Re Mulgrew Miller and the Blues. Btw, very nice live clip with Miller by Schubert. Very soulful player! Not terribly surprising having grown up playing in the Church.
Well, as Rok has pointed out many times, “No Blues, no Jazz”. As has also been pointed out, Jazz, and the Blues as well, is about the feeling with which it’s played more than anything else.
Having said all that, with a couple of exceptions in specific spots (1:35, 2:43) where he gets very bluesy with what he plays (melodically), I don’t hear much that is unusually bluesy about Mulgrew’s chord voicings. They are beautiful, fairly classic, but very modern Jazz piano voicings loaded with tight dissonances. The feeling with which he plays them is another story, loaded with Blues feeling like it is with most truly great Jazz players; so, I understand Schubert’s reaction.
Classic Blues piano chord voicings, (a longtime Jazz educator, Miller would often remind students, “Support the soloist, but don’t overwhelm him”) :
https://youtu.be/610kYihV2To
Well, as Rok has pointed out many times, “No Blues, no Jazz”. As has also been pointed out, Jazz, and the Blues as well, is about the feeling with which it’s played more than anything else.
Having said all that, with a couple of exceptions in specific spots (1:35, 2:43) where he gets very bluesy with what he plays (melodically), I don’t hear much that is unusually bluesy about Mulgrew’s chord voicings. They are beautiful, fairly classic, but very modern Jazz piano voicings loaded with tight dissonances. The feeling with which he plays them is another story, loaded with Blues feeling like it is with most truly great Jazz players; so, I understand Schubert’s reaction.
Classic Blues piano chord voicings, (a longtime Jazz educator, Miller would often remind students, “Support the soloist, but don’t overwhelm him”) :
https://youtu.be/610kYihV2To