Broadway Jazz: Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 36 (Jazz Piano Solos, 36)

I have a good number of volumes from this Excellent Jazz Piano Series which is arranged for the most part by the very talented Brent Edstrom. In fact the entire series in my opinion is the finest I have ever encountered. I was very excited when this volume of Broadway Solos was announced and pre-ordered it. Though it has some excellent arrangements I find it to be a bit of a mixed bag and not as good as most of the other volumes in this series. Most any good songbook will contain a couple of arrangements that a pianist may not like as well as the other arrangements in the book and that's to be expected and I don't let that detract from my overall opinion of the book. However in this book I'm disappointed with a greater number of arrangements.The two very well known Rodgers and Hammerstein songs included in this book, "Younger Than Springtime" and "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" seem very uninspired. Perhaps the first of these songs just doesn't easily translate into a jazz arrangement and wasn't a good choice to be included. However "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" is very well suited for a jazz arrangement but the included arrangement is weak and sounds very simplistic. This is one song where including the catchy intro verse would have worked very well but it isn't incorporated anywhere in the arrangement instead there is a solo portion added in that doesn't enhance the arrangement at all. Another disappointment was "Old Devil Moon" which is another song that is well suited for a jazz arrangement but this one also sounds simplistic and does not do justice to the great song it is. There are also a couple of other arrangements that are mediocre but I think I've included enough criticism here.All of the above being said, compared to other jazz books not from this series, this book still has enough very good arrangements to surpass the others. There is an interesting arrangement of "Little Girl Blue" that is based on an Oscar Peterson arrangement. For me it seems like the most challenging number in the book but from my initial run through I can tell it will be worth the work to learn it. Some of the other arrangements that I like include: "Lullaby Of Broadway", "Till There Was You", "My Funny Valentine" and "I Could Write A Book" which has a well placed key change mid way through (C major to D flat major) that's very pleasing.I wish this volume was as good as the others in the series but I have no regrets having purchased it. I'll enjoy the arrangements I like and look forward to future releases in this series.

Great arrangements

I'm giving it a 5 star review even though I haven't ordered it yet. But it's more for the entire series and for Brent Edstrom. I own more than 30 titles from this series, and though they are not all suitable for my purposes, all the musical arrangements are superb and reflect the style of the particular volume. I'm a well-trained pianist (Bach. of Music degree) who is also a very good sight-reader. I love jazz but I don't have the chops or the years of practice it would require to come even close to the perfection of Edstom's arrangements. This series is what I wish I had had 25 years ago. Up until then it was hit and miss, and good jazz arrangements usually came from vintage publications. This music, if played well and with style, can go up against the finest jazz pianist. I don't mean Oscar Peterson, Fats Waller and Art Tatum: I have plenty of transcriptions by those geniuses and they are difficult in the extreme--I've never been able to pull off a Tatum arrangement. Edstrom makes you sound like a professional, and a really good professional at that. I also like Dan Coates a great deal. I also recommend the series "Piano Stylings of the Great Standards", six volumes by various arrangers, mostly on the advanced level of difficulty. These are nice in that they also have the complete original song score, helpful if you sing, as I do. Now I'm off to purchase "Broadway Jazz" and can't wait to play "Lullabye of Broadway". Thanks, Hal Leonard!

Not yet played, but much looking forward to doing so. I have pretty much all of these great series of jazz piano books and look forward to collecting more. The arrangements are usually excellent, always good and embellish what great classic tunes in whatever genre, never average or dull. Highly recommended.

Good arrangements

Excellent professionally sounding arrangements

Enjoyable but difficult for a beginner.

Very Good!!!