You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 7 Greatest Moments in Comping History

Episode Date: March 12, 2020

Peter and Adam give you a jazz history lesson today by listing some of the greatest piano compers of this genre. Listen to 'em all with this Spotify playlist.7 Greatest Moments in Comping HistoryNat King Cole - "Somebody Loves Me"Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are"Oscar Peterson - "A Fine Romance"Hank Jones - "Our Love Is Here to Stay"Herbie Hancock - "Pinocchio"McCoy Tyner - "Inner Urge" (We recorded this episode before McCoy's unfortunate passing. Rest in peace to one of the all-time greats)Bill Evans - "So What"Coming soon - a new course from Open Studio! It's the long-awaited sequel to our Rhythm Section Fundamentals course, where you'll learn how to get the piano, bass, and drums to play as one well-oiled jazz machine. Stay tuned for more details, and check out the original Rhythm Section Fundamentals to prepare for part two.Interested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Peter. Hey, who's the most important figure in comping history? Hold on. Let me look through this newspaper I've got here. Extra, extra. Extra, extra. Who's the best copper? It's McCoy.

Tyner? Yeah. I'm Adamannis. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the Uly Your Podcast. Daily Jazz Advice coming at you. Coming at you today, brought to you by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio Jazz for all your jazz piano lessons.

and needs. All your jazz lesson needs, really. Get jazzy over there. I mean, we have Christian McBride on bass. We have Gregory Hutchison on drums. We have Ulysses-O-Ns Jr. on drums. We have Ruben Rogers on bass. We have all these pianists.

Peter Martin, Jeffrey Kees, or Eliolva. That's me. We have Steve Wilson. We've got a bunch of folks. We do. We do. Very exciting. A lot of new stuff coming up.

That's right. So what are we talking about today? Today we're talking about our seven, wait, no, seven great moments in comping history. You're about to say your seven great moments, you're about to personalize this. this bad boy, wouldn't you?

Well, it is personal for me, this one. This one. I love compers. It's not a word. Yeah. But no, no, no. Might be like the chompers

on like a crawfish, your crawdaddy, you know? A good pianist. And, you know, my list is only pianist. And there are great moments for guitarists, but, you know, are there, though.

No, I'm just kidding. No, but, you know, guitarists, go find your own podcast. Yeah. We're for everybody, though. Yeah. We're an all-inclusive podcast. No, but we wanted to do

our favorite piano moments here. And so these are things that mean a lot to me. These are moments where I was like, oh, I want to comp like that. You know what I mean? And the first one that comes to mind is from a Lester Young Trio record. This is Lester Young, Nat King Cole, and Buddy Rich, right? Tener, saxophone, piano, and drums. A very odd combination.

Yeah. But what makes this a challenging conversation. And what makes this such a historic comping recording for me is how great Nat King Cole is at this. And then also, when I discovered this album, I only knew him from like, you know, unforgettable, you know, stuff like that. And I didn't realize how swinging. and legit of a jazz pianist he was. So this is, somebody loved me from

the Lester Young Trio record. Yeah, what makes this so cool is when you really kind of listen to what he's doing in that feel, he's doing this mix of like walking tents and then he'll kind of like hint at stride for a second. Yeah. And then he'll just sort of fill in with some bombs. It's like, it's kind of

what we talk about when we talk about solo piano playing and how it's like, you don't just go into a walking feel or whatever. He kind of is implying all these things, not to mention, just the taste right hand fills and chords put it just the right place. It's tasty A-F for sure. It really is.

And I think that, I mean, the fact that he's walking the baseline and even going in and out of the stride and stuff while comping makes it even more impressive. I mean, you feels like you don't miss the bass player too much on this record. It feels like a whole rhythm section on his own there. He's implying the feel without just explicitly being like, speck it do, go ging ging-d-do, you know, it's like this really subtle and sophisticated.

I thought they snuck a bass player in there. I had to do a double take there. Isn't that awesome? I was like, Lester Young Trio. I hear the drums. I hear the saxophone. I hear the piano. I thought I heard a little early Ray Brown up in there.

Nope. No, just on that. And that's such a, what a great exemplar of independence of the hands. But also linking together conceptually. It's funny, like when we talk about independence of the hands, so important for pianists, obviously. And a lot of folks think that it's some sort of, you know, born or inbred talent. it as it were that you're

something that you're born with or bread with Cleetus you got independence in the hands come on but the thing

about it is you know it's like you have to have that kind of independence where he's striding he's walking

and then comping at a high level but conceptually they're very much linked together for sure so that's actually the hardest part

about it it's like you're still playing as one musician controlling the instrument in this case having to fit

into as you said a very challenging instrumentation type of situation. Yeah, check that out. And you can check all these out on our Spotify playlist that we've made for this episode. There's a link here in the description. Yes. So check that out.

That was, again, Nat King Cole really making it sound easy, some things that are very not easy to do. Right. Yes, I'm Ed McMahon. You're Jimmy, Johnny Carson today. That's right. All right. Next up, we have Philonius Monk.

