Jazz Piano Cafe » jazzy

Geoff Peters performs An Afternoon in Paris (jazz) on solo piano

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:14:37 +0000

A couple weeks ago I made a video of myself performing the jazz standard An Afternoon in Paris by John Lewis.

I performed solo piano on my upright acoustic Petrof piano. It’s available below or on Youtube.

Hope you enjoy it!

Geoff Peters Trio performing at Mexx Boutique (video recordings)

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:13:00 +0000

My band, the Geoff Peters Trio, performed at the Mexx Boutique in Pacific Centre during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

We made a video recording of one of our sets. To listen, please visit the Playlist on Youtube, or use the player below.

Here is a list of the songs we performed, (mostly jazz standards) with links to the videos:

Ocean Apart – Geoff Peters
Quiet Night – Geoff Peters
Bemsha Swing – Thelonious Monk
Killer Joe – Benny Golson
Blue Bossa – Kenny Dorham
Alice in Wonderland – Fain/Hilliard
Blue Train – John Coltrane

My Foolish Heart (jazz video) – Gio Escueta and Geoff Peters

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:33:07 +0000

Last week, vocalist Gio Escueta and I performed at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

We made a video of one of the songs, My Foolish Heart by Ned Washington and Victor Young. It’s available on Youtube or by using the player below. Hope you enjoy!

Ocean Apart – original composition by Geoff Peters (piano)

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:04:24 +0000

Last night I made a video recording of myself performing an original jazz bebop tune on the piano. It’s called Ocean Apart and I wrote it last summer while taking a composition class with New York jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky.

You can view the video on Youtube, Blip.tv, or use the player below.

The MP3 recording of this performance is available for free here.

Song of the Week – Kurt Elling “Where I Belong”

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:53:23 +0000

Kurt Elling, jazz vocalist (photo credit: Christian Lantry)

One of my all time favorite jazz vocalists is the inimitable Kurt Elling. He has been voted Male Vocalist of the Year for 10 years in a row by critics in Downbeat magazine and for 5 years by the Downbeat readers’ choice awards.

Kurt Elling has done some really incredible recordings, and I am definitely going to go out and try to complete my collection and get all 8 of his albums.

The current JazzPianoCafe song of the week is Kurt Elling’s recording of his very romantic original song, Where I Belong. It’s from his 1998 album This Time It’s Love. Here are the lyrics, courtesy of Kurt Elling’s website:

Lyric by Kurt Elling

I hear the woman like a song / dancing down a long corridor
Reminding me I belong where I am

I see the singing in the rain/ the rhythm at my windowpane
Reminding me I belong where I am

There is a light in the silence of loving things
And when I look in my baby’s hopeful eyes
It’s like the sound just before ever morning horizon
Light comes to life

It’s like a magnet of loving sound / turning me rightside down
Keeping my two feet firmly planted on the ground
Reminding me I belong where I am.

You can listen to the song on iTunes for 99 cents, or listen for free on imeem (free account registration required). You can also purchase the CD or MP3′s online from Amazon.

This recording of Where I Belong features the following stellar musicians: Kurt Elling voice, Laurence Hobgood piano, Rob Amster bass, Michael Raynor percussion, Dave Oderdonk guitar, Paul Wertico drums, and Brad Wheeler soprano saxophone.

The track opens with burst of warm sound. A simple riff on the soprano sax is echoed by the piano, accompanied by drums, acoustic bass and guitar. The riff is repeated once and then Kurt Elling enters with his sparkling and luscious baritone. A hypnotizing bossa nova ensues, with an exciting and tasteful soprano sax solo well shaped to a gentle climax before the final vocal melody restatement. The outro is a vamp on the original intro riff, ending with a bit of Kurt Elling’s whistling on the fade out.

Highly recommended! Hope you enjoy this song and check back again next week for another JazzPianoCafe “Song of the Week”.

