Other Obscure Pianists

[l p]

i don't know how obscure he is, but i was very impressed with John Foster's solo on a blues on a mingus 1972 european concert.

[sgcim]

his wife Gay took over his students after he died; I used to refer to her as the Last of the Mehegans.

[sgcim]

about Bill Rubenstein, see:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Rubenstein_%28Musiker%29

Thanks for the link. Has anyone heard any of the Connor, Sloane or other LPs he played on?

Was there a Bill Evans thing in his playing?

[Peter Friedman]

Detroit pianist Will Davis

Made one date as a leader for the Sue label:

Have Mood Will Call

Trio with Will Austin and Oliver Jackson

THIS IS A GREAT RECORD!!!!

The Japanese reissued it on CD.

I believe that Will Davis is the pianist on the very good Kenny Burrell album on Prestige titled "Soul Call".

[flat5]

Dave Austin in San Francisco is a fine jazz pianist.

[AllenLowe]

there is also a pianist in Woodshole Massachusetts named Glenway Fripp; played with him a few times; scary brilliant, pulls stuff out of himself that makes you turn around and say, huh?

Also Lewis Porter is incredible.

Edited June 7, 2014 by AllenLowe

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah on Lewis Porter!

[jlhoots]

Valdo Williams

[soulpope]

Rahn Burton - stumbled over him long time ago via

Edited June 8, 2014 by soulpope

[Ted O'Reilly]

I wouldn't call him 'obscure', but certainly under-recognized is Hod O'Brien. And in Toronto, we had (he died a couple of years back) a fine pianist, Ian Bargh (as in 'barge').

[Joe]

I would second Hod O'Brien.

Jack Reilly. Almost the "Andrew White of piano players," in that nearly his entire discography consists of self-released / private press recordings on his Unichrom label. As his website suggests, his chief influences are Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck; fire and ice or oil and water, maybe, but he's a pianist possessed of a deep harmonic intelligence and compositional imagination.

http://www.jackreillyjazz.com/

[mracz]

Joseph Scianni. Wonderful duo record with Izenson on Savoy, and on the Don Cherry/Pharoah Sanders sides. Not like anyone else I've heard, free, but not in the Cecil mould. Also Willie Jones who is head turning on the Clark Terry Paul Gonsalves date on Argo. Somewhere between Milt Buckner and Cecil.

[johnblitweiler]

I heard very clever piano variations and improvisations on 'Good Bait' by Nina Simone on the radio today. Did she make an album of her piano playing?

[mjzee]

John Coates, Jr.

[Joe]

I heard very clever piano variations and improvisations on 'Good Bait' by Nina Simone on the radio today. Did she make an album of her piano playing?

Not that I am aware, but would like to be corrected if necessary. The few trio recordings scattered across her early recordings for Bethlehem are intriguing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynnb6ejdEz0

[SMB1968]

Mike Taylor. Two great albums in the mid-1960s, then drowned swimming in the Thames.

Scott

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, those are excellent records. There is also the Mike Taylor Remembered LP put together by Neil Ardley in 1973 (though not issued until many years later).

[sidewinder]

Mike Taylor. Two great albums in the mid-1960s, then drowned swimming in the Thames.

Scott

Obscure but not forgotten over here. And a short tribute to him ('Abena') played by Matthew Bourne kicked off the big Jazz Britannia concert back in 2005 (most fitting). It was in the Thames Estuary near Southend that he drowned I think.

[SMB1968]

Mike Taylor. Two great albums in the mid-1960s, then drowned swimming in the Thames.

Scott

Obscure but not forgotten over here. And a short tribute to him ('Abena') played by Matthew Bourne kicked off the big Jazz Britannia concert back in 2005 (most fitting). It was in the Thames Estuary near Southend that he drowned I think.

I'm glad to hear that. Taylor deserves to be remembered, he had a very original voice -- who knows what he could have done if things had turned out differently.

Edited June 11, 2014 by SMB1968

[BillF]

I'll put in a word for Terry Shannon, who was a leading British jazz pianist until his disappearance from the music at the end of the sixties.

Here he is with Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKpWwCrSJs

And here's Simon Spillett's assessment of him (scroll down):

http://www.jazzscript.co.uk/extra/brit.piano.htm

[Larry Kart]

Carlton Holmes -- Can be heard on his own trio album "You and Me," on Cindy Blackman"s "Works on Canvas," and on several albums by the Bill Kirchner Nonet (where I first heard him). Damn fine player.

Also Ben Patterson, formerly Von Freeman's pianist. Not obscure exactly but up and coming:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Elements-Ben-Paterson/dp/B00F9PTKVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1403568695&sr=1-1&keywords=ben+patterson

[Ted O'Reilly]

How about the late Jimmy Amadie? Special circumstances kept him off the scene, and I've only ever heard his few recordings, but he sure sounded good...

[Peter Friedman]

Sam Dockery played on a number of recordings with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1950's and then faded from view.

[BillF]

Sam Dockery played on a number of recordings with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1950's and then faded from view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Dockery

Known as "Sure-Footed Sam". Never knew that before!

Edited June 24, 2014 by BillF

[clifford_thornton]

is he still alive?