Background
Before the year beginning 2018, I had little experience playing piano in an ensemble or with a singer. Prior to me beginning to play jazz piano in December 2017, my piano skills were mainly focused around playing grade pieces and pop song pieces. Although I have played saxophone and Drums in different bands I found it quite difficult to adapt as an accompanying pianist in most situations. However, over the course of the past few months, I have gained both the confidence and ability to play with a singer and a band, although there is still a huge amount of work required to improve these skills.
Below are some brilliant jazz recordings of singers and bands with amazing accompanists on the piano.
Above is one of my favourite jazz pieces that I have discovered so far that features a singer. Nancy Wilsons voice on this track is incredible and the piano, double bass and drums compliment one another amazingly.
The pianist on this track plays extremely well as he doesn’t overpower Nancy but instead supports her as well as filling in the gaps with interesting improvisation. Listening to this helped me to understand that when comping less is more and that by using simpler rhythms and harmonies as well as leaving some space for other instruments/singers to take control of creates a much more balanced atmosphere, thus creating a very relaxing song as can be heard above.
Overall I think that when playing with an ensemble, balance is key as it allows every member to flourish and creates a stress free environment.
Compared to “the masquerade is over” it’s only a paper moon is a much faster and upbeat song. Again the band compliment each other brilliantly as well as supporting Ella and the other singers throughout the piece. When listening to songs like this it is easy to fixate on the singers as they are singing the melody. However the timing and togetherness of the rhythm section is amazing and overall for me, that’s what makes this song so great.
Completing the 3 songs that I have chosen as examples of great piano accompanying is almost blue, performed by Chet Baker and his band. Overall I find this song completely spell bounding as the emotion Chet expresses through both the use of trumpet and his voice is stunning. The band in this recording, although arguably less tight than in Ella’s song above, help Chet to express himself and the solo that the pianist plays as well as the general comping is brilliant.
Comping
Comping (an abbreviation of accompanying; or possibly from the verb, to “complement”) is the chords, rhythms, and countermelodies that keyboard players (piano or organ), guitar players, or drummers use to support a jazz musician’s improvised solo or melody lines.
Above is a really interesting video about the basics of piano accompaniment. It talks about hand positions, rhythm and harmony. My own comping technique is very similar to the second comping technique seen in the video. Currently, I don’t have the confidence or knowledge to implement spread voicing’s, therefore I often opt to play the full chord in the right hand as well as the route in the left. After a while this becomes slightly boring, therefore I have started to work on my rhythm by changing the rhythm of the chords up when it sounds necessary.
Walking Bass line
Above is a great example of a walking bass line on piano on the song autumn leaves. Originally when starting out on this project, I played a couple of cafe gigs with Veronica ( who will be singing Fly me to the moon at my concert). Unfortunately I don’t have any footage of these gigs, as for Fly me to the moon I started off by playing a walking bass line. This has changed as I am now playing with a bassist in a trio, therefore I don’t especially need this technique for this performance,however I decided to include it as an example of a different way of comping and one which I find very interesting and nice to listen to.