i was just reading something about red garland and the signature sound of his block chords and i realized i wasn't quite sure what a block chord is- (i might know what it is, just not the right name) anyway, if anyone could enlighten me on the subject it would be appreciated.
-i know somebody will probably say to get mark levine's book because that's the answer for all my questions here- don't worry, i'm ordering it

Hope you're ordering his theory book specially for piano to answer your block chord question.

there was available some years ago, perhaps still
is, a set of both hand transcriptions of Red Garland
solos, in spiral bound, from someone-or-another...
that's a good start.

But have you tried working out for yourself what
constitutes that Milt Buckner/Red Garland/George
Shearing kind of sound you're after? The LH chords
are pretty predictable, rootless compounds....you
might try *comparing* and *transcribing* tunes

that you like from Red Garland's *Garland of Red*
and from Bill Evans Trio's *Explorations* albums
to see what it is you want to isolate about that
sound.

That said, the Red Garland transcription set is
a classic, as is Mehegany's vol. 3 of his Jazz
Improvisation series.

talk some more about your background on the key-
board, maybe (there are many more pianists and
adepts who will read your post than who will
have responed, evidently), and on what degree
of harmonic complexity you want to go into....

It's not all LH voicings (either seventh on the
bass or third on the bass or whatever)...there
are also degrees of "(f)lushness" you can put
in RH, octaves, even as simply as including a
fifth between two octaves (Garner).

See also, of course, Kerouac's descriptions of
George Shearing's playing in ?? was it OtRoad ??

Don't count out, if you're a piano player, learning
from the organist's book, as well, from Buckner
on up to a Jimmy Smith medium-tempo standard like
"Satin Doll"...

but don't be discouraged, if you're just beginning,
because there are certain formulas that work very
well within the style.

A contemporary player who plays the shit out of block chords is Benny Green. Check him out on any of his Ray Brown trio recordings (under Ray Brown) or his Live at the Village Vanguard I think.

I myself have always wanted to become adept at block chord soloing.....so much to learn.....I'm taking it one baby step at a time....

j lee- you suggested talking about my background. well, i started piano when i was 2, now i'm 15 and i just got into jazz about a year ago. I guess i know a pretty good amount of theory, so get as complex as possible, that helps me a lot more than general ideas (as far as voicings, i usually use kinda basic ones with the 3rd and seventh at the bottom and extensions on top, or quartal voicings, or especially upper structures).

coincidentally i just finished reading on the road, and his passages about all the jazz joints really inspired me.

Cool, man, that this was your first time reading OTR....
Clark Coolidge, a good poet and also an accomplished
drummer has a recent book about jazz and writing,
called _Now It's Jazz. Writings on Kerouac and
the Sounds._ (Living Batch Press, 1999) that might
be of some inspiration. It's just a little paper-
back, but there's quite a bit of musicianly stuff
in there. Some people may think JK is corny or
old-hat or trite, but CC gets in deep on reasons
why one might want to continue to explore his work--
and, not uncoincidentally, The Sounds....

What sort of sounds are you getting, anyway, from
your approach as of now? It sounds like it might
be just a matter of getting the "feel" of soloing
with the linked hands approach. Are you trying
to go for an octaves thing, a la Bill Evans on
Jazz Samba, or Jelly Roll spaniardisms, or Otis
Spann type tremors?

Best of luck,
j. lee. l.

i guess i'm going for the bill evans sound, (i'm not really familiar with the other two) which the octave in the right hand with a fifth in the middle somewhat accomplishes, but i haven't really tried the block chord approach for soloing that much, so i still have some experimenting to do
thanks for all your help

j lee:
Clark Coolidge and I worked in the same band many years ago. He was an excellent player. I've lost track of him. Does that book say where he lives now?

j lee:
Clark Coolidge and I worked in the same band many years ago. He was an excellent player. I've lost track of him. Does that book say where he lives now?
In the same band was avant garde composer Alvin Curran. (several years with MEV.)
I screwed up - posted again when I meant to edit - sorry

Basic block chord styles:

A. Shearing/Milt Buckner style: moving 4-note chord in R.H. (maj. 6th, min. 6th, maj, min. dim. or half-dim. 7th voicing) while L.H. doubles lead note of R.H. voicing an octave below lead. This is a close-position voicing.

B. Red Garland style; L.H. plays an inversion of a a 4-note
voicing (usually NOT in root position). Lead in R.H. is
octave with added 4th or 5th played by middle fingers of R.H. Note: Red often deliberately let 'clashes' occur between the flat 9th and the natural 9th; it was part of his
sound (Wynton Kelly also used this style, although his voicings and his touch were slightly different).

C. Bill Evans style: reverse of (A) above; lead is
played single-note style in R.H. chords are struck simultaneously in L.H., almost always inversions with root omitted. Also, there is often a distance of an octave or more between the R.H. lead and the upper note of the L.H.
voicing. Lead lines are usually not doubled in L.H. voicing.
NOTE: Bill sometimes used the style described in 'A' above in addition to this style.

