John Elliott's Insights In Jazz Podcast

The Irving Berlin standard, Remember, from 1925 is analysed according to the method. Bricks used include: Chromatic Dropback; Cadence; Launcher; To IV n Mack (and Yak). Joins used include: Dogleg; Bootstrap; Sidewinder; (Happenstance).

The standard is analysed according to the method. Bricks used include TTFA dropback; Double Pullback; SPOT; 7-chord Pullback; To IV n Mack; To IV n Yak; On-Off-On; Cadence; Slow Launcher; Bootstrap Launcher. Once again, joins are hardly needed. The Bootstrap join is used.

These two standards are analysed according to the method and found to be almost identical. These songs are used to show how standards often visit common keys of I, IV and iv (relative minor) and the joins that are used to get between them (Bauble, Sidewinder, Half Nelson). The Slow Launcher is examined and its location at the end of B sections in ABAC songs considered. Confirming key using the Homer join is discussed and the Spring Cadence is introduced.

The standard Misty is analysed according to the method. Comparison is made with "I Want to Talk About You". Bricks used include: To IV n Yak; POT; SPOT; On-Off-On; Yardbird Cadence; Regular Cadence; CESH; Two-goes; Starlight Cadence. Just two joins are used: Bootstrap and Downwinder.

This bossa nova standard is analysed according to the method. The song is not in the book and so a chart is available on the Google Group web site. The song is unusually long, with effectively two ABAC song forms joined together, one minor and the other major.

The Pennies Ending metabrick is introduced. This is family of 8-measure bricks which is extremely common in jazz standards. Most often it is used to as the last 8 measures. But sometimes it is used as the first 8 measures of a song. Many examples are given of the Pennies Ending occurring in jazz standards. Meta concepts covered include: IV n Back; Dropping back; Cadence home. Joins are not discussed in this podcast because, in general, the bricks within the metabrick follow round the cycle or by dropping down a half step (sideslip).

The standard My Foolish Heart from 1949 is analysed according to the method. The form is ABAC, but the chords are more complex than songs looked at to date. The metaview is discussed before the actual bricks of chords are analysed. Bricks used include: ITCHY turnaround; Bootstrap launchers; Launcher; Cadence; Body and Soul approach; Autumnal Cadence approach; Sixpenny Ending; TINGLe dropback; Somewhere cadence. Joins used include: Woody; Bootstrap; Bauble; Stella (!); Dogleg.

The chord changes to I Got Rhythm are the most common changes used in jazz after the 12-bar blues. This podcast takes a Metaview of "Rhythm Changes" so that the player can be robust to substitutions that might be commonly used. Bricks used include: POT (and variants such as SPOT, Rhythm Turnaround, Whoopee Turnaround); To IV n Back family; Rhythm Bridge. Joins used include: Sidewinder; (Pullback); (Yardbird); (Bird SPOT).

In this episode, Whisper Not is analysed according to the method. This song is in AABA form and is considered to have a home key of Dm since that is the only key in the song that is established and confirmed. Reference is made to Green Dolphin Street and How Deep is the Ocean that have some similar harmonic moves. Bricks used include: On; Cadence; POT; SPOT; launcher; Nowhere launcher. The only join used is the Backslider.

The standard from 1940 is analysed and shown to have the same A section "metabrick" as "Take the A Train" and "Bernie's Tune". Using diminished-7 chords, Bartok substitution is introduced. Bricks and concepts covered include: Cadence; Hover; On-Off; POT; Side-slipping; Multi-subbed POT; Nowhere Launcher; Launcher. Joins include: Bootstrap; New Horizon; (Nowhere).

The standard from the 1950s, Bernie's Tune, is analysed according to the method. Reference is made to the metabrick, Donna Lee (or 'A' Train) Opening, which is very similar to the A sections in this song. Bricks used include: On and Off; Cadence; Launcher; and POT. Joins used include: Homer; and Half Nelson.

The standard What's New (1939) is analysed according to the method. This AABA-form song is remarkable because all of it's sections are almost the same. The bridge is the same as the other sections except in another key, so the analysis shows it as being the same. Once one of A the sections is learned, only the joins into and out of the bridge are needed to play the song in any key. Bricks used include: On; Cadence; Launcher, POT. Joins used include: Half Nelson; Bauble; Bootstrap and Backslider.

The standard Beautiful Love from 1931 is analysed. This is a good example of a standard predominantly in the minor key that visits the relative major. Bricks used include: Cadence; Launchers; Overrun; POT. Joins used include: Bootstrap; Sidewinder. Other concepts covered include: Bootstrap launcher; Nowhere launcher; Nowhere turnaround; absolute jump joins such as (Nowhere).

John talks with saxophone player, Phil Clark, about his use of the method in order to learn to play without music. Phil explains his approach to learning tunes using "Brick walls" built using MS Excel. There is some microphone noise in some of this podcast that we could not eliminate, but we decided to publish anyway since we think the conversation can all be understood.

The To IV n Back family of bricks is revisited in this second of two podcasts. This time the focus is on returning to I via #IVo. Examples of songs in which these occur are given. "Marking time" using To IV n Back is also illustrated. A related brick, II n Back is introduced and shown to be almost identical and illustrated where present in "American Songbook" jazz standards.

The very important family of metabricks, "To IV n Back", is introduced in Part I of this two-part podcast. The harmonic purpose of the family is introduced and then focus is given to the most common form: the "To IV n Yak". This metabrick is made up of On + (Boostrap) Cadence + (New Horizon) Yardbird Cadence. Many examples from real songs are shown to illustrate just how common this harmonic move is. Passing reference is made to the related "To IV n Mack" and also the "Pennies Ending" metabricks. Chaining of more than one "To IV n Back" is illustrated with reference to real standards. Modulation in major harmony via dominant 7th chords with roots other than V is discussed and the reason why modulating to IV does not feel as strong as modulation to other places.

John talks with a French friend, JB, who plays jazz piano and uses the method to learn songs in bands of various jazz styles. The discussion covers how JB has found the method useful and how it relates to the way we learn a new language. The podcast ends with an example of the aural tradition: a song being taught with no sheet music and then played in several keys, all within the space of 15 minutes.

The standard, Indiana, is analysed according to the method in the Insights In Jazz book. Bricks used include: Donna Lee Opening; Dropbacks; To IV n Yak; Slow Launcher; Cadence; On Off On; Long Cadence. Joins include: Bootstrap; Backslider.

The simple standard, Perdido is analysed and found to be made up of just two bricks and one join. Bricks are the 7-chord Dropback and the Rhythm Bridge. The join is the Sidewinder. Some thoughts are presented about how electronically searching in the book can be useful.

This week's podcast is a telephone interview with Eugene Pliner, a pianist from San Fransisco. Eugene talks with John and explains why he likes the method in Insights In Jazz and in particular, the podcasts.