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Paul Abrahams
Born:
School At secondary school I pass all my exams except music! There’s a message here somewhere, as music has been my profession since 1967! ‘Proper’ job Still living at home after leaving school, my parents are not of the opinion that music is a career, so I join the Civil Service as a tax officer. By night I’m playing organ in R&B and soul bands. Starting out My first pro job is a month-long residency at the Star club in Hamburg. I then play in various backing bands for singers including Percy Sledge, P J Proby and Joe Brown. My own band In the early 70’s I form my own band called Listen
Jazz Practice
by Paul Abrahams
Why practise? The obvious answer has to be that we practise in order to improve. But why does the very word cause many of us to go running for the TV remote? Is it just possible that the thought of practising conjures up the brain numbing activity of running up and down scales and arpeggios? The ...
Working with jazz singers
by Paul Abrahams
Understandably, most of my jazz piano students want to improvise; their prime aim is to solo creatively. However, my 40 years as a pro keyboard player has taught me that being given the opportunity to solo comes as a bonus. A more realistic expectation for a pianist is that we will spend most of our working ...
Teaching the blues
by Paul Abrahams
A moment after writing the title of this article, up popped an image of John Lee Hooker smiling and shaking his head. Nobody can teach you the blues. Blues is a feeling, something you have to live." I tried explaining that I'm a jazz piano teacher and that it's part of my job but the image ...
Stop playing jazzy. Start playing jazz!
by Paul Abrahams
I concluded my last article in this series with a piece of advice handed to me by one of my old jazz piano teachers: Don't try to play jazzy." I'd now like to explore this statement and demonstrate how it affects my own teaching. In the 70's I played keyboards in what was known ...
Stop trying to swing
by Paul Abrahams
Dave Brubeck tells the story that Miles Davis approached him at the end of a gig and murmured in his ear You're the only person in this group that swings." Had Brubeck replied: What, exactly, do you mean by swing?" I suspect he would have been given short shrift. But of course both musicians had an ...
Learning to Play Jazz
by Paul Abrahams
With Musings of a Jazz Piano Teacher" Paul Abrahams addresses a range of topics that can arise from working as a jazz piano teacher, reflecting on the day to day issues and challenges of teaching improvisation to students from various musical backgrounds and levels of ability. Learning to play jazz Have you ...