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Grandfather’s Waltz – Making sense of the form

Grandfather’s Waltz is a wonderful song recorded by Bill Evans and Stan Getz in 1964 (the Stan Getz & Bill Evans album) and again live in 1974 (on But Beautiful, recorded on a live date in Holland).  I transcribed Bill Evans’ piano solo from the 1974 live album – which I think is quite a little masterpiece.  The form of the song was strange, though.

Some time later, I heard from Dan Loschen, who was trying to make sense of the form. I’ve recently listened to all the recorded versions (that I know of), and come up with this rationale for the form. Continue reading “Grandfather’s Waltz – Making sense of the form”

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Night and Day – Bill Evans

This is From the Stan Getz & Bill Evans album (1964 – with Getz on tenor, Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones on drums). I love the 8 bar tacit solo breaks in this arrangement. This was my first serious transcription attempt, and I should go back and get the second chorus and some of the harmony.

Night And Day – Bill Evans

The Complete Bill Evans on Verve box set includes a lot of outtakes from this album, including one or two where Bill stops in frustration on a tacit solo section.  There are other delightful moments from the recording of this album, like when Stan Getz starts playing Dark Eyes, and Bill comes in with a honky-tonk stride piano part.  This is the only recorded example I know of where Bill Evans plays stride piano.