I Can't Give You Anything But Love: Journey Through The Real Book

Jazz piano solo and musical/historical discussion of the Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh jazz standard “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” inspired by the recordings of Louis Armstrong.
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Playing every jazz standard in the Real Book, tune-by-tune 0:00
“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” as an atypical jam session tune 0:24
Playing Swing dance music such at a medium “Businessman’s Bounce” tempo 0:50
History of the jazz standard “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” 1:28
Louis Armstrong’s early transition to popular music 1:32
Creating “Instant Counterpoint” by layering the melodies of “Pennies From Heaven” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” 3:35
The difference between older and contemporary sheet music 5:22
Personalizing the way we phrase melodies 5:43
Embellishing the melodies of jazz standards 7:22
Charlie Parker as a great interpreter of melody 8:05
Using a pedal tone for the tune’s intro, inspired by Billy Taylor 8:27
Solo jazz piano rendition of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” 9:15
Harmonizing the melody with block chords in the style of George Shearing and Milt Buckner 9:22
A left hand fill between melodic phrases 9:40
A New Orleans-style 2-bar “stop time” break 9:47
“Off beat” LH comping 9:49
A hint of walking bass 9:52
New Orleans rhythmic breaks, under the melody 10:02
Evoking the intro’s pedal tone during the turnaround 10:12
Playing left hand chords on beats 2 and 4, which is a technique used on Louis Armstrong’s “Hot Five” recordings 10:15
Bringing in an “alto” voice under the melody 10:30
Melodic embellishment and variation10:53
Playing the D pedal tone in the right hand, under the turnaround 11:06
Beginning the improvised solo 11:09
Varying the left hand comping rhythms 11:12
Improvising over the original melody’s phrase structure 11:36
Playing a few phrases of the tune’s melody during the solo section11:49
“Pennies From Heaven” with a full stride pattern in the left hand 12:03
Substitute chords 12:23
Getting quieter and quieter 12:51
Improvising a single-note line with the left hand 13:09
Extending the arrangement with a “tag” 13:45
Concluding with a “Basie Ending” 13:52
“Drawing the audience in” by playing softly 13:59
Gerry Mulligan’s surprising view on using musical “clichés” 14:27
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Enjoy the journey, and "let the music flow!"
Ron

[@julianfay192]

Bravo Ron, a joy to listen to your playing. Love the in depth discussion and insights into how you approach these great pieces, thanks so much.

[@stephenbellotti2036]

This was so great. Thanks so much. I have been playing for about a year. I learned this by ear in the key of F. But b/c I’ve only been playing a year, it sounds pretty dinky. This has about 10 years of ideas in it! And in G to boot! I love these real Book deep dives!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Hi Stephen - I'm glad this resonates with you. It's probably played in F, and also Bb and C, much more than in G. Good luck with your playing :)

[@samdulmage]

Sounding good Ron! I like the way you shoot these too - nice to see such a clean view of what you are doing.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks, Sam!

[@evananderson8565]

so good. ik its not in the real book but itd be so nice if you did a video playing Your Story by Bill Evans

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Wow - that's one tune I'm not sure I'd touch. Kind of like playing late Beethoven. So personal for Evans. Maybe....

[@pleasedontdestroythiseither]

5 what is instant counterpoint?

[@ABCDEF-jw6rn]

U talked too much, just cut to the chase pls..

[@parkerchace]

Disrespectful. Man is trying to teach and you want instant gratification…

[@marcoevans2155]

I totally disagree. I find it informative.