style is a multicomponent phenomenon that shaped up as a result of efforts taken by a whole number of jazz pianists. It was developed, and continues to exist until presently, in two variants: a) as a solo piano variant, b) as a duet variant (piano and vocal). Along with blues piano, a style known as “boogie-woogie” was cultivated in jazz piano stylistics of the period before bebop as the new reminiscence of the pre-jazz era (with rock-n-roll becoming a consequence of its actualization in the 1950–1960s). A stylistic genre known as “Harlem piano style” (its prominent representatives include Luckey Roberts, James P. Johnson, Willie “the Lion” Smith, and Thomas “Fats” Waller) became a sort of compendium that combined genetic components of traditional jazz piano. This school has finally defined jazz piano as a form of solo concert music playing, which also determined the subsequent stylistic varieties of this art, the most noteworthy of which are “trumpet piano style”, “swing piano style” and “locked hands style”. Their general feature was interpretation of the instrument as a “small orchestra”, which meant rebirth at the new volute of a historical-stylistic spiral of the “image” of universal piano capable of reproducing the “sounds” of other instruments, voices and their ensembles. Outstanding pianists of various generations have been, and are, the carriers (and often “inventors”) of jazz piano styles. It should suffice to mention the names of such “legends” of jazz as Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, and also Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett (older generation), Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Brad Mehldau, Vadim Neselovskyi, Robert Glasper (middle generation), Eldar Djangirov, Tigran Hamasyan, Cory Henry (younger generation). Conclusions. The description of the stages of development of jazz piano pianism made in this article proves that its polystylistic nature is preserved, and the main representative of certain stylistic inclinations were and remain the texture. Textured formulas serve as the main objects of stylistic interpretations for jazz pianists of different generations. These readings are represented by two vectors – retrospective (revival of jazz traditions) and exploratory, experimental (rapprochement with the academic avant-garde). Of great importance are the styles of personalities, in which polystylistic tendencies are combined with the individual playing manners and improvisation, which, in general, is the most characteristic feature of the current stage of development of jazz piano art.

Russian music school has undergone major changes over the past 20–30 years. The emergence of mass musical styles and genres and their huge popularity, the opening of pop and jazz faculties and training areas, as well as private music schools and studios – all this aff ects the approaches to teaching piano in modern preprofessional music education. The approaches to the development of performing piano skills described in this article include not only traditional methods of studying the academic piano repertoire, but also methods of development in pop and jazz stylistics, using which one can achieve both improved fluency and the development of new sound skills.

In the 1970s, pianist Keith Jarrett emerged as a major albeit controversial innovator in jazz. He succeeded in making completely improvised solo piano music not only critically acclaimed as afresh way of blending classical and jazz styles but also popular, particularly with young audiences. This essay examines the moment when Jarrett became an international star, the musical and social circumstances of jazz music immediately before his arrival and how he largely unconsciously exploited those circumstances to make his success possible, and what his accomplishments meant during the 1970s for jazz audiences and for American society at large.

AbstractThis article explores composer David N. Baker's use of elements of jazz and vernacular music to articulate formal structures and suggest extramusical commentaries in his concert works, with particular focus on the Sonata for Cello and Piano and the Sonata I for Piano. Themes of homage to and respect for jazz saxophonist John Coltrane resonate through these works. Various features bring the jazz legend to mind, but Baker's compelling play with implication and quotation provides fertile ground for studying musical signification and the use of vernacular emblems within Western compositional structures and the concert music of African American composers. Conventional analytical methods are combined with readings of referential symbols to work toward interpretations that address both structural and expressive domains. This approach allows discussions of compositional techniques to intersect with cultural and philosophical considerations. By addressing issues of musical structure and expressivity, this article seeks to move beyond commonplace surface-level descriptions of black vernacular emblems in the concert music of African American composers.

