Overlooked pianists

[HutchFan]

33 minutes ago, mhatta said:

I recently found that Mike Wofford is an overlooked but great pianist.  This one is little known since it is a live recording in Japan and billed as "The Shelly Manne Trio".  Playing "Nardis" for (the recently deceased at that time) Bill Evans with Manne is a dauntless task...

 

18 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Fine player. I've got a good number of his albums.

 

I agree!  

Wofford worked extensively with Manne, and I think they sound great together.  One example that's likely below the radar for many:

Scott Joplin: Interpretations '76 (Flying Dutchman)
Ignore the strange cover art and don't expect "ragtime-y" pianism.  Like the title implies, Wofford gives these Joplin works modern readings. Manne is on drums. Good stuff!

 

[Larry Kart]

A good one I don't see on Amazon anymore is his 1990 album "Transition and Transformation" (9 Winds) with avant-garde classical bassist Bertram Turetzky, trombonist George Lewis, and three cellists.

[Ken Dryden]

I would add Danish pianist Carsten Dahl, who I am featuring on the October 3 edition of my radio program.

[Gheorghe]

As a lesser known or more forgotten pianist the Germany born but in Paris living Siegfried Kessler comes to my mind. I heard him quite often in the 70´s, 80´s and he was fantastic. He became known to a wider audience when he performed with Archie Shepp, and he had it all, from more abstract avantgarde sounds to straight ahead and an incredible talent to play the blues. 
A most memorable concert I heard was when I heard him with Jimmy Witherspoon, Dee Dee Bridgewater. I think Dexter´s bassist David Eubanks was on bass, I forgot who was the drummer, but sure a very good one.....an unforgettable evening. And Kesslers blues styled solos with those fantastic blues singers......wow....

[mikeweil]

On 28.9.2021 at 5:15 PM, mhatta said:

I recently found that Mike Wofford is an overlooked but great pianist. 

I never heard him play less than inspired. 

[mhatta]

Once famous (stint with Bird, Blue Train, tons of trio stuff from Japanese Alpha, etc.), so not really overlooked, but these days people rarely talk about Kenny Drew.  And also about his son, Drew Jr., too.  I think they should be remembered.

This album is a classic, and possibly one of the best version of "Caravan" Jazz ever produced.

 

I think Drew Jr. lacked originality a bit, but he was still very good at interpreting other Jazz greats' works.  His rendition of Mingus/Monk tunes is impeccable.

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by mhatta

[Peter Friedman]

[kh1958]

3 hours ago, mhatta said:

Once famous (stint with Bird, Blue Train, tons of trio stuff from Japanese Alpha, etc.), so not really overlooked, but these days people rarely talk about Kenny Drew.  And also about his son, Drew Jr., too.  I think they should be remembered.

This album is a classic, and possibly one of the best version of "Caravan" Jazz ever produced.

 

I think Drew Jr. lacked originality a bit, but he was still very good at interpreting other Jazz greats' works.  His rendition of Mingus/Monk tunes is impeccable.

 

I saw Kenny Drew, Jr. playing with the Mingus Big Band a number of times at the Fez/Time Cafe in the '90s. 

[mhatta]

11 hours ago, kh1958 said:

I saw Kenny Drew, Jr. playing with the Mingus Big Band a number of times at the Fez/Time Cafe in the '90s. 

 

Good for you, I've never seen both in person...

Berndt Egerbladh is not well known outside his native Sweden, but a fine pianist.

 

[Jim Duckworth]

Billy Kyle!

[mikeweil]

Mike Wolff, whom I first heard in Cal Tjader's band. This trio album, available from his site, has convinced me: Recorded on one day after they had finished an album with a larger band a day early. He asked his bassist and drummer to stay. 

https://www.michaelwolff.com/album/jazz-jazz-jazz/

Edited October 5, 2021 by mikeweil

[Peter Friedman]

[T.D.]

Browsing this thread, I didn't notice Nate Morgan (and not in the spirit of "have we mentioned everyone yet?" 😆 )

Strongly Tyner-influenced (maybe too much for some tastes), but I very much like everything I've heard, lots on Nimbus West. His trio album Live in Santa Barbara is not at all in the Tyner mold, btw.

 

And John Blum in the "free" sector.

Edited October 31 by T.D.

[EKE BBB]

Not sure if they have been mentioned over the ca. 10 years time span of this thread, but I have been revisiting and highly enjoying the following three pianists for the last few days:

- Dorothy Donegan

- Art Simmons

- Bernard Peiffer

 

[Daniel A]

Swedish pianist Staffan Abeleen (1940-2008) made some fine recordings. Not widely known outside Sweden, I guess.

(Here's also a rare sighting of the ill-fated but gifted tenorist Björn Netz) 

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Swedish pianist Staffan Abeleen (1940-2008) made some fine recordings. Not widely known outside Sweden, I guess.

(Here's also a rare sighting of the ill-fated but gifted tenorist Björn Netz) 

That's an excellent Philips platter from 1966 .... btw feat. Palle Danielsson on bass ....

[mjazzg]

I've been very close to buying that Abeleen LP for a few weeks now, funny it should turn up here too. Maybe it's telling me something 

[clifford_thornton]

6 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Swedish pianist Staffan Abeleen (1940-2008) made some fine recordings. Not widely known outside Sweden, I guess.

(Here's also a rare sighting of the ill-fated but gifted tenorist Björn Netz) 

yep! All of his 60s/early 70s output is excellent. FWIW, trumpeter Lasse Färnlöf wrote nearly all the music on the first two, and Sweet Alva seems to be the first to actually feature some of Abeleen's writing.

[Ken Dryden]

The Welsh pianist Dill Jones and Claude Hopkins tend to be overlooked.

[Dan Gould]

43 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

The Welsh pianist Dill Jones and Claude Hopkins tend to be overlooked.

Dill Jones has several recordings to date in the Phi Schaap Jazz Collection at Vandy:

https://aviary.library.vanderbilt.edu/catalog?current_organization=#<Organization:0x0000704f71085f08>&current_flock=false&user_ip=173.171.182.128&request_is_xhr=false&myresources=0&sort=title_ss+asc&transliteration_status=false&search_field=advanced&search_type=simple&title_text[]=&resource_description[]=&indexes[]=&transcript[]=&op[]=&type_of_search[]=simple&type_of_field_selector[]=simple&keywords[]=dill+jones

[Quasimado]

The Japanese pianist Hiroshi Tamura made a remarkable trio record for Cab Records in 1995. Apparently he still works around Tokyo and Yokohama...

[jazzbo]

Jose Santos Neto. Truly overlooked outside of Brazil I believe.

[T.D.]

I've only heard one record by the Argentine Rubén López Fürst (wiki says he also plays guitar), but it was very good.

[Gheorghe]

Maybe he is not much mentioned anymore, but one of my absolute favourites here in Europe was Siegfried Kessler. He lived in Paris and was famous for playing very very often with Archie Shepp. 
He had it all, he could play avantgarde, he could play first rate be bop and he played the blues like no one else, as I witnessed when I saw him the last time, in 1985 at Hollabrunn with Jimmy Witherspoon and Dee Dee Bridgewater !!!!! Two vocals in one group, a stellar rhythm section, heaven on earth.......