# "Embraceable You" Gershwin/Wild



## MasterRaro (11 mo ago)

Hey everyone,

This performance is from a while back. I decided to get over myself and upload performances I may not have been perfectly happy with at the time... I think the pandemic encouraged me to take certain things less seriously 

The Earl Wild transcriptions of Gershwin songs are quite special, and while not exactly the usual vibe one is accustomed to with these songs, they are exciting displays of pianism.

Hope you and enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated.

M


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Excellent* playing.

I'm pretty damn good, and I would struggle with this. The flourishes wouldn't faze me, but the jazz harmonies and jazz harmonic progressions task me . . . I'm more of a Classical, Rock, Broadway kind of player.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

.................................


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

What a god technique, I wish I had my lessons more serious in my youth but most of all a big compliment for putting yourself on a public forum like this. I say Bravo.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Becca said:


> .................................


Lost for words?


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

Very nice, MasterRaro! ... Well, have you (or others) ever heard-of the late, jazz (alto) saxophonist - Charlie "Bird" Parker? "Bird"/Charlie made some recordings - 1947/(Dial label ... subsequently reissued in various forms) - of this great composition, and they contain some of the best solos that Parker ever recorded.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

I can't help imagining some poor schlub trying to notate your performance. Oy vei!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

89Koechel said:


> Very nice, MasterRaro! ... Well, have you (or others) ever heard-of the late, jazz (alto) saxophonist - Charlie "Bird" Parker? "Bird"/Charlie made some recordings - 1947/(Dial label ... subsequently reissued in various forms) - of this great composition, and they contain some of the best solos that Parker ever recorded.


A big yes! I even memorized his "Take one (1947)" recording of Embraceable You back in the day; it's so lyrical.

Anyway, as to the performance, you were not perfectly happy with it? Shucks, it makes _me_ perfectly happy. :tiphat:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

When the music came to its end I figured it was because you used up all the notes available in that space and time. Alas....

Great performance! That's exactly how I play it in my dreams!


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

Manxfeeder - (Parker/Embraceable You) - Did you know that there's a SECOND/Parker take of Embraceable You? ... and it's, somewhat substantially-DIFFERENT from his solo, in the 1st (more-famous) take. Well, to be sure, Embraceable You is maybe the penultimate legacy of Gershwin, in it's melodic progression, or maybe how the tune could LEND ITSELF, so to speak, for some great jazz improvisations of the past, or maybe present and/or future! In a PBS retrospective of Gershwin, it ended with "Our Love Is Here To Stay", so maybe THAT'S the best culmination of the Gershwin inspirations .... I don't know. Finally, if we're talking about another short-lived genius (Parker and/or Gershwin), one might mention Parker's "Don't Blame Me", from the same sessions of Embraceable You, and others - around 1947.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

89Koechel said:


> Manxfeeder - (Parker/Embraceable You) - Did you know that there's a SECOND/Parker take of Embraceable You?


The one I'm referring to is when he starts by quoting a song which was popular in his time but is now forgotten. Maybe that's the second one, because the famous one is the one that Supersax recorded in five parts.

I'll look up Don't Blame Me. I think that one slipped past me.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Just a observation, I 've seen a few times now, the man in the red shirt on the front row........what's the story behind him???


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## MasterRaro (11 mo ago)

pianozach said:


> *Excellent* playing.
> 
> I'm pretty damn good, and I would struggle with this. The flourishes wouldn't faze me, but the jazz harmonies and jazz harmonic progressions task me . . . I'm more of a Classical, Rock, Broadway kind of player.


Really appreciate it! Some of those flourishes are quite easy actually, others surprisingly awkward. Overall, the most difficult aspect is trying to make the melody sing (after all, we've heard Ella sing this!) with all the filagree that becomes easy to distract.



Rogerx said:


> What a god technique, I wish I had my lessons more serious in my youth but most of all a big compliment for putting yourself on a public forum like this. I say Bravo.


Thank you Roger - never too late to pick it back up!



Manxfeeder said:


> A big yes! I even memorized his "Take one (1947)" recording of Embraceable You back in the day; it's so lyrical.
> 
> Anyway, as to the performance, you were not perfectly happy with it? Shucks, it makes _me_ perfectly happy. :tiphat:


Charlie Parker is, of course, an absolute legend. He's like the Art Tatum of sax. When it comes to jazz, I'm a huge fan of bebop in general.



Rogerx said:


> Just a observation, I 've seen a few times now, the man in the red shirt on the front row........what's the story behind him???


LOL ><


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