Background. Jazz is one of the most significant phenomena of the entire twentieth century, which in a very short period of time has won the attention of listeners around the world. Finally, many explores are interested in the study of jazz art as a significant element of the world’s musical heritage. There are a lot of works written by national and foreign musicologists who study jazz music from different viewpoints. A great variety of studies in jazz art include works devoted to the technical aspect, on the one hand: the study of scale harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and on the other hand – the issues of historiography and style formation. However, focusing mainly on the identification of specific methods of using individual elements of the entire complex of music and expressive means of jazz art, scientists are less interested in the study of more «in-depth» issues, such as interpretation in jazz art, form building, semiotic and hermeneuticmethods of jazz music evaluation, musical dramaturgy. The concept of jazzmusic making remains unexplored. In our understanding, the study of musical dramaturgy deserves special attention, because at its level the coordinates of jazz music as a complex improvisation process converge. Objectives. The purpose of the article is to identify and study the main factors that determine the principles of formation of jazz musical dramaturgy at the level of solo piano composition. It is the improvisational nature of the composing and performing arts as well as the absence of a detailed musical notation that indicate the need to study the subject and an attempt to provide its scientific substantiation. Methods. The methodology of the study includes analytical, comparative, systematic and stylistic methods. This methodological basis allows us to identify the principles of jazz musical dramaturgy from the standpoint of piano jazz art, which, in the author’s opinion, gives an opportunity to speak about the peculiarities of organizing a musical text with the texture of different types of arrangement. Results. Over the last decades, jazz, without losing its specificity, has increasingly shown a tendency to interpenetrate with academic musical art, and at the same time become universal. An example of this could be the creative work of the renowned Kharkov jazz pianist Sergey Davydov. Turning to the specifics of the solo improvisational mastery of the pianist, we should distinguish the following important vectors in his work: commitment to the synthesis of jazz and academic traditions, tendency to polyphonize the textual presentation of the musical text, the use of the sonata principles as a consistent processual development of the whole complex of music and artistic ideas. The subject of the analysis offered in this study is a demonstrative example of the arrangement of the musical text of S. Davidov’s solo improvisation, which he demonstrated at the international festival “S. Rakhmaninov and Ukrainian Culturе”, which took place in Kharkiv in 2007 (the analysis was made on the basis of the video footage). The uniqueness of this example is that the pianist in his improvisation synthesized jazz intonation-rhythmic idiom with constructive and creatively inventive correlation of textural and compositional techniques of S. Rachmanino’s pianism. The conducted analysis confirms that S. Davydov, in addition to using the whole arsenal of specific jazz means of organizing sound fabric, adapts in his improvisation texturally-theatrical principles characteristic of S. Rakhmaninov’s work, and not only at the expense of quoting, but and at the intonational level. The factual organization of the composition, in this case, is based on the use of the potential of large and passage techniques, which brings together S. Davydov’s creative concepts with the aesthetics of virtuosity of European pianist composers of the Romantic period. Solo improvisation is analyzed – a kind of musical recital, which lacks the traditional jazz principle of formation based on variational construction, and is dominated by freely interpreted sonatas. Conclusions. Thus, the basic principles of musical dramaturgy formation in jazz art are: the use of specific jazz means of expression, which in the light of textual organization of the musical text realize the emotional and meaningful tension, forming a clear dramatic outline of the whole composition. Conflict, as a multilayered, comprehensive process of choosing an aesthetic position in the climax, reaches a point of dramatic ignition due to specific performance factors: dynamics, agogics, textural-rhythmic combinations. Not only specific performing skills but also energetic translation of the ideological content of the whole composition are involved in this process. In the context of jazz musical dramaturgy, one more important factor, which is fundamental in both solo and ensemble jazz art, is specific communication. However, when compared to academic music, where the listening strategy is interpreted as a «strategy of co-intonation to the sound form» but in jazz culture it is the listener who, at the level of the performer or interpreter, is a direct participant of musical dramaturgy creation. This is expressed by applause at times of intense tension or after the most successful improvisation of one of the ensemble members. Summarizing all the above, on the basis of the analysis we have tried to give our corrections to the concept of «musical dramaturgy in jazz» – is a thematic process of juxtaposition and interaction of elements of jazz language that contains various polystylistic complexes of Western European academic art, directing the energy of communication to the higher artistic unity of a jazz work.

