5. November 2022, 00:05
Since the advent of bebop in the 1940s, jazz pianists have preferred to use their left hand sparingly, especially when playing with bass and drums. Bud Powell, one of the fathers of modern jazz piano, liked to use only two fingers of his left hand, both when soloing and when accompanying – to give the bass and drums more space.
This contrasts with the stride piano, a solo piano style that developed in the early days of jazz in the United States. The left hand takes over the function of the bass and marks the harmonies, which represents a great technical challenge due to the large jumps that have to be mastered in some cases. This sometimes requires correspondingly large hands, since chords have to be played in octaves, tenths and sometimes even twelfths. Early protagonists of this style, which goes back to ragtime, were the Afro-American pianists James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Art Tatum is considered the absolute master. In the swing era, pros like Teddy Wilson also played stride piano in a band context. Especially in solo performances, young pianists today like to use this technique.
The Spielräume night edition embarks on a musical journey through time and follows in the footsteps of the stride piano from the beginnings to the present day.
Design: Klaus Wienerroither
