Home Jazz-EKR Archive by category "Piano" (Page 3)

Category: Piano

This Day in Music – Jan 10, 1978 – Happy Birthday, Jazz Pianist Kekko Fornarelli!!

So on this date in 1978….I was married for three years and was a year  away from the start of several turbulent years, and jazz pianist Kekko Fornarelli was born……from Wikipedia: Kekko Fornarelli is a pianist and a composer. He was born in Bari, Italy in 1978. He began learning classical piano at the age of three, first through private tuition and later at the Conservatorio Piccinni in Bari. Fornarelli’s interest in jazz music began at the age of 18. From there on, he has immersed himself in jazz, which has led him to travel worldwide. He has recorded three albums, Circular Thought in 2005, A French Man in…

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This Day in Music – December 11, 1938 – McCoy Tyner’s Birthday!!

Today McCoy Tyner celebrates his 75th birthday, Happy Birthday, McCoy. From his biography at Facebook, It is not an overstatement to say that modern jazz has been shaped by the music of McCoy Tyner. His blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists.  Alfred McCoy Tyner  was born on December 11, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, He wad the oldest of three children and  encouraged to study piano by…

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2013 Jazz from Cuba’s Roberto Fonseca – Yo! (that resonates here in the Philly Area)

                (Twin Sons of Different Mothers and times?) (tangentially speaking – about the headline the Yo – is usually followed by Adrian ….. here (ADD strikes again) Checking out the Roots Music Reports Jazz Chart this afternoon, I saw a name that interested me at number 12, right after the Duduka Da Fonseca Trio, was Roberto Fonseca and his latest album Yo. So the question before the house was who is this Roberto Fonseca and what does he play!! I download the album from Spotify and only got to listen to it on the…

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Today in Music – Dec 2, 1931 – Jazz Pianist Wynton Kelly was born!

On this day in 1931 jazz pianist Wynton Kelly was born in Jamaica. According to Wikipedia Wynton is maybe best know for the years he spent working with Miles Davis from 1959 to 1962. While that may be true for many listeners it’s not for me. I remember Wynton as a sideman for Wes Montgomery. If Jimmy Smith and Wes were the Dynamic Duo. Wynton and Wes were the Dynamic Duo 2 in my eyes and ears!! The son of Jamaican immigrants, Kelly was born in Brooklyn, New York.[1][2][3] He started his professional career in 1943, initially as a member…

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2013 Jazz – The Music of Omar Sosa – Eggun: The Afri-Lectric Experience

So the other day MOG by way of their Just for You section introduced me to the music of Omar Sosa, and I’m glad they did!!  Sosa is a Cuban born composer, bandleader, and jazz pianist. His newest band  Afreecanos, combines Afro Pop, jazz, and a variety of European instruments. The band, which includes musicians from Africa, Cuba, Brazil, and France, released a CD in 2009 and went on a world tour in early 2010. The album that was recommended bby MOG was his latest release Eggun: The Afri-Lectric Experience. I gave it a quick listen and decided that I wanted to learn more about Omar and…

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Bud Powell – Jazz Piano

  Bud Powell – Jazz Piano born September 27, 1924   On this date in 1924 “Bud” Powell was born. In a post the other day about pianist Benny Green‘, I stated that his sytle has been compared to Bud Powell’s style. I wouldn’t know because, I know hardly anything about Bud Powell. with the exception that he was a great pianist. I image that he main reason I don’t remember Bud, is that  he died 1966. Another reason is that he spent the years between 1958 and 1963 in Paris. He returned to the US in 1963 and on July 31, 1966, he…

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Late Night Jazz from Russell Malone, Christian McBride and Benny Green

Ok so after writing about Christian McBride tonight, I was looking around YouTube and I saw this video of a performance of one of my favorite Wes Montgomery tunes, “Jingles”! The trio performing it was composed of Christian McBride on bass, Benny Green on piano and Russell Malone on guitar. I have recently learned a little about Christian McBride but I don’t know much about Malone or Green. Anyway,I watched the video and I was floored! Malone is outstanding on guitar as is Green on piano, but the driving force behind the whole 14 minutes on the tune is the…

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A Jazzy Night with Music from Blue, Wynton and Hank and friends!!

So tonight I turned the sound down on the Phillies game and turned up the stereo and spent a jazzy Saturday night listening to albums from  Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly, and Hank Mobley. Of the three Hank Mobley is the musician I know the least about, but his album Soul Station was my favorite of the evening. The link between the three albums is the piano artistry of Wynton Kelly. I first heard Blue Mitchell’s trumpet when he played on two John Mayall albums in the early 70s. The album I listened to tonight was Blue’s Moods released in 1960….

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“Into the Night” with Latin Jazz Masters – Jane Bunnett and Hilario Duran

So on Monday while I was exploring new jazz artists, I read a forum thread about flutists and someone included Jane Bunnett among their favorites. I knew nothing about Jane, but here’s what I found about this accomplished musician at her website : Multiple Juno Award winner, Jane Bunnett has turned her bands into showcases for the finest talent from Canada, the U.S.and Cuba. She has been nominated for Grammy Awards, numerous Juno Awards, and most recently, was honoured with an appointment to the Order of Canada. An internationally acclaimed musician, Jane Bunnett is known for her creative integrity, improvisational…

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2013 Jazz – Aaron Diehl’s – The Bespoke Man’s Narrative

So last night I had the television on and there were no games on the Phils played in the afternoon and the NBA playoffs start tonight so a surfed a little, and then switched to the Music Choice jazz channel. I listened for a bit and heard two artists that sounded interesting, so I turned off the TV and went to MOG to find them. The first was jazz pianist Aaron Diehl and the second was drummer Jordon Young. Both of their albums were very, very good. particularly  Diehl’s début album   The Bespoke Man’s Narrative, which was released by Mack…

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