Trading Fours

[John A.]

You need to talk with the pianist about sharing comping responsibilities.

I'm not talking about that taking turns comping (which is a whole other kettle of fish and usually hopeless). I'm talking about pianists who comp too busily and/or don't adjust how they comp for soloists. Comping for vibes or guitar is different (or should be, anyway) from comping for a horn or a singer,

[pcjazz]

I'm not talking about that taking turns comping (which is a whole other kettle of fish and usually hopeless). I'm talking about pianists who comp too busily and/or don't adjust how they comp for soloists. Comping for vibes or guitar is different (or should be, anyway) from comping for a horn or a singer,

Well then, you need to talk about that too. I’m assuming this is someone you play with regularly, not some random jam session one-off.

[pauln]

I'm talking about pianists who comp too busily and/or don't adjust how they comp for soloists. Comping for vibes or guitar is different (or should be, anyway) from comping for a horn or a singer,

Pianists typically learn to play by learning songs for the piano where the piano is the whole song and the whole song is the piano. But Jazz piano played in a band with others is different. Done right it has a "lazy" sound, less is more, minimalist sense (which would have horrified their piano teacher).

Even a thoughtful pianist who is attempting to play less busy and stay "adjustable" to the others may be having a hard time maintaining that, or even conceiving it.

I have found that describing the physical aspect of their hands as a mechanical reminder of what is producing the right sound helps: "In this part try keeping your two hands close together" or "In this part try playing with just one hand".