In this video clip you can see some rare footage of george van eps, the master of fingerstyle jazz guitar, playing the gershwin tune ive got a crush on you. Howard vincent alden born october 17, 1958 is an american jazz guitarist born in newport beach, california. Yet van eps, like his brassy colleague les paul, also stood apart from them as an iconoclastic inventor, designing a sevenstring guitar in the. Click on the covers to read the interviews and visit the just jazz guitar website to subscribe to this wonderful quarterly magazine.
In more recent years the trend has seen no abatement and has indeed escalated. To the memory of master george van eps, with the utmost. The most indepth, revolutionary presentation of the harmonic framework of music is applied to the guitar fingerboard ever presented. The son of banjoist fred van eps, he was a talented and respected jazz guitarist. Van eps is simply a genius, a superb guitarist with. Howard alden howard alden is one of a handful of up and coming guitarists bringing the seven string archtop guitar to the forefront of jazz in the tradition of the legendary george van eps. Howard alden tabs guitar solos, tab books, instruction dvds. Anyone ever used george van eps harmonic method books. He called his style of playing, later adopted by howard alden and john pizzarelli, lap piano. Howard alden with george van eps, 1994 howard alden with frank vignola and howard paul, miner benedetto concert, napa valley, 2007 photo by benjamin stewart howard alden and bucky pizzarelli 2006. And barney kessel thoughtfully reflects, george is a master.
I was lucky enough to see and hear george van eps play when i attended git. Alden has recorded many albums for concord records, including four with sevenstring guitar innovator george van eps. Ex1 form 1 george van eps method for guitar youtube. George van eps was a quiet legend among jazz guitarists, one who as far back as the 1930s pioneered a harmonically sophisticated chordallead style that was eclipsed in influence by the singlestring idioms of charlie christian and django reinhardt. Besides the three main chord types, major 7 th, dominant 7 th, and minor 7 th inner string movements can also be applied to diminished chords. Howard alden joins friend and mentor george van eps onstage. George van eps began playing banjo when he was eleven years old. I was hearing cal, and then i got turned on to kenny poole, and kenny was a van eps disciple. Representing the tip of the iceberg are the gibson pat martino, wes montgom. George van eps august 7, 19 november 29, 1998 often called the father of the seven string guitar was an american swing and mainstream jazz guitarist. Applying george van eps style movements to a diminished chord.
I recently showed the guitar to bob bain, who played a lot with george van eps, and bob instantly remembered george playing this guitar before george went to the sevenstring. Van eps puckishly referred to his style of playing as lap piano, and his sevenstring guitar has been adopted by a select few figures like howard alden and bucky and john pizzarelli. Never have, but howard alden is a big disciple of van eps, he may have something. Californian howard alden is one of the greatest jazz guitarists working today. Stompin at the savoy refers to the savoy ballroom in harlem, new york city. His prowess as a singlestring improviser is daunting and his insight into fretboard harmony and chord construction is second to none. It a pity howard alden my mans gone now ralph towner someone to. In case you do not know the voicing, heres the diminished chord shape that this technique is going to be applied to. Okay, what i have is the george van eps method for guitar. The george van eps guitar method, at 40 pages, is not as daunting as the harmonic mechanisms vols. George van eps august 7, 19 november 29, 1998 was an american swing and. Leads to total mastery of harmonic and technical aspects of the guitar. Even in his eighties, he remained an eloquent exponent of easygoing modern swing.
In this case, im thinking of the third and fourth strings. George van eps guitar mechanisms free download as pdf file. Earl k lugh considers george to be one of his major influences and. The eddie lang book in pdf is available there as well along with, you. To me, george seemed slightly uncomfortable with the plectrum in hand. Try disabling any ad blockers and refreshing this page. One of his great goals aside of the fact of adding a seventh string to the instrument or playing and recording. Support me on patreon to access new pdf transcriptions and patrons. By the way, i do have transcriptions to george s arrangements of tangerine and and i love her for anyone interested. Aug 19, 2012 stompin at the savoy is a tune written by edgar sampson although it is often credited to chick webb and benny goodman who made it famous. This note and that notei dont care what they aretheyre going to produce.
Support me on patreon to access new pdf transcriptions and. George van eps, howard alden handcrafted swing amazon. Written in 1957 for the count basie orchestra lil darlin was a favorite of numerous instrumentalists, particularly guitarists such as joe pass, charlie byrd, george benson, tal farlow, barney kessel, kenny burrell, howard alden, george van eps and howard roberts. The most indepth, revolutionary presentation of the harmonic framework of musicis applied to the guitar fingerboard ever presented. And page 110 through kenny i came to realize howard had recorded several records with van eps.
On handcrafted swing, a great title if there ever was one, van eps teamed up with the much younger but musically wise beyond his years howard alden. Edgar sampson was an alto saxophonist in chick webbs band when he wrote the tune. Howard alden talks george van eps benedetto 7 string guitar duration. George van eps guitar tab books, instructional dvds, solos, arrangements. Introduction 3 nice work if you can get it george gershwin 4 for you joe burke 8 man i love george gershwin 10 i wrote it for jo george van eps tangerine johnny mercer 15 i hadnt anyone till you ray noble 17 fourtyeight george. George van eps, guitar jazz, howard alden, jazz, sevenstring guitar. Its easy to tell whos whom the gorgeous chordal work is primarily van eps, and the subtle and remarkably appropriate lead work that of alden. Price new from used from spiralbound, january 1, 1939. However, van eps returned to the studio in 1991 for the first of three exquisite duo albums for concord jazz with his former student howard alden, mixing venerable standards with a few van eps originals, and he shared a solo guitar album with johnny smith in 1994. George van eps 191998 is a constant reference in jazz guitar history, being a fundamental influence to many worldclass musicians and guitar players. How to play george van eps style chords jamieholroydguitar. In addition to being a consummate soloist, howard is widely acknowledged as a brilliant accompanist, and has lent his hand to such diverse singers as joe.
