| Description | Transcription | Performance |
| Tea For Two
Cliff Jackson/Youmans/Caeser
A fabulous tour de force, this is Tea for Two as you've never heard it before!
Fast but incredibly accurate sections (I slow it down by 20x to transcribe!) with melodic interludes.
Transcribed May 2020
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| Honeysuckle Rose
Cliff Jackson/Razaf/Waller
Storming arrangement of Fats Waller's tune, Honeysuckle Rose.
Transcribed January/February 2017
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| Ain't Misbehavin'
Cliff Jackson/ Razaf/Waller
Exciting arrangement of "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Cliff Jackson. You've probably come across Fats Waller arrangements,
but this is decidedly the full on Jackson treatment. If you look below on this page, you can see that I've done
quite a few Jackson transcriptions now, but the formula doesn't wear thin: you can enjoy a familiar tune with
a swing beat and an exciting build-up, and on top of it all, the arrangements are actually approachable, this one
in particular. Don't delay - clear your schedule, download the dots on the right and have some fun.
Transcribed January/February 2016
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| Who's Sorry Now
Cliff Jackson/Snyder, Kalmar & Ruby
Stride at its very best, from the excellent Cliff Jackson. Starts with a whistful tune, and breaks into Cliff's trademark style,
getting your feet tapping, and like every piece of Cliff Jackson leaves you with a silly grin on your face.
This isn't too hard to play, at least to a standard where you can enjoy it. Utterly, utterly wonderful.
Transcribed October/November 2014
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| Nothin'
Luckey Roberts
Inspired, refreshingly different, but happily still insane piece. I'll be honest though - the left hand is quite poor in
this performance, so about 10% of it I've had to fill in from context.
Transcribed September 2014
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| Limehouse Blues
Cliff Jackson/Furber & Braham
Wow! Breathtaking Cliff Jackson piece from 1948. Very exciting stride - makes you want to give up your job and
do nothing but learn this piece. Well now you can! Perhaps not as complex as it sounds, once you see the dots,
but hard to keep the touch light, and of course that stride left hand is a devil. Fabulous.
Transcribed April/May 2014
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| Crazy Rhythm
Cliff Jackson/Caesar, Meyer & Kahn
Typical Cliff Jackson treatment : take a good standard, add stride, and gradually crank
up the tempo.
Transcribed the hard way - tape cassette recorder, August 1992. And then fixed with Transcribe in 2010!
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Keep On Gwine
James Booker
Booker's playing here is pure joy. What's more, the piece is fairly approachable, so much so that even at half speed
(as I have to play it!) it still sounds amazing.
Transcribed December 2013.
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When I Fall In Love
Eyran Katsenelenbogen/Young & Heyman
A classic tune touchingly arranged by the wonderful pianist Eyran Katsenelenbogen. Since transcribing this,
Eyran has sportingly helped with proof-reading.
Transcribed December 2012.
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Sunny Side Of The Street
James Booker/McHugh & Fields
Listen the video first, then come back to this text.
Now then - stunned, amazed? This is quite a well regarded piece
by James Booker, but I couldn't find a transcription. Well, about a week's work produced the sheet music on the right!
It's completely faithful to the recording, but I'm afraid it's more difficult than it sounds, so download
and get practising!
Transcribed August 2011
Ewan Kilpatrick has very kindly sent a slightly simplified version of this transcription,
which would certainly help in getting to grips with this piece!
You can download it here.
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Deep Purple
Evan Palazzo/Peter De Rose
Short but very sweet - a lovely arrangement of Deep Purple from Evan Palazzo.
Transcribed March 2011
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| Autumn Leaves
Joe Van De Graaff/Joseph Kosma
There are lots of versions of Autumn Leaves around, and many on YouTube. Joe's
version, unlike many others, overlays the classic tune on a steady jazz beat in a
simple and catchy way - I like it!
Transcribed February 2011
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Joe deleted his video, unfortunately. |
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It's The Talk Of The Town
Evan Palazzo/Jerry Livingston
Evan has posted many excellent tunes on YouTube, and this is one of the finest.
It's the marriage of a great tune with Evan's soulful, wistful and humorous style, and done
with an effortless technique. A great piece and fun to play.
Transcribed December 2010
Evan has a website and CD here.
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| Por Una Cabeza
Carlos Gardel
Known more popularly as the tango music from the movies Schindler's List, True Lies
and (as shown here) Scent of A Woman, this was actually a song from the 1930s written by
Carlos Gardel and lyricist Alfredo Le Pera. The literal transcription doesn't work that well
as a piano solo, so I've transposed a bit here and there. No, it's not really jazz, but it
is a lovely piece of music.
Transcribed December 2010
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| On the Sunny Side of the Street
Joe Holt/McHugh and Fields
This joyous arrangement from Joe Holt of a well known standard never fails to raise a
smile - watch it and see if I'm not right! Joe has posted many such arrangements on YouTube,
and his channel is well worth a look.
Transcribed October 2010
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On the Sunny Side of the Street
Evan Palazzo/McHugh and Fields
A slow, very soulful arrangement by Evan Palazzo of this classic tune, show-cased by
him on YouTube (shown on the right). Deceptively simple music once transcribed, but very
difficult to render this piece with the accuracy and sheer style that Evan has. Absolutely superb.
Transcribed August 2010
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| All Of Me
Jean-Pierre Bertrand/G. Marks
This is a great boogie from Monsieur Bertrand @ JPBoogie.com.
His site holds several MIDI files, one of which (this one) I used to
write this transcription. MIDI files do import into notation software, but are usually
'raw' and so not legible, and it's easier to transcribe from scratch than spend ages trying to
clean them up. Give this one a try - it's not that hard and the classic tune makes it hang
together well. Playing not too good here - had to do it in a hurry.
Transcribed June 2010
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| Puttin' on the Ritz
Chris Dawson/Irving Berlin
Chris has lots of high quality jazz posted on his channel on YouTube. This version
of Berlin's classic by Chris is snappy, light, and very addictive! Roll the L.H. tenths if
(like me) you don't have the span, or play the bass notes an octave higher if you feel like it:
basically do whatever it takes to play this piece - it's worth it.
Transcribed February 2010
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| Maple Leaf Rag
Dick Wellstood/Scott Joplin
The original Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin is the King of all ragtime pieces, but
Dick Wellstood's treatment transcribed here turns it into a terrifically exciting stride piece.
Yes, that's me playing it. Could have dressed up a bit first, I suppose. Lost a bit of weight since then too.
Transcribed December 2009
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| Minute Steak
Teddy Wilson
Another piece that I transcribed from the Teddy Wilson Keystone Transcriptions (audio).
A short, cheeky, happy piece that lasts, well, exactly one minute.
Transcribed 2009
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| The Little Things That Mean So Much
Teddy Wilson
This swing piece from Teddy Wilson sounds utterly magical. I transcribed it from the
Teddy Wilson Keystone Transcriptions (audio). I think I read somewhere
that his wife composed the tune, and Teddy put this arrangement around it. I think I also read
that they eventually divorced, so, maybe he didn't take the hint.
Playing and sound not too good here - sorry.
Transcribed 2008/9
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