Hi, my name’s Julian Bradley. I’m a specialist in jazz and music education, and the creator of the ‘Jazz Tutorial’ youtube channel.
For me and many other musicians, discovering jazz is an amazing lifelong journey – deeply personal, spiritual, and never ending.
I’ll always remember, at age 17, the concert that sparked my passion for jazz – seeing Wynton Marsalis play live at the Brighton Dome UK, and even sitting in to watch the rehearsal before the concert. I remember the piano player in particular – an African-American musician with a pencil behind his ear, writing notes on paper while trying out different chord voicings. The music he was playing sounded instantly fascinating to me, like no other kind of music I had heard before.
Following that concert, I resorted to what now seem fairly drastic measures, doing anything I could to find out which notes would create ‘that sound’. I would scan the album covers from famous jazz albums, and then zoom in until I could see each note the pianist was playing. I would download MIDI files from jazz websites and open them in music notation programs and try to understand them. I would slow down jazz recordings to 25% speed in Windows Media Player, and meticulously transcribe every single note of an improvised solo by ear. Thinking back to those early years, I can see that I was truly inspired, and I recognize that exact same passion in nearly every comment I receive through my youtube channel.
I would buy most of my jazz piano sheet music online, usually attracted by a book’s title or artwork. And there was nearly always a sense of disappointment when I opened them up, and saw some fairly basic 4 note chord voicings, which even as a beginner, I just knew would not create ‘that sound’ I was after.
Throughout my time at University I studied classical music and advanced music theory. However, in my spare time I always liked to play, compose, and read about jazz. I wanted to know everything there was to know, but there never seemed to be an end to the information. I was lucky to play piano with the University’s big band for 3 years, where I could compose and arrange for the band. I also had some excellent jazz teachers with whom I would study outside University.
More than 10 years on, I am now in a position where I can help others to discover, learn, and master jazz. I have a vivid memory of my own journey into jazz – exactly which concepts I struggled to understand, and which topics sparked my interest the most. There is also a very particular type of emotional jazz music I was always searching for to play. I wanted to play exactly what Wynton Marsalis’ pianist was playing – not just another simplified piano arrangement.
To fully understand the advanced music theory behind jazz composition takes many years. However to simply perform an advanced jazz composition can be relatively easy – no more difficult than an intermediate classical composition. Many jazz musicians, myself included, tend to avoid playing in a technically demanding manner. And there needn’t be anything standing in the way of any musician with a real passion for learning jazz, regardless of their playing ability.
With this sentiment continually in mind, I have created my very own Jazz Hero piano series. I have set out to provide you with the exact materials that I was endlessly searching for in my early years studying jazz – professional level piano arrangements of emotional yet sophisticated sounding jazz compositions, fully notated and as clear to read as any classical piece of music.
I have committed myself to transcribing every note that Wynton Marsalis’ pianist might have played. I have committed myself to keeping the music the way it needs to be, and not simplifying it. I have committed myself to presenting the music notation as clearly as possible. And I have committed myself to producing top quality audio to use as backing tracks that will inspire people to play their best. Because what’s the point if it’s not ‘that sound’?