With that auspicious history, it’s amazing that I had never heard There’s a Small Hotel before. Yesterday, I was having a conversation with one of my adult students. He’s an avid photographer and spends a great deal of time preparing for his photographic projects. One thing he said really struck me, and this was the fact that part of the excitement involved in creating something wonderful involves study, research and a variety of other explorations. These are critical in bringing the artistic work to life. I saw this to be the case when I was composing classical music, and I have certainly also found it to be true in writing these blog posts for you.

So after I looked at the sheet music of There’s a Small Hotel, I somehow needed to hear different versions of the tune. Even though I could easily play this song as a ballad or perhaps as a medium swing, I wasn’t quite sure about the best approach. My Rhapsody Music playlist came early in this process. Even though this was somewhat unusual for me, it seemed absolutely necessary. Despite this, it may surprise you to know that there are only 10 tracks on my list and three of them are by Oscar Peterson.

“So what kinds of styles are on your playlist?” you’re probably asking. Needless to say, there are ballads and medium tempo versions by pianists Art Tatum and Erroll Garner as well as by Oscar Peterson. In addition, there are two wonderful renditions by guitarists Joe Pass and Charlie Byrd. Joe Pass recorded an outstanding solo swing version complete with his trademark walking bass lines. In contrast, Charlie Byrd created a Bossa nova small-group recording. Perhaps this is where my own interpretation came from.

When you listen to my recording in the blog post player on the right, you’ll notice that I immediately moved into a Latin rhythmic feel after my very brief introduction. For those of you who have listened to many of my performances you will immediately recognize the Beguine bass. In fact, if you talk to any of my piano students from age 12 and older they’ll know exactly what you mean. Once I had a sense of the potential for There’s a Small Hotel to work in this style, my performance fell into place very naturally.

Complete with vocalizing, to this I simply had fun playing this song. The melody of There’s a Small Hotel is very lyrical, and yet there are so few eight notes that popular songwriters today might be unimpressed. This is precisely the reason why playing the standards leaves so much room for interpretation. Remember what I said about simpler is better in one of my articles some time ago. Richard Rodgers knew this only too well.

It doesn’t take complexity to make a great song. Music requires three elements: melody, harmony and rhythm and this composer knew exactly how to combine them. In fact when I was improvising on There’s a Small Hotel, I simply did not feel the need to play lots of virtuositic runs. Why? Because embellishing the melody and drawing upon its character was quite sufficient.

Before I sign off, I just wanted to mention another very interesting recording. It’s by pianist Hank Jones (1918 – 2010) and the Meridian String Quartet. Hank Jones had a marvelous method of playing swing and needless to say the trio session with bass and drums would have been sufficient. However, the rich chords, contrapuntal lines and colorful sounds of the string quartet make the performance of There’s a Small Hotel simply magical. If you get a chance, look it up and take a listen. It’s worth it.

Now it’s your turn.
Would you like to enjoy playing popular song sheet music on the piano?
Would you like to break down the musical barriers that are standing in your way?
Why not get the guidance you need to help you really play the piano (or keyboard)?
Don’t let another week go by.
Now is the time to act!
Find out all about how easy it is for you to get started.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near anywhere in the Worcester MA area, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick piano instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

What I saw instead was a variety of mixed bag interpretations ranging in style from crooner to punk. Unfortunately, there were very few in the main stream. When you listen to my recording of Blue Moon in the blog audio player you may better understand where I’m coming from. Here’s a brief description of what you’ll hear. After a brief rubato introduction which concludes with some atmospheric whole tone improvising, the tempo launches into a “bass in 2” medium swing followed by some blues influenced improvisation over what has become my trade mark anchor bass line. After all, how could I resist?

The I-vi-ii-V chord pattern long associated with Hoagy Carmichael’s Heart and Soul was a no-brainer. And so Rodgers and Hart’s 1934 classic Blue Moon (which by the way was written four years before its I-vi-ii-V counterpart) became my vehicle for variations complete with vocalizing as well as some right hand chord solos. As you may also notice, following my return to the melody played above the left hand “bass in 2”, I couldn’t resist the temptation to play an extended vamp out over the “famous”chord pattern while decreasing my playing volume in the final moments of the performance. It had a ball playing the piece. Some songs are just plain fun to play and Blue Moon is certainly one of them.

