Recommendations for a jazz fusion song to play?

[henryhh]

Hey, new poster here. I am a big fan of the music composed by jazz fusion artists such as Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny, and I would like to learn a jazz fusion song on the piano. I have searched for "Lyle Mays" on various sheet music vendors' websites, and only one of his songs has been transcribed as an actual piano song (and it isn't really one of my favorites). I was also considering playing the song "Mountain Dance" by Dave Grusin as it is one of the only jazz "fusion" songs for which I can find the sheet music. I'm willing to play anything that has that really nice seventh-ninth-thirteenth chord sound with all those neat modulations. I also like the Latin jazz sound of artists such as Spyro Gyra and Caribbean Jazz Project as well as George Duke (especially "Geneva") and the like. Again, though, I would like to emphasize that I don't have an artist-specific preference.

Thanks in advance for your song recommendations!

[oxy60]

Do you hear the deafening silence?

At the bottom of this page are listed most of the composers we are familiar with on this forum. Since the names you mentioned are not among them you can assume you are on the wrong forum.

[retrouvailles]

Have you looked at any piano solo works by Friedrich Gulda? His works are legit jazz (unlike Kapustin, another good suggestion, though) in that they actually require improvisation. Check out the Variations on "Light My Fire" or his Prelude and Fugue. Very difficult stuff, but very fun.

[henryhh]

Thanks for the suggestion, Retrouvailles. I looked up Kapustin on YouTube... WOW! His music really sounds great! However, I'm afraid I might not be technically proficient enough to be able to play most of his music (from the sounds of it).   

Is there any chance you could recommend other composers of music similar to Kapustin?

[retrouvailles]

Well, like I said, Nikolai Kapustin is a great composer, but is more classical music with a jazz influence because it is completely written out and is meant to be played as such (I'm not sure if you're looking for improvisation or not). A similar composer is Alexander Rosenblatt, but the jazz influence is combined with a heavy amount of Russian and folk influence. Both Rosenblatt and Kapustin require a lot of technical proficiency, but they can really knock an audience dead. I have performed Kapustin before and it really is fun music to play in concert, despite the amount of work required.

[henryhh]

Thanks for the recommendations. I actually have a piano lesson tomorrow so I'll be able to get a good idea of whether or not I'm "good enough" to play a song by Kapustin or Rosenblatt. If not, is there any chance you'd know of any similarly jazz-influenced composers whose songs don't require such an advanced degree of technical proficiency?

[henryhh]

Okay, so it looks like I definitely don't have time to get a Kapustin song ready for my recital on May 15th. Does anyone have any suggestions for a "modern" sounding piano song that isn't too super-difficult to play proficiently by that date? I realize now that the word "modern" (not just the phrase "jazz fusion," but also including that music) encompasses the style of music I like, and I realized just how little time I have left to get something ready in time for May 15th. At this stage, essentially all suggestions are welcomed!