The bluesiest Jazz piano player?

[catman64]

In your opinion, who is the bluesiest piano player, dead or alive?

I'll stand for the late great Gene Harris, how about you?

CatMan

[Rooster_Ties]

Although I'm certainly no expert on this subject, wouldn't it have to be someone more like Johnnie Johnson???

Not saying he's necessarily the right answer, but based on my knowledge of music history (and not so much my ears, and what they've heard - or more specifically, what they haven't heard), Johnson was the first name to pop into my head.

Who else am I forgetting??

[Free For All]

I don't know if I'd call Wynton Kelly the bluesiest, but I sure like the feeling he gets when he play da blues.

[Free For All]

......and of course Red Garland.

[Rooster_Ties]

Oh wait, I just reread the topic, and it's the bluesiest JAZZ piano player...

( So never mind about my "Johnny Johnson" suggestion. )

Edited August 27, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Free For All]

Junior Mance

Yes! Good choice!

[Big Wheel]

Ray Bryant is way up there too, as is Herbie Hancock (although he rarely shows it on records).

[Free For All]

Junior Mance

He's very refreshing..........

[brownie]

I'ld go with Ray Bryant but there's also Count Basie

[EKE BBB]

Not American, not coloured, but... TETE MONTOLIÚ

[Dan Gould]

Well, y'all know my opinion.

[John L]

If pressed to choose one, I might actually pick Thelonious Monk.

Does Jimmy Yancey count as a jazz pianist? Johnny Jones is another favorite outside of jazz proper who could REALLY make it blue.

Jay McShann and Bobby Timmons also deserve consideration.

I agree with the above citations of Gene Harris, Junior Mance, Ray Bryant, and Red Garland.

Jack McDuff also played piano every now and again.

Edited August 27, 2003 by John L

[Rooster_Ties]

If pressed to choose one, I might actually pick Thelonious Monk.

Excellent choice!!

[paul secor]

Off the top of my head:

Jimmy Yancey

Otis Spann

Monk

Red Garland

[jazzbo]

Monk and Hancock are very good answers that I agree with.

Another that comes to mind, and is a favorite, is Art Hodes.

[John Tapscott]

Well, I really like both Ray Bryant and Junior Mance, and I hope we wouldn't forget Oscar Peterson. Not the bluesiest, perhaps, but he can really dig deep when he wants to.

[paul secor]

I'm sure that many will disagree with me, but I hear a very bluesy sound in much of Cecil Taylor's playing.

[John L]

I'm sure that many will disagree with me, but I hear a very bluesy sound in much of Cecil Taylor's playing.

Funny. I was just listening to "New York R&B" yesterday. Anyone who doubts Cecil's feel for the blues should listen again to "O.P."

[jlhoots]

All good choices.

I'd add Phineas Newborn.

[catesta]

He's very refreshing..........

Good one.

[catesta]

Red Garland, Ray Bryant, and Phineas are great examples.

[Larry Kart]

Shouldn't Horace Silver be in the running? As for Peterson, Miles' harsh old (1958) assessment seem sound to me: "[Oscar] even had to LEARN to play the blues. Everybody knows that if you flat a third, you're going to get a blues sound. He learned that and runs it into the ground worse than Billy Taylor."

[mikeweil]

Gene Harris was the first that came to my mind, Ray Bryant too, and Jay McShann. And John Lewis could play very bluesy in his own very elegant way. To me, his solo "Gemini" on his EmArcy CD "Private Concert (recorded in 1990) is the single greatest blues piano solo, outlining the very essence of the blues.

Elmo Hope played some great blues too, check out "One Mo' Blues" on the "Homecoming" LP on Riverside.

[Sundog]

A timely question, I've been listening to Oscar Peterson's "Night Train" as of late. This album is chocked full of some great blues. It's pretty much a primer for jazz pianists with an inclination towards the blues.

Also, don't forget Brother Ray, maybe not strictly a jazz pianist, however he has few if any peers when comes to the blues.

Also, really like Sir Charles Thompson in a blues context. Hell, I like Sir Charles in any context!

[John Tapscott]

As for Peterson, Miles' harsh old (1958) assessment seem sound to me: "[Oscar] even had to LEARN to play the blues. Everybody knows that if you flat a third, you're going to get a blues sound. He learned that and runs it into the ground worse than Billy Taylor."

After I posted Peterson's name I figured someone would post Miles' (in)famous words. Some of us think Miles was mistaken about that. If growing up in poverty and hard times has anything to do with blues feeling then Peterson should have been a much better blues player than Davis. I rather enjoy Gene Lees' rejoinder that even "Miles, the son of a horse-breeding, East St. Louis dentist had to LEARN to play the blues."