Although I don’t want to overdo the comparison between Blue Moon and Heart and Soul, I do think that the bridge of Blue Moon is much more memorable. But this may only be due to the fact that two kids sitting at the piano prefer to play the verse of the Carmichael piece and so the bridge is very rarely heard. In contrast, our featured standard is always heard as a complete song. Despite all of this, I was very surprised to discover (thank you Wikipedia) that Richard Rodgers’ music had two prior titles and sets of lyrics by his famous collaborator.

It’s a good thing that Blue Moon became a hit, because Lorenz Hart must have become exasperated when version one Oh Lord, Make Me a Movie Star and version two It’s Just that Kind of Play failed to succeed. Think about it. Here were two successful collaborators with a 15 year track record and something just wasn’t working. Thankfully for us, Jack Robbins, the head of MGM’s publishing division believed that the song still had potential for commercial success. He thus requested that the somewhat reluctant Lorenz Hart write a new set of more romantic lyrics and give the tune a catchier title. The rest is history.

Recalling my opening statement about interpretations, you may now have a better idea of why I thought there would be far more recording performances to pick from. Certainly, I found inspiration in the medium swing version by jazz organist Richard “Groove” Holmes. His walking bass lines brought him notoriety in the 1960s when his recording of Misty sold over a million copies. Since then, I can’t help but recall his playing every time I create a left hand bass groove. Another performer who came to the forefront in the jazz world was guitarist Joe Pass.

Although he recorded albums with various ensembles prior to and afterwards, he became known for his solo guitar performing. His version of Blue Moon is perfect example of why. All by himself, he manages to coordinate melody, chords, some improvisation and a walking bass line. The performance is intimate and at the same time complete. It’s pretty amazing. However, I learned a valuable lesson when I saw Joe Pass perform in person. Although I don’t refer to my experience when I discuss the issue with my students, I may start including this experience in my narrative.

It involves the issue of performance anxiety. Having held many annual student recitals during more than 30 years of piano teaching, I have encouraged students to focus more on sharing the music they enjoy with their listeners rather than playing perfectly. I confess my own nervousness and how important it is to keep the music flowing despite mistakes and mishaps. However, the real lesson is that it’s just plain tough to play by yourself.

What I witnessed with Joe Pass is that he needed someone else to partner with. Yes, his music is complete, but there was no conversation to energize him. I found that the wonderful solo pianist Dave McKenna had the same issue in performance settings. So while I find that playing the piano alone is tremendously satisfying (as do so many of my students), when you get up to play in a recital or concert situation, the tables are turned.

Duets between two performers shift the focus away from impressing your audience and toward creating a musical conversation with your colleague. In fact, every year I love playing a duet with my student Ken Taylor at the end of our Adult Student Recital. Last June, I had also got to play a duet with Hudson Studio Piano Instructor Erika Hirsch (who also plays flute) at the end of the Hudson Studio Students Recital. So I guess from now on when I have the opportunity to play musical duets, I’ll think of Blue Moon: in the words of Lorenz Hart, “Blue Moon, now I’m no longer alone…..”

How about you?
Do you get to the piano once in a blue moon?
Are you still procrastinating about getting the help you need?
Isn’t it time you act on your long-held desire to get better at playing the piano?
Why not get the guidance you need to help you really play the piano (or keyboard)?
It’s a new year and the holidays are over.

Now is the time to act!
Find out all about how easy it is for you to get started.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

In contrast to the atmosphere surrounding the creation of the standards from the American Popular Songbook, Let There Be Peace on Earth had much more humble beginnings. This husband and wife songwriting team had a dream for world peace. They believed that as individuals, we can each have a part in achieving this universal desire. To emphasize their personalization point, the second line of each verse is either: “And let it begin with me.” Or “Let this be the moment now with every step I take.”

An interesting fact about the premiere of Let There Be Peace on Earth is that it took place on a summer weeklong retreat for 180 California high school students of all races and religions. What a contrast from New York’s Broadway stage or from a rock group’s world tour. Nevertheless, from its humble yet spirited beginning, Let There Be Peace on Earth went on to achieve international notoriety through word-of-mouth. The teenagers shared it with friends and family who introduced it at schools, churches and community organizations until finally it was recorded and performed by professional singers. What an amazing story!

