Howard and Jethro - Super Session of Swing

Sat, 08/15/2020 - 7:33pm
Written by howard

I don't usually share blogs beyond my Harmonica School, but I am making this one exception for the release of the only live recording of me and the great Jethro Burns. Recently, I discovered a cassette in my attic of my first concert with  Jethro in 1983- billed as "Super Session of Swing", and indeed it was! If you're not familiar with Jethro and his music, look up Homer and Jethro for starters.

He was a brilliant mandolinist, incredible comedian, and major influence on many great mandolin players. The cassette sounded surprisingly good, the guitarist and bassist were both dynamite, and the music was fresh and full of spontaneous energy-  I HAD to put it out. I also included all of Jethro's hilarious spoken intros as separate tracks, and the CD cover has the only known photo of the two of us together. 

Hoping that this joyous music will lift your spirits in these troubled times. 

https://levyland.com/album/1641669/from-the-vaults-vol-3-howard-and-jethro-super-session-of-swing

George's Video Guide to choosing an affordable digital piano

Tue, 11/26/2019 - 7:05pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty
Topics: jazz, Piano

Happy Holidays, everybody!

    'Tis the season to adorn your house with a nice digital piano!  I took a little trip to Guitar Center, and a side-trip to Costco, to check out what's available in a sub-$500 portable digital piano.  You can see my video reviews here in this movie I made, but the upshot is that I think the nicest instrument in this price range is the Yamaha P-45 at about $450, although there was another Yamaha instrument, the YPG535 that might work for you if you need more capability in an instrument, and the Williams Allegro III which, though not without its faults, comes in a good bit less expensive at $279.  So if you're in the market this holiday season, check out this blog post, and happy shopping!

George

 

 

 

George's Video Guide to choosing an affordable digital piano

Tue, 11/26/2019 - 7:05pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty
Topics: jazz, Piano

Happy Holidays, everybody!

    'Tis the season to adorn your house with a nice digital piano!  I took a little trip to Guitar Center, and a side-trip to Costco, to check out what's available in a sub-$500 portable digital piano.  You can see my video reviews here in this movie I made, but the upshot is that I think the nicest instrument in this price range is the Yamaha P-45 at about $450, although there was another Yamaha instrument, the YPG535 that might work for you if you need more capability in an instrument, and the Williams Allegro III which, though not without its faults, comes in a good bit less expensive at $279.  So if you're in the market this holiday season, check out this blog post, and happy shopping!

George

 

 

 

5 great piano tracks to get your year off with a bang!

Fri, 01/11/2019 - 1:56pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty
Topics: jazz, music, Piano, tracks

   One of the very best ways to improve your playing is LISTENING to great jazz as much as you can!  Jazz, particularly, is like getting a nice, soulful massage for your ears;  I’d bet that if they hooked us up to some machine to measure what happens when we listen to good jazz all the indicators would start flashing GREEN.  Tower of Power has that great tune “Soul Vaccination”, and if we ever needed such a vaccination, the time is definitely NOW!  

 

So, to help fill your phone/pod/watch/cassette deck/8-track with some great music, here are 5 suggestions for some tracks of great piano music, all different, but all great!  And the albums from which these tunes are derived are well worth owning in their entirety as well!