Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Jennifer Bowman will be known to some readers as the composer of one of the many highlight pieces in the 22 Nocturnes for Chopin collection reviewed here last year.
Those who appreciated her piece in that collection will be delighted to learn that she has composed another eight nocturnes, suitable for early advanced players at around UK Grade 8 level, and all imbued with tinges of jazz.
The aptly named Jazz Nocturnes for piano collection is published by 80 Days Publishing, and is the subject of this mini review…
Jazz Nocturnes for piano
Jennifer Bowman is a pianist, educator and composer from Olympia WA, in the USA. She has released four solo piano albums of her own compositions and arrangements, and also writes music for TV, film and other media. Her collection Modern Mosaics has also been published by 80 Days Publishing.
Introducing the Jazz Nocturnes collection, she tells us,
“These Nocturnes were greatly influenced by both my classical piano training and the many hours spent at the piano playing and singing through traditional musicals and the Great American Songbook with my sisters. I modelled many of the chord progressions after those in “The Real Book” and structured the pieces after Chopin’s Nocturnes, with a few twists here and there.”
Similar in tone to the piece showcased in 22 Nocturnes for Chopin, these pieces have clearly evolved from the same aesthetic DNA. They are longer works than the 20-bar miniature in that collection, and the larger canvas here serves them well.
Bowman has released her own recording of her eight pieces on streaming services, which you can also listen to here:
Listening to these pieces, the title and comments of the composer certainly make perfect sense. They channel the familiar “late night” cocktail jazz styling, but in pieces which equally owe a debt to the interaction between structural integrity and undulating moods that is such a trademark quality of Chopin’s nocturnes.
The notes are generally within the technical reach of early advanced players, but bringing the music to life requires interpretative skill and musical sophistication, with an awareness of both the Romantic and jazz piano traditions from which these fusions have been born.
The Publication
80 Days Publishing is a small boutique music publisher founded by the well-known and much-loved composer Christopher Norton as an outlet for his own work and that of his composer friends.
Jazz Nocturnes proves to be a simple affair, with a smart, durable, but rather homespun vibe. The folio is printed in A4 format, rather than the larger standard for music books, so it could potentially disappear between other books in your library, should it ever leave the music stand on your piano, that is!
The plain cover is presented on laminated card, with 36 white pages within. There is a short introduction, credit and contents pages, and the scores themselves occupy 25 pages. These are spaciously and very clearly engraved, and helpful fingerings are included throughout.
Closing Thoughts
Jennifer Bowman’s Jazz Nocturnes for piano are consistently delightful pieces, a refreshing and worthwhile addition to the repertoire at this level, and are sure to win over many players and audiences.
80 Days Publishing have done us a service by bringing these works to market in this practical and affordable edition.
Wrapping up my very warm recommendation of this publication, I think it apt to leave the final word to the composer, who writes,
“The pieces should feel familiar to the listener. Some are simple, some are rhapsodic, some are more intimate. It is my hope that you enjoy playing them and feel free to make them your own.”
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