Background. Today, jazz transcriptions of works by George Gershwin can be heard around the world. Works such as “The Man I Love”, “I Got Rhythm”, “Summertime”, “Liza”, “Fascinating Rhythm”, “Somebody Loves Me”, “Swanee”, included in the collection “Gershwin songs”, and also “Seven virtuoso etudes on the themes of G. Gershwin” by E. Wilde are performed by modern academic musicians. Thus, widely known performance versions of piano transcriptions “Gershwin songs” by M.-A. Hamelin, the song “The Man I Love” performed by A. Tharaud, P. Barton, and others famous performers. The evidence of growing interest of classical performers in the music of the American composer is the successful holding of the IV G. Gershvin International Music Competition in New York (on November 7–10, 2019). Director and main organizer of the competition, Michael Bulychev-Okser, is the American pianist, the main winner of many international competitions in the United States, Italy, Andorra, Spain and Mexico. How does a musician of academic direction, whose inner professional intentions and way of thinking are brought up on the classical repertoire, perceive Gershwin’s jazz compositions? What is the specificity of modern reading of his music? In which cultural traditions should we look for the key to understanding Gershwin’s musical language, its rhythmic and intonational specifics? Finally, can a jazz pianist consider himself completely free from the culture of the academic tradition by playing Gershwin? The search for answers to all these questions has identified the problematic perspective of this article. The purpose of the article is to reveal the characteristic features of the performance of G. Gershwin’s transcriptions by modern academic pianists using specific examples and to determine the interpretational tasks of the performer. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive genre andstyle approach to the study of musical material, and also includes a comparative method used for concidering different performance versions of the same work. The main results of the study. Jazz and the culture of academic music work closely together in the style of G. Gershwin. Indicative in this sense was the idea of a concert eloquently called “Reunion of Classics and Jazz” (1924), for which the “Rhapsody in Blue” was created and where it was first performed by the author with the orchestra of Paul Whiteman. G. Gershwin, more than any other composer of his time, communicated with African-American musicians: he knew Will Voderi, Lucky Roberts, Duke Ellington; heard New York pianists play downtown and often visited the “Cotton Club” and other places in Harlem to hear the bands of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and other jazz musicians. But not only jazz was the area of interest and creative acquaintances of Gershwin. Along with jazz culture, there were many other musical styles. In the works of G. Gershwin, Ch. Ives, A. Copland in the early 1920s – mid 1940s there is an original combination of deep folk intonation with the composer’s technique of the XX century, up to the use of dodecaphonic-serial technique (Copland). The fusion of jazz and academic branches in Gershwin’s music, above all, takes place at the level of form. “I took the blues and put it in a larger and more serious form”, said the composer (as quoted by Schneider, 1999: 67). As a pianist, Gershwin did not receive a systematic professional education as a child, although he later had enough teachers. But that didn’t stop him from becoming a real pianist-virtuoso and a brilliant improviser. One should listen to archival recordings of Gershwin’s performance to get an idea of his performance style. Samples of his piano performances have been partially preserved: some acoustic and electric recordings, radio recordings, two sound films and a large number of piano videos (Gibbons, 2002). The studio recording of “Rhapsody in Blue” demonstrates Gershwin’s completely “academic” pianism – with clear, well-founded articulation, bright sonic fullness, thoughtful agogics of expressive declamation, which is only emphasized by the well-organized metric pulsation and dynamics by active rhythmic movement – and his true virtuoso skill. Should a modern pianist, performing Gershwin’s works, follow the example of a balanced and rather “academic” performance, as in his studio recording “Rhapsody in Blue”, or follow Gershvin’s interpretation, which can be observed in the transcription “I Got Rhythm”, where he clearly prefers the jazz element? It makes sense to compare different examples of Gershwin’s popular piano transcription of “The Man I Love”. The performance version of the English pianist Paul Barton is an attempt to imitate the specifics of the freedom of sound of instrumental jazz styles, however, as one can hear, the musical intonation is not always convincing, the breath is a bit torn, the agogics of chord melodic constructions performance the agogics of chord melodic constructions (upper layers of texture) is greatly exaggerated and the performing is practically “released” from calculation and feeling of time. As an undoubted plus of this version it is necessary to note huge attention to harmony as such, to vertical and balance within a chord – Barton’s harmony “breathes” and moves. This approach can be justified, because the harmony of Gershwin’s songs is always diverse, bright and inventive. The record of Gershwin’s 1959 “Songbook” by Ella Fitzgerald is available today. The composition “The Man I Love” in her performance can be one of the possible orienting points in the intonation of the main melodic voice, the calculation of its unfolding in time, the display of interval “tensions” and melodic intentions in Gershwin’s music. E. Fitzgerald’s vocal-jazz style presupposes a different temporal organization of the melody, different from the one suggested by P. Barton – the movement of its vocal recitation-intonation and improvisational vocals is accelerated, then somewhat slowed down, thus creating “compensated time” of a musical work, and it is with soft, relaxed, naturally light breathing. The modern media space presents the album of French pianist Alexandre Tharaud “Swing in Paris”, which includes two compositions by Gershwin: “The Man I Love” and “Do it Again!”. Three different interpretations of “The Man I Love” are popular on the You Tube website, where each video is original in its own way. These performings are variants, but the concept of details – melodic constructions, organization of rhythmic accents, as well as a sense of Gershwin’s style, is preserved. The sophistication of the Parisian salon is what distinguishes the game of Tharaud. The musician has a sense of proportion and uses the full range of expressive means of academic pianism. At the same time, the development of the melodic line takes place organically and effortlessly, alluding to vocal genre examples, to free breathing and “blues” articulation of jazz vocalists; rhythmic accentuation is unobtrusive but clearly felt. Summing up, we note that the “Tharaud approach” is certainly the closest to the reference. Conclusions. Proceeding from the synthetic nature of G. Gershwin’s music, comprehension of its stylistic and cultural origins, analysis of listened musical samples, let us single out the interpretation constants that must be taken into account by the performer of his compositions. Among them – the inheritance of agogics, articulation, “light” breathing, inherent in the vocal jazz manner, in the intonation of the melody; “Breathing” harmony with a colorful timbre filling of chords and subvoices united into a movable vertical-horizontal complex; understanding of rhythm as an independent expressive sphere that has ethnic roots in the music of the African American tradition.

