VeryRelated.com I launched a new website, VeryRelated.com that shows how things are related on the Internet.
It makes cool mind maps like the one below:
  ¶ 12:12 AM

New Composition: Lost in Chinatown A few weeks ago I was wandering the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown late at night - this ambient/atmospheric piece captures some of the mystery of that evening. It is also inspired by the soundtrack of Lost in Translation, the song called "Alone in Kyoto" by Air. I used piano and synth for this track.

Please click below to listen and let me know what you think!

> Lost in Chinatown Mp3 time 1:52 (Written and performed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 4:42 PM

Geoff Peters Trio - New Studio Recordings I'm very happy to announce the release of 6 full length original tracks of my jazz band, the Geoff Peters Trio. Mark White, Greg Murray and I recorded these tracks in March 2008. Please click here to visit my band's website where you can download high quality versions of the tracks for free.

> Download the tracks

By all means, please put the tracks on your iPod or burn a CD to enjoy them in your living room. If you enjoy the music, consider giving us a small "donation" through Paypal by clicking the Donation link on the download page (click here). Donations will go directly to support us in creation of further high-quality recordings of original jazz music.  ¶ 12:26 AM

For Sure (New composition and lyrics) I wrote a little ditty on the piano (a vocal duet) and came up with some lyrics to go with it.
I'm hoping to sing it with one of my vocalist friends.

It's called "For Sure" (click here to listen to the basic melody and chords music):

Lyrics - lines alternate between Person #1 (girl) and Person #2 (guy)

Intro / Refrain:
One day, you'll find out that you didn't know.
Yeah, right.
But are you sure?
Yes Sure I'm Sure.

Verse:
Are you sure?
I'm sure.
But are you sure?
Yes sure.
But really sure?
Yes Sir.
Can you be sure?
I'm sure.

Refrain.

Verse.

Refrain 2x to end.

(lyrics and music by Geoff Peters, May 11, 2008. Inspired by some discussions with opinionated colleagues at Javaone, a computer programming conference last week in San Francisco.)  ¶ 2:12 AM

New Trio Recording - Delicate In March, Mark Greg and I spent three days doing a recording session in our home studio. I'm quite happy with the results. For your listening pleasure here is a sneak preview: an original composition called "Delicate". Please let me know what you think!
(Thanks to Alan for doing a great job of the mixing.)

> Delicate - Mp3 recording of Geoff Peters Trio (jazz)

The piano is a 1960's Steinway B. It still has the original strings (but it's in pretty good shape). Recorded using a MOTU 8-Pre on my Toshiba laptop.  ¶ 7:47 PM

Clayton Hauck is a talented photographer... from Chicago I believe. He has the most amazing character shots of people in night clubs (at http://www.everyoneisfamous.com/). His portfolio (click here) also has some really cool stuff.  ¶ 1:31 AM

Tonight I was in a musical mood, so I wrote a slow, contemplative piano piece. I was originally going to call the piece "Art", after just coming home from viewing an interesting artistic exhibition of graduating UBC art students, but I decided to call it "Sara Band" instead. Actually, I am going to call it "Art | Sara Band". It is quite rubato and impressionistic, but it could be played in 3/4 like a Sarabande, I guess. But I wanted to play around with the title and imagine someone named Sara and this would be her Band. Poor Sara, cheer up eh? Don't worry, the next piece I write will be happy.

Please click below to listen, and do let me know what you think!
> Art | Sara Band - MP3 time 2:51 (Geoff Peters composition, performed by Geoff Peters on piano)  ¶ 12:01 AM

Jazz pianist Renee Rosnes on Piano Jazz NPR's radio program "Piano Jazz" features musical interviews with great jazz pianists, hosted by Marian Mcpartland. Click here to listen to a freely available recording of a 40 minute interview and concert with the incredible pianist Renee Rosnes.



From the web page:

Rosnes' role as a leader took off in 1990 with her first self-titled release on Blue Note. Eight more albums on the prestigious label followed, earning the pianist and composer seven Juno Awards and several Canadian National Jazz Awards.

