I like to play...

[Dave Pierce]

Originally posted by Llarion:

On Bass, The XIth Commandment (Chuck Mangione)

Oh, good call!!! Man, it's been way too long since I've heard any of that stuff. Time to search through the CD wallet...

 

--Dave

[rod76]

The beginning of Watcher of the Skies

[realtrance]

For stress reduction: improvisation on the Beatles' "Let it Be." Kind of the story of my life, basically.

 

rt

[Llarion]

Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

Originally posted by Llarion:

On Bass, The XIth Commandment (Chuck Mangione)

Oh, good call!!! Man, it's been way too long since I've heard any of that stuff. Time to search through the CD wallet...

 

--Dave

Dave,

 

Charles Meeks was pobably my single biggest inspiration as a young learning bassist. I learned the long solo from that cut on Live at the Hollywood Bowl note for note, then when my theory eventually caught up, I broke it down and used the solo as a foundation to build a lot of other techniques from. That album inspired a lot in me, actually; it's where a lot of my arranging sensibilities came from, too. I always thought Geissman and Vadala were two of the most underrated players on the planet.

 

If you don't have, and/or haven't heard Live at the Hollywood Bowl, get it; it is the essential Mangione.

[PianoJazz1951]

...oldies, keyboard heavy; and fun to play in bands:

 

She's Not There...Zombies

Don't Let Me Down...Beatles

Light My Fire...Doors

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy...Adderley/Zawinul

Gimme' Some Lovin'...Spencer Davis/Winwod

 

If many of you played clubs in the '70's

and '80's, you'll remember we keyboard players

had no hesitation at all about "extending" our

leads on these and other tunes...

[stoo schultz]

As of today, on solo piano:

Straight, No Chaser

My Favorite Things (not Mary Poppins, but close)

Blue in Green

 

On solo Hammond (clone in my case), I like bluesy, gospelly slow tunes where you can stretch out and go nuts:

America the Beautiful

Let it Be

Georgia

Stormy Monday (thanks Lee Michaels)

[B]

I'm particularly fond of playing anything from the Allman Bros. (circa Chuck Leavell era)...specifically I like "Southbound" and "Jessica". Also have to add anything by the Black Crowes...("Wiser Time" is a fav).

[DafDuc]

Originally posted by PianoJazz1951:

If many of you played clubs in the '70's

and '80's, you'll remember we keyboard players

had no hesitation at all about "extending" our

leads on these and other tunes...

Oh yeah! I used to get about 10 minutes to do Herbieisms on Skin Tight (eventually turned it into an orchestrated thing, where we'd quote Romantic Warrior and some George Duke stuff too) - and Sun Goddess was all about ME! Heh heh. Long self-indulgent synth solo, followed by long sef-indulgent Rhodes solo. Then I'd jam over the vocals and the tag. GAWD I was full of myself back then. I was 21ish - that explains a lot.

 

I still listen to the old live tapes sometimes - they're in real bad shape, but man, they put me in a good mood.

 

Daf

[platypus]

Hmm...

Philosophy - Ben Folds Five

About to Crash - Dream Theater

Metropolis Pt. 1 (a bit of it) - Dream Theater

Lullabye - Ben Folds Five

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

Hoedown - ELP

[marino]

Great thread!

 

I love to play my own reharmonizations of jazz standards, of which some of my favorites are:

 

Soul Eyes

Over the Rainbow

In your own sweet way (pretty much unchanged)

Lush Life

Evidence

 

plus many others.

 

For more modern jazz, I really get excited from playing Chick Corea's "Armando's Rhumba", Bill evans' "Turn Out the Stars" and "Time Remembered", and Steve Swallow's "Falling Grace".

 

For classical music, I love to play

 

Beethoven's sonata n.9 in E major (op. 14 n.1). A rather neglected Beethoven sonata, but one of my favorites. I also love op.31 n.2.

Chopin: Waltzes op.64, Polonaise in G#min.

Schumann: Arabesque

Mozart: I love to read through the sonatas and fantasias. Some of my favorites are the Paris sonatas, plus KV 457 (C min.) and KV 570 in Bb, one of my favorite pieces of music of all times.

Bartok: Rumenian Dances, Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (those last ones I have to study again every time - they're hard!)

Satie: Gnossiennes, La Diva de L'Empire

Joplin: Swipesy, Maple Leaf Rag

 

and many other pieces.

 

Other stuff:

 

Birdland (mostly on synths)

Eruption from Tarkus (either piano or synths)

Firth of Fifth

Honky Tonky Train Blues

 

Plus of course, I love to improvise freely in different styles.