This study develops a method for analyzing jazz piano music, primarily focusing on the era 1935-1950. The method is based on axiomatic concepts of jazz harmony, such as the circle of fifths and root position harmonies. 7-10 motion between root and chordal seventh seems to be the driving force in jazz motion. The concept of tritone substitution leads to the idea of a harmonic level, i.e., a harmony's distance from the tonic. With this method in hand, various works of music are analyzed, illustrating that all harmonic motion can be labelled into one of three categories. The ultimate goal of this analytic method is to illustrate the fundamental harmonic line which serves as the harmonic framework from which the jazz composer builds.

The purpose of this study was to design and develop instructional units for teaching jazz piano comping to collegiate music students possessing basic piano skills but limited experience in jazz performance. In establishing bases and rationale for the instructional units, a number of issues were considered. These issues were (1) the need for teaching jazz piano comping, (2) a definition and explanation of the musical elements and characteristics of jazz and jazz comping, (3) an understanding of the African and European transmission traditions and musical characteristics that contributed to the development of jazz, (4) a review of literature relating to jazz piano comping, including jazz, music teaching and learning, and learning theory literature, and (5) a review of jazz piano comping practice from the swing era to the present, as reflected in the work of selected central jazz pianists. The twenty-four instructional units present basic harmonic and rhythmic materials of jazz piano comping. Harmonic materials include seven basic chord structures, harmonic extensions and alterations, upper-structure triads, II-V-I cadences, tritone substitution, chord successions, and typical chord progressions. Rhythmic materials include typical jazz rhythms. Each instructional unit is comprised of (A) presentation of a theoretical concept, (B) exercises for learning the particular concept, (C) a chord progression containing the particular concept, (D) a list of recorded examples of the chord progression for examination, and (E) suggested song titles for realization by the student. The instructional units are organized into four chapters of six units each. Instructional Units I through VI focus on individual voicings, organized into cycles of descending fifths. Units VII through XII focus on the II-V-I cadence and tritone substitution. Units XIII through XVIII focus on short chord successions. Units XIX through XXIV serves as a "summing up" of material presented in the first eighteen units. Overall, this work is designed to guide the student to technical proficiency, theoretical understanding, idiomatic fluency, and a creative approach to jazz piano comping.
School of Music

