Jazz on the big screen: 4 films every musician should see
There are films about jazz and there are films of jazz. The difference isn’t only aesthetic; it’s essential. A film…
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The Detroit School of Bebop: 4 pianists who changed jazz
There are times in jazz when a whole city works like an academy. Detroit in the 1940s and ’50s was…
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How to listen to jazz: passive and active listening
“Listen first. Then learn. If you reverse the order, you’ll be playing notes, not music.” — Christos Mastrogiannidis People often…
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Bud Powell: the philosophy of bebop piano in 6 lessons
“If I had to choose one musician for his artistic integrity, for the incomparable originality of his creation and the…
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The Jazz Pianist’s Role in the Band — Trio, Quartet, Big Band
“In jazz, the piano is the orchestra. But inside an orchestra, the piano has to forget that it is one.”…
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Barry Harris’s teaching: lessons from the master
Barry Harris · NEA Jazz Master 1989 “I should really be teaching the teachers, not the students.” — Barry Harris,…
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Jazz Pianists by Decade: 44 Albums Since 1930
Listening Guide · 1930 – Today “Jazz is learned with the ears first. Theory, voicings and scales start to make…
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Bill Evans: How to Approach a Jazz Standard
THE UNIVERSAL MIND OF BILL EVANS — 1966 “People tend to approach the whole problem approximately, instead of taking a…
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Thelonious Monk: 25 Pieces of Advice for Musicians (1960)
FROM STEVE LACY’S HANDWRITTEN LIST, 1960 “What you don’t play can be more important than what you play.” — Thelonious…
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Hank Jones: 5 Jazz Piano Lessons from a Master
PORTRAIT & LESSONS “I don’t try to be better than anyone else. I try to be better than my last…
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Oscar Peterson’s 5 T’s: A Jazz Piano Philosophy
“It’s not enough to play correctly. You have to play in a way that makes someone feel something — otherwise,…
