Nikki Iles – Pianodao

Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

With the popularity of her OUP collections, and her many contributions to the ABRSM piano and jazz syllabus, Nikki Iles has become a near ubiquitous voice in contemporary music education, her distinctive writing a permeating presence in piano publications.

Fans of her music (of whom I am certainly one) will give a warm welcome to the truly delightful pieces in her latest collection from EVC Music, Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh. The book follows in the footsteps of her previous Piano Tales for Alice (UK Grades 1-3, reviewed here), and Piano Tales for Peter Pan (Grades 3-5, reviewed here).

Rather than rounding off her trilogy with an advanced collection as might have been predicted, Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh delivers a selection of new compositions suitable for elementary to intermediate pianists. Let’s find out more…

ABRSM Jazz Piano Solos

Educational Resources

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

When ABRSM announced their Jazz Piano syllabus Grades 1-5 back in 1998, and published a raft of outstanding books and recordings to support it, I was at the front of the queue for copies, and one of the many who rejoiced at the arrival of such a superb resource.

Here, at last, was a well-thought out, superbly paced approach for introducing swing, blues, Latin and modern jazz styles, all with integrated improvisations, relevant scales, aural, and technical development.

In the years since, while I’ve not used the actual exams, many of my students have enjoyed the excellent music, learning core jazz skills from the course materials. I have still enjoyed playing and teaching the accessible jazzy pieces and arrangements available elsewhere, but these ABRSM books have been a mainstay for teaching jazz “properly”.

An update of the lower grades, and continuation into the higher ones, has long been requested. In the meantime ABRSM have released three music books in their Nikki Iles & Friends series (reviewed here).

Now, more than a quarter of a century after their first five grades appeared, they have published a syllabus specification for new, video assessed Jazz ‘Performance Grades’ 6-8, together with a Jazz Piano Solo Pieces Grades 6-8 book including five pieces from each Grade level. Let’s take a look…

Nikki Iles & Friends: Easy to Intermediate

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Reviewing the first two volumes in the ABRSM series Nikki Iles and Friends when they appeared in April 2021, I concluded:

“I have no hesitation in declaring this series an “epic win” for ABRSM. Don’t hesitate in getting copies!”

Suitable for intermediate to advanced players (UK Grades 4-8), the books have proven popular with players in my studio and elsewhere. You can read my full review here.

Somewhat sneaking under the radar, a third book has now been added to the series. Nikki Iles & Friends: Easy to Intermediate will, I am certain, have huge appeal to players who are less advanced.

The sensibly age-neutral cover matches the designs of the previous two books, but beyond that there are some points of departure worth noting, so let’s take a closer look…

Nikki Iles and Friends

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Nikki Iles will be known to many readers for her Jazz on a Winter’s Night book and subsequent series for OUP, and her recent Tales for Alice and Tales for Peter Pan collections for EVC Music, all of which I have been hugely impressed by.

Over the years, Iles has also contributed to the ABRSM Jazz Piano Syllabus and composed several memorable pieces for the board’s standard piano grades, which are always popular choices. And now she’s back with two new books of jazz pieces for ABRSM, between them bringing 29 new piano solos to the intermediate and advanced repertoire, composed and arranged by Iles and a stellar array of luminaries of the contemporary jazz world.

With the drawing power of Iles and friends, and the marketing clout of ABRSM, these two books are sure to fly off the shelves, so let’s take a closer look while we can!

Piano Tales for Peter Pan

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

In the few years that I have been reviewing music publications on Pianodao, there have been a few standout releases which have gone on to become real favourites with my own students.

An obvious winner in this sense is the brilliant Piano Tales for Alice, composed by Nikki Iles and published by EVC Music, which I reviewed here in 2018.

Hot off the press, the much anticipated sequel Piano Tales for Peter Pan is out now, and for those who have been keen for its arrival I have good news: Nikki Iles has done it again! Piano Tales for Peter Pan delivers another equally delicious mix of wit, imagination, and jazz-tinged brilliance. So let’s take a look…

Jazz on a Winter’s Night

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Jazz music and Christmas have a beautifully nostalgic association for many, and it’s no surprise that jazz pianist Nikki Iles’ Jazz on a Winter’s Night has been such a huge success since its 2009 publication.

Jazz on a Winter’s Night proved to be a milestone publication that spawned three outstanding sequels in Jazz in Springtime, Jazz on a Summer’s Day and Jazz in Autumn, each including a selection of seasonally themed jazz standards and originals composed by Nikki herself.

I was thrilled to recently notice that Oxford University Press have now brought out a second collection of Christmas classics arranged by Nikki in a range of jazz styles that once again pay homage to legendary jazz musicians.

In this review I will recap what makes the original book such a classic must-have for every advanced pianist before taking a closer look at its excellent new sequel…

Piano Tales for Alice

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

The rise and rise of EVC Music Publications as an exciting and innovative music publisher can’t have escaped the notice of any player or teacher active on social media, and like many I have watched their emergence over the last three years or so with growing interest.

I have previously praised a number of EVC Music’s publications. I am enthusiastic for Andrew Higgins’ excellent Birds: Études-Tableaux and the recent reissue of Graham Lynch’s wonderful Sound Sketches series. And I was delighted to report that the EVC Music Star Prize Event at the Royal Albert Hall last month was such a resounding success!

With the publication of Piano Tales for Alice – a brand new collection of easy pieces by acclaimed jazz performer and composer Nikki Iles – it seems to me that EVC Music has unequivocally arrived as a mature and significant force in music publishing.

Building on their activities thus far, with this publication EVC Music has hit the jackpot, bringing to market a genuine classic…