  ¶ 9:09 PM

Article on Brad Mehldau and the state of Jazz In an article in the Michigan Daily newspaper, Katie Carey claims:

Jazz straddles a dangerous line these days, teetering on the edge of resembling hotel lounge music or a regurgitation of the past. In an art form stressing the improvisation of the individual, there seems to be a general rubric for expressing that individuality. Artists rely on the structures and forms of the "greats" before them, adhering to a confined code of what "jazz" should sound like.
[...] Concerning the trap that jazz musicians fall into when they improvise according to a predetermined structure, [pianist Brad] Mehldau suggests, "The listener is treated like a tourist, while curator-musicians guide them through specific corridors of jazz history."

I'd somewhat jokingly argue that there is nothing wrong with playing beautiful, relaxing, and stimulating music in hotel lounges. Jazz, with all its history and sophistication, provides a rich framework for personal creativity and expression. It is a mature language that supplies a context and baseline for understanding and communicating musical ideas. I don't think calling something "jazz" limits the possibilities of what can be musically expressed.

To me there is something seductive about a style of music that can instantly transform an ordinary place into a luxurious haven for the mind and soul. People who are privileged enough to enjoy traveling and who can afford to spend time in classy hotel lounges deserve to listen to jazz music. Would you rather that they listen to Indie Rock? (Maybe they should try it... in some funky boutique hotels! I enjoy some indie rock too...)

One of my favorite imagined settings of all time is the Park Hyatt Tokyo rooftop lounge which was featured in the movie Lost in Translation. I hope to visit there, or maybe even get a gig there someday.  ¶ 11:42 PM

Nellie Furtado's I'm Like a Bird I was re-listening to Nellie Furtado's track "I'm Like a Bird" (a big hit single from 2000/2001) and I noticed something really cool: in parts there are two drum sets going simultaneously! The main drums are throughout the song (they are prominent in both channels but a little bit more on the right channel), and in parts there is a second simultaneous drum set going that plays complimentary rhythms. It has a band-pass filter (high and low frequencies are removed), and it is panned almost completely to the left.
I dare you to listen to this track too and see if you can hear it! :)

There are so many other great things about this track, such as the unabashed use of the high end of the range in the percussion, the meandering Rhodes-like keyboard lines which mesh with the guitars, the tight bass lines and bass drum that anticipates the beat... and of course Nellie's casual, lyrical, but varied and stylistic vocals. It's also a great example of immaculate mastering. (Another track which I equally enjoy for the mastering is Alicia Keys' studio version of If I Ain't Got You).

If you haven't heard the "I'm Like a Bird" track for a while, I recommend re-listening to it. It's only 99 cents on iTunes - feel free to use the link below to access the song.

  ¶ 12:02 AM

New Composition - For B. Tonight I wrote a new tune, that I'm hoping to record in the studio next weekend. It's kind of a modern version of Caravan, and has kind of some similar chords to Stablemates (Benny Golson). It's written for someone whose name starts with "B"... I'll keep you guessing on who that is. :)

> For B. - Mp3 recording 1:59 (Solo piano by Geoff Peters, composed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 3:12 AM

New Live Recording - Geoff Peters Trio at Cactus Club Last Tuesday I played a gig on piano with Mark White (bass) and Colin Defreitas (drums) at Cactus Club in West Vancouver. (We are also playing there again this coming Tuesday March 11th at 8:30pm).

We recorded the show and I've made the live jazz recording available for free download online. Please click below to listen to the recording.

http://www.gpeters.com/tracks/live-jazz-cactus-club-mar-4-08/

I like pretty much all of the tracks from the gig... I was feeling really good and we had a lot of creative energy going on.  ¶ 1:09 PM

New Composition - "American Video Game" I felt like writing a tune so I wrote a song called "American Video Game". There are definite influences of American pop music in this song, as well as a bit of jazz, and my favorite chord, C+7(#9). (If anything, this song is too short. But I'd rather err on the side of brevity.) Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think!

