Dave Brubeck - Points On Jazz, Waltz

The Waltz is the seventh piece of the 'Points On Jazz' suite. Its first part is meditative yet rhythmic and presents the main theme of the suite. Its second part is quite the opposite requiring a double forte delirious momentum. Technically, it should be thought of as a jazz waltz with its syncopated triplet feel tempo, so typical of Brubeck and other jazz pianists when it comes to 3/4 pieces.

The ending is quite interesting as it closes on a lydian chord (major 11th). I remember a few years back, having an argument with an expert on modern music theory about that. He insisted that using a lydian as the tonic was unacceptable. Well, here, Brubeck seems to agree with me that a lydian tonic can be nicely utilised to convey this hanging feeling which fits perfectly in this piece.

I usually don't care much for flamboyant pieces but this one is an exception and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have while practising and playing it.

Brubeck - Points on Jazz (waltz) ( 02:00 )

 

Hi Pantelis,

I had never heard this transcription before. It's a very quiet, restful piece, and you play it with much sensitivity. Very nicely played.

David

 

Thank you for your words, David, although I think you are referring to the my other post, the Jarrett transcription.
Anyway, I'll say something I'm sure you already know since you always pay so much attention to detail. A quiet, restful piece can sound dull and uninteresting if the player does not bring out the very few elements available in such pieces which will keep the listener. I'm really glad you liked my attempt on it.

 

Whoa, a great piece of music, and fabulous playing ! That ending is a stroke of genius, worthy of Kapustin. I'd never realized that Brubeck wrote so splendidly for piano. The sound seems to be a bit less sonorous (more shrill, if you wish) than usual, or is that just my crappy headphones ?
I'll have no time to put this up until thursday evening, by which time Monica has probably beat me to it.

 

Arrrgggg--my response was to the wrong piece! I think I must have listened to both one after the other, then wrote my response in the wrong thread of the two pieces. Sorry about that, Pantelis! But, yes you maintained interest at all times and played "Don't Ever Leave Me" very well indeed. Thanks for posting it.

David

 

David, don't worry about it. I appreciate your comments, thanks for listening.

Chris, you are right about Brubeck. He has written some amazing piano pieces. Apart from Broadway show music and ballet suites, he has written a set of nocturnes which I really would like to play. John Salmon is a great Brubeck interpreter, if you care to look some of these up. But the thing is that his pieces take me a long time to put together and reach a performable level. I'm afraid I'll have to settle with very few for now.

Less sonorous, eh? This is my other piano, in the living room. You know how it is. Wife and child already gone for summer, this means a few days for me home alone. What a great opportunity to turn the living room into a recording studio.

I'm fairly alarmed now because I thought that the larger instrument (although older) would sound fuller, better. I don't know. Maybe it's the EQ or the mic placement. Strange though, as I remember last year, when I first joined PS, my first recordings posted here were done with this piano. I'll check it out.

Thank you for your comments, Chris.

 

Very nice transcriptions wiser_guy. I really liked them. This is great work I think.

There must be other styles of music that make extensive use of the Lydian mode including on the tonics? Though I am no jazz guy, I guess the Lydian mode resolving to some tonic is a common jazzy sound?

 

Being music and art in general more about practice than theory (or better, theory ratifies established practice, later), I'd say that nothing is unacceptable on principle. I didn't know anything of Brubeck so thank you for opening a door to this music. The ending chord is a bit displacing but after a few listens sounds... perfectly acceptable! :lol:

 

Stan and Alf, thank you for listening guys.

Well, the lydian's usual role is as a subdominant. Things start to become interesting though when it tries to substitute the common tonic, the ionian. I guess as Alf notices, you can easily get used to the strange feeling after a few listens. It's like getting used to sleep on the floor instead of your comfy bed.

 

This is up !

 

I'm quite enjoying your recordings you're posting, Pantelis. Thank you very much!
Although I know nearly nothing about jazz, this piece is somehow familiar to me. Is it a famous piece?

 

@Andreas
I appreciate your comment, Andreas, and your taking the time to listen.

@Chris
Thanks for putting this up, also.

@hyenal
I don't think this waltz (part of the 'Points On Jazz' 2-piano suite) is famous. Its main theme though, which happens to be the main theme of the whole suite, might be. Brubeck had made a big hit with it in his album "Impressions of Eurasia". There, it was called "Dziekuje" and was played all over. So, you may have heard it and that's why it sounds familiar.
Thanks for listening.

 

A precursor to "Take Five"? Ha, ha, I never thought of that. I guess it depends on how you look at it. Is it 3/4? Then you get "Take Five" by adding two more beats in each bar. Is it 6/4? you need "Take Five" first, then add one more beat to get the Waltz.

Thank you for your comments, Monica, and I 'm glad you liked the ending.

 

AAMOF, Tchaikovsky wrote some excellent and idiomatic waltzes in 5/8 (or 5/4) meter. And strangely, they still sound like waltzes. Of course if anybody could write a rousing waltz, it was him (pace Strauss).

 

Yes, one is the 2nd movement from the 6th Symphony.