piano players

jenks

jenks

thread death
I thought about this last night. No-one here really discusses much in the way of jazz.

I had just put on a Bill Evans' album and was wallowing in the sheer lambent beauty of his playing and started to think 'sometimes, just sometimes, the piano is the most perfect of all instruments' (of course other times i think it's the xylophone, others the violin and, on occasion, the guitar).

Got me thinking about who my favourite piano players are at the moment, most of the list is jazz, but not entirely so (the list is quite clearly a mere snapshot as well):

Bill Evans
Keith Jarrett
Herbie Hancock
Uri Caine
Glenn Gould
Red Garland
Esbjorn Svensson
Leif Ove Andsnes
Brad Mehldau
Duke Ellington

I really tried to get into Matthew Shipp but just found him too hard and angular, felt no ease with him. Maybe it was the particular disc i chose (it had a version of 'Autumn Leaves' which bore no real relation to the tune as i knew it).

So, anyone elseout there I should be listening to - from above it's pretty obvious i love the trio.
 
C

carlos

manos de piedra
have you heard Oscar Peterson? the "Night Train" Lp by his trio. straight and swinging but very subtle too
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
I've been meaning to do jazz posts for ages. never got around to it.

on the piano tip,
been really enjoying the Erroll Garner Complete Savoy sessions. classic, gorgeous.

how can Monk be missing from your list?! for shame! :)
lately it's the solo stuff for me... Monk Alone 2 disc set.

Just got some Cornelius Cardew, haven't dived in yet.

still don't "get" or learnt to appreciate Cecil Taylor... perhaps I'm just not "spiritually evolved" enough (as an ex-G.F. used to say).

Toru Takemitsu's piano music can be painfully good... if a bit harrowing at times.

and Satie... but lately haven't found right occasions for him.
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
this is an amazing piano recording, and only $1.99 (are you outta your mind?):


here's what I wrote on Amazon:
_________
what ever conceptual rigor this Australian visual artist and poet brings to all his projects, the music on this CD is of a very rare quality judged on its own merits. forever autumn, eternal dusk... these sunset improvisations soak in a sublime (in the true sense) melancholic beauty. the playing is effortless and of consistantly refined sensibility, the compositions flow like consciousness itself... reminds me of La Monte Young's Well Tuned Piano at times. and that's saying a LOT.
_________

supposedly this person had never played the piano before or atleast never taken lessons. I find it very hard to believe.

this is from the label:
___________
From exactly sunset each evening Domenico would improvise piano pieces blindfolded, the recordings on Shaker Road taken from sessions stretching through the period of sunset June 1 (full moon) until June 28 (full moon). To all intents and purposes blind, De Clario seems to become a medium. The notes flow, and just as soft rain produces a soothing, enveloping noise, the gently textured piano sound drifts into an increasingly meditative state. Domenico De Clario was born 1947 in Trieste, Italy. He is currently the Head of the School of Visual Arts in Perth, Western Australia. Over the past few years, he has staged a number of "blind" piano concerts in such venues as a skyscraper roof in Bangkok or on the steps leasing up to the cathedral in Salvador De Bahia, Brazil. All the events were scheduled to coincide with the full moon or summer or winter solstices.
reviews:

"Painfully beautiful, stark and lingering like a swan song to a more simple life, becoming increasingly disconnected from the world around it. Simply enchanting." (Slug Magazine, US 2002)
____________
 
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jenks

jenks

thread death
Monk
Peterson

big omissions. I knew as soon asi posted that i was bound to have missed the brow slappingly obvious :eek:

god, i daren't go look at the cds to see what else i've missed
 
H

henry s

Street Fighting Man
getting a bit off the jazz tip, one could reasonably (or not) dub 2005 the Year Piano Broke, what with:

Gonzales - Solo Piano
Haushcka - The Prepared Piano
Epic Soundtracks - Good Things
Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Frida Hyvonen - Until Death Comes

my favorite pianist of all is/was Laura Nyro, who of course would never find herself on a shortlist with the others mentioned on this thread, but sure knew her way around a tune (and what better, more immediate way to convey a tune than with a tinkle o' the ivories)...
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
not anywhere near the stature of the jazz greats previously discussed, but the "solo piano" cd by gonzales, of all people, if pretty cool, as is "corduroy road" by goldmund on type.
 