In this thesis I have examined different bird calls by transcribing them and incorporating them into my music. The incorporation included the writing of three compositions based on the transcriptions and the use of elements derived from the bird calls in my improvisations. The music was performed by an ensemble consisting of eight musicians, including myself, at a concert the 2nd of March 2020. In the first chapter, the purpose of this work is explained, the reader is given insight into how the idea of the project came into being and is being presented to how bird calls have been used earlier in the history of music. In the second chapter, I explain how I transcribed the birds, how I wrote the music, how I worked with improvisation and how the concert was set up. In the third chapter, the thoughts that aroused during the project are discussed and finally, in the fourth chapter, I summarise the experiences I have gained, and how I am going to continue to work in the wake of those.

Sofia Svensson – sång

Sebastian Jonsson – sopransaxofon och tvärflöjt

Oskar Forsberg – fagott

Daniel Gahrton – basklarinett

Linnea Jonsson – trumpet

Anna Gréta Sigurðardóttir – piano

Johan Tengholm – kontrabas

Magnus Jonasson – trummor

Includes bibliographical references.
The study embraces a need to document the jazz piano style through analytical representation of key players in the jazz tradition. While there are several educational books outlining method, there is little material discussing jazz style in the context of influential piano players. Educator and author, David Baker, has undertaken to introduce several books from this perspective for some of the more influential horn players (Baker 1982). A search for the jazz style of Bud Powell, Thelonius Monk or Horace Silver, however, will reveal little material and where available this constitutes mostly short biographical information often occupying less than a paragraph within a chapter of historical context. Thomas Owens, for example, discusses the bebop style in 'Bebop, The Music and the Players' (Owens, 1995). He mentions most of the key players for each instrument and discusses their respective stylistic traits. The work is very informative from an overall perspective but serves only to introduce a broad understanding of the players listed. There is very little in-depth analytical discussion or comparative study on style. The subject base is too large for this kind of detail.

I detta självständiga arbete har jag undersökt hur pianopedagoger som undervisar i den klassiska genren och i jazzgenren förändrar sin undervisning beroende på vilken genre elevenspelar i. Målet var att se vilka likheter och skillnader som finns i undervisningen samt att fåkunskap om hur jag som pianist och pedagog kan dra nytta av en sådan jämförande studie. Syftet med undersökningen var att hitta konkreta jämförelsepunkter mellan genrerna samturskilja hur pianopedagoger såg på undervisningen beroende på genre. Men även att som klassisk pianist få en inblick i jazzens tekniska värld och se om de två olika genrerna kanske inte är så olika i grunden. Målet är att kunna identifiera några delar där den klassiska genren och jazzgenren möts i pianoundervisning för att förbättra mitt eget pianospel men även i min roll som pianopedagog samt att kunna hjälpa andra i min position. Ett antal moment kopplade till pianoundervisning samt några specifika moment och övningar valdes ut. Fyra pianopedagoger som samtliga undervisar på minst gymnasienivå i både klassiskt och jazzpiano och har både musikalisk och pedagogisk utbildning från högre lärosäten, valdes ut som intervjupersoner och epostkontakter. Undersökningen visade att pedagogernas undervisningssätt inte ändrades nämnvärt mellan genrerna; vissa delar betonas mer men förhållningssättet är detsamma. Störst var skillnaden i jämförelsen av skalor i respektive genre, dels i hur övningen ska genomföras och dess syfte i respektive genre. Att notbaserad- och gehörsbaserad undervisning kan gå hand i hand framkom i mitt arbete trots att arbetet visar att notbaserad undervisning används lite mer vid klassiskt spel och gehörsbaserad vid jazzundervisning.

