Valerie Capers Solo on 1981 Dizzy Gillespie/Ray Brown Birks' Works

Although this is a Dizzy Gillespie/Ray Brown fronted lineup, the Valerie Capers piano solo is one of the highlights on this 1981 Birks' Works. Go to 3:50 to skip right to the piano solo:

Oscar Peterson Piano Lesson

Oscar Peterson talks about his piano style on the Dick Cavett Show:



(Thanks, Patti!)

Comping with Mulgrew Miller

Mulgrew Miller shares some of his experience in the art of accompanying, from the jazz perspective:



(Thanks, Patti!)

Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Italy 1961

Teaching an intermediate student one of the Oscar Peterson Jazz Exercises out of the Grade 8 RCM book, I decided to show her a video of Peterson playing in order for her to get a sense of his pianistic style. This is the video I chose--Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums playing Gerschwin's "The Man I Love" in Italy in 1961. Such ease and comfort at the keyboard is a pleasure to watch as well as hear (BTW, that's a Petrof that he's playing). Also take a look at part 2 and part 3 from the same concert.

A Career in Parentheses?

Deborah Sontag's A Life Lived on the Side in Sunday's New York Times looks at the life and work of pianist Larry Fuller, a regular on the New York jazz scene, but one who works as a sideman rather than a band leader. The story of his personal journey and musical engagements makes for some interesting reading, as does Sontag's description of what it takes to maintain a lasting career in jazz:

To make a steady living as a jazz musician is in itself no mean feat, and Mr. Fuller has done so his whole life. His experience offers some insight into the requirements for survival as a working artist, especially in a specialty like jazz where fame and fortune are not realistic goals. Talent most certainly helps, but single-mindedness, passion, humility and the ability to live modestly seem critical too.

And yet...

I sense a kind of manufactured bias towards pianists who choose to work with others, as if a musical life that is spent working in collaboration rather than in the spotlight is a kind of disappointment (hint: re-read the title of the article). Buried near the end of the article is a disclosure by Fuller that he in fact makes $80,000 to $100,000 a year playing, a pretty respectable amount in the jazz field. Why not celebrate the fact that a jazz pianist who has managed to maintain an extremely stable career for years while overcoming enormous personal odds is able to make a solid living from his love of playing jazz? 

Be sure to check out the tracks of the Larry Fuller Trio on the multimeda sidebar. Although Sontag's article makes no mention that Fuller has ever led his own trio, the Larry Fuller Trio's recording on Pony Boy Records lists Fuller on piano joined by the legendary Ray Brown on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums.

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One of the things I mention in workshops I give about my blog is how the media's perception of collaborative pianists colors what we do. Could you imagine the direction of this blog if I had named it "Accompanist's Corner"? "In the Shadows"? "At Your Service"?

And if there ever was reason that much still needs to be done, simply take a look at the anonymization of the pianists (and the abuses hurled at them) who are mentioned on a Twitter accompanist search. 

Previously on the Collaborative Piano Blog:

You're a What?

You're a What? Part 2

You're a What? Part 3

10+1 Ways to Advertise Your Services as a Collaborative Pianist