> American Video Game (MP3 audio - time 1:23) - composed and performed by Geoff Peters  ¶ 1:19 AM

(video) "All the Things You Are" jazz standard played on piano   ¶ 12:01 AM

New Live Recording - Sea Journey On last New Years eve, I performed on piano with Mark White (bass) and guest drummer Brennan Saul at Cactus Club in West Vancouver. I recorded the performance using my Minidisc and the recordings turned out to be quite good! I was listening back to the performance and enjoyed listening to two of the tunes in particular. Please click below to listen, and please let me know what you think! :)

> Sea Journey (tune by Chick Corea) - Mp3 time 6:27 - performed by Geoff Peters Trio

> Summertime - Mp3 time 6:23 - performed by Geoff Peters Trio  ¶ 12:02 AM

Mixing Samba with Hip Hop The opening song to the movie Over Her Dead Body really caught my attention - it's a 2006 remix of the Brazilian hit song Mas Que Nada (see wikipedia), by Sérgio Mendes and the Black Eyed Peas. Although the song was written and made popular in Brazil in 1963 by Jorge Ben, it is best known in the US as the signature song of Sérgio Mendes.

What I really like about this track is the effortless way that Mendes and the Black Eyed Peas have blended a Brazilian samba with acoustic guitar, Latin piano, percussion and Portuguese female vocals, with the Black Eyed Peas male hip-hop vocals and a dance-club bassline. They've stayed true to the harmonic structures of the original song, with the same breaks/syncopation at the turnarounds as in the original, and they even added a great piano solo by Mendes himself.

This tracks is really worth seeking out. Click here to find it on Itunes (On Itunes you can listen to a 1 minute preview, and then get the whole track for 99 cents - it's worth the download, believe me!!)



  ¶ 10:46 PM

Indie music on the Internet I just checked out a few Indie bands on the 'net... they're pretty cool:

The Guitar Zeros - they play real music using the Guitar hero video game controllers. It's actually quite sophisticated how they converted their video game controllers into instruments.

Bad Buddha - I listened to one of their tracks which sounded very live and authentic, but fusion-like, with funky drums, jazz saxophone and rock guitar/singing.

La Danse des Spaghettis by: Mister Crunch, album: Gastric Tribulations. Cool French rock with flute.

http://thumbsupradio.com/play.php - Thumbs Up Radio is a cool concept for Internet radio by Indie artists. Check it out - there is some awesome fresh music on there!  ¶ 12:09 AM

New Composition - Ballad for Bedtime It was just about past my bedtime so I wrote a little pop song before falling asleep. One of my goals as a composer is to create beautiful music. If I am able to add a little bit more beauty to someone's day when they listen to one of my songs, I feel I have succeeded. Anyways, please have a listen to my new song and let me know what you think!

> Ballad for Bedtime (Mp3 time 3:02) - composed and performed by Geoff Peters  ¶ 12:02 AM

New Geoff Peters Trio Recordings Mark, Greg, and I spent a few hours today doing some recording. We recorded the tracks using my new Motu 8-pre recording unit, and I mixed them myself at home. I am quite pleased with the results! Please click the track names below to listen:

1. Quiet Night - time 3:19 (Geoff Peters composition)

2. Joy - time 3:25 (Geoff Peters composition)

3. All Blues - time 3:08

4. Blue Bossa - time 5:06

5. Sonatina - time 3:34 (Geoff Peters composition)

6. One Dance - time 3:06 (Geoff Peters composition)

7. Footprints - time 4:40

8. Balance in All Things - time 3:27 (Geoff Peters composition)

9. Dolphin Dance - time 5:52

10. My Favorite Things - time 4:05 (Geoff Peters arrangement)  ¶ 12:15 AM

New Composition: Bop for WJ I had the really good fortune tonight of being invited to a concert of William Joseph, a young, wonderfully talented "classical crossover" pianist from Arizona (view his website, or his myspace page). He plays classical/pop-sounding music along with a rock-influenced drummer, an electric bassist, a super violinist, and some programmed strings and electronic instruments.

When I came home I got inspired to write a tune, which turned out to be something totally different from William Joseph's style. It's a jazz tune which I call "Bop for WJ". Please click below to listen and let me know what you think!

