4 - How & when to pedal. Using explosive dynamics

Pedaling does require you to have good ear. It is too easy to play loosely. Yes, You can keep pedal pushed all the way from start to end of music. It can only be identified by your ear. If you do it too much, the sound become thick, dull and cloudy to your ear as well as to your audiences.

As the theory, you don't extend your pedaling beyond the bar you start to pedal. In playing jazz, to avoid clouding your chord, you should not use pedal beyond the limit of the chord.

And it is sincerely recommended that you use it just to give explosive effect to your sound. Which means you limit the use of it for a couple notes.

Above can be proven if you listen to Johon Lewis or Oscar Peterson. Red Garland uses pedal quite frequently when he play melody with chord.

The advice is that you should be able to keep your finger on a certain note so that you can play melody in legato. Thereby you cn keep your melody line clear and crisp.

Django, John Lewis solo

John Lewis plays DJANGO: solo: He also tells that he has met DJANGO during war in France. I couldn't have a chance to hear this tune played solo. The first time I hear this tune was with MJQ.

It is a minor tune but having 8 bars with major inserted in the middle. The transition was appealing. If you listen to the MJQ playing it, during early sixties I mean, Milt jackson was dancing on the vivraphone with his mallets. And it had been rather Milt Jackson who had impressed me of his exciting yet cool playing style.

It was late '80es I have listened his own quartet somewhere in suburban San Franscisco. The tone was definitely Milt, but I felt something was missing and was not excited. Probably due Jhon Lewis wasn't there.

Listen to this solo of Lewis. You might have watched this video and so did I. But I love this little gap that is John plays minor tune with medium fast tempo. I believe you'd love it, too.

Oscar Peterson, the greatest pianist.

I didn't know till this day the death of Oscar Peterson. There are some reasons. I don't read those publications on music anymore. Nor I check online source on who's who type of directory.

I had learned a lot from his standard jazz collection. Yes, he had issued a series on great composers of so-called standard numbers. There wasn't long improvisation. His play was a few choruses for each tune.

They are just beautiful. Yeah, I agree that there is some plays that he has failed to create beautiful alley of tones. But as always, his powerful voicing did astound me and I was just awed.

I have been going through Google Alert and have found a young man, Benny Green. Well he looks young. You can hear "Taking chance of Love" with his? trio. As far as this performance is concerned, he sounds like trying out beat drums and base. His tempo is a bit different from those rhythm. Oscar had never been that. He rides on rhythm.

One more thing, Benny's left hand doesn't match to Oscars'. Voicing is rather simple with Benny if compared to Oscar.

But, I envy Benny. Yes, he definitely is the person to devise some kind of breakthrough.