This thesis connects the influence of Erroll Garner, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson and Nat King Cole to the establishment of Cesar Camargo Mariano's musical style in a trio setting. It shows that Mariano's piano trio playing created a new feel categorized by this author as "samba jazz feel," which was derived from the fusion of the rhythmic basis of samba with some rhythmic aspects of jazz. To show this, the author uses musical analysis along with qualitative interview data drawn from an exclusive interview with Mariano and from his memoir. Historical aspects of the development of both samba and the swing rhythmic traditions are discussed, as well as historical background on the development of the American and Brazilian music industries. The author claims that while the basis of Cesar Camargo Mariano's musical concept are the samba and bossa nova, jazz stylings greatly influenced the establishment of his musical style, mainly his piano trio style, which is one of the most important representatives of the samba jazz feel.

Det finns en hel del litteratur som lär ut jazzimprovisation, men få som visar vilka musikaliska strukturer som kan användas för att få det att låta ”jazzigt”. I den här kvalitativa studien utforskas därför likheterna mellan fem olika utvalda jazzimprovisationer i piano. I fokus står improvisationernas musikaliska ”språk” ifråga om musikaliska byggstenar eller strukturer. Forskningsfrågan lyder: Vilka musikaliska ”byggstenar” eller strukturer, har fem olika solon i jazzpiano gemensamt? Syftet med studien är att finna likheter mellan några pianoimprovisationer av kända jazzmusiker. Studien utgår från fenomenologiskt och hermeneutiskt perspektiv. Resultaten visar att de olika musikerna använder sig av en rad olika specifika koncept som de bygger sina jazzimprovisationer på: bluesspråk, side slipping, kromatik och närmandetoner, ackordstoner, reharmonisering, överlagrade ackord och pentatonik. Det fenomen som synes hålla samman dessa koncept är tension and release, som tillsammans med koncepten bidrar till det musikaliska språk som används inom den här delen av jazzgenren. Trots att pianisterna synes bygga sina improvisationer på samma koncept, används dock dessa på så pass varierade sätt, att improvisationerna upplevs som både personliga och kreativa.
It is easy to find literature that teaches jazz improvisations, but hard to find any that really shows which musical structures can be used in order to make a sound “jazzy”. This qualitative study will therefore explore the similarities between five piano-jazz improvisations.  The music “language” of the musicians such as the “building blocks” or structure will be in focus when comparing these improvisations. The research question for this study will therefore be: what musical building blocks or structures have the five solos in jazz piano in common? The aim is to find similarities between some piano improvisations done by acclaimed jazz musicians. The study will have a phenomenological and hermeneutic approach. The presented result show that the musicians use a range of specific concepts when building their jazz improvisations; blues, side slipping, chromaticism and approach notes, chord tones, reharmonisation, upper structure triads and pentatonics. The conclusive phenomena has been proven to be tension and release, that together with the concept contributes to the music language that is used within this jazz genre. Even though the different pianists seems to use the same concept when building their improvisations, it is in the way they use them in terms of variation, that makes the solos appear personal and creative.