After researching and writing this narrative to share with you today, I find it interesting that including Let There Be Peace on Earth in my holiday blog series this year was an afterthought. Since this is my fourth season of selecting songs to feature in these seasonal posts, I had a bit of a challenge to select pieces to perform for you. A couple of times in the past, there was an opportunity to complete the Christmas song selections with something for New Year’s. One of these was That’s All, though not limited to this occasion, did fit the bill and then there was the very traditional Auld Lang Syne.

So after I recorded the songs for the previous three posts, I decided to record what I thought would be a fitting tune to introduce 2012. When you listen to my recording in the audio player on the right, you will hear my soft rubato tempo introduction. The chords are very rich, and took the opportunity to embellish them with some added tones e.g. 9^ths, 11^ths, etc. (familiar to many of my students). After basking in the lush sounds of the harmonies, I moved into tempo and brought a jazz waltz flavor to the ¾ meter. After returning to rubato near the end, I quoted the opening melody in the high register of the piano at the track’s conclusion. Speaking of tracks, I unfortunately did not find anything that would energize and inspire my piano playing performance for this post. Although this was my personal experience, you can certainly find many moving renditions of Let There Be Peace on Earth in a variety of genres on Rhapsody Music, iTunes and/or YouTube.

So as you begin this New Year of 2012, remember the story and aim of Jill Jackson and Sy Miller’s special song Let There Be Peace on Earth. The couple’s heartfelt desire for peace for mankind, though far from a reality today, was begun by 180 individuals. And so whether you remember the phrase “and let it begin with me” or “brighten the corner where you are” or even as the bumper sticker says “think globally-act locally”, the message is the same: we can each make a difference.

Are you up for the challenge?
Music is the universal language.
Do you want to use your piano playing to “brighten the corner where you are”?

The New Year is here. “Think globally-act locally”.
Isn’t it time you took action on your long-awaited goal of taking piano lessons?
Just think of it, you have the golden opportunity at your finger tips.Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with the music you make on your keyboard.

Why wait? Get the process started now.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Although some of the African-American spirituals are slow and somber (and for good reason), many of them have an upbeat character which leaves room for some fun-filled foot-tapping arrangements. Such is the case with Go Tell It on the Mountain. For as long as I can remember, I’ve included this tune in my holiday performance repertoire. The catchy quality of the music helped it to hold its own with the likes of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells and Let It Snow. The only information we know about Go Tell It on the Mountain is that it first appeared in an 1865 collection compiled by John Wesley Work Jr.

There’s something about the refrain of Go Tell It on the Mountain that lends itself beautifully to using the shuffle bass pattern in the left hand. So even though I have refined and improved the way I apply the shuffle bass accompaniment to some of my arrangements, it’s been an integral part of my performances of Go Tell It on the Mountain for decades. When you listen to my recording in the blog audio player on the right, you’ll hear how nicely this works with this tune. Hopefully, you’ll be tapping your foot or nodding your head along with the music.

Speaking of tapping your foot, there are a couple of upbeat renditions of Go Tell It on the Mountain that I located on Rhapsody Music. Unfortunately none of my favorite jazz players is represented (or even some terrific artists with whom I became familiar as a result of preparing for each of my blog posts). In fact, as with the other holiday songs featured this year, the selection was limited.

Nevertheless, a soulful and swinging performance of Go Tell It on the Mountain by Max Lemar (sax) and Melody Sweeting (piano with organ overdub) came to my attention. Along the same lines is the rendition trumpet player Dave Borsos who leads an excellent ensemble in a shuffle style arrangement. Both of these arrangements maintain the song’s upbeat character and when you hear them, you’ll feel the positive energy inherent in this spiritual.

Completing this limited list of Rhapsody Music’s tracks that made it onto my playlist were a Dixieland style performance by New Orleans’ own Gèrard Messonnier and the Hot Kings which really works by the way) and two vocal versions. Complete with hand-clapping, the Silver Belles offered an outstanding upbeat a cappella presentation. Finally, the track by the Staple Singers brought back some fond memories. This ensemble came to my attention years ago when I hosted my jazz radio program on WICN-FM. They were guest artists on one of Cannonball Adderley’s albums. Their soulful Gospel style singing captures the spirit of this seasonal spiritual.

