Preludes & Predilections, Volume 1: Piano CD

Hearing a composer perform his own work alongside carefully chosen standards offers students and teachers a masterclass in interpretive choice and stylistic authenticity. The pairing of original preludes with jazz classics reveals how contemporary composition and the jazz tradition inform each other, making this an invaluable reference recording for anyone teaching or learning at the intersection of classical and jazz piano.

The recording captures the intimacy of a pianist at work: thoughtful, unhurried, with the kind of clarity that comes from deep familiarity with the material. Dobbins's touch is direct and communicative, whether in the reflective world of the preludes or in the warm, conversational renderings of the jazz standards.

This recording serves pianists learning jazz standards and their harmonic structures, students exploring how classical and jazz traditions intersect, and teachers seeking authentic reference performances for programming or study. It's equally valuable for composers and arrangers wanting to hear how a skilled musician realizes both original work and familiar repertoire.

• Listen to how Dobbins voices the jazz standards to understand harmonic choices that go beyond lead sheet voicings; his interpretations reveal options for your own arranging and comping.
• Study the preludes first without the recording, then compare your readings with Dobbins's tempo choices and touch to notice how different interpretive decisions shape the same score.
• Use the recordings of the standards as a model for balancing composition with flexibility; notice where the performance follows the written harmony strictly and where it allows space for spontaneous variation.

Program this recording in a masterclass or student listening hour centered on jazz standards and their harmonic language. It also works beautifully as a reference resource for a concert or recital pairing classical and jazz piano works, or as supplementary material for a course on twentieth-century composition and improvisation.

• Jazz voicing and harmonic substitution
• Comparing multiple interpretations of the same composition
• Understanding the relationship between written scores and performance choices
• Listening for touch, tone production, and interpretive phrasing across styles