Music Performance
D.M.A.
The music of the Russian-Ukrainian composer Nikolai Kapustin is a fascinating synthesis of jazz and classical idioms. Kapustin has explored many existing traditional classical forms in conjunction with jazz. Among his works are: 20 piano sonatas, Suite in the Old Style, Op.28, preludes, etudes, variations, and six piano concerti. The most significant work in this regard is a cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82, which was completed in 1997. He has also written numerous works for different instrumental ensembles and for orchestra. Well-known artists, such as Steven Osborn and Marc-Andre Hamelin have made a great contribution by recording Kapustin's music with Hyperion, one of the major recording companies. Being a brilliant pianist himself, Nikolai Kapustin has also released numerous recordings of his own music. Nikolai Kapustin was born in 1937 in Ukraine. He started his musical career as a classical pianist. In 1961 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, studying with the legendary pedagogue, Professor of Moscow Conservatory Alexander Goldenweiser, one of the greatest founders of the Russian piano school. During his student years (1956 -1961) Kapustin gained popularity as an actively performing jazz pianist. After graduating from the Moscow conservatory, Kapustin joined the famous Oleg Lundstrem Jazz orchestra, which by that time was considered a leading jazz ensemble of Soviet Russia. In the beginning of the 1980's Kapustin focused entirely on composition, when his original style had flourished. The jazz language of Kapustin is a kaleidoscope of styles of the greatest twentieth century jazz composers. Almost every article describing his jazz style mentions the influences of great jazz musicians: Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, and George Gershwin. In my study I am going to take a closer look at how strong those influences are, as well as how Kapustin internalized many different jazz styles and created his own style. Kapustin's style bears qualities that belong to the Soviet jazz of 1950s and 1960s. In the second chapter detailed information will be presented about jazz tradition in Russia. This monograph concentrates on Variations, Op.41 and two Concert Etudes (# 3 and # 4) from Eight Concert Etudes, Op 40, composed in 1984. The Variations, Op.41 demonstrate the richness of Kapustin's style and his dazzling talent. These variations are based on a short Russian-Lithuanian folk theme or motive. The same motive is found in the opening of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." Kapustin has transformed an original meditative theme into swing.The analysis of Variation, Op.41 will be followed by the analysis of two etudes (No. 3 & 4) from Eight Concert Etudes, Op.40. The Eight Concert Etudes Op.40 are not only pieces of remarkable technical difficulty, but also pieces of unique beauty and invention with romantic flair. The influence of Russian composers can be seen, including that of Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Prokofiev. My research on these works will provide a thorough representation of Kapustin as a composer and a pianist; the overview of Nikolai Kapustin's piano works; his contribution to the piano repertoire, and composer's unique place in music history. The monograph will also include comparison of two recordings by Nikolai Kapustin and Marc-Andre Hamelin along with pedagogical recommendations.
Temple University--Theses

This chapter provides the background and the conditions for the composition of the Concert for Piano and Orchestra. It discusses, on the basis of sketch material, how Cage composed the predecessor pieces, Music for Piano and Winter Music. It discusses the hidden influence of Cage’s teacher, Schoenberg, on his thinking about musical process, and details Cage’s imperfect, but significant, knowledge of jazz.

In chapter three, John Lucas describes the UK jazz scene following the Second World War. Lucas describes the free and unlimited qualities of jazz and makes comparative reference to Fisher’s own personal interest in the genre. The chapter goes on to state that Fisher’s writing style can arguably be linked to the many styles of jazz piano, in that the two both adhere to imaginative thought and liberation from formal constraints. As well as music, the chapter also focuses on the significance and impact of the themes of location and belonging found in Fisher’s poetry.

This chapter discusses Cage’s sketches for the Concert for Piano and Orchestra. It outlines both what can be said about Cage’s compositional process on the basis of sheets which directly detail aspects of it and on the basis of the traces of his process which can be found in the manuscript of the Solo for Piano. It details his work with jazz musicians in developing the instrumental parts for the piece, as well as unpacking further aspects of the actual process with reference to Music for Piano.

‘Hybrid sounds’ highlights southern music. The first association of music with the American South came from the presence of African American slaves. The pre-Civil War blackface minstrel shows displayed southern connections in its imagery of the plantation. After emancipation, African Americans gained employment in such groups as the Georgia Minstrels, as they moved to New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis, where they adopted the trumpet, the piano, and other instruments that soon became familiar in the music of black southerners. Sacred music, blues music, jazz, and folk music were all important musical genres which shaped Southern culture and the importance of the commercialization of African American music played a role.

