Creative
pianist Bradley Sowash joins jazz violinist Christian Howes in an unrehearsed rendition of
George Gershwin's "Lady Be Good" at Chamber Music Connection's summer festival
faculty concert in Worthington, Ohio.
There Is A Balm in Gilead
Creative pianist Bradley Sowash performs his arrangement of There Is A Balm
in Gilead with singer Sally Hughes in a worship service at First Community Church,
Columbus, Ohio.
Since
I Laid My Burden Down
When I first heard a gospel choir perform
this, I knew I wanted to arrange it for solo piano. It starts with big block chords before
moving into a boogie feel and then onto improvisation and a key change. Enjoy!
Produced and recorded by Mills James Productions for "The
Piano Guy" on public television. Used with permission.
Ellingthoven
Heaven -- angels floating around playing lyres? Not for me. My idea of
heaven includes a neighborhood known as the "Musician's Quarter." Here,
musicians across the ages hang out together trading licks, jamming, telling music jokes,
and co-creating. Suppose the great American jazz composer Duke Ellington sits down with
classical music giant Beethoven. The two find they have a lot in common. Both epitomize
their musical time, place, and culture. Both are powerful pianists widely admired for
their improvisational abilities. They decide to collaborate. Beethoven insists on creating
the introduction and a cadenza (the point near the end of concertos where the featured
musician tries to squeeze in as many notes as possible into a small amount of time).
Ellington agrees to handle the main theme allowing room for improvisation along the way.
Together, they hammer out a piece sadly destined only for celestial ears unless some
mortal can be found to perform it for earthlings. I'm the lucky one they choose. This is
the result.
Produced and recorded by Mills James Productions for "The
Piano Guy" on public television. Used with permission.
The best part about
this old spiritual is that the lyrics say, "I ain't gonna study war no more.'' Peace,
empathy, compassion, awareness... they all take practice to master... like music!
Produced and recorded by Mills James Productions for "The
Piano Guy" on public television. Used with permission.
Do you sometimes feel so happily moved that you
are sad at the same time? My mother always said, "You will never know how much your
parents loved you until you have children of your own." She was right of course, and
as a parent of two lovely girls, I find the joy of this attachment so sweet that its
temporality is bitter indeed. This is the sort of emotion that inspired me to write
"Bittersweet."
Produced and recorded by Mills James Productions for "The
Piano Guy" on public television. Used with permission.
Crazy
Produced and recorded by Mills James Productions for
"The Piano Guy" on public television. Used with permission.
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