| My Thoughts About Playing
Solo on This Recording  I have
always loved playing solo piano. I did it a lot in my early days in radio and
television, but once I began to record with trios, all of my musical ideas seemed to call
for other instruments. “Wrap Your Troubles in
Dreams” is a song I have enjoyed playing for years and I find that when I play
it without accompaniment, I take it into places I seldom go into with other musicians.
“In a Sentimental
Mood” was the first Duke Ellington melody I ever learned. It is one of
the most beautiful songs in the jazz repertoire. For me, it linked Duke’s
harmonies with those of Debussy and Ravel. Billy White, a wonderful alto saxophonist
who went to high school with me, encouraged me to learn it. It was always his
ambition to play with the Ellington band and I think he actually did when he returned from
service in the armed forces.
Clifford Brown was one of the greatest melodists
jazz has produced, yet he was just as adventurous when it came to exploring harmonic
ideas. Any key, any tempo, he was the man! In his composition “Joy Spring,” I have
a ball with both melody and harmony. There are not too many songs that can take you
through three keys before you get to the last eight bars.
“Laura” is
one of those movie themes to which I return frequently. I can always find something
different to do with it. Like “Joy Spring,” its harmonies are really
unique, so they inspire me to explore chordal relationships in a different way.
I love to play stride piano, so when I play solo,
I often incorporate stride devices into what I am doing. It’s interesting to
hear how more contemporary melodies sound with that kind of bass accompaniment. “Easy Like” seems perfect for this kind of treatment.
“Night and Day”
was one of the tunes I played on the very first record I made as a leader, so I thought it
would be nice to revisit it. For some reason, I was reminded of a time when I heard
Earl Hines play it as a solo. That was many years ago when I was working with Eddie
South. We played together in concert at Howard University and Fatha Hines was in top
form. That memory had a lot to do with the direction of this performance.
“Can You Tell by
Looking at Me” is a ballad I wrote many years ago. When I sing it, I
sound exactly like Johnny Hartman (to me). Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like
that to anyone else, so I’m afraid no one else will ever experience the unparalleled
beauty of my vocal interpretation of the words and music.
I wrote “Early
Bird” as a tribute to Charlie Parker, the one musician who epitomized all of
the important aspects of bebop for me. Along with “Birdwatcher” and
“Declivity,” it uses some of the many devices I learned from him.
Some of the verses to popular standards are as
interesting as the songs themselves. I love the verse to “Tea
for Two” and the alternate changes Art Tatum used in his classic version of
the tune, so I used them to get me into some of the improvised contrapuntal melodies that
are an important part of my solo style.
“Solo” was
written as an unaccompanied flügelhorn solo for the great Jimmy Owens, but I like to play
it also. To my ear, the melody sounds different when it is played as a piano or
guitar solo.
“My Heart Stood
Still” is one of those lovely Rodgers and Hart standards that is not played
often enough for me. I first recorded it as a ballad, but now I like to play it in a
brighter tempo.
Playing solo jazz piano is something I am
enjoying more and more as I get older. Making this recording helped me document some
of the things I am doing differently from my first solo recording years ago.
My thanks to “Teddi” Taylor for her
inspiration, wisdom, counsel and patience, and also to Alan Bergman, Carol Hernandez,
Lynda Bramble, Myles Weinstein, Laura Hartman, the CBS Sunday Morning family and
all my colleagues at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Thanks to
Jerald Miller for being there ready to give 200% at all times and to Bob Karcy for his
true dedication to presenting the best jazz possible to as broad an audience as possible.
Straight Ahead!
—Billy Taylor |
ARKADIA JAZZ