What about you?
Have you found a way to capture the holiday spirit with your keyboard?
Does your piano playing sound flat and unexpressive?
January is just around the corner.
Isn’t it time you took action on your long-awaited goal of taking piano lessons?

Why not get the process started today?
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location where you can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Both are traditional tunes in contrast to the many popular songs composed during the last several decades. Carol of the Bells was written by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1904. The original lyrics were associated with the celebration of the New Year (which occurred in April) in the Ukraine. Our use of it during the Christmas holiday season came as a result of the lyrics written by Englishman Peter Wilhousky in the 1930s. The melody is made up of a catchy one measure 4-note motive which repeats many times. It is so easy to recognize, that it makes the music more well-known and popular than the words. This is unusual in our society today where the words and the beat are the primary features contributing to a song’s status on the charts.

Since the music of Carol of the Bells is not only repetitive but is also in ¾ meter, it made sense to me to do three things when I put the arrangement together for the recording for you to hear in the audio player on the right. First of all, enhancing the waltz rhythm by applying my jazz waltz accompaniment style was an obvious approach to take. Next, after a bit of experimentation, I concluded that the handi variation (also known as the minor line clichè) would give me a chord pattern that offered the best solution for the repeating melodic motive. Finally, I recalled a choir anthem which my choir sang at the Hartford Street Presbyterian Church several years ago called Bell Carol of the Kings. This arrangement combined Carol of the Bells with another well-known Christmas favorite We Three Kings of Orient Are. Although, my arrangement is totally different from this choir selection, the idea of putting this pair of pieces together made perfect sense.

We Three Kings of Orient Are (more often known as simply We Three Kings) was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in the late 1850s. It first appeared in print in an 1863 publication called Carols, Hymns and Song. Although Hopkins was later ordained as an Episcopal Priest, his musical contributions came while he was an ordained Deacon and Music Director at the General Theological Seminary. As you probably know, music and the church have had long and productive association for centuries, from Gregorian chant to Bach to Beethoven and beyond.

As an aside, I must tell you that my 30 years of work as Music Director at the Hartford Street Presbyterian Church in Natick have not only enriched my musical life, but the experience has helped me to become a better piano teacher. Interestingly enough; all of our Ed Mascari Piano Studio faculty members also have some association with church music. As a matter of fact, Hudson instructor Robin Cho’s composition based on the book of the Bible, Ruth: The Musical, was premiered recently as a stage production in Boston.

Returning to the music of We Three Kings, I think that most of you can remember its unique structure. After the minor key (sad sound) section, it moves to the major key (happy sound) portion of the piece. This supports the lyrics beautifully. Think of “Star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright….” How could this idea be anything but major? In any case, I enjoyed putting the medley of Carol of the Bells and We Three Kings of Orient Are together for you.

As with several other Christmas and holiday favorites, I was disappointed by the fact that Rhapsody Music did not have much to offer in terms of inspiring jazz performances of either piece. Despite this fact, organist Jimmy Smith’s jazzy We Three Kings from his Christmas Cooking album is catchy and fun. There were also two very different, but nonetheless excellent renditions of Carol of the Bells. The Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra took a brassy swing direction which I recall hearing Wynton Marsalis do on his CD called Crescent City Christmas. Pianist Michael Silverman led his trio in a more sensitive version of Carol of the Bells which included a few interesting jazz harmonies. However, it’s clear that his performance pays homage to the 1980s landmark recording by New Age pianist George Winston. This recording, called December, put Winston’s name on the map. It includes not only a special and wonderful arrangement of Carol of the Bells, but also includes his famous version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. It’s well worth a listen!

What’s your favorite holiday piece?
Are you listening to selection of seasonal songs these days?
Would you like to be able to play them on your piano or keyboard?
Perhaps you can play the Christmas tunes, but you are tired of the same old arrangements.
If so, you’d be like a lot of our piano students.
They are looking for a better way to play the music they love.
How about you?

Find out all about how easy it is for you to get started.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

The thing is though, that the ideas are somewhere in my brain all the time. However, it is usually when I’m involved in helping a student make a song work for him, that I have the vital aha moment. In fact, it was only a couple of years ago while teaching one of my Hudson Studio adult students, that I discovered the technique that I needed to help piano students play a jazz waltz.