This is from his brilliant corners record. Oh, I love this track. I love this track. It's so good. and his comping on this, it's like from anybody else, it might be overpowering. You know what I mean?

Yeah. The way he's just behind the solos. He jumps all up in there. He's a confident comper. He's a confident and comforting. Oh, you better know the melody if you're soloing over a monk. I mean, he's already, he comps behind his melodies. Ah.

Wait, can we pause for this second there? Okay, we got to go back and hear that. What he played in the first four bars, comping-wise is like an encyclopedia of and I remember like learning a lot of this stuff I mean when I was like really trying to get his comping and stuff off these records like I couldn't really hear well enough to get it so I spent so much time like wait do I have it do I not but I realized what I got out of this was like the rhythm the rhythmic riffs of how he comp between his melodies before you even get to it so can we just listen to those first four bars

this is the intro yeah double time he's like a drummer he's like a good It really is. It really is. And then the drummer is just like floating above. And then the drums play. I mean, you know what I mean? They're listening. And I guarantee you none of that was planned out. No. That was like on the spot listening rapport.

I think what's great about this too is you have him being busy and filling space at times. And then when the solo section starts, sometimes he'll just lay out. Oh, yeah. He'll be like, I'm either going to be all up on your business? He's Mr. Space man. Or, Mr. Space Man. Exactly. Shout out to Mr. Space Man out there.

Hastag Mr. Spaceman. Simple voice. but there's always a melodic component to his comping in a way that we just, I always want to do that, and I just can't achieve that level. Belonious Monk from Brilliant Corners, that's Baloo, Belvoir, Belouz. That's me applauding Delonious Monk's comping, not only on this, but just on, you know, this is the kind of like just sort of slow blues that is a big challenge to comp on. Hell yes.

The best way most pianists can kind of emulate the way the level that the Lonious Monk comps on this would be the laying out part. That's pretty much all we can do. And still we don't do that. No, exactly. All right, our next one, this is talk about expert level. This is from Ella Fitzgerald

and Louis Armstrong's. Their second record together, this is Oscar Peterson, basically just blowing through everything they're doing. Oscar Peterson's style of comping would be to solo. Like a separate Austin.

It's so good. A fine romance with no kisses. A fine romance. It's very like riff and pattern-based, too, the way he's playing, you know. He's playing light, too. That's not a bad thing. Yeah. It's very like, you know.

You won't nestle. A fine romance you won't wrestle. It's very rooted in the New Orleans style of playing early jazz. Everybody's playing at the same time. I haven't got a chance. That's the key. It can't just close through it. Yeah.

It's a fine romance with now. Kisses. It's almost like an orchestra. Yeah. But it's great because Oscar's like, well, can't have to get a solo. By the end of the melody in the first two choruses, I already played a solo.

It's just a bonus if I get to solo again. I got more stuff I can say, you know. Kind of like we're talking. through his solo. We're talking over Oscar solo who's solo who's solo over Elef's lip-season. We're putting three hats on three hats. We can just play if we want. Three solos. That's Oscar

Peterson on Eleon Louis again. A fine romance. Unbelievable that he did that. Come on, Oscar. Yep. Next, this is, I don't even know, if many people know this record. This is a Ben Webster record from 1964 called See You at the Fair when the World Fair was in. I don't know this.

Queens. How do I know that? You know, he was a little bit older by this point. And, And this is Hank Jones on piano. I forget where I heard this the first time, but I always think of this as like the most ideal filling with chords that you could comp. Like it already.

All his block chord things here are so melodic. Even this intro. Just super tape. You know, Hank Jones, is just what a great reminder. That master comp, I'm so glad you included him in here. He, like, different than Monk

and Oscar Peterson in terms of like, I think what his concept so often, and definitely this is an indication of it here, was having a contrast to the way, whoever he's coming behind, from a phrasing standpoint. It wasn't about playing things at the same time. It was very much about fitting in between.

But it was like the way he phrases is really a contrast and kind of folds in nicely with the way Ben Webster, as opposed to just being, like, playing underneath him. That's right. It's both finishing what Ben Webster. Webster's stating and leading him to the next place. I like to finish.

Almost like a nice shalack. He's a little sheen, a little shalak. Like a port wine. Ooh, a port wine. You've had your meal. Right. Maybe even have had dessert. Right.

You're going to have just one. Hey, is that your foot over there? Hey, man, no footsie during the podcast, man. Oh, sorry. You have white tennis shoes on too. Yeah, also double. You've had your dessert. You've had your dinner.

It's time for footsie. Port wine and footsie. Port wine and footsie. All we're going to like that. Hey Jones and Bed Webster. They were musically playing footsies with each other there. They really were, but you know what? That was.

