March 2010 Update

March 2010 Update Newsletter

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March Update 2010 Newsletter: Gil Evans, Harry James, The JEN Conference, and Happy Birthday to George Benson!

Hello again from ejazzlines!

We are back again to extend warm spring greetings to everyone, and to let you all know what is new in our world. Jazz Lines Publications thanks everyone who has helped make our most recent chart series, six arrangements from the Thelonious Monk Big Band album arranged by the great Oliver Nelson, a big success. As huge fans of the music of both of these gentlemen, it has again been most sincerely gratifying for us to see how many of you are also very happy to see this classic music available for the first time.

Our next and newest are two more tunes which we are proud to present to the jazz world. They are Blues For Pablo, as arranged by Gil Evans, and the Harry James version of Debussy's Arabesque (arranged by Jack Mathias). Both of these arrangements are available for pre-order now and should be available to ship by April 1. This adds to our growing library of available Gil Evans charts, and Arabesque is the first of what will be many more Harry James pieces which we plan to publish in the coming months. As are the rest of our recent releases, these are both available as Jeffrey Sultanof Master Editions, with his scholarly approval, and fine historic notes, which not only guarantee accuracy, but also come with some very interesting background information on the music's creation and history.

As May approaches, we again would like to take a minute to remind everyone to please visit the Jazz Education Network's website, which is http://www.jazzednet.org. Their very first annual conference is taking place in St. Louis from May 20-22. We know that not everyone lives in easy range of this wonderful Midwestern mecca, but for those who do and those who liked traveling to the late and great IAJE conferences, we highly recommend that you consider attending this year's JEN conference. Few today can say they were at the inaugural IAJE bash, but we ALL have the power to be attendees at the first JEN extravaganza! There will be performances, clinics, workshops, and an exhibition with ejazzlines and many other industry mainstays. Supporting this organization in any way is indeed a wonderful way to help keep jazz alive and thriving.

We send birthday greetings today out to George Benson, who turns 67 Monday the 22nd. George has captivated fans of jazz, rock, blues, soul, R&B, and just about every genre of American popular music for over four decades now. From his days playing with Brother Jack McDuff as a teenager through his emergence as a huge solo act in the 1970s, Mr. Benson has played guitar at the highest levels of achievement, always accented by class and showmanship. He has a special place in ejazzlines' hearts in part for his 1968 session with one of our heroes Lee Morgan on his hard-to-find but great Taru album, and Mr. Benson's live performances from any era are a treat to watch. There are not many artists who began as pure jazzers, reached mass popularity as pop artists, yet still remained true at heart to their roots as George has. Nat King Cole is another artist who comes to mind. Here's wishing the versatile virtuoso many more years of international success.

We once again thank everyone for your support - it is sincerely appreciated every day of the year!