Anyway, I first became familiar with José Feliciano in 1968 when I heard his Latin rhythm arrangement of Light My Fire (a tune by the rock group The Doors). This was at about the same time that I began establishing my identity as a jazz organist while a student at Holy Cross College.

Despite the fact that rock and soul were the popular musical styles on campus, my jazz quartet began to get gigs every weekend in just about every building on “the hill” (nick name for the college’s location on Mount Saint James). Needless to say, Feliciano’s hit may have helped open the door. It was so refreshing to hear this cut on the radio stations that echoed in the corridors of the dorms. Sure enough, following on the heels of Light My Fire, came Feliciano’s own composition, Feliz Navidad two years later. It has been part of the holiday music repertoire ever since. Now that’s a legacy!

Unfortunately, despite its popularity and my enjoyment of the recording, it has been a “thorn in my side” as a player for all these decades. That is, until this past week. How I could have missed this simple solution, I’ll never understand. Nevertheless, there it was right in the middle of Sean’s lesson. “Why not try the beguine bass?” I thought. Sure enough, it worked like magic.

Take a listen to my recording of Feliz Navidad in the blog audio player. You’ll hear the same Latin rhythm feeling that characterized the recordings I did for my beguine bass blog post series two years ago. The accompaniment was the key element to making the tune work for me. Once I established the foundation I needed, the melody, chords, improvisation and I dare say FUN began.

This concept is something I try to communicate constantly to my piano students. The left hand accompaniment is critical to the solo pianist. My 2008 blog article called The Key is in the Counting still rings true today. So I hope you enjoy my recorded rendition and it gets you in the holiday spirit.

Usually at this point in my articles, I mention a couple of inspirational recordings. Guess what? Other that Mr. Feliciano’s classic recording, I couldn’t find any tracks of Feliz Navidad by jazz players on Rhapsody Music. YouTube offered a couple though. One was by the 77th Army Band Jazz Trajectory Big Band. The conga drums, sax solo and Latin band style brass arrangements, brought the tune to life.

Technology played a part in another smooth jazz version in which a young keyboard player improvised over a recorded track (not much info about him or the background). It was definitely a foot-tapper. Apparently, several high school jazz bands have purchased decent arrangements of Feliz Navidad because there were a few of these posted on YouTube as well. Unfortunately, none of these versions really energized me very much, but the beguine bass did!

How about you?
How would you like help finding the musical element that’s missing from your piano playing?
You probably have the answers within you, but need an experienced piano teacher to help you apply your musical ideas to your keyboard playing.

Find out all about how easy it is for you to get started.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Piano Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers link to faculty page. If you are close to our Natick Piano Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Here’s an example of the difference. Every time I work with a young student who wants to play a song by one of today’s pop artists, I find it challenging to help her. She’ll bring in a song book that includes an 8 page version of the hit recording and every single verse is slightly different. The rhythm is highly syncopated because the music was created by singing a melody by ear rather than by crafting it carefully as a composer does. Yet, after closer scrutiny, I notice the song is much simpler and shorter than it shows.

I had a slightly different but related experience last week with one of my adult students. He had brought in a pretty six page piece from the recent past which he wanted to learn as a break from working on the standards. After working on it for three weeks, he concluded that it was nice to learn, but it was all the same and became dull after a while.

Don’t get me wrong. We all need musical variety. Back in the days when I was playing my weekend gig at the Radisson Milford Hotel, I’d often mix in some Andrew Lloyd Webber show tunes, a classical selection by Chopin or a Disney movie hit to provide contrast from my normal American Popular Song Book pieces. While providing this musical variety is certainly the obligation of the professional pianist to his listening patrons, my own reason was to provide myself with much needed refreshment from the repertoire. Otherwise how could I have continued to maintain this routine of Fridays and Saturdays for 14 years? But when it comes to playing the standards, it’s a different story.

