Here's a transcription I did of Brad Mehldau's piano solo on the Nick Drake tune "Day is Done" from his 2005 trio record of the same name.  Brad has always been one of my favorite modern jazz pianists and this is my first attempt at transcribing a full solo.  I did this for a great transcription class I took with Jeb Patton while studying at Queens College.  I made this real nice video that synced up the sheet music with the track, but alas, youTube took it right on down.  Anyway, hope you enjoy. Solo starts at 3:34.  

The life of a musician, while fulfilling and exciting, is not an easy one.  On most days, I am glad that I do what I do, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't some days that I wish I had gone down a bit straighter of a road.  In those doubtful times, moments of inspiration make all the difference.  They remind us of the power of music, how important it is to humanity; despite all the difficulties of pursing a career in music, it makes it all worthwhile.

I can't think of a more appropriate way to start this blog than with a piece written by Martin Luther King Jr, entitled "On the Importance of Jazz."  


He wrote this for the program at the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival.  Enough of my words -- here's the good stuff:

"God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

This is triumphant music.

Modern Jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from the music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in a particular struggle of the Negro in America, there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. 

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all these."