News

• jazzleadsheets.com's new Holiday Classic "Almost Christmas"

  Lena Seikaly (2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition semifinalist) is the voice behind jazzleadsheet.com's newest holiday video "Almost Christmas." With a beautiful voice singing a melody as timeless as any of your favorite holiday classics, this is the song you'll want to add to your repertoire!

  Eddie Higgins composed the instrumental version of this song, Moonlight On Kinkakuji, named after a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It was recorded on Eddie's last album, "Portraits Of Love," in 2008. When lyricist Roger Schore, a longtime friend of Eddie's and of his wife Meredith d'Ambrosio, heard this recording, he was inspired to write a Christmas-themed lyric. "Upon hearing that piece of music, I had the impulse to try and write a lyric for it. For whatever reason, the music and arrangement summoned up images of winter, snow and Christmas." He finished his lyric just in time for Lena to visit the jazzleadsheets.com studio and team up with pianist Cecilia Coleman and 18-year-old bassist Kanoa Mendenhall to record this memorable holiday song.

  This is the latest video from jazzleadsheets.com, a website geared to inspire, educate and supply a new generation of jazz artists with historical as well as current, innovative music. With a captivating performance by rising talents, Almost Christmas is sure to be a new Christmas standard! Especially if you add it to your Christmas repertoire! Of course, Eddie's composition is great for instrumentalists, too.

  Stay in touch; we plan to add more holiday titles in the next few days. Enhance your December gigs with new arrangements!

• New music: Jon Davis, Piano Corner, exclusive recordings & more!

  Welcome, Jon Davis!

  Join us in welcoming pianist & composer Jon Davis to the jazzleadsheets.com family! Jon is a New York-based pianist with a robust harmonic vocabulary. To introduce you to his compositional style, we've added Too Good For Words, a laid back uptempo swing and a harmonic workout. Get inside Jon's harmony with a solo piano arrangement pack (four versions included) and a piano comping voicings pack (four versions included) -- yes, four of each!

  New Arrivals in October

  Winsome and lyrical, Melba's Tune is a ballad by trombonist/arranger Melba Liston. Its tuneful melody has the makings of a classic. And speaking of classic, we're honoring Thelonious Monk's birthday (October 10th) with Roland Alexander's tribute, Monk's Moments. Roland uses Monk-like elements (an angular melody and irregular form) but gives this medium swing his own flair. Monk's Moments has never been recorded before this jazzleadsheets.com project with his son, drummer Taru Alexander. It's a fitting tribute to both Roland Alexander and Thelonious Monk -- two great artists.

  For something sweet and charming, try Tears In Her Heart, a slow lyrical waltz by David Hazeltine. The melody is harmonically simple, which makes this a great piece for newcomers to jazz. The tuneful line offers more experienced players an opportunity to show their phrasing skills. Rounding out our new additions is a classic hard bop swinger, Kenny Drew's Weirdo. Despite the name, Weirdo is straightforward and satisfying -- not the slightest big weird! Learn more about Kenny Drew's virtuosic piano style with our transcription of his interpretation of the melody (Piano Melody Transcription) and his piano solo.

  Feature Of The Week: Spotlight on the piano

  This week's new additions bring many different offerings for pianists. We hope they'll make valuable resources for your practicing.
  Solo piano arrangements flesh out the lead sheets into full arrangements for one. Piano melody transcriptions explore exactly how a pianist performs the melody; we notate rhythmic and melodic changes and articulation so you can get the phrasing down perfectly. Piano solo transcriptions are full transcriptions of a pianist's solo with articulation included. And piano comping voicings show sample voicings, or voicings based on what a particular pianist has performed, to help you work on your accompaniment.

  Enjoy the music!

• Back again with new composers & music

  It's been a little while since our last newsletter, and we've been busy getting ready for a fall that's full of music. This week, we're excited to introduce three new composers to our website, all of whom had lasting influence on jazz but whose names you might not know: Gary McFarland, Claude Sifferlen and Mario Bauzá. Gary McFarland, a vibraphonist, composer, and arranger, was a leading force in orchestral jazz and bossa nova in the 1960s and 1970s. His composition Balanco No Samba, a happy-go-lucky bossa nova, comes from his successful album with Stan Getz, "Big Band Bossa Nova." Claude Sifferlen was a mainstay on the Indianapolis jazz scene who influenced many there. His inventive composition Zebra #1 explores his profound harmonic language. To really get inside the piece, we're offering multiple interpretations of this composition: one by Steve Allee, one of our composers and Claude's former student; one by Glenn Zaleski, our piano editor; and a full transcription for solo piano. Multi-instrumentalist composer and arranger Mario Bauzá fathered Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1940s and founded Machito and His Afro Cubans. We're adding his composition Lona, written for Chick Webb's orchestra. It is now the oldest song in our catalog, but we think it's timeless!