This chapter is about the start of the Jazz Age and the dance band era. Music contractor Ed Kirkeby played a major role and gained experience in the music industry, a.o. with a job at Columbia Records and as an artist's representative. His breakthrough came in 1922 when he managed a band called the California Ramblers. This band worked in vaudeville in an act with soprano Eva Shirley. When its personnel walked out, Kirkeby had to find new men, which offered himthe opportunity to hire top quality men. One of these men was Adrian Rollini, who played xylophone and piano.

This chapter examines Pines Songs by Daniel Asia. It explores how Asia’s music is intrinsically American in flavour, displaying striking individuality and sureness of touch. With winning fluency, his work references a kaleidoscopic mix of styles with strong jazz overtones. Here, the mordantly pithy poems are complemented by elaborate piano writing, with lengthy solo passages that illustrate and amplify the poems’ imagery. Words are set in a highly personal way and rhythms are always lively. The composer often embellishes and extends phrases with melismas and hummed musings. Satisfyingly expansive lines use the voice's full capacity, and intricate details never impede the music’s natural flow.

The chapter discusses the addition of Billy Strayhorn to the Ellington band at the end of 1938. Strayhorn gradually transformed its music with harmonic enhancements that he had mastered as a student of European classical music. He also began to write pieces that served as vehicles by which Hodges developed a romantic style to broaden his appeal beyond the hot jazz and blues of his early period. Ellington had learned his trade from East Coast stride pianists, who used the piano as a percussion instrument in the bass register. Strayhorn’s music showed the influence of Debussy and Ravel, romantics with a softer side that was well suited to Hodges’s warm tone. Strayhorn took control of the Ellington small-group sessions and became so closely associated with Hodges that the two formed a four-man group for a time that played apart from Ellington.

The chapter describes Hodges’s musical household, along with his limited instruction on the piano and saxophone. He received instruction on the saxophone formally, from (among others) a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and informally, from other young men in his neighborhood, which came to be known as “Saxophonist Ghetto” because of the large number of musicians who played the instrument living there. Hodges’s youthful introduction to Sidney Bechet at a Boston burlesque show, at which he played a soprano sax, is described. The chapter recounts the saxophone’s history and its development in the jazz genre, as well as Hodges’s early public performances in the Boston area at a very young age. Hodges begins to develop a reputation both in Boston and throughout New England, and he eventually comes to the attention of Duke Ellington in a Boston nightclub.

It was a few minutes past four on a Thursday, and I knew Andrew had arrived for a piano lesson. He bounded down the stairs, arrived at the piano bench with a thud, propped his dog-eared manuscript book on the piano, and looked at me with his determined “let’s get started” smile—a delightfully talented young man of 15 about to share his latest composition with a welcome audience of one. He asked, “Do you know the speech from Julius Caesar, ‘It must be by his death?’” I was unfamiliar with this bit of Shakespeare. He then dramatically went through the well-memorized speech, turning a bit red in the face as he shared this unfamiliar type of performance with his piano teacher. He motioned to his scribbled score, hands on the keyboard. “And this is also the speech.” He then began his composition, peppering the performance with “this is fate” or “B-flat is death” to explain his motivic creative connections. The piece ended with a low B-flat repeatedly resonating as it died away (smorzando). The musical creative process involves realizing sounds internally and communicating them to others in a unique way. Andrew discovered a personal way to interpret and communicate Shakespeare through the language of music. When we think of creative music-makers, we immediately envision the inspired composer, scrawling creative ideas on paper. We also recognize the jazz musician who jams through the night, improvising at will. On a simpler plane, the young child in musical play is spontaneously creating through sound. These are the generative music-makers, creating music from scratch. In the preceding chapter, we examined the creative-interpretive process of a musician who performs music from a written score. This deliberate decision-making process requires constant internal perceptive/cognitive manipulations (metaperception) to discover how to express a personal emotion through sound. The resulting creative interpretation communicates sounds that describe the expressive intent of the musician. The performer is the creative interpreter of music. If we expand our perspective further, the person who listens perceptively and can communicate the idea of these sounds through words also shows musically creative talent.