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JAZZ PIANO 69
and one of the great features of Waller's playing is the enormous 'punch' of his meaty left hand beat.
After Waller, few 'improvements' could be added to this style of piano playing, since refinements tended merely to add masses of ornament and obscure the essential jazz. The pianistics of Art Tatum are, perhaps, an extreme example of digital brilliance carried to staggering heights in cascades of runs and flourishes. Tatum's playing provides a breath-taking firework display, but a little of it goes a long way, for it is apt to be musically empty and sterotyped if you dig down beneath the heavy crust of ornament.
There are, however fruitful further developments in jazz piano style, and these consist in harmonic experimentation and in an increase of rhythmic subtlety, replacing the old steady beat by the use of block chords or fight cross-rhythmic figurations. Among newer-style pianists worth listening to are Errol Garner, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson, Thelonius Monk, George Wallington, Randy Weston and Bud Powell.
The best way to gain a good grasp of piano jazz is to listen to good piano recordings and combine this with a study of some of the printed piano transcriptions. One of our foremost writers on jazz, himself a fine jazz pianist—Steve Race—has published an excellent volume called "Piano Style" (Cosmo Music Co., Ltd., 36-38 Dean Street, London, W.I., 5/-). It gives examples of various piano styles and a lot of excellent advice on jazz playing, and is wonderful value |
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