Understanding Jazz

I have a piano student who wants me to teach him jazz...a style i love, but have no knowledge in whatsoever.

Does anyone, and I mainly speak to Robin here, have recommendations on books that will teach jazz right from the basics, and eventually will allow us both to grow in the field of jazz.

I know there is nothing like having a teacher to personally guide you, but, yea...thats not what I'm asking for a response on.

Any ideas?

Amazon.com: Jamey Aebersold Volume 1 Jazz How To Play and Improvise Book & CD (Standard): Electronics

Ta daa!!

I assume you're talking from a performance standpoint - how to play jazz, right? Aebersolds are invaluable, in that it gets you playing - with a serious rhythm section and start you off with simple/basic modes, chord/scale stuff, ii-Vs, and build from there. An excellent resource. Vol. I is a good place to start...then II, III and then they're all good!

Also, piano specific - re: comping and voicings and such:

Amazon.com: The Jazz Piano Book: Mark Levine: Books

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Hope this helps!

Another thing I've found invaluable is to listen to as much jazz as possible. The more "listening experience" you have, the easier it is to grasp the concepts. Atleast for me.

thanks guys I was beginning to think that this thread was gonna slide down the forum like a little kid on a slippery dip.

...ive ordered the aeborsold.

stupid amazon. the 'used' ones dont ship to australia. I had to buy the most expensive one on the list! HOW CRAP?!?!?!?! Robin, your life is on the line It had better be good

i wont get it for about 30 days. although, i ordered martha argerich's evening talks which was supposed to arrive on september the 3rd...but instead, arrived on august the 11th. Which was exciting.

Trust me, the Aeb is good. They have their pros and cons. BUT, for a developing young player, they're invaluable.

Lemme know if you want to "sample" it before it arrives

The Levine book can get into very complex theoretical discussion without any application, but to an advanced classical student this might be a more welcoming start. Here's some important stuff: Get a Real Book, try transcribing tunes off recordings, learn a ton of chords and use them in the context of the Real Book, practice licks in all 12 keys. Improvise over the changes in the Real Book. And Listen, especially live jazz at a club, but listen to jazz as much as possible.

I recently found a jazz cords book for piano that has all of the cords that are found in common jazz music. It was in the music section at Borders.

Jazzology is a good place to start.

guys, i have the aebersold. its good.
i love it.