Overlooked pianists

[catesta]

Richard Wyands

[jazzbo]

Nina Simone,

Carmen McRae,

Jeri Southern.

[JSngry]

Pops Poopadeaux.

A man for all seasons.

[AllenLowe]

"Allen, any chance you can post some reminescences of Al Haig. I would love to hear some"

Haig is a long and complicated subject. I got to know him well in the mid-late 1970s. He was a guy who had been through some terrible things - he was charged, in the early 1960s, with killing his wife, though the charges were dropped. His lawyer, Flo Kennedy, called this "the niggerization of a white man," and told me, after Al's death (in 1982) that he would never have been charged if he wasn't a jazz musician. Al became somewhat musically lost after Bird's death, became an alcoholic and a bit of a wanderer (see Chan's autobiography for some grim accounts of his visits to see her and Phil Woods). By the time I met him he was a complete tee totaler, distrustful in general of people (he particularly hated when someone came up to reminisce about the "old days") and could be a bit jaded and hostile. I went to see him play regularly at a club called Gregory's on NYC's East side, and slowly we became friends; I think it was beacuse I didn't want anything from him and didn't press him on things like Bird and bebop. We spent a fair amount of time together, and though I never did a real detailed interview with him he said some interesting and amusing things about Bird and bebop. One thing he told me which was particularly interesting was that the 1945 gig at Billy Berg's, if not a huge commercial success, was an artistic and personal success: "those people were flummoxed by the music, their jaws just dropped." His recollection was much different than that of some of the histories, which simply describe Billy Berg's as a failure. He also once said to me, "Charlie was a pleasure to work with, no problems, no hassles - no money..." There's a Zim recording made in a basement in which Al is named as a possible pianist. When I asked him about this he looked at me and said "I wouldn't go into any basement with Charlie Parker." His humor was dry but real, and he was a genuinely nice man, if deeply scarred by his life history. He got re-married about 1980 to a great lady named Joanne Thompsn (now, I think, up in Toronto) and died suddenly of a heart attack in 1982 -

Edited January 17, 2005 by AllenLowe

[Larry Kart]

Richie Powell had some nice ideas as an arranger for the Brown-Roach Quintet and comped OK, but as a soloist he's always struck me as being close to all thumbs. And I'm not just talking about thick-fingeredness; the ideas, even if well-executed, would not have been IMO up to the mid-level standards of his era and general style. Obviously the right guy for that band up to a point, because it was a great band, but otherwise?

[Alon Marcus]

Diana Krall!

[Jim R]

Unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned Marian McPartland in this thread. Does anybody out there listen to her "Piano Jazz" show on radio? She isn't necessarily high on my list of favorite players, but she certainly has earned my respect (and not just as a pianist). The lady can play.

[catesta]

Unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned Marian McPartland in this thread. Does anybody out there listen to her "Piano Jazz" show on radio? She isn't necessarily high on my list of favorite players, but she certainly has earned my respect (and not just as a pianist). The lady can play.

I catch the show from time to time.

She does deserve the respect, no doubt.

[JSngry]

Richie Powell had some nice ideas as an arranger for the Brown-Roach Quintet and comped OK, but as a soloist he's always struck me as being close to all thumbs. And I'm not just talking about thick-fingeredness; the ideas, even if well-executed, would not have been IMO up to the mid-level standards of his era and general style. Obviously the right guy for that band up to a point, because it was a great band, but otherwise?

Sort of my sentiments. I'd not be quite as critical, if only because there were a lot of pianists from those years with less than full agility. Gil Coggins and Wade Legge come to mind right away- good, interesting even, players, but nobody would ever accuse them of blinding virtuosity, to put it mildly.

The wildcard for RP, though, is McCoy Tyner's citing of him as a key influence in terms of voicings. First time I read this, I thought, "WTF?", but going back and relistening, I can hear moments where Powell used some pretty interesting, non-beboppish voicings in his comps and solos.

Just goes to show ya', although what, I can't say.

[A Lark Ascending]

[A Lark Ascending]

And how could I forget...

[Jazz Kat]

[Larry Kart]

I think I know what McCoy had in mind -- some things that sound almost cocktail lounge-ish in RP's hands IMO but might well be, in their sweetness layered upon sweetness way, interestingly ambiguous and suggestive of further moves from a harmonic point of view to a mind like McCoy's. Reminds me of one of my favorite performances from that era -- Red Garland's infinitely, and deliciously, slow (it takes him about seven minutes to get through two choruses) long-meter reading of "Mr. Wonderful," with Doug Watkins and Specs Wright. BTW, because it's what I have in mind, does anyone know McCoy's version of "Satin Doll" from his first Impulse trio album? I admit I've never heard it but would bet that it's an example of what he's was talking about, in part because the tune itself (tired as we all may be of it) is a good example of layered somewhat cocktail-ish sweetnesses (like a pousse cafe) yielding ambiguity and dissonance?

[jazzbo]

Jimmy Jones.

Yeah Satin Doll by McCoy. . . I think your guess is probably right Larry.

Pousse-Cafe. . . now that makes me think of the musical by Ellington/Strayhorn and the piano playing done on the Audiophile cd version of it by Ellis Larkin and Ellis definitely belongs in this thread as an overlooked pianist.

[jazzbo]

Yeah, Marian. . .but I wouldn't have considered her overlooked really. . . . Great player, great lady.

[king ubu]

Ulrich Gumpert

Fred van Hove

[Jazz Kat]

Peter Jolly! who passed away last month.

[catesta]

Peter Jolly! who passed away last month.

For sure.

[Jazz Kat]

Man, I tried attaching that same cd! lol No joke though.

Edited January 18, 2005 by Jazz Kat

[chris olivarez]

Chucho Valdes

Rainier Bruninghaus

Hubert Eaves

Richie Powell

Edited January 18, 2005 by chris olivarez

[Brad]

Anybody mention Gerald Wiggins?

[Free For All]

Stafford James

Wasn't he was a bassist?

[Chrome]

What do people here think about Geoff Keezer? I know he was kind of a prodigy and all coming up, but he doesn't seem to get to much attention here. I've only heard him as a sideman, but I think he's pretty expressive.

[Joe]

I've found Ronnie Ball's playing often interesting. There's the audible Tristano influence, especially on the Savoy date with Ted Brown and Willie Dennis, but also something else. Can't quite pin it down, but it is there.

Steve Colson has led some fine bands (hear NO RESERVATION on Black Saint) and contributed fine work to a number of relatively overlooked recordings (Bright Moments, RETURN OF THE LOST TRIBE; Oliver Lake's MY FRIEND LOUIS; Andrew Cyrille's ODE TO THE LIVING TREE).

John Dennis -- not a lot to hear, but what exists is some pretty advanced, Tatum-derived stuff

[jazzbo]

Yeah David, I really like that musical. . . . !