ISBN 9781619119345.

This method book is designed to help intermediate to advanced jazz students incorporate classic jazz vocabulary into their original improvisations. Using a series of standard and modern chord progressions, guitarist Davy Mooney provides several short passages that are meant to be played exactly as written within an otherwise improvised solo; students are expected to adapt this written material to their own purposes by improvising into and out of it.In an effort to overcome the disconnect between developing a unique sound and learning the language of past jazz masters, the author eloquently analyzes several phrases and chord changes and comments on various aspects of improvisation, referencing the styles and specific recordings of many outstanding jazz artists. This is the method that Mooney used as a student to personalize his own jazz vocabulary and learn to express himself within the context of the jazz tradition.Mooney proves he has both the vocabulary and the chops to deliver generously repeated guitar/bass/drums backup tracks for student use; he then demonstrates the method by providing transcriptions of his own improvisations, incorporating the same phrases and chord progressions required of the student. The firm message conveyed by this book is that, ayou can do it too.aWritten in standard notation only. Includes access to online audio.

I composed my opera Le Grand Macabre from 1974 to 1997. The Mysteries of the Macabre are arrangements of three coloratura arias of the chief of the "Secret Political Police" which have been arranged (beautifully!) for chamber ensemble by Elgar Howarth. My friend Howarth had conducted the world premiere of the opera in Stockholm in 1978 and some of the further productions. The half-nonsense text is an immediate - however more accurate - continuation of the idea of my works Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures, but there is no chromatics in the music any more.