Rob and Doug at ejazzlines

FEATURED NEW DVDs: Late March's newest and most interesting DVDs are the three shown below, the Solos: The Jazz Legends series, with fantastic and very personal live portraits of three very different jazz legends, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lee Konitz, and the late Andrew Hill. In addition to the different side of Jeff Healey and the other brand new ones featured below, we also have several new Cajon DVDs from Mel Bay, and live performances ranging from Jamie Cullum to Joe 'Guitar' Hughes to Charles Wright to Jimi Hendrix. Also in stock are the first four editions of the Masters of American Music re-issue series: Celebrating Bird, The Many Faces of Lady Day, The Story of Jazz, and Thelonious Monk: American Composer. ALL MARCH 2010 DVDs ALL FEBRUARY 2010 DVDs
GONZALO RUBALCABA SOLOS: THE JAZZ SESSIONS In this unique program, Gonzalo Rubalcaba displays his remarkable sensitivity toward the musical traditions from which he emerged and later embraced. As one of the most important figures to emerge from Afro-Cuban jazz in the '90s, Rubalcaba is an extraordinarily versatile pianist able to blend disparate strands of Cuban and American jazz traditions into a fresh, modern whole.	LEE KONTIZ SOLOS: THE JAZZ SESSIONS A stunning performance by one of the most original alto saxophone players, the cool-toned Lee Konitz. One of the most individual of all alto saxophone players, Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity that has led him to consistently take chances and stretch himself, usually quite successfully.
ANDREW HILL SOLOS: THE JAZZ SESSIONS Andrew Hill was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist. While many of his contemporaries were totally jettisoning the rhythmic and harmonic techniques of bop and hard bop, Hill worked to extend their possibilities; his was a revolution from within. He exhibited a determined command of his materials, however abstract they might sometimes be. His composed melodies were labyrinthine, rhythmically and harmonically complex tunes that exhibit a sophistication born of mastery, not chance or contingency. As a pianist, Hill had a flowing melodicism and an elastic sense of time. Like his composing, Hill's playing had an ever-present air of spontaneity and was almost completely devoid of cliché.	JEFF HEALEY AND THE JAZZ WIZARDS: BEAUTIFUL NOISE Originally recorded for the Canadian TV show 'A Beautiful Noise' (Toronto - January 2006), this program includes additional interview and musical footage. Healey, playing trumpet and guitar, leads his excellent band The Jazz Wizards forward into musical history. As always, he delivers jazz from the past with humor, respect for the tradition, and a contemporary attitude. Healey gained worldwide fame as a stunningly original rock/blues guitarist. His passion, however, was the infectious and joyful music from the classic jazz era - the days when Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke ruled the music world.
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAZZ, CHAPTER 3 Saxophonist Whalum elevates this award-winning series to a new level with a live-recorded HD DVD featuring the best in contemporary jazz, gospel, and urban music. This effort both visually and audibly demonstrates the deep connections between gospel and jazz. Its revised renditions of commonly-known tunes socially connect with the listener on a horizontal level that seeks to usher in a vertical spiritual relationship. Performers include George Duke.	RHYTHMIC DESIGNS Rhythmic Designs expands on the groundbreaking polyrhythmic, polymetric concepts covered in Harrison's previously published works. Along with the 204-page book of note-for-note transcriptions and practice exercises, the double-sided companion DVD features more than two-and-a-half hours of video packed with descriptions and discussions of the drum parts, set-ups, tuning and recording process plus six minus-drums, play-along tracks.

FEATURED NEW BOOKS: We have added quite a few new books since earlier in the month. All 14 editions of the Aebersold for Everyone series are finally listed now. In addition to Stick Control for the Drumset, we have just added nine other works by percussionist and educator extraordinaire Mitchell Peters. It does seem to be drummers' month, as we also have recently added the Patterns Series books from Gary Chafee, as well as his book Linear Time Playing and two of his DVDs. Jazz Standards is a new collection of tunes with piano chords. The Decade by Decade series is available in editions for the 1930s and 1940s, with a selection of each decade's very best for piano/guitar/vocals. Finally, early March's best were the highly recommended Jaco Pastorius Bass Method and 625 Alive: The Wes Montgomery BBC Performance Transcribed. ALL MARCH 2010 BOOKS ALL FEBRUARY 2010 BOOKS
TIME OUT: THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 album Time Out changed the sound of jazz and American music. Brubeck's experimentation with meter, harmony and even Turkish rhythms eventually earned him the cover of Time Magazine; the first jazz musician to achieve such a feat. Saxophonist Paul Desmond's composition Take Five went on to become the first million-selling jazz instrumental single on the Billboard Hot 100. This folio celebrates the albums 50th anniversary with full-color artwork from the original record, and a 10 page write-up from jazz historian Ted Gioia. All seven compositions from the monumental recording have been carefully arranged for easy piano.	CONTEMPORARY JAZZ PIANO This comprehensive book/CD pack will teach you the basic skills needed to play the variety of styles that comprise contemporary jazz piano. From comping to soloing, you'll learn the theory, tools, and techniques used by the pros. The accompanying CD demonstrates most of the music examples in the book. The full-band tracks feature the rhythm section on the left channel and the piano on the right channel, so you can play along with the band!
BIG BAND DRUM PLAY-ALONG Play your favorite songs quickly and easily with the Drum Play-Along series. Just follow the drum notation, listen to the CD to hear how the drums should sound, then play along using the separate backing tracks. The lyrics are also included for quick reference. The audio CD is playable on any CD player, and also enhanced so Mac & PC users can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing the pitch! The eight tracks include classics ranging from I've Got You Under My Skin to In a Mellow Tone to Route 66 and more.	JAZZ GUITAR COMPLETE EDITION Anyone with a knowledge of basic chords and guitar scales can dig right in and learn to play jazz right away. This well-paced, comprehensive method covers everything, from basic to advanced techniques. The clearly organized lessons add up to a step-by-step, enjoyable method supplemented by full-length etudes or songs with every new concept. Whether you are starting to learn jazz guitar or are an advanced player looking to give your playing more nuance, Jazz Guitar Method Complete is all you'll ever need. An MP3 CD demonstrating examples in the book is included.
B.B. KING: BLUES LEGEND Learn the guitar licks that made B.B. the undisputed King of the Blues! Dave Rubin teaches 12 signature tunes which amount to a step-by-step breakdown of the guitar styles and techniques of this one-of-a-kind beloved legend.	STICK CONTROL FOR THE DRUMSET This series is written to provide the student with some basic calisthenics in developing a facility on a set of drums. This volume is devoted entirely to the use of triplets in a very basic and fundamental presentation only. The emphasis is placed on accent patterns and the use of the snare drum and tom-toms in various combinations.

