all-levels

A gem of a song with a beautiful melody, lyrics and harmony written by Paul McCartney. I hadn't played this song in a longtime and started experimenting with it last week. The song plays itself. I worked out some harmonic variations on the piano before applying to the vibes.

Ceora has such an optimistic, joyous melody. It was a staple in my repertoire at the hundreds of solo gigs I did at local eateries here in the world class wine country north of San Francisco.

I'm sure this tune has been a TOTM at one time or another. It's one of those that you never get tired of and again and again.

Bb Rhythm Changes - had a great improv class this semester. It's a joy to teach when the students come to class inquisitive and motivated to learn. Throughout the semester some of the improv concepts that we worked on included Four Note Groupings (FNGs), Major 7th #5 Superimposition, Tension Resolution, Motivic Playing and Reharmonization Concepts. Yesterday the students were asking what to play on Bb rhythm changes so we selected Bird's Anthropology and applied some of the concepts that we covered in the semester.

Here's a variation on the first chord etude. Notice the different voicings used here to give the harmony some different motion.

Mark Carlsen on upright bass and myself on vibes playing at Li's Asian restaurant in Haverhill, MA this past Saturday. Fun gig playing and hanging with Mark. We've been playing these kinds of duo gigs for a long time. It's always a fun night playing tunes and hanging with family and friends on the breaks. Sometimes I like these gigs more than a concert. The music is loose, you can try things and experiment/stretch. As long as we can play what we want and no one bothers us, I'm happy.