  Our New Arrivals this week celebrate anniversaries from some classic jazzleadsheets.com composers as well. Freddie Redd's A Night At Nalen is a burning fast workout, as a trio or quintet -- recorded exclusively for jazzleadsheets.com. Check out the Minus You audio and see if you can keep up! Whole Tone Stomp, by Fritz Pauer, is a funky Latin piece with a melody based around -- you guessed it -- the whole tone scale. And if you can't get enough Fritz Pauer, try Con-Fab, an angular, jagged blues. Jerry Dodgion's The Moana Surf is as laid-back as a day at the beach and features a mostly pentatonic melody. The original recording is not available for download, but check out our exclusive video with the composer himself on alto sax. New in our Piano/Bass duo series is Midnight Creeper by Norman Simmons, a riff blues that sits right in the pocket. Try the solo piano arrangement by Norman himself, demonstrated by pianist Kenny Drew, Jr. Another Piano/Bass Duo feature is Cecilia Coleman's Two Sides Of A Penny, an intricate medium-tempo composition with piano-bass duo score available. We've put it up in honor of Cecilia's birthday -- happy birthday Cecilia!

  FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Minus You Audio
  With school back in session, many students and teachers alike are trying to find the perfect practice tool. Our exclusive Minus You feature allows anyone to practice with a professional combo, no matter their instrument. Melody instruments, voice, piano, bass, and drums can all benefit from the Minus You series. All of these custom-made tracks are recorded with top musicians, some at Rudy Van Gelder's studio, then mastered with the specific instrument in mind. Check out the Minus You audio for instrumentalists: Rhythm section Minus You tracks challenge the practicer to comp and solo while melody Minus You tracks give different combinations of accompaniment to the soloist to give them a workout, too. Vocalists have their own series, too! This exclusive series is available on select compositions and we're adding more each week. Try out A Night At Nalen this week!

• New, new and more new.

  Since launching the new look of jazzleadsheets.com a couple of months ago (June 1), we've been creating and posting both a weekly Recording Anniversary Video and a weekly Birthday video. We hope you've had time to check these out. Each week they can be found by clicking on the dots under the NEW ARRIVALS slide on the HOME page.

  This week's Birthdays include four of our composers who have already been on jazzleadsheets.com for some time (Steve Nelson, Eddie Costa, Carl Perkins and Mal Waldron). This week also celebrates the birthdays of two of our composers who are new to jazzleadsheets.com. You may not be familiar with them: arranger/saxophonist Leon Mitchell and pianist Steve Corn.

  Once you've heard their music, however, you'll see why they're part of our family, and their birthdays give us a double reason to celebrate their music.

  Because we wouldn't have known about Steve Corn and his great music without composer/pianist Steve Allee, we thought this would also be the perfect week to introduce Steve Allee's wonderful music to jazzleadsheets.com. We feel it's also very important to see artists perform, so we're also posting a video of Steve performing his Morning Glory (solo piano - recorded at the Rudy Van Gelder studio). Now that we have the ability to include video on our site, we're also posting a video of Steve Allee telling you more about Steve Corn on Steve's Who May Climb The Mountain page.

  To round out this week's New Arrivals, we're celebrating trumpeter Ryan Kisor's recording anniversary with two more of his compositions.

  STEVE ALLEE: Morning Glory
  A medium up Latin with a comfortable background for a beautiful melody
  STEVE CORN: Who May Climb The Mountain
  An elastic and floating bossa
  RYAN KISOR: The Dream and Panic Attack
  A lyrical waltz and a challenging uptempo swing
  LEON MITCHELL: Late Spring
  A medium swing from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers book, with second parts

