2024 Faculty Play-list

Jordan Schug- jazz bass

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers- “A Night in Tunisia”

This is a quintessential hard bop sound, and a night in Tunisia is an important standard to learn for Jam sessions.

 

April Tini- jazz voice

Sarah Vaughan- “All of Me" from Live in Japan

This live recording of Sarah singing All of Me is a masterclass in swinging, phrasing, melodic delivery and improvisation. It's a short recording, but her creativity spans the entirety, complete with a brilliant scat solo, wild use of vocal range and a fun, extended tag ending.

 

Trevor Lamb- jazz bass

Bobby Timmons- "Dat Dere"

This tune is a great example of how much vocabulary can be played with your minor pentatonic scale. Also, this is a great example of how much a little arranging can go a long way with the use of the intro and shout.

 

John Douglas- jazz trumpet

Lee Morgan- “Rainy Night”

This a beautiful, well written and executed ballad. It has a shorter form with
nice harmonies and rhythmic complexity.

 

Ellie Martin- jazz voice

Ella Fitzgerald- “One Note Samba”

This is an amazing scat solo, and her phrasing is also ridiculously good. So I would tell the students to listen for phrasing, range, and improvisation. 

  

Scott Gwinnell- jazz piano

Miles Davis and Gil Evans- "The Duke"

This clip demonstrates the fine line between composing and arranging large ensemble music and organic improvising. Gil Evans arranged and orchestrated a rich color pallet for a large ensemble on the album Miles Ahead; the song and album was a personal concerto for Miles Davis. The music was intricate in its accompaniment, with Miles's unmistakable brilliant simplicity adding an organic touch.

  

Chuck Newsome- jazz guitar

Brad Mehdlau- “Solar”

I chose this version of Solar performed by the Brad Mehldau Trio because it's an excellent example of both trio playing in general, and of how to make a sometimes tired tune sound new and fresh. Larry Grenadier takes the first solo and does some remarkably adventurous playing that is also rhythmically precise--including some cool tuplet stuff. Notice the heavy use of repetition and thematic variation at the top of Brad's solo. This lends itself to the kind of lengthy, narrative solos they take in this trio.

 

John Hill- jazz drums

Miles Davis- “My Funny Valentine”

I listened to this recording in college, and since, hundreds of times.  This live recording is lightning in a bottle.  Every note and inflection is a pearl!  Sheer jazz perfection!!!  The My Funny Valentine album and Four and More, both from the same recorded concert, are absolutely magic!!

 

Jiana Hunter- jazz voice

Nancy Wilson- "Guess Who I Saw Today"

I absolutely love the storytelling element of this song. Nancy Wilson is engaging and articulate. I also enjoy her use of range, phrasing and vocal placement.

 

James Hughes- jazz woodwinds

Joshua Redman- “Blues on a Sunday”

I was too young and too broke to get in to the Magic Bag in Ferndale when this band played it in 1993, so I listened to them through the back door in the alley which someone had kindly cracked open a bit. It was just the start of all their illustrious careers, fun to see and hear these giants as youngsters!

 

Charlie Miller- jazz trumpet

Louis Armstrong- "Potato Head Blues"

This recording is important as an example of group improvisation and syncopated rhythmic phrasing. Louis is one of the greatest influences in jazz and listening to this will make it clear why.

 

Ian Blunden- jazz guitar

Wayne Shorter- "I Didn't Know What Time it Was"

This standard really exemplifies the relative minor and major key relationship. It's also a great tune to study if you're looking to work on phrasing ballad melodies.

 

Melody Balos- jazz voice

Tania Maria- "Yatra-Ta"

Tania Maria composed, sang, and played piano on this tune, and is an excellent example of a truly self-sufficient vocalist!

 

Eli Bucheit- jazz piano

Dizzy Gillespie- "Ooh Bop Sh Bam"

This is an important recording because it illustrates the overlap between scat vocalizations and instrumental melody. It is also a prime example of the effectiveness of "call and response" in the arrangement.

 

Terry Kimura- jazz trombone

Slide Hampton- "Giant Steps"

Slide Hampton with Harry Pickens (piano), Todd Coolman (bass) and Ed Soph (drums) live at the Aebersold Workshop 1996. I was 16 when I saw this live, and it was an incredible revelation of how even at the fastest tempo of tricky changes it is still possible to play melodically and rhythmically.

 

Matt Balos- jazz piano

Veronica Swift- "Forget About the Boy"

It shows how to follow a vocalist, something Emmet Cohen is very skilled at.

 

Scott Cowan- jazz trumpet

Sonny Rollins and Jim Hall- “God Bless the Child"

Sonny Rollins was one of our greatest improvisers within jazz history. Notice his complete harmonic and rhythmic control via cliche'-free content...a true improvising Jazz Master.

 

Russ Miller- jazz woodwinds

Cannonball Adderley Sextet- “Jeannine”

Killin' solos, nice crisp tempo, background figures, and pure joy!