Jazzy Hymns and Spirituals

11 Arrangements of Traditional Favorites

By Paul Johnston

This book offers a great mix for someone like me. Some I can play immediately, some I can adapt, and others are going to take some work.

I bought it primarily for "Yes, Jesus Loves Me" and it did not disappoint. So far, people who heard me play it love it. Fun to play and worth the price of the book. I did not give it 5 stars because I am not familiar with all of the...

hymns and may never play some of them.

Great harmonies and arrangements, but can't agree with Jackie. This book is quite certainly not advanced, and not just from a jazz piano point of view, but also from a more general piano performance standpoint. I speak as a piano teacher who've entered many students in the National...

Music teacher's Association competitions and as a church pianist myself. There is a level classification that the association goes by, which is a national classification of all piano music, and according to the level classification, this book is intermediate. Most of my high school piano students could play this with ease. Just thought I'd try to clarify.

I knew all the songs in this book. I am an excellent sight reader and am a worship leader/vocalist at church. Yes, it is easy to "read" the notes (intermediate) and the arrangements are interesting, but the reason this isn't my favorite book is that it is difficult...

for me to play, as I am not a trained or gifted jazz player. All the dissonant and fast jazz riffs that are in each song are a real challenge. If you are used to playing jazz, you'll probably love this book. I agree it is an "advanced piano" book to anyone who is not used to playing "improvised" jazz tunes. I love jazz, but this is quite a challenge for me.

This book is definitely not advanced. Nice arrangements, but readable on the first sitting. I call them intermediate!