Tag Archives: composer

hiromi uehara piano solo live george gershwin i got rhythm

Hiromi Uehara Piano Solo Live George Gershwin I Got Rhythm

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In this fabulous video, Hiromi Uehara plays an absolutely beautiful version of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”.

Hiromi’s playing is boundless, with unbelievably intricate rhythms and stunning melodic development. Her styling covers bebop, stride and more. Her performance is from the Jazz in Marciac International Jazz Festival in southwestern France in 2010. George Gershwin composed the music and his brother Ira wrote the lyrics to “I Got Rhythm” in 1930 for the musical Girl Crazy. The song quickly became a jazz standard.

Hiromi Uehara displays the highest level of jazz playing you will see anywhere. Her performance and execution are flawless. Only a handful pianists worldwide can do this. There’s lots of value in watching this video over and over again to see what is possible on the piano and glean elements of style, chord progressions, and voicings from her tremendous keyboard playing. This is one of my favorite jazz piano videos. 

Hiromi Uehara, a jazz composer and pianist, was born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She started taking piano lessons at age six. She is known for her virtuosic technique, immensely energetic live performances, and superb blending of musical genres such as bebop, progressive rock, classical and fusion.

 more about Hiromi Uehara

chick corea

Chick Corea Terrific Solo Piano Performance Legends of Jazz Video

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Chick Corea does a beautiful acoustic jazz performance of “Armando’s Rhumba” from the series Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis. His artful keyboard expression makes his playing wonderful to listen to. Crafty ethnic inspired melodies and precise playing is a hallmark of Chick Corea performances. I love the opening with Chick playing the strings with his left hand.

Chick Corea was born June 12, 1941. He is an American jazz and fusion pianist, keyboardist, and composer. Many of his compositions are jazz standards, played by musicians everywhere. He started taking lessons at age eight. He was a member of Miles Davis’ band in the 1960s, and was instrumental in developing early electric jazz fusion music. In the 1970s he formed the revolutionary band Return to Forever. Corea joins Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, as one of the major jazz performers in the post John Coltrane era.

 

 

oscar peterson

Oscar Peterson Live Piano Blues Trio C Jam Fabulous Performance

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Recorded Live in Denmark, 1964. Oscar Peterson on Piano; Ray Brown on Bass; Ed Thigpen on Drums.

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, 1925 – 2007, was a jazz pianist and composer from Canada. Peterson started piano lessons at the age of five. He performed at thousands of live concerts worldwide. His extraordinary career lasted more than 60 years.

He is one of the most accomplished and greatest pianists of all time. His friend Duke Ellington called him the “Maharaja of the keyboard.” His astonishing virtuosity stands out at the top of the jazz world.

hiromi uehara

Wild Performance Piano Jazz Hiromi Uehara Japanese Timeout Video

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Hiromi Uehara, commonly known as Hiromi, is a jazz composer and pianist from Hamamatsu, Japan. She is recognized by her incredibly virtuosic technique, high energetic performances and the blending in her compositions of musical genres such as new bop, progressive rock, classical and fusion.

Hiromi began classical piano at age six. Her piano teacher introduced to jazz when she was eight. At 14, she had already performed with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. At 17, she met Chick Corea by chance in Tokyo, and was invited to play a concert with him the very next day.

She worked as a jingle writer for several years, and then enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts to study music. At Berklee, she was mentored by Ahmad Jamal. By the time of her graduation, she had already signed with a jazz label Telarc. Since 2004 debut, Hiromi has toured the world and appeared in numerous jazz festivals. She has played live at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival.

 

Video – Randy Newman Live Performing Louisiana 1927 on Piano

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On this video from 2006, Randy Newman performs on the piano and sings at a festival in Stuttgart Germany. “Louisiana 1927” is about the flood of that year that destroyed many homes and left 700,000 people without shelter. The song was composed in 1974 and is one of Newman’s most popular and emotional songs.

Randy Newman’s music accomplishments are huge. He is a singer, pianist, songwriter, composer for film, and arranger. He has written many songs and written the soundtrack for almost 30 movies. His unusually lyrical style and keyboard playing, makes him a one of a kind performer.

Newman was born in 1943 in Los Angeles. He lived for a while in New Orleans. He took piano lessons as a child, and also as a young adult. At the age of 17 he had already begun his career as a songwriter. He cites Ray Charles as having the biggest influence on his music. After the terrible devastation from Hurricane Katrina, “Louisiana 1927” was played often on the radio and it boosted Newman’s popularity.

Randy Newman has won many awards from the Academy Awards, Grammy, Oscars, Emmys. He is a wonderfully talented artist that has contributed greatly to many areas of music and film in the U.S.

Partial List of Randy Newman’s Albums
Trouble in Paradise (1983)
Land of Dreams (1988)
Randy Newman’s Faust (1995)
Bad Love (1999)
Harps and Angels (2008)
Live in London (2011)

Partial List of Randy Newman’s Film Scores
Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
Pleasantville (1998)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Jurassic Park 3 (2001)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Seabiscuit (2003)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Cars (2006)
Leatherheads (2008)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Toy Story 3 (2010)

more about Randy Newman