Friday, April 30, 2010

Who's active your plane? - the rolling stones

This song was released as a "B" side single in both the States and the UK in Sept., 1966. However, its US title was "Who's Driving My Plane". Vocal Echo: Mick Jagger Piano: Jack Nitzsche Harmonica: Brian Jones Electric Guitars: Keith Richards & Brian Jones Drums: Charlie Watts Bass: Bill Wyman Who's Driving Your Plane? (Jagger/Richards) It was your father who trained you and your mother who brained you To be so useless and shy But I just replaced them and tried not to break them Because you could stand up if you tried And I wanna see your face when your knees and your legs Are just gonna break down and die And, who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Are you in control or is it driving you insane? If I could wave a magic wand, then maybe you'd change Back to bein' a blonde And your skirt would come down, it would cover your feet! If I said, "It's not camp to wear Tiffany lamps" You'd be thrown right out in the street And I wonder who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Who's driving your plane? Are you in control or is it driving you insane? You could stand on your head or maybe sing in bed If I said it was the thing to do If you're in with the faces and their getaway places 'Cause they don't take no notice of you Well, the trendy pace-setters will just called you a pain 'Cause I want to know, who's driving your plane argentina capital stone mundial

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Count Basie - The Count of Piano Jazz

One of the all time greats of jazz is William "Count" Basie. He was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Widely regarded as one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his time, Basie led his popular Count Basie Orchestra for almost 50 years.

Count Basie was born William Basie on the 21st of August 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. He was formally taught piano in his younger days. A dreamer, he always fantasized about a life on the road always traveling inspired by the carnivals that came to town every now and then. He was no newbie to showbiz. He used to hang around the Palace Theater at his hometown Red Bank and do small chores from where he used to get the money to attend the shows that were held at the venue.

He soon enough learned how to handle the lights for the vaudeville shows held at Palace Theater. On one occasion, when the pianist didn't arrive in time, he filled in. He was soon able to play and improvise and play background music for silent movies.

Basie also had great taken for another instrument - the drums - but was forced to forego the drums for the piano after seeing Sonny Greer play. The two played together in their younger days. He realized that he was no competition to him.

Basie soon got involved in the local music scene playing gigs with pickup groups. One of the many groups that he played for was Harry Richardson's "Kings of Syncopation." At age 20, he moved to Harlem which was the place for a jazz musician to be at that time and was staying just a small distance from the Alhambra Theatre. He was fortunate to meet many of the musicians who were making a name for themselves - Willie "The Lion" Smith, James P Johnson and his drumming nemesis Sony Greer.

He got himself gigs touring and playing with many acts like Katie Krippen and Her Kiddies (who were one of the groups in the Hippity Hop Show), vaudeville organizer Benjamin Franklin Keith's shows, Columbia Burlesque and the Theater Bookers Owners Association's vaudeville shows. He also was accompanist to blues crooners Katie Krippen and Gonzelle White. He travelled extensively trough out America for these tours and met many top jazz musicians of the time including Louis Armstrong while on tour.

Basie became the in house pianist at Leroy's - a joint that was famed for the cutting competitions held there. While serving as pianist at Leroy's, he met Fats Waller, who at the time used to play the organ for silent movies, who taught him how to play the organ. It came useful for Basie when he got a gig playing the organ at Eblon Theater later. Willie Smith helped him out when gigs started to get rare arranging for him to play at house rent parties. He also introduced him to the elite musicians of the time in addition to teaching a few tricks at the keys.

1928 saw his collaboration with another big band - Walter Page and His Blue Devils - whom he saw play. He was invited to join the band as they traveled mainly through out Oklahoma and Texas playing gigs. His stint with Walter Page and His Blue Devils gave him the name "Count" by which the whole world knows him. A stint with Bennie Moten's band moved him to a classier and respected playing style as compared to the blues tendencies of the music that he played with The Blue Devils. Basie took the extra responsibility of being one of the two arrangers of the band. He played four hand piano and at times play dual pianos with band leader Moten.

After Moten was voted out of the band, the band was called Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms. The band didn't last for long until a while after the death of Moten. Basie started a new outfit with many of his colleagues from his last band in addition to Lester Young who played tenor saxophone. His stint with this group brought forth his signature tune - "One O'Clock Jump." The song was initially written in D Flat but ended up being played in the key of F.

His band, the name of which was changed to Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm got a elongated gig at Grand Terrace Ballroom, Chicago. The name change was because the rhythm section was the strongest section of the band. He also was the first to use two tenor saxophone players while most bands used only one.

The two tenor saxophonists soon started having a difference of opinion of each other's playing. To sort things out, Basie placed them on either side of the alto players which led to literal duels between the two - something that caught on when other bands started using the split tenor arrangement.

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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Piano Made Easy - Play Music by Ear and Enjoy It!

I've always been the type of person to get bored easily. I don't like wasting a lot of time on things that aren't fun. And although some things just have to be done and and sometimes not very enjoyable, why should learning how to play the piano be a chore? I mean I look at the piano as a hobby. Maybe a hobby that requires some knowledge, as most do, but it still a hobby none the less. So with that said, I want to enjoy my hobby. When I first started playing the piano I wanted to do things that my hand just couldn't do. So my parents made me take my first piano lessons. This for me was a very unproductive time for me. I did begin to learn to sight read but to me it was just plain boring. While sight reading is a good skill to have, I was just bored out of my mind. I felt completely stunted creatively. I was learning techniques and scores but I wasn't being taught how to let me come out in my playing. I needed something with more freedom as well as some excitement.

I would always hear about people who played piano music by ear but really thought it was something only the elite piano players could do. I could play a couple notes on the piano but it was nothing special. I only took two months of piano lessons then quit. I obviously needed something that gave me some good information on the piano but wasn't a drag to do. I put my piano away in the closet because I was fed up with the whole thing. I thought maybe it's just not for me. And that point I had to do some thinking. If I was going to play piano, I had to enjoy doing it period.

So one day, while doing a very broad search on how to play the piano, I came across a site that taught piano players how to play music by ear. I had glanced at things like this but never really payed any attention to them. Playing piano by ear was something that intrigued me. So I took a course about playing by ear. For me it was ground breaking. From just one lesson I was able to do things and comprehend thing that I was previously unable to do. Who would have thought that there was actually a technique playing the piano by ear? I found out that just knowing simple patterns on the piano can help you to find even the most complicated songs. And to top it off, I was having fun doing it. And the more I learned, more I wanted to learn. I highly recommend anyone wanting get serious about the piano but still have a good time on the piano, learn to play by ear.

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