Archives: September 2018

  • Jon Davis: innovative, impressive, memorable

    Jazzleadsheets.com is excited to release music from three recording sessions featuring pianist and composer Jon Davis. The first of these was recorded on September 4, 2010, at the Van Gelder Studio, with Daryl Johns on bass (who was 14 years old at the time), and his father Steve Johns on drums. Ten Jon Davis compositions were recorded at this session, and as they are added to jazzleadsheets.com they will appear in Rhythm Section Workshop format with Minus You tracks for piano, bass, and drums. This is a great opportunity to get into Jon's compositions in detail.

    In addition to lead sheets and Rhythm Section Workshop piano, bass, and drum parts, most of these songs have a Melody Transcription available which shows exactly how Jon plays the melodies on these recordings. Jon always finds new ways to interpret his own songs, constantly re-imagining the melodic and rhythmic material; the transcriptions may inspire you to come up with your own expressive interpretation of these songs.

    On May 26, 2012, Jon came to the Van Gelder Studio again, this time by himself, and recorded solo piano versions of six of the same songs, as well as several others. These solo piano recordings also have melody transcriptions, which show further ways to interpret these melodies. Videos are available from this session so you can literally see how he plays.

    Plus, check out the August 24th, 2011, session of Jon Davis and Daryl Johns duo. A jazz piano master and a kid? Not so!

  • Kenny Dorham: Ten Feet Tall!

    After extensive research on trumpeter/composer Kenny Dorham's life and career, journalist Kahron Spearman has published a fascinating article on K.D. in the Austin Chronicle. You can celebrate and promote this extraordinary musician by playing his music, available only on jazzleadsheets.com. Check out all the compositions available now on his composer's page; they cover many years of his composing and recording life. His music is so compelling we created The K.D. Challenge, a great collection of K.D. titles that have Minus You audio tracks to help you master his complexity. Kenny wrote for the whole band so every musician had a specific part to play. The Minus You tracks allow you to become part of the band.

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