> Bop for WJ - Mp3 time 1:14 (Composed and performed by Geoff Peters on piano)  ¶ 1:05 AM

New Composition: Waltz for Jason A good friend of mine, Jason Cho, left town to pursue his music career. He is a very talented jazz bassist and composer (click here for photo). I am really sad that he's gone, and I wrote a little musical portrait of him, "Waltz for Jason". It's one of my most heartfelt pieces and it ends almost in mid sentence, as if one day our conversation may continue again. I certainly hope so. :) Anyways, here's a recording of my piece dedicated to my friend. Please have a listen and let me know what you think! I hope from listening to this piece you will learn a bit about his personality.

> Waltz for Jason - MP3 recording time 2:37 (Composed and performed by Geoff Peters on piano).  ¶ 12:23 AM

New Recording - Claire and Geoff This weekend I did a recording with Claire M., a really excellent woodwind player. Claire plays a beautiful clear tone on the recorder, with near-virtuosic speed and wonderful phrasing. She also has incredible command of the Baritone Saxophone, with a tone that is almost like a rich cello or other bowed instrument. Here are some highlights for your musical enjoyment.

Bus Stop Reel - time 1:25 MP3 (Claire on recorder, Geoff Peters on piano)

Classical Improvisation in C Minor - time 5:00 MP3 (Claire on Baritone Saxophone, Geoff Peters on piano).

(1/15/2008: first link updated with a remixed version with better balance)  ¶ 10:37 PM

Jen Lyle trio - new jazz recording This weekend I made a recording with Jen Lyle, a Vancouver jazz vocalist. A native of Abbotsford BC, Jen is classically trained and she previously competed in vocal jazz competitions throughout the Lower Mainland. She currently sings with the SFU Vocal Jazz ensemble.

Please click below to enjoy the recordings.

Manhã De Carnaval - time 2:59 MP3 (also known as Day in the Life of a Fool) - sung in Portuguese by Jen Lyle, with Geoff Peters piano and Mark White bass and percussion.

Auld Lang Syne - time 1:25 MP3 - sung by Jen Lyle with Geoff Peters piano and Mark White bass.  ¶ 10:36 PM

New Composition: Rain (for Charisse) I was playing a bit on the piano last night, and I suddenly got inspired to write a song (the first one I have written this year). It's called Rain and it's for my friend Charisse (web site) who recently had an art show called Rain. Please click below to listen:

> Rain (MP3 audio track, time 2:01) - Geoff Peters performing his own original composition on piano  ¶ 1:12 PM

Article: experiences at a summer jazz camp Felicity Rubinstein writes in the Times Online (click here to read article) about her experiences taking a jazz improvisation course with her son. She writes:

Unless you play to concert standard, which I don’t, the piano is a lonely instrument. Jazz offers more of a chance to play with other people.

[...]

But here’s the thing. For a couple of bars, at the end, I was in there, I was really doing it. Or who knows, maybe I wasn’t, but I felt I was and it was incredible. And even though I should have slunk home that night covered in shame I actually felt a kind of heady exhilaration.

  ¶ 10:38 PM

Stacking intervals in Jazz Piano I spent a week visiting and studying with Joan Hansen, a well-known contemporary Canadian composer (web site), who is my cousin once-removed. I was really inspired after a week of sharing music with such a true creative artist. Her ideas and wisdom have led me to a whole new way of thinking about jazz piano, that focuses on sound and texture rather than chord symbols and rules.

However, chord symbols and rules can be a great way of organizing sounds into patterns that can be studied and absorbed. I have found that one of the most simple and beautiful ways to think about jazz piano voicings is to look for patterns between the notes in the chords rather than always thinking about how each note is related to the chord's root. I find that after repeatedly visualizing these patterns in my mind on my "virtual (mental) piano keyboard", they can eventually be recalled and visualized very easily.

Jazz voicings can be thought of as stacking intervals on top of each other.

For example, a very popular jazz voicing (a "So What Chord") is made up of three perfect 4ths and then a major third, and this can be played over a major 7, a minor 7, or a phrygian chord, depending on the note the bass is playing.

A wonderful dark voicing for a minor chord called the Kenny Barron voicing consists of a perfect fifth, a minor second, and another perfect fifth, stacked on each other.