• 57 years of music in one week

  The dog days of summer are here. We're marking the start of August with a release that features our classic repertoire and highlights some of our special projects. This week's releases concentrates on important recording anniversaries. Classic recordings like Clifford Brown's Daahoud and Joy Spring (now available in F in addition to the E-flat version added earlier this summer) with details to these classics that are frequently overlooked. We've also added a new vocal selection: Jon Hendricks's lyric to Moanin' by Bobby Timmons.
  Three more of our composers recorded four years ago this week in what we call our "Duos with Daryl" in a project with the extremely talented young bassist, Daryl Johns, who had just turned 15 years old at the time. We're releasing three pieces, two of which have only been recorded as part of this project, to commemorate the anniversary: Red Sky Waltz (Don Friedman),  Silk (Norman Simmons), and Blues Scam (Richard Wyands).
  To celebrate their birthdays this week, we are also adding A Laugh For Rory (Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and Smoke Signal (John Webber).
  This release celebrates music recorded from 1954 to 2011 -- a diverse and exciting selection:

  CLIFFORD BROWN: Daahoud
  How well do you know Daahoud? Try it exactly how the quintet played it. Two Clifford Brown trumpet solos available.

  CLIFFORD BROWN: Joy Spring
  Think you know Joy Spring? Think again! New lead sheets in F available. Clifford Brown trumpet solo transcriptions available: master and alt takes from the quintet version (B-flat and C editions); septet version (B-flat and C editions).

  BOBBY TIMMONS & JON HENDRICKS: Moanin'
  A gospel-inspired lyric on a soul-jazz classic.

  RICHARD WYANDS: Blues Scam
  Angular hard-bop blues with a bridge. Piano-bass duo score available. This piece has never been recorded before. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  NORMAN SIMMONS: Silk
  Smooth rhythm changes. Piano-bass duo score available. This piece has also never been recorded before. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  DON FRIEDMAN: Red Sky Waltz
  Flowing & lovely with changing meter. Piano-bass duo score available. From the Duos With Daryl series; a jazzleadsheets.com audio exclusive.

  RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK: A Laugh For Rory
  Simple & modal, in two-part harmony. First and second parts available.

  JOHN WEBBER: Smoke Signal
  A modern head with many rhythm section hits in the head.

• Transcriptions, vocals, and much more

  This diverse update has a bit of something for everyone. If you've been waiting for new vocal music, this is your week! We're excited to add new pieces by Sergio Mihanovich and Ruby Braff for voice this week. Instrumentalists can enjoy these pieces as well, of course -- as well as the other six new additions this week. With a solo transcription of Art Farmer, David Hazeltine's own solo piano arrangement, and new original quintet arrangements, these new titles have it all.

  SERGIO MIHANOVICH: Sometime Ago
  A wistful classic for singers and instrumentalists. Art Farmer's solo transcription available, as is a vocal lead sheet.

  AL COHN: Something For Lisa
  Medium swing in a cool jazz style. Chet Baker's quintet arrangement available.

  GIGI GRYCE: Exhibit A
  A rhythm changes head with a twist on the bridge. Try Gigi's own arrangement.

  DAVID HAZELTINE: Ann's Mood
  Tonal and beautiful with a cyclical form.

  DAVID HAZELTINE: Pentimento
  Charming post-bop bossa. Solo piano arrangement available.

  RUBY BRAFF: We're All Through
  A sultry medium swing with a lyric describing a relationship's end. Vocal lead sheet available.

  ERIC ALEXANDER: Little Lucas
  A modal composition with great flexibility.

  IDREES SULIEMAN: Tell Me What's Your Name 
  A thoughtful, tender ballad.

• Nine new titles at jazzleadsheets.com

  Another week means one thing at jazzleadsheets.com: new music. This week, we're proud to introduce three important new composers: pianist Buddy Montgomery, alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion and trumpeter Ryan Kisor. It's a massive update with nine new titles in all by a wide range of composers from Hank Mobley to Cecilia Coleman. Make sure to check out this week's videos -- this update has exclusives from jazzleadsheets.com that feature the composers themselves with rising young artists.

  Here are this week's new titles:

  HANK MOBLEY: Space Flight
  Classic early Mobley: burning fast rhythm changes. Full quintet arrangement available.

  SONNY CLARK: Dial S For Sonny
  12 bars of hard bop with a stop time head.

  BUDDY MONTOMGERY: Here Again
  A hard bop swinger.

  RYAN KISOR: Horror Show
  A challenging workout for any instrument.

  HAROLD LAND: Reflections
  Simple melody, challenging form. First, second and bass parts available.

  HAROLD LAND: As You Like It
  A twist on rhythm changes. First and second parts available.

