Augsburg Fortress

Jazz Carols for Piano

Jazz Carols for Piano

These 15 Christmas carols were arranged in a wide variety of jazz styles and moods. Sometimes the jazz is overt as in the ragtime of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" or in the shifting Brubeckian time signatures of "He Is Born." At other times the jazz influence is very subtle but the music is always rhythmically dynamic and harmonically inviting.
  • In stock

$30.00

  • Publisher Augsburg Fortress
  • Format Sheet Music
  • ISBN 9781451499117
  • Dimensions 8.5 x 11
  • Pages 80
  • Season/Occasion Christmas
  • Difficulty Medium-Difficult
  • Voicing Piano
  • Publication Date April 27, 2015

Composer Commentary

The great thing about this release is the fact that Augsburg Fortress allowed my music to remain as it was written. The necessary and excellent editing by Norma Aamodt-Nelson was totally non-destructive of my ideas, for which I’m truly grateful. This collection has an emphasis in jazz performance with the ubiquitous use of swing 8th notes throughout, which when required, is noted in the music. Other selections use even 8th notes which are called straight 8ths. Sometimes small hands may not be able to negotiate the occasional intervals of 9ths or 10ths so feel free to “roll” those chords when necessary. I often use an electric piano, which might be available in your church or home, to layer a piano/string sound for pieces that move slowly, like “O Little Town of Bethlehem” for instance. It results in a lush orchestral sound. It would also be effective with the exotic sounding “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” but you would have to revert to “just” piano when you reached the 16th note section, otherwise it would become blurry.

2