Saturday, December 6, 2014

New books from Mark Levine and Randy Vincent!

Jazz fans - the Sher Music Co. team has been working like little elves and we now finally have pdf downloads of two new books---one by Mark Levine and one by Randy Vincent! The printed versions will be released January 1st, 2015 (only a few weeks away). We are very proud and pleased to offer these labors of love to all jazz players. Chuck says, 'Check them out!'

"How to Voice Standards at the Piano: The Menu" by Mark Levine is a succinct guide to harmonizing songs, using voicings that the masters of jazz piano use every time they play. Mark has created a one-page 'Menu' of these voicings that (once internalized) will allow you to create spontaneous arrangements of standard songs on the spot. This will be an invaluable resource for generations of jazz pianists---and it wouldn't hurt us non-pianists to learn this material too! Please see details at http://shermusic.com.

"Jazz Guitar Soloing: The Cellular Approach" by Randy Vincent is a thorough, detailed look at how to create long, flowing solo lines based on short, 4-note 'cells' derived from solo phrases by jazz masters like Joe Pass, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, etc. Randy gives the reader hundreds and hundreds of exercises to incorporate this process into your subconscious so that they will appear on their own as you perform. Fingerings and string choices are often given too, making it particularly valuable to guitarists who want to actually master their instrument. Again, details at http://shermusic.com.

(If you have a minute, please also check out the sample tracks of our forthcoming CD "Poetry+Jazz: A Magical Marriage" at http://shermusic.com/poetry-jazz.)

Friday, July 25, 2014

Chuck Gee memorial

For those of you in the Bay Area:

The long-delayed memorial for our great good friend, Chuck Gee, will take place at Yoshi's San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore St., SF. The gathering will be held on Tuesday, August 12th in the upstairs lounge from 8 pm to 11 pm or so. It will start with an open mic memorial where people can share their memories of, and stories about Chuck. Following that will be an open jam session led by Larry Dunlap - something Chuck would have relished himself - so bring your instruments. Yoshis-catered refreshments will be served.

We are very sorry for the long delay, but arrangements kept being postponed and the venue moved around until Chuck's former employer at Yoshis came to the rescue. All of us who knew and loved him miss him tremendously, but we are at least glad that we will finally get to honor his memory. Feel free to pass this message along to others who knew him too. Hope to see you there - Chuck Sher and Larry Dunlap

Monday, March 31, 2014

Requiem

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that our world-class music engraver, Chuck Gee, has departed this world. Chuck was perhaps the greatest music engraver in the world, but more importantly, a superb human being---always looking on the positive side of things, always ready to be of service to the world and the music he loved so much. There will be a Celebration of his Life later this spring and we'll keep you informed about that so those of you in the Bay Area can attend if you wish. Meanwhile, let's take a page from Chuck's book and greet each day with fresh and sparkling eyes. Rest in peace, our brother - Chuck Sher

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Four new jazz books to start 2014 with!

We've been busy here at Sher Music Co. - four new titles just released as follows:


1. "THE JAZZ HARMONY BOOK" by NY pianist David Berkman. An instant classic, The Jazz Harmony Book is a course in how to add chords to melodies, showing how a single melody can give rise to rich harmonic variations. Endorsed by Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch, Mark Levine, and others, this book fills a big gap in the jazz literature and will be used by generations of jazz musicians to learn both the basics and subtleties of Jazz Harmony. $32 list price - 206 pages, including two CDs.

2. "AN APPROACH TO COMPING: The Essentials" by NY pianist Jeb Patton. The most comprehensive book ever publishing on how to accompany jazz soloists with supportive, propulsive 'comping.' Written by the long-time pianist for The Heath Brothers, An Approach to Comping starts with basic comping patterns and then uses transcriptions of the masters—Horace Silver, Barry Harris, Bud Powell, etc.—to dig deeply into how jazz pianists make the rhythm section cook. Endorsed by Benny Green, Renee Rosnes, Monty Alexander, etc., 272 pages, plus 2 CDs, $34 list price.

3. "MINOR IS MAJOR!" by Dan Greenblatt is the most comprehensive book ever written on minor key harmony. Minor is Major! gives the reader hundreds of ways to negotiate through chord progressions in minor keys, including scale choices, 'hidden chords' within those scales, melodic patterns, intervals studies and more. Includes numerous transcriptions of great jazz improvisers such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Clifford Brown, McCoy Tyner, and Joe Henderson showing how they make use of the harmonic and melodic minor scales. Endorsed by George Cables, Jerry Bergonzi, etc. 150 pages, $28 list price.

4. "PLAYING FOR SINGERS" by Mike Greensill. Playing For Singers explores, in depth, the art of accompaniment for the jazz and cabaret pianist. It covers all the fundamentals of playing for vocalists, as it applies to the performance of the “Great American Songbook.” Topics covered include how to accompany singers as a solo pianist, what changes when bass and drums are added, the art of 'out of tempo' accompaniment, the accompanist as arranger/composer, copyist and musical director, and more. Endorsed by Michael Feinstein, Lee Musiker (Tony Bennett's pianist), Larry Dunlap, etc. 121 pages, including numerous musical examples. $25 list price.

I hope you find these as fun to go through as it was to create them. Enjoy! - Chuck Sher