Jazz Spotlight: Know Your Intervals! added 3/29/09
ii-V-I progressions are pretty much what bebop tunes are all about. And to improvise fluently over these chords you need to know how to recognize (more...)

Hot Jazz Lick: Tommy Flanagan's Double-time Major ii-V-I Lick from Peace added 3/22/09
One of the most beautiful tunes in the jazz repertoire has to be Peace by Horace Silver. And perhaps the most beautiful recording of it is Tommy Flanagan's reading of it on his 1978 OJC release (more...)

The Major ii-V-I Progression    updated 3/15/09, added 5/4/07
This lesson will introduce you to this universal and ever-present jazz progression by starting with it's derivation from the major scale all the way through to building, identifying and playing major key (more...) Update includes: Expanded and improved video lesson; new quizzes; expanded and improved practice sessions and bonus licks from Tommy Flanagan's 1977 Enja recording Confirmation.

Jazz Spotlight: Negotiating Tricky Progressions with Patterns added 3/08/09
Chord tones on strong beats are the backbone of a harmonically strong melodic line. In fact, a simple line of chord tones on strong beats played with interesting rhythms can yield a (more...)

Hot Jazz Lick: James Moody Major ii-V-I Lick added 3/1/09
This lick comes from the hit album Our Delight by veteran tenor player James Moody. He begins with a descending Bb dorian scale with added passing tones between the 5th and 6th (Gb) and 4th and (more...)

Improvising Over Lady Bird  added 2/22/09
Explore Hank Jones' improvisational concept by examining the melodic content of his solo over the changes to the 1948 Tadd Dameron tune Lady Bird from his 2008 IPO Records release, Our Delight. After (more...)

Jazz Spotlight: Chord Tone Soloing added 2/15/09
Chord tones on strong beats are the backbone of a harmonically strong melodic line. In fact, a simple line of chord tones on strong beats played with interesting rhythms can yield a (more...)

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