The Contemporary Jazz Pianist 1

Pianist Bill Dobbins is a professor of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music. He has been the recipient of jazz composition grants from the Ohio Arts Council as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. Dobbins was instrumental in designing the graduate and undergraduate curricula for Eastman’s jazz studies program, and many of his students have become successful recording artists, having been heard in the big bands of Maynard Ferguson, Chuck Mangione, Buddy Rich, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, and Maria Schneider

Dobbins has performed and recorded with such jazz artists as Clark Terry, Al Cohn, Red Mitchell, Phil Woods, Bill Goodwin, Dave Liebman, Paquito D’Rivera, Peter Erskine, and John Goldsby.

This enormous 4-volume series is designed as a comprehensive method to help jazz pianists learn and refine their improvisation skills. The set covers topics including harmony, voicing, melody, rhythm, musical development, and various jazz styles, as well as providing transcribed solos for the students to study and imitate.