 

I don't play many pop songs, unless there's a singer to comp - I find that on *solo* piano, pop

songs can come out a bit too... cocktail

When there *is* a singer around, one of my favorites is Toto's "Waiting for your Love".

[marino]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

Let's keep it to five picks each...

 

dB

Whoooooppssss!

 

Sorry....

[Erlic]

Originally psted by PianoJazz1951:

 

If many of you played clubs in the '70's

and '80's, you'll remember we keyboard players

had no hesitation at all about "extending" our

leads on these and other tunes...

Extending our leads???? Naw.....us guys NEVER did that....nope...not ever..not in a million years...except when someone from the band decided to bash you over the head to let you know enough was enough LOL. Those were the days when keyboard players almost had as much solo time as guitarists...but guitarists somehow always won out. LOL.

[eric]

I have a series of songs that I enjoy playing at soundchecks. Some are cliches and others are more obscure:

 

- Lady Madonna (Beatles)

- Outta Space (Preston)

- Mouvements Perpetuels (Poulenc)

- Virtual Insanity (Jamiroquai)

- Take Five (Brubeck)

- Back at the Chicken Shack (Jimmy Smith)

 

These are just my soundcheck faves. I have another laundry list of favorites...but these tend to be the ones I go for quickly.

 

Regards,

Eric

[DanS]

These are tunes I invariably fool around with when people come over and see my 'baby' and say "play something"

 

Little Wing (Sting version)

Come Down In Time (Elton John)

Possession, Good Enough (Sarah McLachlan)

Don't Let The Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart (Holly Cole)

[moj]

I enjoy sight-reading thru the various classical, jazz, pop, books and sheet music collections I have. However, every week I have a several favorites I like to play.

 

Confirmation - Charlie Parker. Developed a nice solo piano arrangement.

 

A Night In Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie. I got an incredible solo piano recording of Al Haig that I transcribed and practice.

 

Miles City Train - George Winston. A fast, barrel-house performance that I transcribed from his "Blues and Ballads" CD. Highly recommended.

 

New Age anyone? I like to play a few David Lanz pieces which I find relaxing. Madre de la Tierra, Behind The Waterfall/Desert Rain, Cristofori's Dream and Heartsounds to name a few.

 

Classical flavors of the week - this week reading thru Bach's Inventions. Good 2 part contrapuntal compositions.

 

In addition, always practicing improvisation and working on original compositions.

[clusterchord]

usually for my own enjoyment or when asked to "play something" on a piano:

 

genesis - blood on the rooftops, one for the wine, ripples, cinema show

abba - one of us, winner takes it all etc

jobim - ipanema, one note samba, etc

vangelis- le petit fille de la mer (on rhodes)

yes - turn of the century, awaken

 

bach - 2-part inventions, brandenbourg

debussy - footsteps in the snow, clair de lune

[David Loving]

On the music stand today: C Real Book Song for my Father, Emily, maple leaf rag, Solace, Bach's 2-part #8, and some hymns I'm working up to lead a class. I'm new to the hymns and I like playing them because they're so different.

[Krakit]

Trilogy (from the Album of the same name)

 

Eruption (from Tarkus)

 

Infinite Space (from Tarkus)

 

Benny the Bouncer (from Brain Salad Surgery)

 

The Hut of Baba Yaga (from Pictures at an Exhibition)

 

Am I too into ELP?

 

Carl

[Dasher]

Fire and Rain (our way, strong power ballad with gospel ending, we close the night with it frequently, dedicate to 9-11 survivors.)

Dolphin Dance - Herbie Hancock

Blue Moon - organ groove on my A100

I Only Have Eyes for You - likewise, organ groove

Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison - another power ballad

 

Dave Pierce (and anyone else) if you're in Monterey on a weekend T-F-S-S come hear us - Monterey Beach Hotel 6:30 - 10:30 T-F-S, Sunday same hours at the Lodge at Pebble. I'm the old fart behind the piano...

 

Dasher

[Stephen Fortner]

One of my favorite tunes to play is "Babylon Sisters" by Steely Dan. Despite playing in a number of cover acts over the years, I've never found one willing to put in the homework to take it on, so I've done solo arrangements for both piano and B3. I'll let it rip if I'm in a bar with a piano, and it always seems to be worth a round of drinks for my table. Thank God for Steely Dan.

 

Less-recognized in public, but equally fun to play, is "Gaucho." On organ, I like to do "Bashin" by Jimmy Smith, basically a I-VI-II-V progression with a B section on the IV.

 

"Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin... if I can get through this without clamming, sometime before I die, I'll consider my time on the planet not to have been wasted.