Donald Lambert plays his version of Edvard Grieg's "Anitra's Dance" at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival. Unfortunately the pitch of the audio is about a half-step too high.
I hope you viewers out there realize that the syncopation and feel Mr. Lambert is using in his right hand is EXTREMELY SOPHISTICATED... I doubt I could even notate it! It is more than simple tuplets or eigth notes or whatnot, and creates a subtle tension with the left hand. This is very much like what James P. Johnson did, and in fact I think that of all the pianists out there. Mr. Lambert could come the closest to actually capturing Mr. Johnson's "feel".
It's also important to remember that Lambert had hands too small to reach a 10th, the foundational interval (in the left hand) for most "classic" stride piano. Didn't slow him down much, did it?
@@TomDjll Sorry, could you clarify that? Did he break up the tenths? If so, when did he play the second note, halfway inbetween the bass note and the chord? Are these walking tenths? Or didn't he play tenths?
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP Lambert played both forward and backwards tenths. I've never heard him play a tenth 'straight on' like Fats Waller or Pete Wendling.
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP Usually when playing 'forward tenths' (called in some instruction books the 'fox trot bass'), the bass note occurs half a beat before the downbeat, and the top two notes of the tenth (which can vary in interval depending upon the inversion), hit ON the downbeat. This is the familiar 'James P. Johnson / early Fats Waller' style heard on their piano rolls and pre-1925 recordings, but in actuality is older than that and was played by both black and white pianists as early as 1915 as documented on piano rolls at the time.
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP There is an entire article by Riccardo Scivales called "Donald Lambert's Three-Handed Style" which I think was published in either "Keyboard" magazine, "Piano Today" magazine, or something similar, about 10+ years ago. This article talks in some detail about how Lambert managed to develop the upper (tenor) voice of the left hand into an artform of its own, by 'rolling' (both before and after the beat) the bass vs tenor notes, with the sustain or sostenuto pedal, to allow for much greater intervals than even a pianist with normal hands could stretch, including 11ths, 12ths, 13ths and even more. By accenting these notes and bringing them out, he could create the impression of a third hand and this is quite audible in the homemade recordings of him playing slower tunes in the 1950s and early 1960s. Mr. Lambert's idea is not totally original; back in the classical era, about 100 years before, there was a pianist named Sigismond Thalberg who specialized in composing pieces with this 'extra hand' effect... and classically-trained pop pianists carried the idea into ragtime and jazz in the 20th century, notably Frank Milne, one of the most prolific piano roll arrangers (thousands of piano rolls) who not only used extended notes in the tenor, but also specialized in putting the melody itself in the tenor in his roll arrangements, which could be approximated in hand playing by crossing the left hand over the right hand to play the alto chords above the melody and bass notes below it. Some of Frank Milne's original manuscripts used to make his piano rolls have turned up and Artis Wodehouse has posted some of them on her TH-cam channel. Perhaps transcriptions will follow.
Hey adam, I saw you play in Sacramento at the West Coast Ragtime festival. Love your music, and I can't thank you enough for posting the rare videos that exist of this fantastic pianist. -Cory
Really high-quality audio of this entire concert / performance can be found here. This particular performance can be found as track 15. Would be nice if someone could take that audio and match with this video: www.wolfgangs.com/music/rudi-blesh-and-stride-piano-stars/audio/20020379-51445.html?tid=4880537
When your heart rate increases due to the immense rhythmic intensity of a music that is when you know the player has the blood of AFRICA in his veins...a unique skill...here Lambert lets it loose.
However, it is also important to call attention to the beautiful touch and quite remarkable chord voicings Mr. Lambert uses for the "straight" version at the beginning. What is in the middle would not be nearly as exciting were the intro and outro poorly played!!!
Finally, one more note regarding "swing". I have heard some piano pundits sling back and forth the mud about "who swings more" and all of that garbage. You can't measure "swing" on a scale. There is not an "amount" of it. I guess if you wanted to get technical you could measure the relative distance between the on-beat and off-beat eighth notes, that's a start. However, the uniqueness of every pianist's swing (regardless of whether they played "jazz" or whatever) also comes from the ACCENTS.
It's not a scale but I would certainly say Peterson or Waller "swung" harder than Art Tatum on the piano...not that Tatum didn't swing, there's just a "swing so hard you need to dance" (Waller) or "swing hard enough to make you move" (Peterson) or "swing just enough to make you tap your foot" (Tatum). It's more different types of "swing feels" rather than a "swing scale" imho.
@@Santosificationable I agree with you there in the sense that Fats Waller played dance tempo most of the time, which is better for dancing, and swung hard. Art Tatum played most of his solo arrangements with various tempi including lots of rubato, although IMO when he does slide into a relaxed dance tempo, he swings just as much as Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson etc. Also, when he's with his trio, or with another jazz combo, he usually stays in tempo and doesn't put in much rubato, except maybe for at the end of a tune. I believe Mr. Tatum's idea for doing these elaborate arrangements with lots of tempo changes and reharmonizations comes from the pop pianist Lee Sims, who was one of Mr. Tatum's heroes. Mr. Tatum would listen to Mr. Sims live on the radio very often in the 1920s and 1930s and get many ideas. In addition to this, I'm certain he also studied his piano rolls and recordings.
Swing does not necessarily correlate with improvisation. I've heard pianists swing hard (Zez Confrey, on his audio recordings) who did not seem to improvise much, and I've heard other pianists who do not seem to swing much who improvise extensively (in this regard, I mean they play straight-eighth notes).
