Jump to content

Overlooked pianists


Hardbopjazz

Recommended Posts

Hilton Ruiz indeed. Died far too young. His Steeplechase dates are very, very good.

Two more. 1) Walter Norris; there's much more there than his somewhat controversial contributions to Ornette's SOMETHING ELSE. Check the used bins for his Concord releases. LIVE AT MAYBECK and SUNBURST, with Joe Henderson, are both excellent. He also recorded semi-frequently for Enja in the 70s, often in the company of bassist Aladar Page, with whom he had great rapport. 2) Hod O'Brien. The latter is still actively playing, as evidenced by his website: http://www.hodobrien.com/. His OPALESSENCE on Criss Cross is worth tracking down. Soloists include Tom Harrell and Pepper Adams.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 361
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Walter Norris; there's much more there than his somewhat controversial contributions to Ornette's SOMETHING ELSE. Check the used bins for his Concord releases. LIVE AT MAYBECK and SUNBURST, with Joe Henderson, are both excellent. He also recorded semi-frequently for Enja in the 70s, often in the company of bassist Aladar Page, with whom he had great rapport

Good call on Walter Norris. :tup

Also, don't overlook his two duo sets with George Mraz. The first one was on Enja -- Drifting -- and the second was on Concord -- Hues of Blues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Austin Crowe, who plays with distinction on Walt Dickerson's first Prestige recordings. It's hard to say what makes Crowe's playing stand out... there's a "bounce" to his phrasing, however, and he understands the harmonic implications of Dickerson's melodies as well or better than any pianist -- a pretty amazing list: Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, Walter Davis Jr., the aforementioned Albert Dailey -- with whom the vibist collaborated.

Check out Crowe's work on "Why" from A SENSE OF DIRECTION. His comping gives Dickerson another rhythmic element to play with / off, and his solo is both abstract and kind of funky.

 

Excellent choice.  It's a shame he doesn't appear to play jazz these days from what I've heard.  Our loss.

another thumbs up for Walter Norris too.  I discovered him through the Maybeck series on Concord.

 

Edited by six string
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[...]  Hod O'Brien. The latter is still actively playing, as evidenced by his website: http://www.hodobrien.com/. His OPALESSENCE on Criss Cross is worth tracking down. Soloists include Tom Harrell and Pepper Adams.

 

Good pick.  His "Live at Blues Alley" set of three CDs on Reservoir are worth hearing as well.  They are trio dates with Ray Drummond and Kenny Washington.

 

Edited by alankin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, my shot at mentioning someone who has something special to say on the ivories and isn't properly recognised by the jazz cognisant amongst us.

 

Franco D'Andrea - brilliantly fluent Italian , touches of Monk but his own thing. Amazing discography in all manner of settings. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some more Italian jazz pianists for wider recognition - in alphabetical order:

Stefano Bollani

Roberto Cipelli

Antonio Faraò

Giorgio Gaslini

Rita Marcotulli

Livio Minafra

Paolo Paliga

Umberto Petrin

Enrico Pieranunzi

Danilo Rea

Marcello Tonolo

 

 

Edited by optatio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

not everyone has been mentioned yet, get going folks.

John Bunch

Russ Tompkins

Johnny Costa

Johnny Guarnieri

Frankie Carle

Joe "Fingers" carr

"Knuckles" O'Toole

Joanne Castle

Donald Lamb

Jerry Lee Lewis

Clyde Hart

Pete Robinson

Pete Drungle

Cedric Lawson

Hugh Lawson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mickey Tucker. How can we forget him? I believe he lives in Australia today. I wonder if anyone knows if he still plays.

Mickey Tucker. How can we forget him? I believe he lives in Australia today. I wonder if anyone knows if he still plays.

Mickey Tucker is one interesting dude. Not quite Byard- of Burrell-esque in his ability to move between older and modern piano approaches, but a player with ears bigger than hard bop. Cf. "Cecilitis", from his his Muse LP MISTER MYSTERIOUS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...