Pianists

Abraxas wrote: Sean Trane wrote: triceratopsoil wrote: Sean Trane wrote: I'm a bit surprised that no-one has voted for Thelonius Monk. He was my #2   He wouldn't have been in my top 5!!! (I gave mine in my first post on the thread)     but he's generally universally recognized as a genius (although more so in the songwriting dept proper, rather than piano proficiency or virtuosity itself), which is why I'm a little amazed at no-one voting for him...     But at Thelo's defence, the competition he's facing is rather tough. I'm not a musician, but I think that if JMA was more crowded with "old-jazz" school fans, Monk would be an obvious choice.  Besides his compositions, he had a highly original and complex approach to the piano.

This is true. Thelonious's clanky chordal style has never been successfully emulated. I remember trying one of his transcribed solos and gave up halfway through because it really wasn't comfortable to play. Not technically, just didn't feel right!

@Ricochet:

At least he's still alive, unlike most of my idols

Nevertheless, I apperciate your pain, one of the greatest living jazz pianists and he's comes by England barely at all... If he did, I'd save up. But it's probably never going to happen unless I move to Japan or stumble upon a private jet.

i Voted Chick 

Monk is in my top five Jazz musicians and I would have him 2nd myself. Playing him right now and for my money one of the best Jazz composers ,full stop............ How many versions of "Round Midnight" and "Straight No Chaser" are out there? My favourite is "Well You Needn't" and I know that he is Bop but he laid the foundation for Avante with his structures. I hear his ghost often in that genre. I do not know what all those Jazz experts say but I have been listening to those Riverside albums for nearly 20 years now. Bloody love his music.

Jazz Pianist wrote: Can't say I've ever heard Andrew Hill, I will do my research And I agree with you on Thelonious, helped shape modern music!

Been having a Monk-athon today Andrew Hill is great. Everybody raves about "Point of Depature" but "Blackfire" is my fave. Juat a quartet with Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, bass and Roy Haynes, drums. First album he did under his own name. Beautiful. He is a spacer and placer with his technique and slight discordant touch as he usually misses a note or two with his style which makes him unique in his own way. Did not sell much at all in his early Blue Note days but these days. I know this might be the most used quote but he was ahead of his time and he played Jazz his style. We have him under Post Bop but you could almost put him in Avante as well. Best description I suppose is Andrew Hill is Andrew Hill.

Matt wrote: Jazz Pianist wrote: Can't say I've ever heard Andrew Hill, I will do my research And I agree with you on Thelonious, helped shape modern music! Been having a Monk-athon today Andrew Hill is great. Everybody raves about "Point of Depature" but "Blackfire" is my fave. Juat a quartet with Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, bass and Roy Haynes, drums. First album he did under his own name. Beautiful. He is a spacer and placer with his technique and slight discordant touch as he usually misses a note or two with his style which makes him unique in his own way. Did not sell much at all in his early Blue Note days but these days. I know this might be the most used quote but he was ahead of his time and he played Jazz his style. We have him under Post Bop but you could almost put him in Avante as well. Best description I suppose is Andrew Hill is Andrew Hill.

Edited by Sean Trane - 02 Jul 2011 at 3:47am

OK, I've heard fairly recently (like the last 8 months or so):

Abraxas wrote: ^from those Byrd albums, I've heard Free Form and New Perspective, and the former (pun not intended) is definitely Hard Bop, with the exception of the title track which is a bit more adventurous. New Perspective, not sure, I don't think it's really post bop, but it's a more ingenious style of hard bop.  If you don't remember Compulsion!!, I've posted a tube above, you really can't say that's not avant, or something that Byrd ever did.

 

Oooooops, sorry! Compulsion!!!  is indeed much more adventurous, it can be avant-garde.  indeed

 

 

don't get me wrong here: I can hear Dolphy's "out there"playing in Point Of Departure, but he's tyhe only one , the others playing fairly standard 50's jazz

js wrote:   ^  ..."standard 50s jazz" is a confusing term as the 50s were extremely diverse. You had the rise of Cool and Hard Bop while some still played Bop and even Swing. The Dixieland revival kicked in big time and Afro-Cuban was at its most popular. Bossa Nova was a big hit and some people were able to keep up big swing bands while others started the whole Progressive Big Band idea. Jump blues was also very popular and about to become much more popular as it lead to rock n roll and RnB. You would have to go back about a decade or two before you would find jazz in a style that enough people were playing that you could call it a "standard" style for that time.. The Swing era or earlier actually.

Oh yeah, I know I'm being a bit reductive with that standard 50's jazz... I don't mean to be reductive or negative about it either,

Jazz Pianist wrote: Argh the term "avant-garde" is so overused... If anything in Compulsion Andrew Hill is only breaking down personal boundries. He is expressing him self freely without the ties of harmonic law

Jazz Pianist wrote: Abraxas wrote: Jazz Pianist wrote: Argh the term "avant-garde" is so overused... If anything in Compulsion Andrew Hill is only breaking down personal boundries. He is expressing him self freely without the ties of harmonic law Well then, 'free jazz' sounds better for you? Yeah man Man I sounded really pedantic... I do apologise