Glanddoc Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I know Bill Evans did a lot with them, but who started them? I have heard Ahmad Jamal and Red Garland. Anyone know the history of rootless jazz piano voicings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecorbett Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Chopin was pretty good at em... We are all slave's to our brain chemistry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillplaying Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yes - you often see Chopin's name crop up. In the post the OP is asking about the Jazz idiom - I appreciate it wasn't in the title. I heard (from a tutor 25 years ago) maybe Bill Evans and/or Wynton Kelly around the same time. Google is your friend - or write to trumpet playing keeper of the Jazz faith and it's place in US history as "the first true American art form" - Wynton "I can't believe Branford let us down by playing with Sting" Marsalis. He loves this stuff. Lincoln Centre. Address is on the web. I'm the piano player "off of" Borrowed Books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Or ask Dick Hyman. He'd know. Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Red Garland and Wynton Kelly started omitting the root from left-hand chords, playing just the guide notes (3rd and 7th) sometimes. Later, Bill Evans systematized the use of extension notes (ninths and 13ths) in addition to the guide notes. The Bill Evans voicings are often found in the music of Maurice Ravel (see "Sonatina", for example) and, to a lesser extent, of Claude Debussy. Chopin (in his Etudes, Ballades, etc.) often achieved similar sonorities, but Chopin's extensions are resolved more often than not - with some notable exceptions, like the A minor prelude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Loving Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 That's what I really like about Chopin, too; the odd chord or interval that drops in out of nowhere. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I think that account is oversimplified. I think Garland and Kelly played more than just the 3rd and 7th in their rootless left hand voicings before Bill Evans. They also used 9ths, 5ths and 13ths. I also think Ahmad Jamal used four note rootless voicings before Evans. Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachimay Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I've always thought it might have come about through George Russel's 'Lydian Chromatic Concept" book and Scriabin....never really thought of Chopin, but maybe.... www.dandechellis.com "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." A. Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I don't think Kelly, Garland, Jamal, Evans necessarily got it from some other composers... chord extensions become obvious when you look at and think about chords nearly everyday of your life. Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I did a little double checking... Red Garland was using rootless four note left hand voicings as far back as his debut 1956 album. That was also the same year Bill Evans first recorded. Ahmad Jamal started recording in 1951 (Ahmad's Blues) and he was using four note rootless left hand voicings. Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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