Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Some interesting new posts.

June Lee - Acappella Christmas Medley (2014)

 Brilliant arrangements of popular of Christmas songs. 

With creative reharmonization and perfect voicings.

 June Lee - Transcription of 
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
by Jacob Collier and Tori Kelly
A very complex transcription. 
With microtonal harmony.
An incredibly challenging and near-impossible feat. 
Brilliant work! 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (2)

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (2)
 See earlier post here.

Latest addition:

Highlight
 
Jacob Collier and Tori Kelly - Multitrack Acappella (2017) 
At last!
The perfect acappella version.
With superjacobian reharmonization.
'nuff said.

June Lee - Live Transcription of the above (2017)
A very unique clip - live transcription of the very complex harmonies of Jacob C!
By the very talented June L.

Hark The Herald Angels Sing

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING

Popular Christmas Carol.

Melody by Felix Mendelssohn.

Lyrics by Charles Wesley (1739).

Adapted by George Whitefield (1758).

Adapted to a melody of Mendelssohn's by John Cummings (1855).

Charming melody. 

Many opportunities for reharmonization.

Wiki link here.

HIGHLIGHT

Take 6 - Acappella
The right balance, tempo and texture.
With creative trademark reharmonization.
Perfect.

The Blenders - Acappella (2011)
Excellent live performance.
Some creative reharmonization.

St Paul's Cathedral Christmas Concert (1997)
Grand traditional setting. 

Pentatonix - Acappella (2011)

Traditional opening with rhythmic contemporary makeover second time round.

Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing

Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing

1973 Single by Stevie Wonder
Catchy tune and Latin beat, with motivational lyrics.

Interesting modulation trajectory.

Highlight

Jacob Collier - Multitrack (2013)

Arranged and reharmonized by superhuman Jacob Collier.

Mind-blowing reharmonization, acappellization and instrumentation.

ORIGINAL
Stevie Wonder (1973)
From his 1973 album Innvervisions.






Incognito (1992)
Steady beat.






Arrangment by Paul Murtha - Jazz Band (2017)
Published by Hal Leonard 
Interesting treatment.
With running score.






Highlight 2
Jacob Collier (Live) (2017)
Live at Lincoln Hall in Chicago.
Jacob Collier performs multitrack live with himself!

Wave

Wave

A bossa nova song from the album by the same name.

Composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Catchy melody, upbeat tempo, and interesting modulations.

A favourite candidate for jazz improvisation. 

 Wiki entry here.

ORIGINAL
Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
Tasteful and elegant.
Classic Jobim.

VOCALS AND GUITAR

Marina Maiztegui (Vocals) and Eduardo Mercuri (Guitar) (2015)

LARGE GROUP ACAPELLLA

Perpetuum Jazzile (2010)
Live at Vokal Xtravaganzza 2010 concert in Ljubljana, Slovenia

HIGHLIGHT

Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Hancock (1993)

At a Jobim Tribute concert. 

Brilliant improvisation by Hancock.

(The above, with running score)

Herbie Hancock's solo

Transcribed by Aaron Lehrian (2017)

Great job!

Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

A lively polka by Johann Strauss II.

Written in 1858.

Wikipedia entry here.

[Symphony Orchestra]

Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (2016)

Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel

[Orchestra and Choir]

Vienna Philhamonic and Vienna Boys Choir (2012) 

New Year Concert 2012 in Vienna

Conducted by Mariss Jansons

HIGHLIGHT 1
 

[Solo Piano]
Paraphrase by Cziffra
A supervirtuoso arrangement!

Performed by Yuja Wang (2010)
At the Verbier Festival 2010

Energetic and exhilarating.
Breathtaking technique, at breakneck speed.
Perfectly executed!

Paraphrase for Solo Piano by Cziffra
Running Score by tomekkobialka

HIGHLIGHT 2
 

[Piano Duet (Four Hands)]

Arranged and Performed by Scott Brothers Duo (Jonathan and Tom Scott)

Lively arrangement and tight performance. 
Very nice texturing with twinkly bits keeping up the momentum of the piece.
 Captures the mood of the polka perfectly.

Minute Waltz

Minute Waltz

Probably the most popular and well-known
of all piano waltzes by Frederic Chopin.

Technically known as Waltz in D-flat major Op 64 No 1.
Some interesting paraphrases. 

Wiki link here.

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

(1969)

Music written by Michel Legrand

Song written for the film The Happy Ending.
Nominated for Academy Award 1969 for Best Original Song.
Melancholic and mystical.
Unusual harmonic minor scale in opening melody.
Changes from minor to major key.
A good candidate for reharmonization and improvisation.

Wiki entry here.

Second Anniversary Post

Second Anniversary Post

This is the second anniversary of this blog

which was launched on 8 August 2015.

