HI
There is another thread going about the best pianist who ever lived and the unwritten requirement is that the pianist be a Western Classical pianist. I am interested in great Jazz pianists in this thread. I don't mind people coming up with who they believed was the best who ever lived, it makes for a lively discussion. I am ultimately interested in learning about the pianists themselves, the great, the not well known but nonetheless noteworthy. I have my own "stable" of pianists I find myself listening to regularly. I evenhave one that I think is one of the greatest ever... but from time to time you meet a recording by another artists playing a different style that gives you pause and have you reflecting on your previous point of view.
I am for the record a big fan of Thelonious Monk, a true genius, an iconoclast with a style to match but there were less flamboyant character to whom the moniker genius could also be attached to their names.. The most obvious would be Duke Ellington, a gigantic musical genius .. There was Oscar Robertson a virtuoso with few peers (Oh yes people he was that good!), There is another virtuoso who is not that well known but would stroke a piano in an almost unmatched way, Eroll Garner there was Fats Wallers virtuoso of course too and with a way to express incredibly well what he felt, deep thoughts and feelings on the piano, ther was Art Tatum who's likely one of the 5 best pianists (regardless of genre) who ever lived.. he could probably play ANY genre to the Genius level. Drop in Western Classical and he would be at ease or whatever genre you choose. His technique was that good and so flawless as to leave most, including several on my list gasping for air ... And there is a those who ae still with us among these one looking like a 40 years old man that he is not (72 years old) Herbie Hancock and there was Ahmad Jahmal and there was the strange person who went by the name of Sun Ra an eclectic musician and an accomplished pianist ... And there is Martial Solal likely unknown in the USA but an accomplished and superior pianist , I don;t put him in the category of the Ellington, Peterson, Monk, Tatum etc but he was nonetheless a very good pianist .. Heard him live an oportunity I missed with Peterson and many others on my list
There are many others .. Waiting for your albums recommendations, video, books, articles, podcasts, spotify links, Pandora any media that is NOT annoying... an open ended definition: for some anything digital is... their loss
P.S.
A picture of Herbie Hancock at 70 years old (2010)
There is another thread going about the best pianist who ever lived and the unwritten requirement is that the pianist be a Western Classical pianist. I am interested in great Jazz pianists in this thread. I don't mind people coming up with who they believed was the best who ever lived, it makes for a lively discussion. I am ultimately interested in learning about the pianists themselves, the great, the not well known but nonetheless noteworthy. I have my own "stable" of pianists I find myself listening to regularly. I evenhave one that I think is one of the greatest ever... but from time to time you meet a recording by another artists playing a different style that gives you pause and have you reflecting on your previous point of view.
I am for the record a big fan of Thelonious Monk, a true genius, an iconoclast with a style to match but there were less flamboyant character to whom the moniker genius could also be attached to their names.. The most obvious would be Duke Ellington, a gigantic musical genius .. There was Oscar Robertson a virtuoso with few peers (Oh yes people he was that good!), There is another virtuoso who is not that well known but would stroke a piano in an almost unmatched way, Eroll Garner there was Fats Wallers virtuoso of course too and with a way to express incredibly well what he felt, deep thoughts and feelings on the piano, ther was Art Tatum who's likely one of the 5 best pianists (regardless of genre) who ever lived.. he could probably play ANY genre to the Genius level. Drop in Western Classical and he would be at ease or whatever genre you choose. His technique was that good and so flawless as to leave most, including several on my list gasping for air ... And there is a those who ae still with us among these one looking like a 40 years old man that he is not (72 years old) Herbie Hancock and there was Ahmad Jahmal and there was the strange person who went by the name of Sun Ra an eclectic musician and an accomplished pianist ... And there is Martial Solal likely unknown in the USA but an accomplished and superior pianist , I don;t put him in the category of the Ellington, Peterson, Monk, Tatum etc but he was nonetheless a very good pianist .. Heard him live an oportunity I missed with Peterson and many others on my list
There are many others .. Waiting for your albums recommendations, video, books, articles, podcasts, spotify links, Pandora any media that is NOT annoying... an open ended definition: for some anything digital is... their loss
P.S.
A picture of Herbie Hancock at 70 years old (2010)
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