  CECILIA COLEMAN: So You Say
  A modern take on "You Stepped Out Of A Dream." Lead sheets and piano-bass duo available.

  DONALD BROWN: Havana Days
  Modal, modern uptempo Latin. Solo piano arrangement available.

  JERRY DODGION: Holunderkuchen
  A minor blues that switches between 3/4 and 4/4.

  Looking for something more visual? Browse the album covers in the gallery on the Albums page! To get there, click "FEATURES" in the top navigation bar, then "Albums" in the drop-down menu.

• New standards to play all summer

  Summer is heating up -- and with new lead sheets and arrangements, things are hotter than ever at jazzleadsheets.com. This week, we're welcoming new composer Sara Cassey, whose beautiful pieces are a favorite of those in the know. Be sure to check out our Recording Anniversaries video to hear the great music we're celebrating every day this week. And if you're looking for a piece to play with your quintet or sextet, check out our Quintet/Sextet list, which you can navigate to by clicking FEATURES then "Quintet/Sextet."

  JAMES WILLIAMS: Alter Ego
  A subtle, classic bossa nova

  SARA CASSEY: Windflower
  A subdued & meditative minor blues variation. Full arrangement available.

  BOOKER LITTLE: Bee Vamp
  A vamp-based uptempo swing. Full arrangement available.

  BOOKER LITTLE: Aggression
  Open-ended and forward-thinking.

  KENNY DREW: Callin'
  A hard bop swinger with a short form.

  Plus, celebrate Philly Joe Jones with a special treat! When you visit his composer page, you can hear a clip of Philly Joe telling his favorite joke.

• Joy Spring, new composers and more hits

  Many people have enjoyed the solo transcriptions of Clifford Brown on his classic composition "Joy Spring," but we've often been asked where the lead sheets are. Until now, you've only been able to purchase the arrangement through Second Floor Music's sheet music affiliates, but we've now made individual lead sheets available for everyone in the original key in honor of the 61st anniversary of the septet recording. On top of that, we're adding two new composers this week: tenor saxophonist Ernie Wilkins and pianist Eddie Higgins. With additions to the Piano Corner, Bass Corner, and new quintet arrangements, this update may just raise the temperature a little more on this hot July week.

  CLIFFORD BROWN: Joy Spring

  The classic bop standard -- now available in the original key, plus Clifford Brown's trumpet solo from the septet recording.

  J.J. JOHNSON: NWPT

  Rhythm changes with a twist. Original quintet arrangement available.

  DON PATTERSON & SONNY STITT: Aries

  A laid-back, swinging ballad in two keys.

  GRACHAN MONCUR: Thandiwa

  A quirky waltz with first and second parts available.

  ERNIE WILKINS: Far Out East

  This bop melody has a serious swing.

  EDDIE HIGGINS: Shinjuku Twilight

  Charming and sweet with Japanese flair.

  RONNIE MATHEWS: John Charles

  A post-bop blues that features the bass.

  RONNIE MATHEWS: Salima's Dance

  Blues-like, with an even-8ths 3/4 groove. Solo Piano Arrangement available.

  RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK: Funk Underneath

  A simple laid-back riff blues.

  Plus, celebrate Hank Mobley's birthday (this past Tuesday, July 7) by checking out our extensive catalog of Hank Mobley lead sheets.

   

• Get the blues -- and more

  June is coming to a close, and what a month it has been! Between the launch of our new website and the start of our weekly music releases, it's been a busy and exciting time for us.

  GIGI GRYCE: Batland
  Classic hard bop blues

  CURTIS FULLER: Down Home
  Gospel-influenced swing with quintet and sextet parts. Try Richard Wyands's piano melody transcription.

  JON GORDON: Veil
  A sparse, floating, modern composition that makes use of counterpoint.

  JON GORDON: Along The Way
  Intricate, delicate and complex

  GENE ROLAND: Wailin' In The Woodshed
  A simple, catchy swing

  GENE ROLAND: Stairway To The Blues
  A riff blues that takes you up and away

  RICHARD WYANDS: Dee's Den
  A versatile blues head with exclusive audio and video

  Have you seen our Piano Corner? It's the ultimate tool for perfecting piano skills, complete with solo piano arrangements, transcriptions, and practice tools.

  Make sure to check out the videos to see the Recording Session Anniversaries and birthdays we're celebrating this week.

   

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