Billie Holiday & Bill Evans: Essence & Influence: A Jazz Tutorial

[@yolandaromero6755]

I had much the same experience with that Billie Holiday album.Your playing here was as always,beautiful.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Joe. you introduced me to this album...we were going through the same lost love experience...this healed and consoled us... God bless you, brother.

[@marilynharris4118]

I love that you're including the lyrics - and seeing how they inform how you play the song... BRAVO!!

[@KentHewittpiano88]

When you know the lyrics, you know the true meaning of the song. As always Marilyn, your comments get to the "nitty gritty" You know what I mean?!

[@tjbuege]

Thanks for another great tutorial! I love the rich harmonies of Bill Evans.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

My pleasure!

[@ldifalco2010]

Excellent video Kent. I always compare jazz piano, well any jazz for that matter, with artwork. You need to know the colors and how to mix them on the pallet. But that doesn’t make you a great artist. Using those color shades skillfully creates the picture. Similarly I believe it is essential to know the chord scales. They are the tools of improvisation. But knowing the tools doesn’t make a great improviser. Years of listening and experimenting with those tools can (not always) turn a musician into an artist. Great work as always Kent.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Lou, absolutely, everything you are saying is true and really how it is. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and for great perception...very helpful. God bless! KH

[@song4night]

Thanks so much, Kent! A great great tutorial.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Very welcome

[@rickrocketts183]

Man this is such a great video. I love the way you described your passion for both these incredible artists. It really is wonderful that you have this channel.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Thanks so much for such a great comment!

[@carlitoz450]

long time we've heard from you Kent! Thanks so much for sharing this.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Thanks for listening

[@phyllishesford7236]

This is a masterpiece of powerful beautiful & meaningful lyrics.

[@phyllishesford7236]

That goes directly to the heart & STAYS there!! It is amazing how the lyrics gracefully compliment the melody of the song. Your artistry in this video is absolutely outstanding Kent !!

[@KentHewittpiano88]

@@phyllishesford7236 These lyrics only make sense to you if you have lived them. Which I did and then I experienced lost love. Most of the songs on this album cover that subject. Your perceptions,. Phyllis , always nail it, in that you understand what I went through and why I feel the way I do about this song. You always get to the root of the subject, and so you and I are a unit. You know me, my dear ...and I bless you for your beautiful soul.

[@williamanderson9557]

@3:22 - I'll remember April quote, a la Erroll Garner? Intentional or not? Haha Thanks so much for the amazing content Kent. The Billie quote about friends was really touching. You're such a source of joy and inspiration. Thanks for doing what you do.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

I'd rather be a source of inspiration than just a great pianist...so you made my day, William. Thanks for the kindness, and wishing you many blessings!

[@jackmeginniss6327]

Thanks Kent. That was an excellent arrangement and tutorial. I have those albums, but now I need to revisit them and listen with bigger ears. Music is so much more rewarding to listen to when someone that is very knowledgeable of it expresses such enthusiasm. Also, every time you talk, I learn something very important, perhaps profound, so keep talking! ; )

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Jack, your comments are always the best...and very motivating and helpful to me...please keep writing. KH!

[@luisotero4875]

Haven't been around for awhile due to some military stuff, but I'm glad to see you're still around and going strong. Always admired your work and insight into pieces and interpretation styles. It's a great motivation. Keep up the great work bud

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Thanks for the motivation...and thanks for the good work in the military. I never get comments from military people ...so you are all pretty special! Love and God bless. KH

[@johnpagan9315]

Thanks for showing the lyrics while you are playing. I try to find charts that include the lyrics because I think it helps interpret the piece better. I won’t consider a piece memorized without knowing the lyrics. Thanks also for all the extra images of Bill and Billie and of their the albums. I don’t have Lady In Satin but will track it down and listen to it.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Great, John, you are right about the lyrics...they will help you understand and play the song better!

[@bijonnandy9873]

Thank you Sir.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

You are most welcome

[@Brawly13]

Thank you, Kent. I'm loving your Jazz Piano Book. I'm just starting to play this style and it has been immensly helpful. Thanks a lot! Stay healthy. Greetings from Germany

[@KentHewittpiano88]

I spent 6 weeks in Germany in 1988. The people we met were amazing and what support we had for American jazz. Bless you, brother!

[@eduardosposito8052]

Great!!!!

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Many thanks!

[@gaugeonesteam]

Nice to see a slower song for those of us with slower fingers to learn! (You nearly said "Bill Evansish" again - hehe!) and always great to learn more Bill Evans "Secrets"

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Great comment, as usual, Robin...you are the best!!!

[@JoeCea]

Great harmonies!!

[@KentHewittpiano88]

You're always on it, Joe. Stay cool!