When I compared Richard Rodgers’ musical structure of Wait Till You See Her to the form of Lorenz Hart’s lyrics, I was really taken by how perfectly the two are integrated. The tune is a waltz in 3/4 time consisting of eight measure sections (no surprises there). However, because the lyrics are written in groups of three lines of text each (notice: 3 lines and 3/4 meter), the music becomes three phrases (2 measures + 2 measures + 4 measures). The melody is deceptively simple, but there’s subtle component. Almost a third of the melody (10 measures) has the quarter note-dotted quarter note-8^th note rhythm. This configuration is that of the slow stately musical dance called a sarabande that’s been around sing the 1500s. Yet despite the subtlety of the structure, there’s plenty of room for personal performance style.

As you know by now, I hear every waltz as a jazz waltz. I do have to be careful when I’m playing a traditional hymn in church not to be too jazzy (although the contemporary worship songs leave room for this). At any rate, when you listen to my recording in the blog audio player on the right you’ll hear my slow ad lib tempo introduction which concludes with some free improvised solo lines followed by a full-fledged jazz waltz feeling. There are improvised passages including some of my vocalizing as well as more simple statements of the melody. The ending section ritards and concludes with a similar flavor to the final measures of the introduction. Stately sarabande notwithstanding, I had fun arranging, preparing and performing Wait Till You See Her for this blog recording to share with you.

Although Rhapsody Music offered an extremely small number of performances of Wait Till You See Her, I found four favorites to mention. One comes from the 1964 Miles Davis /Gil Evans collaboration. In this, their fourth LP together, the color of the orchestration is perfectly paired with the cool school trumpet stylings of Davis. The tempo is slow and the atmosphere mysterious. It’s simply marvelous! On the other side of the spectrum were three vocal tracks by contemporary artists.

Missouri native Jim Ferguson has a unique combination of a high tenor voice combined with expertise as a performing jazz bassist. Having started his performing career with the popular folk group, the New Christy Minstrels returned to his educational track and then established a long-time career as free lance performer of a variety of styles. His marvelous up tempo jazz waltz version comes from a recording called Deep Summer Music. His singing and playing are playing outstanding. The ensemble is first rate and the performance is truly tasteful.

Another vocalist named Tom Culver starts his version of Wait Till You See Her with the original seldom heard verse in a rubato style accompanied by just the piano. Then his ensemble enters almost abruptly with a fast tempo swinging jazz waltz style. He does some scat singing in a duet with a flute. It’s both skillful and enjoyable.

Finally, my favorite version of Wait Till You See Him (notice the change of “her” to “him”) comes from vocalist Madeline Eastman. Perhaps the arrangement is extra special because it includes New York jazz musicians Rufus Reid (bass) and Akira Tana (drums) who have performed and recorded many times over the years with my former mentor and teacher pianist and composer Tom McKinley. There is something about the jazz style of players in the “Big Apple” that distinguishes it from everywhere else. I’ve referred to my special and inspiring experiences of hearing music in New York City in several of my other blog posts, so I won’t go into it here. But this track with its walking bass and funky vamp at the end is not to be missed!

How about you? What are you missing?
Aren’t you getting tired playing the same songs the same way every single time?
Why not get the musical guidance you need to help you really play the piano or keyboard?

Find out all about how easy it is for you to get started.
Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

In some ways I feel like one of my students when it comes to discovering songs for the first time. Although there are thousands of songs in our American culture and a large percentage of them from the American Popular Songbook, many of these escape our awareness. There is a definite distinction in how different piano students see this situation. Some are open to learning new songs IF they like what they hear. Others only want to work on songs that they already know. As a teacher, I need to accept and address both perspectives so that I can make good on our studio promise: we’re here to help you learn to play the music you love.

Nevertheless, I find myself more like the first type of student when it comes to preparing the performances of these blog pieces. Due to the large body of work created by Messrs. Rodgers and Hart, I did have to set some limits to the number of standard to be featured. So personal preferences for songs I preferred did become a factor. However, I find it ironic that the music for You Are Too Beautiful is in a book of songs I’ve had for many years: (pianist) Dick Hyman’s Professional Chord Changes and Substitutions for 100 Tunes Every Musician Should Know. Needless to say, I come to you with “egg on my face” because I never even attempted to play this tune (though as a professional musician, I should know it). Well I must tell you that once I got to work on preparing it for today’s recording, I could see why Dick Hyman considers it to be one of his hundred.

