Jez Graham Welcomes You

Jez Graham-Piano Emrah Kotan-Drums Live at Cuts Steakhouse Sugarloaf-2/15/24 I've been inspired by Stevie Wonder's "Journey Through the Secret Life Of Plants" album ever since I first heard it when it was released in 1979, in fact, I covered one of the songs "Come Back As A Flower" with The Trio(Ramon Pooser and Mike Hinton) on our 1998 Cd "Thursday (Out of Print), and I regularly play that song at The Airport, but I had never learned the title song until a couple days ago when I became determined to learn the bridge which features on of my favorite SW chords, in this case, a C# Triad (2nd position) over an A in the bass, it's such a beautiful transitional chord and I've always loved where it takes the rest of the bridge. To me, this song with its spiritual, lyrical, and harmonic depth is ripe for improv so after learning it. I was excited to bring it into the club to take a journey toward the end of another gratifying gig with my wonderful duet partner Emrah Kotan and these are the results. We were both happy with where the music took us as you can see by the looks on our faces. This is what I love about our process, It's the joy of spontaneity combined with the preparation and commitment to the moment. Special Thanks to Stevie Wonder and Emrah Kotan!

This is a song I wrote around 48 years ago for my group The Rainbow Quartet which I co-led with Will Bernard and Don Rowlands.We were an East Bay ensemble devoted to improvisation and compositions blending Jazz with pop chord concepts and we played shows in S.F. at The Precita Park Cafe, Larry Blakes in Berkeley, and even the Bart station in S.F. We never recorded it but I'm working on a new version with one of the key members of that group to be released soon. I just happened to find this chart in a pile of music and I'm glad I did. Many clues on the music stand tell part of my musical journey story as well.

Here’s a brand new ballad, composed in real time this evening, June 30th 2025, right before dusk.

Jez Loves You: A jazz tribute concert to the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, live in Atlanta, at Churchill Grounds on 13 July 2007(Pre-Iphone videos) Jez Graham - Piano, Neal Starkey - Bass, Michael Hinton - Drums, Jerry Fields - Percussion. Feel Flows written by the great Carl Wilson with lyrics by Jack Rieley. Listen to the amazing original version featuring the wonderful Flute and Sax playing of Jazz great Charles Lloyd on the "Surf's Up" album and on amazing "Feel Flows" Box set.

Come Back As A Flower-Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright Performed by The Trio- Jez Graham Ramon Pooser Mike Hinton June 25 2010

Golden Earth Girl-written by Paul McCartney #9 Dream-written by John Lennon I've always been a big fan of Paul McCartney's and John Lennon's solo works and I work many of their selections into most of my gigs. "Golden Earth Girl" from the underrated mid-90s album "Off The Ground" is a special song that has always resonated with me. It shows McCartney's melodic gift on display along with a simple and beautiful chord progression. I am particularly fond of the figure in the melody that goes from F# to A and back again over an F# Major triad before heading to an A minor chord. It gets me every time. The "Off The Ground" album is notable for the inclusion of two of Paul and Elvis Costello's collaborations, "The Lovers That Never Were", and "Mistress And Maid". The previous album "Flowers In The Dirt" has my favorite of their collaborations "That Day Is Done" which featured the great pianist Nicky Hopkins on one of his last sessions. "#9 Dream" is a song that takes me back to my teen years. I dug "Walls And Bridges" then and now. It has some of John's most personal songs with good mid-70s production and fine New York session players. I love the chord changes and of course the dreamy quality of the song. Another one I like to play from this album is "Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out" which always reminded me of the type of song that could have been written in the 1930's. Jez Graham-Piano Emrah Kotan- Drums #offtheground #wallsandbridges #flowersinthedirt #doublefantasy #sutdownvolume2

I'll never forget the feeling of watching the video for this song on MTV and being blown away by both the songs and the visuals. A key component of Bowies work around this time and the previous few years was the rhythm section of George Murray(Bass) and Dennis Davis (Drums) who along with Carlos Alomar on guitar laid down some of the most serious grooves on the scene. For the recording of this song which appeared on the Scary Monsters LP in 1980, they were also joined by Roy Bittan of The E Street band and others to create what became a top 10 hit worldwide. Sometimes when I play songs for folks at the airport who are wearing t-shirts of a band, I will play one of those bands songs and they have no idea but whenever I see a Bowie shirt and play this one, it's immediately recognized and that always makes me smile. According to Bowie, The song was influenced by the Frank Loesser classic "Inchworm" from the Danny Kaye film "Hans Christian Anderson" and was also famously recorded and played by The John Coltrane Quartet on the 1962 album "Coltrane". In 2012 Paul McCartney recorded it on his standards album "Kisses On The Bottom". I don't really hear the similarity but I will keep listening for it. I just think it's a funky and cool tune to jam on and it always gives me energy to play it. Other David Bowie songs I like to play include "Heroes","Five Years", "Changes", "Rebel Rebel", and "Ziggy Stardust". #majortom

Jez Graham-Keyboards/Vocal Matt "Atlanta" Bliss-Fluegelhorn Lovebrain cd release show-The Freight Room Decatur-1994

Mars- Jez Graham written in 1987 solo piano/vocal version 10/5/15 for Tommy