How Deep is the Ocean? Pt. 4: John Stowell and Tim Lerch Jazz Guitar Conversations

John Stowell and Tim Lerch wrap up their jazz guitar conversation series on How Deep Is the Ocean, finishing the tune with its last eight bars. After three classes of reharmonizations and comping ideas on the earlier sections, the two old friends tackle the final C section of this unusual A-B-A-C form — and for the first time in the series, each plays the tune uninterrupted, all the way through.

What's covered

• The form of the tune: four eight-bar sections (A-B-A-C rather than the typical AABA)
• Bill Evans and Jim Hall-inspired harmony in the last eight: minor chords moving in whole steps and secondary dominants
• Inserting extra harmonic information at slow tempos to create more movement
• Tim's flowing bass-line approach — inversions, diatonic substitutions, and chromatic moves, with a nod to the Ted Greene influence in his playing
• Full solo-guitar melody renditions from both players, rubato and in time
• How faster tempos leave less room for harmonic detail — and the case for stripping changes down
• Populating changes for solo performance vs. simplifying them (even to just one and five) when improvising

Gain insight into how professional players approach a standard tune harmonically, rhythmically, and conceptually — chord melody, voicings, comping, and learning tunes, all through an unscripted conversation between two masters.