discography / bibliography / piano / vibraharp

Of all of our modern instruments, the piano and it's relatives is perhaps the best representative of our equal tempered system. Even a little bit of piano knowledge can go a long way. The following list of players each includes an important recording they made, and all are jazz legends.

Count Basie  
Chick Corea The Acoustic Band, volumes 1, 2 and 3.
Bill Evans Kind of Blue w/ M. Davis   "Moonbeams" piano trio.
Duke Ellington  
Thelonious Monk Live at the Five Spot
Oscar Peterson A Trio in Transition
Marcus Roberts III Alone with Three Giants
McCoy Tyner Ballads w/ J. Coltrane
Joe Zawinal Weather Report / Heavy Weather

Have a favorite piano player not on the above list? Try Musicians.com for a way into your www. research.

Recommended books for piano.

Hannon’s "Virtuoso Piano" volumes one and two. The essential exercise book for fingerings and building technique.
Mark Levine The Jazz Piano Book, as thorough as a jazz piano book can get, I think.

Discography / Bibliography for Vibes

Red Norvo early styles.
Lionel Hampton early styles.
Milt Jackson Bebop styles and blues.
Bobby Hutcherson Neo Bop and Hard Bop with a heavy influence of African rhythms.
Cal Tjader and    Tito Puente Latin styles.
Gary Burton 4 mallet solo and group playing.
Michael Maineri jazz Fusion.
Dave Samuels pianistic 4 mallet playing with Spiro Gyra, Horace Silver and solo projects.

Recommended Books:

Jamie Aebersold Jazz Improvisation Music Minus One records with charts.
Elden Buster Baily Mental and Manual Calisthenics for the Modern Mallet Player.
Gary Burton Introduction to Jazz Vibes / Four Mallet Technique.
Jerry Coker Patterns for Jazz.
David Friedman Pedaling and Dampening Techniques for the Vibraphone.
Sher Music Co. The Worlds Greatest Fake Book, The New Real Books, Volumes I and II.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.