A similar voicing, but for a major 7 chord consists of a perfect 5th, a major second, and another perfect 5th.

A very open sound, called an additive chord in classical terms, consists of three perfect 5ths and then a major 6th.

Other cool stacking interval patterns include:
fifth, fifth, perfect fourth (a sus2 voicing)
fifth, fifth, fifth (sus2 with 13)
fifth, major 6th, minor 7th (sounds like a major chord with a 9)
fifth, perfect fourth, major 3rd, minor 6th (this is a strong major voicing)

These are fun to discover - it's great to play these on the piano and enjoy the sounds!!  ¶ 12:26 AM

Latin Piano Patterns (video) I found a cool short video that demonstrates two Latin piano patterns. Check it out by clicking below:

http://www.5min.com/Video/Latin-piano-patterns-1321  ¶ 1:37 AM

New jazz quartet live recording Last Saturday, I performed on piano in Port Coquitlam with Greg Murray on drums, Mark White on bass, and Kevin Shan on saxophone. Here's a track that we recorded live. It's one of my own compositions, called 'A Quiet Night'.

Quiet Night - Mp3 recording time 6:10 (Geoff Peters Quartet, composed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 10:13 PM

New Recording: Blues Piano Duet I had fun recording a blues piano jam with my cousin, Chris Lawson. Please click below to listen. Chris plays the melody and I'm keeping the rhythm.

> Blues Piano Duet - MP3 recording Time 4:58 (Chris Lawson and Geoff Peters, piano)  ¶ 9:29 PM

New Composition: Crossings I wrote another classical-sounding piece for the piano, that goes along well with a rainy, dark evening (and perhaps a roaring fire in the hearth and a good cup of dark ale). It's called "Crossings" and it was inspired by a treacherous pedestrian cross walk on Main Street near East 7th Avenue. Please click below to listen:

> Crossings MP3 music file, time 4:30 (Written and performed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 2:14 AM

Jazz as a Universal Language (article) Mike O'Sullivan writes in the Voice of America how jazz musicians share a common culture, no matter what their national background. He writes:

Jazz great Louis Armstrong told musicians to "never play a thing the same way twice." ... jazz is an adventure inspired by the moment, and each song is an exploration, for musicians and audiences, wherever they are.

For some great Christmas jazz, check out a free recording of NPR's 2007 Jazz Piano Christmas (click here).  ¶ 9:11 PM

New Track: Sad Song Number 1 In 2005 I collaborated with Jessica Karen to create a music track that we were going to submit to a film music competition (but unfortunately never did!). I listened to it again and think it's pretty cool. Please click below to listen:

> Sad Song Number 1 - Time 1:23 (Electronic sounds by JK, other instruments by GP).  ¶ 3:40 PM

New Composition - Serenity I wrote a new composition tonight. It's really slow and quite peaceful, but has quite a bit of sadness. I guess I was inspired by reading the first part of the graphic novel "The Dream Hunters" (the Sandman series) written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. I've made a little recording of my song on the piano:

> Serenity - Mp3 download, time 2:49 (composed and performed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 10:03 PM

Joy (new composition) I wrote a new tune tonight. It's called "Joy". I guess I was in a happy mood. :)
Here's a little recording I made on the piano:

> Joy (Mp3 file, time 1:36, composed and performed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 11:44 PM

NPR's Piano Jazz online Marian Mcpartland has an incredibly good radio show on NPR where she interviews jazz musicians and has them perform on the show. It's my all time favorite radio show. Recently NPR has posted streaming versions of these shows on their web site, which you can access by clicking here.  ¶ 2:31 PM

New Composition - "The Wind" I got in a composing mood and I wrote a song for the piano that is inspired by the wind at night. It's called "The Wind". Please click below to listen and let me know what you think!

> The Wind - MP3 time 3:26 (Geoff Peters composition, performed by Geoff Peters on piano)  ¶ 11:45 AM

New Composition - "A Quiet Night" Tonight I wrote a composition that is best played really slow. It reminds me in some ways of Pat Metheny's "In Her Family". Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think!

> "A Quiet Night" MP3 time 3:10, Geoff Peters composition  ¶ 12:14 AM