Interestingly enough, although the sheet music directs to player to play the piece slowly and maintain the 4/4 meter, I did neither- at least for the central section. When you listen to the recording in the audio player on the right, you will in fact hear that I felt a need to flow from my rubato (ad lib tempo) introduction into a medium jazz waltz for the main portion of the performance before returning to the sensitive slow final section. As you may remember from my jazz waltz blog series, I have a real love for playing pieces with this type of feeling. Perhaps this was why my favorite track on my Rhapsody Music play list was a marvelous rendition by jazz vocalist, Kurt Elling recorded “live” at Lincoln Center. Not only does he give You Are Too Beautiful a jazz waltz treatment, but he has assembled a unique and excellent ensemble featuring pianist Laurence Hobgood, jazz saxophonist Ernie Watts (who grew up with my friend John Dougherty mentioned above) and the eclectic string quartet called Ethel. Although the majority of other marvelous recordings were mainly beautiful ballads, there was one that caught my attention because I detected a hint of a gospel piano feeling. South African pianist Dollar Brand who later changed his name to Abdullah Ibrahim included his rendition of You Are Too Beautiful in his collection aptly titled Reflections. As with so many of the great standards, there is always a way for the pianist to personalize his or her performance

How about you?
Isn’t it time you stopped going through the motions of playing the same songs the same way?
Why not get the guidance you need to help you really play the piano (or keyboard)?

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Just take 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson MA Piano Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick MA Piano Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Perhaps part of my problem was that I hadn’t listened to too many renditions of It Never Entered My Mind before I took on the current Rodgers and Hart project. George Shearing’s somewhat classical piano approach served as a model a couple of years ago when I helped one of my teenage students prepare this piece to play in our Annual Spring Recital. In keeping with this take on the tune, in his duet recording with guitarist Jim Hall, pianist Hank Jones decided to introduce this standard with what my New England Conservatory Professor Hankus Netsky called the first New Age tune: Eric Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1. For those of you who remember the 1970’s classic album by Blood, Sweat and Tears featuring David Clayton Thomas, you’d recognize this piece immediately as the soft slow selection that provided contrast to the funky jazz rock fusion music that made the group famous. Satie’s piece features the repetition of a two chord pattern much like It Never Entered My Mind, and so it makes for a perfect pairing.

So when it was time for me to rehearse and record It Never Entered My Mind for this post, I was at a bit of a loss. I didn’t feel comfortable copying the classical approach of Messrs. Shearing and Jones. In addition, the repetitive patterns of the piece put me off a bit. As a result, when you listen to my version in the blog audio player on the right, it may surprise you to hear that after my rubato (ad lib tempo) introduction I treated It Never Entered My Mind to the beguine bass. Even though on the surface (at least until you actually listen to it), this approach may seem inappropriate, I did make an effort to preserve the sensitive nature of the song. As an aside, I think that the compositional technique that Richard Rodgers used reminds me (not in style or sound though) of the beginning of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The fate knocking at the door musical motive could have easy inspired this composer to use repetition to emphasize the concept contained in Lorenz Hart’s theme of it NEVER entered my mind.

In any case, there are many beautiful ballad performances of It Never Entered My Mind by jazz pianists like Mulgrew Miller, Marian McPartland and Keith Jarrett to jazz vocalists such as Nancy Wilson, Jane Monheit and John Hartman. One notable exception is the up tempo samba/swing track by the veteran UK jazz guitarist Jim Mullen’s trio featuring Mike Gorman on Hammond B-3 organ. You may prefer slower performances by most players, but this ensemble displays virtuosity, cohesiveness and musical taste. So wherever your preferences take you, enjoyment of music enriches your life.

Lately, we’ve been enrolling many new students at our Hudson Studio and Natick Piano Studio locations. When I meet with adult students and parents of the younger ones for their free initial interview/consultation to find out about piano lessons, I invariably hear the request that we encourage and enhance the student’s enjoyment of music. Not only is this our primary focus, but opening students up to the music all around them is the by-product of taking piano lessons. Needless to say, all of our teachers train their students to develop music reading skills, keyboard technique, performances of a variety of musical styles and a working knowledge of music theory. Fall in New England is often associated with learning, and if you want to infuse your day-to-day life with inspiration and vitality, we can help.

Find out all about how by taking 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!

