Items20The creator’s order
  1. 1Lady MadonnaLady MadonnaPaul McCartney’s piano supplies the rolling bass figure and the chords that bounce above it. Listen for the low pattern in the gap between lines and under the saxophone. The riff is established so firmly at the start that the band can let the horns roam around it.0
  2. 2I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be FreeI Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be FreeThe piano begins with room for every note, and Simone starts singing over a familiar gospel swing. As the band gathers behind her, listen to how the piano keeps pushing through the gaps at the ends of vocal phrases. That steady lift lets the delivery grow from a personal wish into something she can…0
  3. 3Bennie and the JetsBennie and the JetsThe first piano chord hangs alone for a bar before the band gets started. Listen for the way Elton John keeps leaving holes between chords once the bass and drums arrive. The sound of an audience in those gaps was added during mixing, and the spacing makes the piano sound as though it’s playing to…0
  4. 4Pyramid SongPyramid SongThe opening chords leave uneven-feeling spaces that make it hard to place your foot on a beat. Then the drums come in and put a pulse under what the piano has been doing all along. Listen to the same chord pattern before and after that entrance. It can feel like two different parts without changing…0
  5. 5Where Is the Highway of Thought? (2024)Where Is the Highway of Thought? (2024)First released Feb 23, 2024The piano traces a shape and Emahoy’s voice follows it, almost as if she’s joining a melody already in progress. Listen for the spaces when she takes a breath and the piano keeps moving on its own. On this home recording you can hear how closely the vocal takes its timing from her playing.0
  6. 6Tutti FruttiTutti FruttiOnce Little Richard’s opening shout ends, his piano keeps hammering evenly while Earl Palmer’s drums still have a shuffle to them. Follow the piano beneath the saxophones. That straight-ahead push is one reason the record feels as if it’s about to outrun itself.0
  7. 7Great Balls of FireGreat Balls of FireLewis punctuates the opening vocal lines with high piano jabs. When he gets to the solo, those short answers turn into runs and pounding chords. The same instrument can hit the breaks with him and then keep the whole record moving when he stops singing.0
  8. 8Blue MonkBlue MonkAt the start, hear how Monk makes the blues theme climb a little at a time, with notes close enough together to rub. The rhythm section keeps the pulse while he leaves holes in the line and puts weight on individual notes. The hesitations help make the tune recognizable when the improvising starts.0
  9. 9Alfonsina y el marAlfonsina y el marIn this Argentine zamba, listen for the descending notes that set up Sosa’s first phrase. Ariel Ramírez’s piano approaches the melody in small, rippling figures. The guitar and light percussion help keep that motion going while Sosa stretches the ends of her lines.0
  10. 10Bridge Over Troubled WaterBridge Over Troubled WaterThe gospel-style piano gets a short introduction of its own. Listen to the little turns it plays against Art Garfunkel’s long notes in the first verse, before the record opens out into strings and percussion. The swell feels earned because the piano has already worked out how to build underneath…0