Styles 'A' & 'B' lend themselves to soloing or comping equally well. 'C' is usually used just for soloing.

Hope this helps!

Dave Zoller

groove

candidates smashing in the florida keys -baby
walking sandfootprints seashells
tinkling windchimes and champagne corks
huge black clouds decended the wedding gig blowing tidal waves of anguish
but then cleared out after raindropsfalling on my head
keyboard //trombone wedding gig at the lake
at the lakechords of love -i wanna dance -
solotone muts as jim jumps left hand woiggle
smoothness after intrepretation sight read of wedding march that hit off notes interspersed in comic spoofness
goof notes [familiatity with literary quotes ]
as in goof we ahh
invites the hotel our fictional character after slurping several fifths of bubbly settles in on the brunette
and the blonde with glasses librarian
taking them off -peeling a grape in sloppy kisses
shooting morphine in the concrete pillbox bathroom
block chords /////robert block /////
sci fi ---groovin high
hey kid keep away from the dope and booze and wimmen too
deep theory happenning
forth of july piano firecracker ----boom
jimmy crack chord an i dont care
'' why he plays so many note his lef hand dont know what his rt hand is doin ''
on into the smoke filled corridors and dingy flats of oblivion
las vegas --lizard pianoplayers every where tucked into hotel foyers close to the mind numbing jangle of
electronic money sucking mosquitos
the keys are all there slam away bang away let the theory come some too
work a melodious etude contray motion emotion commotion
work the crowd kid -they want to dance now so do that percussive stuff with left hand keep the songs coming
dont stop think of thenext song but pppllllleeeeaaaaassse hit the darned melody with your right hand
especially the bridge allthis chords is cool daddy o
but what the flock song is this beautiful dreamer
tina turner tannhauser chorale
now theyre asking for let it be ????????????
jim dont know that
learn your songs kid ---work with your buds
the standards are a changin[times are a changing -- bob dylan quote ]]]
learn a bunch of movie sound tracks
and find a jazz station on radio
once the flusteration sets in
deeply saturate yourself with one groove one player
stick it on a box and be there ---this is you --
yeah shut your eyes this is me !!!!!!
workout with a horn player one on one
or another keyboard player facing so you can see the hands [like guitar guys do when they arein a helping mood]
invent learn keyboards organ but hit a real piano
too
pretty soon you will be lumping humping fumbling
strumming stumbling into your own style
oh yeah play for your friends and learn their song requests ---these are gonna be the standards of your generation ok if you keep it up 30//40 years from now
you are older your peer group is too but they still
have that nostalgia thing happening for lion king titanic theme or whatever
the technique will come ---learn the melody really solid and words too --
you are a piano man now !!!!!!
what these cats are saying is ''welcome to the club ''

check out the monk too and ragtimers --piano has so much
learn lotta styles if you can bach to bop

Hey Thumpzshn,

I believe Clark Coolidge lives in (near Sonoma??)
California now, recently moved, wrote a new book
about the satellite dish that came with the house...
this is how he was introduced when I heard him
read a year-plus ago in Buffalo...

There's a thread about him in the Alley, where the
esteemed David Gitin gives some additional information,
I believe.

How's his drumming, anyway?? I've read a few of his
books and so forth but haven't yet got hold of the "Ser-
pent Power," which is the only recording of his things
I've heard about...The collection of essays about Kerouac
has that photo of him behind the cans with about a
thousand sticks somewhere in Italy, if I remember right.


Jimmy crack chord,
jlee.

PS

I'd go for humping rather than lumping anyday, but I
think that's personal.

On the block chords angle, how about sifting through
Count Basie's trio recordings, picking out some choice
voicings? I'd stick with ol' Ferd La Menthe ("The Crave,"
"The Pearls," "Naked Dance") and try to procure Janice
Scroggins's record, "JS plays Scott Joplin" (available
recently on CD from a record Co. in Portland Oregon....
but has been out for years and she really brings out what
was great GREAT in the way that Joplin wrote.).

For octaves, in general, Eubie Blake was the killer, IMHO.
Him and Professor Longhair -- maybe it's crazy but I think
these older dudes are the MOST fun and MOST instructive
to study, rather than just the latest angle.

Failing that....
LLOYD GLENN....

a great.

jlee.

jimmy is crackin now !!!!!
yeah the old cats is lots of fun to hear and play with
the crowd ///audience element
helps too
these guys can really ham it up jam it up
really keep the attention of the people
and not be boring
they know so many many songs
but really i guess its the feeling joy
liberty
i dunno this too they look you in the eyes
and theres that soul connection thing
like when your momma used to cook up somethin jes fer you
corn crackin chords
and thosejokers just keep on too comin up with infinite
universes
bob brookmeyers piano style
its like mister rogers on lsd
wish we could put sound tracks on these segments
flashes of alan ginsberg to you !!!!!!!!!!!

dave, that helps a lot, thanks

dave, that helps a lot, thanks

j lee
"How's his drumming...?"
Past tense. In '57-'58 it was great. I'm not aware that he did any playing after that. He dropped out of everything to become a poet/writer.