Let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. When I meet with prospective piano students and parents for their free interview/consultation, I always play one or more songs for them. Those with even minimal musical background usually smile as they recognize the tune. Of course, adults are often more familiar with many more songs than their children for obvious reasons. However, with the number of published songs that make up our American culture, it’s impossible to know them all. That being said, what happened to me is an example of one of the great benefits of taking piano lessons. In the process of learning to play a new song from the American Popular Song Book, a student becomes aware of the tune. Whether it’s the radio, a recital or a recording, the standard, like Little Girl Blue, it becomes part of the pianist’s musical vocabulary. As a result, our studio slogan Learn to Play the Music You Love, takes on an even richer meaning.

Little Girl Blue comes from the 1935 musical Jumbo. So I must have heard it as a child when I saw the movie. Not only that, Little Girl Blue is the fourth tune that I’ve selected from the show. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World was featured in a July post, There’s a Small Hotel is scheduled for January and My Romance dates back to a 2009 article. As usual, Lorenz Hart’s lyrics must have inspired Richard Rodgers to compose a piece that is deceptively simple. There are only four 8^th notes in the entire song and the vocal range is limited to a 9^th (it goes from middle C up just beyond the next C to the D above it).

Nevertheless, the many ii-V and ii-V-I chord progressions not only leave room for interpretation, but they inspire a bluesy quality. This is mastery: the word “blue” in the title and as used in the words suggests the “blue” mood of the song. Like the many tracks I turned to for ideas, I maintained a ballad tempo in my recording. Although I included some of my signature left hand bass patterns, I couldn’t help but feel the emotion that seems to be inherent in the tune. Feel free to let me know what you think. Just leave a comment below.

In the meantime, as I re-listened to my playlist of Little Girl Blue this past week, I was once again reminded of how Richard Rodgers was able to create a musical environment that enables so many great jazz musicians to evoke such emotion in their renditions. Pianist Oscar Peterson’s solo version offers tenderness, rich harmonies and intimacy. This is a dimension of his playing rarely heard or should I say felt. My close friend guitarist John Dougherty used to say that no one played a ballad like jazz organist Jimmy Smith. Although Smith’s recording of Little Girl Blue dates back to the 1950’s it stands the test of time. When I used to go to Boston’s Jazz Workshop and Paul’s Mall to hear him play, it was this organ-guitar-drums trio sound that reminded me why I wanted to make music my life’s work. Turn the clock ahead 20 years, and it was listening to pianist Keith Jarrett’s Trio in the car that gave me the inspiration to perform my Friday and Saturday gig at the Radisson Hotel in Milford. Keith’s ballad playing is sensitive and lyrical, and his rendition of Little Girl Blue is no exception to the rule.

Since the lyrics are so masterful, I would certainly recommend that you check out versions of Little Girl Blue by Nina Simone and Diana Krall. Although there are several others worth hearing, I’d have to say that my favorite recording of Little Girl Blue is the “live” one by organist Joey DeFrancesco. His quartet, with guest saxophonist George Coleman, combines the best of both worlds. His ensemble evokes the emotion in the slow tempo sections and then turns “blue” into a medium “blues” flavored middle section.

All of these performances of Little Girl Blue, along with several others, have managed to remind me to keep my antenna up i.e. be more alert when I’m listening. There are many musical treasures available to enrich our lives, and if we pay attention more often it will truly make a difference.

How about you? Are you tired of missing so much of the music all around you?
When you take piano lessons, you’ll start paying attention and become so much more aware of the treasures around you. Your life will never be the same. Fall in New England is often associated with learning. Summer is officially over and if you want to infuse your day-to-day life with inspiration and vitality, then we can help.

Find out all about how by taking 20 seconds to contact us today.

If you live in or near Hudson, Stow, Bolton, Northborough, Marlborough, Harvard, Berlin, Clinton, Lancaster or Shrewsbury, you are just minutes away from our centrally located Hudson Studio location. You can choose to study there with one of our terrific piano teachers. If you are close to our Natick Studio location, you can take lessons from one of our Natick instructors.

In either case, you’ll find that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s approach to teaching will provide you with the encouragement and patience you’ll need to help you enjoy the learning process either as a parent or as an adult student. Our personalized piano lessons are always focused on helping you learn to play the music you love!