FEATURED NEW BIG BAND ARRANGEMENTS: Well, needless to say we're excited about releasing Blues for Pablo (listed below). We'll continue to steadily release classic Gil Evans arrangements over the coming years. Also, in a similar vein to the Arabesque arrangement below, we'll shortly have available Jack Mathias' arrangement of Debussy's Clair de Lune, as arranged for the Harry James Orchestra. MARCH 2010 BIG BAND CHARTS FEBRUARY 2010 BIG BAND CHARTS
DISAPPROACHMENT: FRANK FOSTER Frank Foster is still best known for his many years as saxophonist/arranger for Count Basie. By the early sixties, he began to be heavily influenced by John Coltrane, and Basie gave him less and less solo space. By 1964, he was a freelance musician and led his own big band in New York. He shared solo space with Lew Tabackin as a member of Duke Pearson's band, and brought some of his original music to add to Pearson's book. "Disapproachment" is in Rob McConnell's words, a 'blister,' a piece that burns from beginning to end, and since little of Foster's music from this era is currently available, is wonderful to have. The keys to a great performance are mastery of the musical figures at such a fast tempo, observation of the dynamic markings (not everything is loud) and a strong rhythm section that can keep the tempo steady. It is a great concert opener and can be opened up for more solos.	READY WHEN YOU ARE C.B. Here is a relatively easy arrangement from the 'Introducing the Duke Pearson Big Band' record from 1967. This was arranged as a tribute to Count Basie and features piano throughout. This also features solos for bass trombone and baritone saxophone. The recorded version features just piano but when the band performed live they used an augmented version of the chart that featured trombone and baritone solos. Part of Duke Pearson's piano solo (that we feel is integral) has been transcribed and is presented here as-played.
BLUES FOR PABLO: GIL EVANS Blues for Pablo was originally written for Hal McKusick for inclusion on his Jazz Workshop LP recorded in 1956. Evans mixes an idea in minor with a blues in major, and the effect is pure Gil Evans. His treatment of this piece for Davis' album is identical in form to the McKusick version, but is in a different key, and of course is set for a larger ensemble. Despite a large brass ensemble of five trumpets, four trombones (including a bass trombone) and tuba, he used four reeds, of which only one was a saxophone. The other reeds are flutes and bass clarinet. Please note that there is no piano part for this arrangement, and none should be added. This edition hues closely to what Evans originally wrote as we have used the original score as the basis.	ARABESQUE: JACK MATHIAS The instrumentation of this arrangement was for single strings, four reeds, six brass including James and rhythm section, suggesting that the setting was made early in 1941. By the time of the August 4, 1941 recording of Arabesque, James had added another trumpet to the orchestra, but did not alter the orchestration of this piece; perhaps he recorded it as an afterthought, just as Benny Goodman recorded Jimmy Mundy's 'Cherry' at the tail end of a Columbia session. There are no surviving airchecks of 'Arabesque,' and the Columbia recording was never issued most likely due to the length of the recording (at 4:16 this was too long to fit on a single side of a record at the time).

As of this newsletter we have added 33 new DVDs for March 2010 and 15 for February 2010; 80 new music books for March 2010 and 52 for February 2010; 42 new big band and combo arrangements for the month of March 2010 and 17 for the month of February 2010. Our DVD selection continues its growth and maturity, and now numbers about 2212! Please check it out today-we have the live performance DVDs, the documentaries, the method DVDs, the personal master classes - we offer a selection of jazz and jazz-related DVDs that is truly second to none. As always, please keep in mind that many of our new releases are available in limited quantities. We do our best to predict demand and fill orders as quickly as possible, but we do run out of new releases. Even if we run out of stock, everything featured in this newsletter should be available to ship within 2-3 weeks.