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True masterwork by an immense pianist! :-)
This footage is gold! Thanks for share it :D
I hope you viewers out there realize that the syncopation and feel Mr. Lambert is using in his right hand is EXTREMELY SOPHISTICATED... I doubt I could even notate it! It is more than simple tuplets or eigth notes or whatnot, and creates a subtle tension with the left hand. This is very much like what James P. Johnson did, and in fact I think that of all the pianists out there. Mr. Lambert could come the closest to actually capturing Mr. Johnson's "feel".
It's also important to remember that Lambert had hands too small to reach a 10th, the foundational interval (in the left hand) for most "classic" stride piano. Didn't slow him down much, did it?
@@TomDjll Sorry, could you clarify that? Did he break up the tenths? If so, when did he play the second note, halfway inbetween the bass note and the chord? Are these walking tenths? Or didn't he play tenths?
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP Lambert played both forward and backwards tenths. I've never heard him play a tenth 'straight on' like Fats Waller or Pete Wendling.
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP Usually when playing 'forward tenths' (called in some instruction books the 'fox trot bass'), the bass note occurs half a beat before the downbeat, and the top two notes of the tenth (which can vary in interval depending upon the inversion), hit ON the downbeat. This is the familiar 'James P. Johnson / early Fats Waller' style heard on their piano rolls and pre-1925 recordings, but in actuality is older than that and was played by both black and white pianists as early as 1915 as documented on piano rolls at the time.
@@36AccountsBlockedRIP There is an entire article by Riccardo Scivales called "Donald Lambert's Three-Handed Style" which I think was published in either "Keyboard" magazine, "Piano Today" magazine, or something similar, about 10+ years ago.
This article talks in some detail about how Lambert managed to develop the upper (tenor) voice of the left hand into an artform of its own, by 'rolling' (both before and after the beat) the bass vs tenor notes, with the sustain or sostenuto pedal, to allow for much greater intervals than even a pianist with normal hands could stretch, including 11ths, 12ths, 13ths and even more.
By accenting these notes and bringing them out, he could create the impression of a third hand and this is quite audible in the homemade recordings of him playing slower tunes in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Mr. Lambert's idea is not totally original; back in the classical era, about 100 years before, there was a pianist named Sigismond Thalberg who specialized in composing pieces with this 'extra hand' effect... and classically-trained pop pianists carried the idea into ragtime and jazz in the 20th century, notably Frank Milne, one of the most prolific piano roll arrangers (thousands of piano rolls) who not only used extended notes in the tenor, but also specialized in putting the melody itself in the tenor in his roll arrangements, which could be approximated in hand playing by crossing the left hand over the right hand to play the alto chords above the melody and bass notes below it. Some of Frank Milne's original manuscripts used to make his piano rolls have turned up and Artis Wodehouse has posted some of them on her TH-cam channel. Perhaps transcriptions will follow.
DAMN! AMAZING.
Hey adam, I saw you play in Sacramento at the West Coast Ragtime festival. Love your music, and I can't thank you enough for posting the rare videos that exist of this fantastic pianist.
-Cory
Really high-quality audio of this entire concert / performance can be found here. This particular performance can be found as track 15. Would be nice if someone could take that audio and match with this video: www.wolfgangs.com/music/rudi-blesh-and-stride-piano-stars/audio/20020379-51445.html?tid=4880537
bravo
Great!
BEAST!!
When your heart rate increases due to the immense rhythmic intensity of a music that is when you know the player has the blood of AFRICA in his veins...a unique skill...here Lambert lets it loose.
Try "Rachmaninov stride" on youtube...
However, it is also important to call attention to the beautiful touch and quite remarkable chord voicings Mr. Lambert uses for the "straight" version at the beginning. What is in the middle would not be nearly as exciting were the intro and outro poorly played!!!
James P. Johnson in outer space
HA! Too funny... and very true!
Finally, one more note regarding "swing". I have heard some piano pundits sling back and forth the mud about "who swings more" and all of that garbage. You can't measure "swing" on a scale. There is not an "amount" of it. I guess if you wanted to get technical you could measure the relative distance between the on-beat and off-beat eighth notes, that's a start. However, the uniqueness of every pianist's swing (regardless of whether they played "jazz" or whatever) also comes from the ACCENTS.
I made a Synthesia video of Donald Lambert's Anitra's Dance
It's not a scale but I would certainly say Peterson or Waller "swung" harder than Art Tatum on the piano...not that Tatum didn't swing, there's just a "swing so hard you need to dance" (Waller) or "swing hard enough to make you move" (Peterson) or "swing just enough to make you tap your foot" (Tatum). It's more different types of "swing feels" rather than a "swing scale" imho.
@@Santosificationable I agree with you there in the sense that Fats Waller played dance tempo most of the time, which is better for dancing, and swung hard. Art Tatum played most of his solo arrangements with various tempi including lots of rubato, although IMO when he does slide into a relaxed dance tempo, he swings just as much as Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson etc. Also, when he's with his trio, or with another jazz combo, he usually stays in tempo and doesn't put in much rubato, except maybe for at the end of a tune. I believe Mr. Tatum's idea for doing these elaborate arrangements with lots of tempo changes and reharmonizations comes from the pop pianist Lee Sims, who was one of Mr. Tatum's heroes. Mr. Tatum would listen to Mr. Sims live on the radio very often in the 1920s and 1930s and get many ideas. In addition to this, I'm certain he also studied his piano rolls and recordings.
Swing does not necessarily correlate with improvisation. I've heard pianists swing hard (Zez Confrey, on his audio recordings) who did not seem to improvise much, and I've heard other pianists who do not seem to swing much who improvise extensively (in this regard, I mean they play straight-eighth notes).
My name is Anitra and I was interested to find this 'swung' version of Anitra's Dance... =)
Hi Anitra! There aren't many of us ☺
La main gauche tudieu .....