G

grosun

Guest
McCoy Tyner deserves a mention here; serious powerhouse of a piano player. Pretty percussive approach to the instrument. Some of his playing with Coltrane, as well as on his own stuff, is amazing.

Saw him playing the jazz cafe a couple of years ago with a drummer & bassist probably half his age. He kept up the (driving) pace with no trouble, & I was close enough to hear him humming along with what he was pounding out on the keyboard.

(I should add, he's very capable of beauty too, & can be delicate, but often the best moments are the gorgeous bits in the middle of the storm; kind of on the same vibe as Krust when he was still good & contrasting subtle gossamer with rock solid bass)
 
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A

Ach!

Turd on the Run
'Epilogue' and 'Peace Piece' on "Everybody Digs Bill Evans" are two of my favourite pieces of piano music - absolutely sublime.
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
Ach! said:
'Epilogue' and 'Peace Piece' on "Everybody Digs Bill Evans" are two of my favourite pieces of piano music - absolutely sublime.
Click to expand...

now my curiousity is up...any other recommended bill evans cds, anyone?
 
M

mms

sometimes
grosun said:
McCoy Tyner deserves a mention here; serious powerhouse of a piano player. Pretty percussive approach to the instrument. Some of his playing with Coltrane, as well as on his own stuff, is amazing.

Saw him playing the jazz cafe a couple of years ago with a drummer & bassist probably half his age. He kept up the (driving) pace with no trouble, & I was close enough to hear him humming along with what he was pounding out on the keyboard.

(I should add, he's very capable of beauty too, & can be delicate, but often the best moments are the gorgeous bits in the middle of the storm; kind of on the same vibe as Krust when he was still good & contrasting subtle gossamer with rock solid bass)
Click to expand...


second that - my fave is extensions - the piano solo on the first track made me sick once when i was drunk once. :)
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
everybody digs bill evans

You can't go wrong with the early trio of: evans,lafaro and motian - waltz for debbie being a real stand out album.

there's also on green dolphin street; everyone digs (of course one of the finest titles for an album), live at town hall are all good starters

there's also a great album with shelley mann called empathy which just has a perfect 'danny boy' solo piano piece - it's sometimes sold with 'a simple matter of conviction' - a bargain

his work with dejohnette (who later went on to form the great jarrett trio that is till touring) is also pretty special - Bill Evans at The Montreux Jazz Festival.

he also made a number of Conversation albums where he played duets with himself - quite radical at the time when jazz was all about cutting it live

of course he is also all over kind of blue - miles davis at his most mellow (and possibly most accessible)

his contributions on the blues and the abstract truth with dolphy, chambers, hubbarb and nelson are great and this is a real great friday night going out record.

the later stuff like the two cds of his paris concerts are lovely, often seen as his last flowering before finally fading.

i have a lovely version of 'i do it for your love' on a german 3 cd thing which quite moving (btw i think paul simon is also seriously under-discussed here) and his version of the theme from MASH is fragile and compelling.

i am not saying evans is bomb-proof but he's not far off - just make sure you get the right bill evans - there's a horn player by the same name, never heard anything by him but he has a dodgy mullet on all the albums i have seen of his
 
M

milkandhoney

Well-known member
Leo said:
now my curiousity is up...any other recommended bill evans cds, anyone?
Click to expand...

sunday at the village vanguard is his 'classic' and waltz for debby (from the same sessions) is excellent too. i got another album of his called affinity which is quite nice if you dont get irritated by the sound of a harmonica


piano players i like..
ahmad jamal
thelonious monk
ramsey lewis
art tatum

obviously he aint known for being a piano player but sun ra was amazing on piano/keyboard
 
J

Jezmi

Olli Oliver Steichelsmein
I´va had a basic introduction to jazz, but have been looking to get into it more. The sheer amount available is a bit overwhelming, so what piano player should i start with (non vocal jazz please).
Much appreciated.
 
S

shudder

Well-known member
non-jazz:
Pascal Rogé (for french music)
Krystian Zimmerman (sp?) - debussy's prelude.. great!
Walter Gieseking - old school, his recordings of debussy are fine..
murray perahia - incredibly refined
Louis Lortie
Rubenstein for Chopin...!
Glenn Gould - bach, bach, and bach
 
R

ripley

Well-known member
monk monk monk monk

other keyboardists I like:
Augustus Pablo
Astor Piazzolla
(okay not piano.. but still)
 
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