Originally a classically trained trumpeter, Sam Wedgwood won a trumpet scholarship to the Royal Academy. As the multi-instrumentalist in Jamie Cullum's band, he has toured and played in top venues around the world. He now focuses on composition; his piano music covers styles including pop, jazz, and Latin, is written for solos and duets, and spans a range of grades. It is educational piano music at its best.
Next Level is a collection of six solos and four jazzy duets, for Grade 3–5-level pianists. It includes blues, swing, pop, Latin, and ragtime pieces. The collection follows on from Sam Wedgwood's Project (two books), which includes the ABRSM Grade 4 2021/22 piano syllabus piece Shark Soup. The contemporary styles and influences in the collection are sure to appeal to pianists as an adjunct to their grade exams, as pure pleasure, and for those who particularly enjoy the more modern music styles.
The titles are very evocative and intriguing and include: Super Sleuth, Bee-Baba-Do-Bop, Daylight Robbery, Back in the Saddle, and Carefree in Rio. Each style – ranging from the detective whodunit music of Super Sleuth to the steady ragtime (the instruction ‘A steady regtime’ is surely a misprint) of Till Next Time – displays an ease and confidence in the genre it occupies.
The duets – Bee-Baba-Do-Bop, Insomniac, Piano Colada, and Carefree in Rio – display a mastery of attractive ensemble playing at this level and will surely become a must-have for teachers looking for GCSE Music duets, particularly as they are side by side with potential solo pieces at just the right level. Three of these duets include spoken words – always fun!
The book cover itself is bright and bold, and the music is clearly laid out with helpful directions, useful fingerings, and metronome marks. For an additional £7, access to downloads can be obtained via the EVC website. These include two tracks per piece, a backing track and a playalong track. This might seem an expensive extra cost, but there is a 15% teacher discount, and it will make the music come alive.
Put simply, this collection is pedagogically sound, very attractive, and chock-full of memorable melodies in appealing contemporary styles.