Interesting Music Tutorials

INTERESTING MUSIC TUTORIALS

Some interesting music tutorials found online.
These channels also have other interesting tutorial videos.

Tritone Substitution
(by Jazz Duets)

Good introduction with useful graphical illustrations.

Gymnopédie No. 1 by Satie

Gymnopédie No. 1

by Erik Satie

Minimalist piano piece
by French composer Erik Satie.
Part of a set of three Gymnopédies.
Simple, melancholic, tranquil.
Interesting harmonic structure.
Precursor to ambient music.
Wiki link here.

Bach's Partita No.3 in E Major for Violin

Bach's Partita No. 3 for Violin in E Major

Originally written for solo violin.
Exquisite, well-balanced and calming.

Six movements.

Three movements transcribed for piano by Rachmaninoff:

Prelude, Gavotte, Gigue.
Very skilfully transcribed.
Interesting voicing and harmonic structure.
Maintains the essence and character of the original composition.

Wiki entry here.

Le Pas Espagnol

Le Pas Espagnol

 Last movement of the Dolly Suite by Gabriel Fauré.
Energetic and catchy.

Originally written for four hands on piano.
Wiki entry here.

Arthur and Lucas Jussen - Piano Duet (2010)

Spectrasonics Keyscape

Spectrasonics Keyscape

Demo by various artistes (2016)
including
 Cory Henry  -  1:10   5:50   19:42
Greg Phillinganes  -  3:57   11:42
Zac Rae   -    8:37

Transcriptions of Cory Henry's playing above
by Nathan Ford

Transcriptions of Greg Phillanges' playing above

by Nathan Ford

Pure Imagination

Pure Imagination

From the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971).

Composed by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.
A catchy confectionery reverie.
II-V-I structure with interesting chromatic moves in melody line. 

Wiki entry here.

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
Gene Wilder - Vocals (1971)

From the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The classic.

NAMM

NAMM

Annual Trade Show of the National Association of Music Merchants
Wiki entry here.

 Some very impressive jam sessions on keyboards.
Featuring clips by the immensely talented Cory Henry of Snarky Puppy.





Highlight

Cory Henry and Nick Semrad - NORD (NAMM 2016)
I Don't Feel No Ways Tired
Cory Henry on Nord C2D Organ, Nick Semrad on Nord 3 Piano
Amazing two-keyboard combination.
Tight chordwork by Nick.
Exhilarating riffs by Cory.
Look out for interesting structural shifts from 3:06.

Have You Met Miss Jones?

Have You Met Miss Jones? 

Jazz standard, published in 1937.

Originally written for a musical comedy.

Music written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Many interesting chord changes. 

A favourite piece for jazz improvisations.
Wiki entry here.

Chorinho

Chorinho

By American jazz pianist Lyle Mays.
Catchy moto perpetuo riffs
with energetic Brazilian rhythm.

Interesting chord changes.
Lots of tricky syncopation.

Lyle Mays - Piano/Jazz Quartet
By the composer himself.
Amazing technique and mastery of touch.
Very creative improvisation of riffs.

Billie's Bounce

Billie's Bounce

Jazz standard with blues progression.

Written by Charlie Parker in 1945.

Wiki entry here.

Le Cygne (The Swan)

Le Cygne

(The Swan)

Beautiful cello solo with lyrical melody. 

The second last movement of the Carnival of Animals Suite (1886) by Saint-Saens. 

Popular as a stand-alone piece.

Transcribed into many different versions with different instrumentation.

Wiki link here. 

Spring Festival Overture

(This post is part of a series in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2017)

Spring Festival Overture

Energetic overture of the Spring Festival Suite for Orchestra.
Composed by Li Huanzhi.

Popular during Chinese New Year.

Catchy pentatonic melodies played at an exciting pace.
Interesting harmonization and chord substitution.
Wiki entry here.

He Xin Nian (贺新年)

(This post is part of a series in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2017)

He Xin Nian

(贺新年)

Title translates to
"New Year Wishes".

A Chinese New year favourite.
Lively melody with interesting harmonization possibilities.
A surprise to discover that this song was around as long as 70 years ago.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Spring Breeze (望春風)

(This post is part of a series in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2017)

Spring Breeze (望春風)

Popular Taiwanese Hokkien Song.
Also known as Spring Wind.
Original Chinese title translates to "Longing for the Spring Breeze".

Released by Columbia records in 1933.
Melody is purely pentatonic
but melodic trajectory provides
many opportunities for creative reharmonization.

Wikipedia entry here.

Favourite Two-Piano Arrangements/Improvisations

(this post is inspired by the amazing concert of piano duos/trios/
 at the recent Malaysian Jazz Piano Festival 2017)

Favourite Two-Piano Arrangements/Improvisations

Here are some of my favourite two-piano pieces/arrangements/improvisations. 

Some of these have been featured in previous posts. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!