Bob Griffin’s Jazz Piano Project

Another one of my favorite jazz musicians, Bud Powell performing, “I’ll Remember April”! Take a moment and enjoy this interlude!

School just let out this past Friday (the 13th!) - I’m a teacher - and so now it’s my goal to immerse myself in really developing this blog for all things “jazz!”

In the meantime, I did find this great article about the jazz piano style that I hope you’ll enjoy

When people think of piano music, they tend to think of classic pieces. Jazz piano is a style that is obviously unique, but also technically and soulfully superb.

The story of the jazz piano begins with a man named Jelly Roll Morton, a town called New Orleans, and a type of music called ragtime. Joseph Ferdinand La Menthe (Jelly Roll Morton) was known throughout New Orleans as a musician that could play just about any type of music. Jelly Roll enjoyed entertaining crowds with his ragtime, jazz, and blues combinations, and he often played to a roaring crowd throughout New Orlean’s Redlight District.

The song “Jelly Roll Blues” was the first jazz compilation every published (1915), and this catchy tune really put both Jelly Roll and the jazz piano on the musical map. There is no debating the fact that Morton was the original father of jazz piano, and he is entirely responsible for the jazz piano tunes that we know and love today. If you have heard this great musician play, you may be interested to know that a fantastic recording of his is currently at the Library of Congress. This recording was the last one that Morton ever did, and it is one of the best recordings in history.

When the 1920s rolled around, jazz music took a whole different turn, and the streets of Chicago and New York City were vibrating with the sound of a rolling piano. During this time, New York musicians were tapping the keys to a style called “Harlem Stride,” and many attribute this type of music to James P. Johnson (1891-1955). The story of jazz piano really started to crank up when Harlem grabbed a hold of the instrument, and though many have tried to duplicate this sound, jazz music has not been the same since.

If you enjoy listening to modern jazz, take the time to discover Jelly Roll and Johnson - you’ll be pleased that you did. Whether you want to play the piano, or whether you simply love to hear those sweet chords chime, those that were true piano pioneers are still the best the world has every heard.

There can be no history of the jazz piano without the mention of New Orleans, Harlem, Chicago, Jelly Roll Morton, and James P. Johnson - the men, the music, and the piano all combine throughout time to create a sound unlike any other. Stop for moment, listen to those old recordings, and then ask yourself whether or not you can hear that good old piano truly roll.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about piano and piano lessons for PianoLessonInstructors.com

When I was 15 years old I signed up for piano lessons here in Westport,CT with one of the great unknown figures in jazz ,John Mehegan.I was both psyched and frightened with the prospect of studying with this guy.The thing about John Mehegan was that he was the real deal.Friends with Bill Evans and someone with enough statsure to have Leonard Bernstein write the line notes for his book(Rhythmic and Tonal Principals),Mehegan was a guy who was first anf foremost angry. What he was angry about was up to conjecture but he was known to be angry about just about everything.Just the mention of the name ‘Elton John’ would send him into a rage. See,here was a guy who had spent his life learning and eventually putting down on paper what a jazz musician (especially pianists) does when he’s improvising.He put down all the steps and strands of theory one should know when playing jazz.

To me a shy 15 year old self taught boogie-woogie piano player with a good ear and absolutlely no idea what I was doing technically,it was a experience that I will document in my next series of posts because it documents how I got to here from there.-And became friends with the man along the way,though I did mention Elton John’s name a few too mant times.I’ll also fill you in on what was in the orange juice glass at 7:30 in the morning which blew my mind then and now.Watch for my next post and thanks for reading.