[@brettbreet]

It was actual Trio '65 that was a life changing experience for me. Of course, I was born in '73, so the experience was a bit delayed!

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Both were great recordings and I was in my 20's and they both had a big impression.

[@Querenciatv]

Nice ☺️ ❤️&✌️

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Thanks 🤗

[@GuitarMattC]

This is immensely interesting. I noticed not too long ago that Bill plays tunes like Easy to Love, Easy Living, tunes that Billie also has covered. He must have listened to her in his own time.

[@terenciojazzpiano7794]

Also "Detour Ahead," which I think Billie Holiday did. Wow, Kent Hewitt is a genius player interpreter and teacher. Taste is his real essence, even though he can do most anything. THANK YOU Kent Hewitt for your generosity, sharing your music SO WELL.

[@GuitarMattC]

@@terenciojazzpiano7794 Bill also played 'I love you porgy' a lot too. Because these are standards it's impossible to say whether he played them because he listened to Billie. I think these 4 tunes we mentioned are all more attributable to Billie Holiday than to any other artist, as can be seen by view numbers on KZbin.

[@terenciojazzpiano7794]

@@GuitarMattC Yes, the way Billie Holliday did stuff often made regular standards essential, and everybody thereafter thought of the way she phrased and put them over. And this is true of Bill Evans too, I think. "My Romance" had been done by others, but BE seemed to claim it- how it should be done .(?) Anyway that's my impression. BTW, I was once just a few feet from Stan Getz and Lou Levy at the Keystone Korner. Between tunes. Levy was looking for sign of what to do next, I could hear Getz say, leaning over to pianist, "Let's do this one for Billie." They played "Easy Living." & Also- did you ever hear Bill Evans do "Easy Living" on the NEW JAZZ CONCEPTIONS 56 album, I think it was ? Tell me Bill wasn't thnking of Billie's vocal when he played that !

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Thanks so much for your responses... and sharing your knowledge, I've learned a lot from both Billie and Bill, it's in my soul, so I tried to pass this on to you. You keep me going, w/o that, I give up. Blessings, brothers.

[@terenciojazzpiano7794]

@@KentHewittpiano88 Kent, I bet I am not the only one of your fans who envies you the experience you mentioned: That the first time you heard Bill Evans live, it was with that specific trio, with Gaty Peacock ( and i am guessing Paul Motian ). Bill had a special feeling with each bass player, and that album with Gary Peacock is just magical , a special magic. As much as I love the stuff with Chuck Israels and LaFaro , and Eddie Gomez too, that one album Trio 64 has a special feeling and mood. I played that album obsessively when it came out, and i still do. And it's still fresh every time. And if there are other Evans albums with Gary peacock, or even just tracks somewhere, I wish Kent or his followers would tell me ! It's like the Peacock connection of Bill with Keith Jarrett. And Kent Hewitt's videos are such a connection to both Evans and Jarrett. I guess Altered Dominant Ego Man would scoff, but generosity and honesty and love are RIFE in all Kent Hewitt videos and solos. It's the kind of gift that loves giving. If Bankers had this much feeling they'd get better deposits- and then just give it all away. Sorry so wordy, but i am constantly struck by the taste and inspiration of these videos. And the HUMOR. Music without humor is like Trio 64 without Little Lulu.

[@Mikeil1]

Kent! I am a piano student and am wondering if you ever do lessons?

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Only at my home...but please write to me.

[@hubertdemontmirail]

dear Mr. Hewitt I decide to comment on this video which falls on my birthday. What a shame to meet you at such an advanced age .. but by following your good advices I can finaly hear on my piano these sounds that I have dreamed of for a long time. Thank you for sharing with such excellence and humor.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Dear Christian, you , sir, honor me, and i honor you on your birthday. This is such a beautiful song, I am privileged to give it to you as my gift on your birthday, a day in which the world was blessed and made better.

[@20alphabet]

She had many demons. But great musical talent is seldom untainted, which might be why I'm so pure ...I possess absolutely no talent. While she may never be featured by Disney, her vocal ability has stood the test of time. Bill Evans was good, but he was no Kent Hewitt.

[@KentHewittpiano88]

Don't jest! There would be no Kent Hewitt without Bill Evans. or at least I would be a lesser person, or a banker, with grandkids (which I don't have.)

[@20alphabet]

@@KentHewittpiano88 Awe, you'd have made a fantastic grandpa (I almost said _great_ grandpa. You'd wow the little ones with your talent. All I can do is some boogie-woogie and a few rags from my time as a piano tuner in the late 1930s, and the kids go wild. I can just imagine what kind of phenomenon you'd be during visits. Rent some kids, they'd love it.