George van eps and howard alden night and day the seven string guitar master and howard alden playing the cole porter classic in schorndorf, germany october 1993. One of the many highlights in howard aldens fruitful association with concord jazz came in 1991 when, at the urging of concord president, carl jefferson, alden recorded with one of his alltime heroes, sevenstring guitar master george van eps on the album thirteen strings. His father was the leg endary classic banjo player fred van eps. One of the many highlights in howard alden s fruitful association with concord jazz came in 1991 when, at the urging of concord president, carl jefferson, alden recorded with one of his alltime heroes, sevenstring guitar master george van eps on the album thirteen strings. Mel bay presents harmonic mechanisms for guitar download. George f van, age 47, tampa, fl 33647 view full report known locations. Days of wine and roses, lenny breau, five oclock bells, 101177 or 178. His mother was a classical pianist and his father, fred van eps, was a ragtime banjoist and sound engineer.
Howard alden, butch miles, jabbo smith, joe temperley, buck clayton, dan barrett at new school b. Interviews ive had the pleasure of interviewing some talented chicago guitarists and ed benson graciously published them in just jazz guitar magazine. Mel bay george van eps harmonic mechanisms for guitar, vol. Power of two when youre thinking about accompanying other guitarists, or a vocalist, try pretending for a while your guitar has just two strings. Lil darlin video jazz guitar lesson with pdf and mp3. Once in a while george van eps transcription youtube. The george van eps method for guitar spiralbound january 1, 1939 by editorgeorge van eps eps author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. His prowess as a singlestring improviser is daunting and his insight into. Inspired by guitarists barney kessel, charlie christian, django reinhardt and george van eps the later whom he was to record several landmark albums with. Howard alden trio plus ken peplowski and warren vache.
Just friends, joe pass, i remember charlie parker, 21779. Wilkins alden and bruno, barney kessel tribute 1997, nyc. George van eps was born in plainfield, new jersey, into a family of musicians. John acquired the guitar from howards widow, patty, and my understanding is that howard got the guitar from george van eps. Before passing in the 1990s he partnered on several albums with guitarist howard alden, who adopted george van eps sevenstring method. George on guitar and art tatum on piano were lightyears ahead of almost everyone else harmonically. In 1979 alden played with vibraphonist red norvo and, in 1982, followed barrett to new york where he. Howard alden with frank vignola and howard paul, miner benedetto concert, napa valley, 2007 photo by benjamin stewart.
Barney kessel thoughtfully reflects, george is a master. His reharmonizations of standards are very refreshing, full of surprises, but never rude to the ear. Howard alden with whom he recorded four cds for concord records in the early 1990s, bucky pizzarelli, and john pizzarelli buckys son. On my search for more george van eps transcriptions, i came across this.
I never knew, george van eps guitar, marty cobb bass, alvin stoller or nick fatool drums. Was he using the pick because of the acoustic guitar in a group setting, or single line runs in his solo. Of course, younger players have also honored george. Bill wurtzel, a topnotch guitarist in his own right and. I always enjoy hearing george and howard alden playing together. Listening to howard morgen play is a most delightful musical experience. How howard alden came to record an album with andy brown in chicago. Inspired by george van eps, alden is a modern maestro of the 7string guitar, and has a prolific recorded output as leader and coleader. Jul 24, 2014 to the memory of master george van eps, with the utmost gratitude, respect and admiration. May 20, 2015 mel bay george van eps harmonic mechanisms for guitar, vol. In the late 1930s george van eps designed a 7string guitar with an extra bass string.
Alden began playing guitar at age ten and he counts his early influences as guitarists barney kessel, charlie christian, and george van eps in addition to louis armstrong, benny goodman, and count basie. The george van eps transcriptions linkedin slideshare. This is some of the best performance footage i have seen of george van eps so far. Several others began using sevenstring guitars after van eps, including bucky pizzarelli, howard alden, ron eschete, chance russell, and john pizzarelli, son of bucky pizzarelli. When i first got together with george van eps i had been listening to him for a long time and i knew a lot of the music. George van eps biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. George van eps and howard aldenstompin at the savoy duration.
Howard alden tabs guitar solos, tab books, instruction. Tampa fl, 33647, new york ny 10103, tampa fl 33647. Van eps is simply a genius, a superb guitarist with exquisite taste. The tune became one of joe pass most noted songs after he performed it at the montreux jazz festival in 1979. Never have, but howard alden is a big disciple of van eps, he may have something more in the modern mode. Howard alden, george van eps 7 strings jazz guitars dave stone bass jake hanna drums. George van eps, howard alden handcrafted swing music. This george van eps style chord technique can be applied to minor chords too, just finger the chord the same way by placing your second finger on the root, g, third finger on f, the seventh and your little finger on bb, the third of the g7 chord. Jul 30, 2009 howard on 6 string guitar and george van eps in 1991, playing this is the end of a beautiful friendship with the great jake hanna on drums and dave stone on bass. The premier site for the history and analysis of the standards jazz musicians play the most. May 09, 2019 for pdf transcriptions, visit my website.
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