DrJ Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 I love the Art Hodes choice of Lon's, very strong candidate for bluesiest ever. And to add one player that hasn't been mentioned: Sonny Clark, while certainly steeped in bop, had a VERY bluesy undercurrent to both his writing and playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Ellington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Yeah Ellington. The blue PAINTER. Shheessh, not necessarily at the piano, but what that guy did with the BLUES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Miles' point about Peterson as a blues player seems clear enough, whether or not you agree with it -- that Peterson employs cliched blues devices rather mechancially and too excess. As for socio-economic background as a measuring stick, I suppose you could argue that a Rockefeller heir might be a very unlikely blues player, but beyond that it quickly gets absurd. For example, take the names of all the pianists mentioned here so far and, if we had the information, rank them in terms of their socio-economic backgrounds. Who would then want to argue that this ranking determined their relative merits as blues players, with the most "deprived" being the bluesiest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 yeah, Parlan! also: Kelly Garland Timmons ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 (edited) In a way this is a rough question...all the guys mentioned play good and sometimes great blues - and then where is that (non-existent?) line between blues players (Spann, Big Maceo, Memphis Slim, etc) snf Jazz players. Guys like Roosevelt Sykes, Sammy Price, Art Hodes could go ENTIRELY to the places Spann, Big Maceo, Memphis Slim go. Then, a lot of the newer guys can turn it on or off at will...and THEY sound pretty convincing! I guess I think there's a myriad of good blues players. Edited August 28, 2003 by Harold_Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 Bobby Timmons to me. That guy was drenched in the blues. Epitome of the hard bop sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Thorne Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 What an interesting thread question. Well, I really like several mentioned earlier, as well as one previously unmentioned ... Les McCann If hard-pressed, I'd have to suggest, in no particular order: Bobby Timmons Ray Bryant Junior Mance Les McCann Horace Silver Ray Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 (edited) I'll second Sammy Price, and add Albert Ammons, Jelly Roll Morton, Pete Johnson. Edited September 1, 2003 by Brownian Motion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 (edited) Jimmy Yancey -- you don't get any deeper into blues than that, and he could play them so slow that they almost ground to a halt--almost. Another one is Sammy Price--not a very nice person, but he could do the blues justice. While we're at it, how about Leroy Carr? Jelly Roll Morton's General recording of "Mamie's Blues" is also one of my favorite performances. Simply beautiful. Edited September 1, 2003 by Christiern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 John Wright (South Side Soul) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 Jimmy Yancey -- you don't get any deeper into blues than that, and he could play them so slow that they almost ground to a halt--almost. Jelly Roll Morton's General recording of "Mamie's Blues" is also one of my favorite performances. Simply beautiful. Jimmy Yancey has been mentioned a few times, but Chris makes an excellent point. Listen to his two 1943 recordings of "How Long Blues". The man can make time seem to stop and can make the piano sound like it's crying. Jelly Roll's "Mamie's Blues" is a great choice too. I forgot about his General recordings when I posted, and they're too good to be overlooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 I don't think I've seen Kenny Drew's name so far... Don't know much Jimmy Yancey, but YES to what I have heard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundsound Posted September 4, 2003 Report Share Posted September 4, 2003 Nobody has mentioned Wynton Kelly. Alos Sonny Clark has many blues touches to go along with his bebop type touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted September 4, 2003 Report Share Posted September 4, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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