Maybe that's why that happened. I mean, Hank Jones, so I remember the first time I heard him live, 1991, Teremino, Sicily on the island, beautiful live, summer, outdoor festival. My first time in Sicily, my first time in Italy. My first time in Europe. I mean, like, just playing with Betty Carter and Hank Jones trio with Kenny Washington. and man, I can't remember who was on bass. I didn't know them at the time, but they're playing first. And I'm sitting there to listen to it, and I was just like,

I was like, looking out at the ocean, you know, had a great Italian Sicilian meal. And I'm listening to Hank Jones as like the sun goes on. I was like, I'm dead. I'm in heaven. I'm in heaven. I mean, it was just like, I still remember, you know, and every time I would hear him play after that,

I would just be taken back to that place, like just his effortless mastery, if you will, at comping for sure. but a lot of things with the instrument. I remember being so inspired by that. Totally. Hey, let me ask you a question. Yes. Do you like Herbie Hancock?

Herbie Hancock. Rarely referred to on this podcast, right? We never cover herbie. And Herbie could just sue us so bad for all that we've referenced. But we love him so. We would gladly, we would gladly take the attention in a legal manner. We'd be so happy to be appearing in court. We'd have no defense except we love you, Herbie.

There's so many Herbie moments that you could have used for great moments of commenting history. I'm using Pinocchio. from Miles Davis-Neffert TV album. Because this is a hard tune. It is. All the Wayne tunes with the non-functional harmony, it's tricky. And Herbie, at a time where this was brand new,

this idea was such a huge part of the sound. Oh, he's so locked in with Tony. I think that's, like, he rode on Tony's comping on here rhythmically, and then just had such great voices. I got to put the screen back in my set with, man. Yeah. Man, I think this, like the plug nickel or one of those, they fly through this live. Man, I think Herbie's comping on plug nickel, even though there's a lot of laying out,

there's some masterful stuff, too, on the extended blood nickel. He's just so sophisticated, still swinging. Woo! Yeah, perfect. He could cascade up, man. Oh. Oh. I mean, there's a lot of courage the way he's comping on this, you know?

Confidence, yeah. Yeah, confidence. Ooh, he's playing some herbivisms. He was already playing herbisms. He's got that herbie stuff together. That's Pinocchio from Nefertiti, Miles Davis. If you don't know that late, like, if you haven't really taken a deep dive on that second great Miles Quintet, that, I think Nefertiti is a great way in. It's a great record all around.

If you haven't taken a deep dive on that, put you snorkel on and going the deep end. All right, so next we go to the Kang. What? McCoy, Tyner. You and I had some arguments while we're putting this list together about what McCoy Tyner to use so I just put this in there

and didn't tell you because this isn't from You know I see the same I see it before I hear it This isn't from any of the cold train stuff That we've been talking about lately On the podcast It isn't even from a McCoy record

This is from Joe Henderson's Inner Urge This is in her urge Man This is masterful It really is The way he's catching Just the right parts of the melody

And the top note The shape of the chord And the top note And you have the feeling this is probably the first time they were playing this. And again, we all have now the luxury of having played inner urge for years and years. Why can come just as good as we'll choir on this? No problem. Just listen to the record for 30 years.

Yeah, just do anything. It's good. But that choice of what you're going to highlight, it shapes the architecture of the melody and then sets up the solo. Until they start with bass solo. But it's not like that. I like that. Inner Urge, Joe Henderson, that's McCoy, Tyner.

So many great moments on this entire album, actually. But for me, for modern jazz or what we call modern jazz, even though it's all 60 years old now, McCoy is the king of this kind of sound. McCoy's still out here, though. So we went back in the well with him, but he's still out here doing his thing, so that's all good. It's awesome.

All right, we're going to go out. Before we go out with number seven, though, don't forget to go to Open StudioJazz.com and check out our courses. Go to You'll Hear at.com and leave us to SpeakPipe. Tell us your You'll Hear It Story. tell us your favorite you'll hear at moments or any way that this podcast has helped you become a better musician.

We're kind of collecting stories. We've been hearing a lot from our listeners and it's just great to hear. Yeah, and we don't want to open ourselves to a lawsuit from not only Herbie Hancock but NPR as well, but we've been getting some stories of kind of driveaway moments. What we like to call, or freeway moments. Yeah, practice room moments. Practice room moments, which is super fun. And also check out our YouTube channel

for Open Studio. It's not the you'll hear it YouTube channel, but it might as well be now. because we're putting up selected episodes, not today's, but we're putting up many episodes there, getting a little attention. You've been doing some solo YouTube, so I hear. Some tutorials, you too, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, waiting on all things you are, bro.

Come on, man, it's coming, man. Bring it. Bring it. We're going to go out here with, we rarely reference this album. I know, so take your notepad out because we're going to really go back to the well. It's called Kind of Blue.

What? Yeah. So what is the name of the track? No, this is actually not, this is from a different. album. This is So What, but this is kind of blue Legacy Edition. Which is the same. This is the great Bill Evans and there are just moments on here that are now

iconic comping moments. You think? Yeah. You'll hear it. So what? Voicings. The so what. Voicing.