-Geoff Peters (Birds in the House Productions)

Live gig recording: Julian N. and Geoff Peters (alto sax and piano jazz duet)

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:42:44 +0000

I played piano at a wedding with my friend Julian N., a saxophonist and composer. Julian is a student at Humber College in Toronto. You can view his myspace page by clicking here.

Here is a track listing with links to the individual videos:

If you’d like to download MP3′s of the concert (free) you can get them from here.

With Julian’s permission I used my minidisc unit to record the audio from our performance. There is quite a bit of background noise from the wedding guests’ conversation, but in the recordings you can hear both of us quite clearly.

I also set up my Sony Camcorder in the corner and video-taped our performance too. There was very low light, so you can barely make us out in the video, but it gives more context to the audio to be able to see us perform too.

At this wedding, we performed a selection of mainstream jazz standards in a duo style. Probably my biggest inspiration for the saxophone-piano duo format is the legendary combination of Stan Getz (saxophone) and Kenny Barron (piano). Another inspiration for rhythmic ideas has been the mighty pianist Chick Corea and his duets with the one and only voice artist Bobby Mcferrin (such as their killer performance of Autumn Leaves).

So without further ado, here’s our complete performance (except for the last song we played, Confirmation by Charlie Parker, where we got interrupted by some DJ music).

Hope you enjoy! I hope that these performances will give you some ideas or inspiration for your own journeys in jazz and music in general.

Further listening: I performed one of Julian’s original compositions with the college band at the Phil Dwyer Academy of Music and Culinary Arts (PDAMCA) last August.

Videos from PDAMCA Jazz Band concert 2009

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:54:42 +0000

Last week I attended the Phil Dwyer Academy of Music and Culinary Arts (PDAMCA) in Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada. Check out Phil Dwyer’s web site for more info about the camp. It was an amazing experience, with world class faculty and very talented students.

Here are some videos from our final concert. I was playing in a combo ensemble directed by Ingrid Jensen. Feel free to use the players or the links below.

“Tristan Paxton” – a composition by James Colwell
Watch: Youtube
Listen: Mp3

“Pass The Baton” – a composition by Julian Nalli
Watch: Youtube
Listen: Mp3

Mark Adam Drum – by Joel Miller
Watch – Youtube
Listen – Mp3

Three Little Bops – awesome jazz cartoon

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:01:44 +0000

I stumbled upon a wonderfully jazzy and funny Looney Tunes cartoon video, thanks to my Facebook friend and jazz singer Jennifer Scott! From the Wikipedia article on this cartoon (click here to view):

Three Little Bops is a 1957 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, with voices by Stan Freberg and music by jazz composer/trumpeter Shorty Rogers. It is a takeoff on The Three Little Pigs, told as a hip, jazzy musical.

View the Three Little Bops on Youtube by clicking here or use the player below.

New Jazz Piano Practice – Tune Up by Miles Davis

admin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:01:32 +0000

I did about a 45 minute practice tonight, learning the tune “Tune Up” by Miles Davis. It is a deceptively simple tune that seems like it will be great to solo over once I really learn it. I finished the practice by playing some scales. Finally I am getting some of the strength back in my fingers – it is really encouraging!

Click here to download my practice of Miles Davis’s Tune Up and technique in Midi format.

Since it is in Midi format, the sound quality will depend on what kind of music synthesizer your computer has. The one that comes with Quicktime works, but isn’t the best. If you have a Yamaha DIsklavier piano or a Roland, try playing the midi file though your actual piano!

ol creeper – original piano song by Geoff Peters

admin — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:11:13 +0000

I wrote a short tune this evening – it’s more like a sketch or vignette, and it’s called “Ol Creeper”.

Hope you enjoy it. I was in a pretty mellow mood when I wrote this song!

Watch: On Youtube

Listen: In Mp3, Midi

Learn: PDF Lead Sheet

or use the embedded player below.
Cheers,
Geoff