Your favorite cocktail pianists

[solpincus]

Either Dave Mc Kenna, or Ray Santisi, both in Boston.

[Steve Nathan]

I'm so glad to see Beegie Adair's name mentioned. I've been listening to her for years and whenever I bring her name up to my pianist friends, I get blank stares...

 

 

Yeah it's strange how not many people know of her

 

All us Ivory Ticklers in Nashville know her well.

[Steve Nathan]

From WIKI:

Beegie Adair began taking piano lessons at age five. She continued to study piano throughout college, earning a B.S. in Music Education at Western Kentucky State College (later to become Western Kentucky University) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. During and after college, she played in jazz bands, and spent three years teaching music to children before moving to Nashville, where she became a session musician, working at WSM-TV and Radio. After 9 years at the station, she began freelancing studio work, in addition to TV orchestra work. She was rehearsal pianist and utility keyboard on the Johnny Cash Show on ABC from 1969-1971. She has many album credits with musicians all around the world, including John Stewart, John Loudermilk, J.J. Cale, Ronnie Milsap and Mickey Newbury. Her TV credits include shows with Peggy Lee, Mama Cass Elliott, Dinah Shore, Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball. She has accompanied such artists as Urbie Green, Nat Adderley, Lew Tabackin, Perry Como, Wayne Newton, Steve Allen and Henry Mancini in live concerts.

 

She and her husband also started a jingle company to write music for commercials. In 1982, she and saxophonist Denis Solee formed the Adair-Solee Quartet, which evolved into the Be-Bop Co-Op, a jazz sextet. She made her first album under her own name, Escape to New York, with a rhythm section consisting of Bob Cranshaw and Gregory Hutchinson.

 

Adair has recorded and appeared in over 90 recordings (34 of which are recorded with her trio, the Beegie Adair Trio, which consists of bassist Roger Spencer and percussionist Chris Brown), ranging from Cole Porter standards to Frank Sinatra classics to romantic World War II ballads. Her 6-CD Centennial Composers Collection of tunes by Rodgers, Gershwin, Kern, Ellington, Carmichael and Berlin became an instant collectible classic upon its release. Mrs. Adair cites George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner among her influences.

 

In the late 80s, Beegie hosted Improvised Thoughts, a popular radio talk/music show on the local NPR affiliate, featuring local and international jazz artists including such greats as Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson and Helen Merrill. She has guested on McPartlands internationally-known Piano Jazz show twice. In 2002, Beegie joined one of the most exclusive rosters in the world when she became a Steinway Artist. An honor only bestowed upon 1,600 pianists in the world including Lang Lang, Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr., Michael Legrand, Billy Joel and the "immortals" like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Arthur Rubinstein.

 

She and her trio continue to play in jazz clubs and festivals around the world and was the top selling jazz artist in Japan in 2010. In January, Beegie received a very warm welcome from her fans in New York, making her debut appearance at Birdland, with Monica Ramey in January 2011. They made a second appearance at the historic jazz venue one year later.

 

She currently lives in Franklin, Tennessee with her husband, Billy, who is an associate professor of jazz studies at the Blair School in Vanderbilt University. She is a Board & Faculty member of the Nashville Jazz Workshop and performs regularly in Nashville.

[Jazzwee]

Beegie Adair is a jazz pianist +1.

 

When I think of Cocktail, I think of someone emulating a Gershwin style of sound. Lots of runs, octaves, typically running down the scale or some pattern thereof, and pretty much sticking to the melody. More of a style of melodic embellishment IMHO. Often done by players with lots of chops.

 

HOWEVER - these types of pianists stay away from true improvisation and rely more on the texture of the thick scale runs and patterns.

 

I realize Gershwin is "written" music but the stylings in it are predominant in cocktail. My neighbor, an old lady that plays in this kind of style would criticize my single note jazz lines as needing "chords" and then she would proceed to demonstrate (while my eyes roll).

 

And then I realize that she wanted me to play the melody in block chords since of course this style is all about the melody.

 

Not my cup of tea however.

 

[Tusker]

Lots to check out here.

 

I'll add Carmen Cavallaro to the list.

[Kelly Gibson]

Ross Tomkins, I always enjoyed his smooth tasteful style of cocktail piano.

[CEB]

Bruce Hornsby LOL.

[mmartinez]

Beegie Adair is a jazz pianist.

 

I agree but I think she would fit in perfectly in any cocktail piano situation. Someone like Mcoy Tyner not so much.

 

She is basically "standard jazz": she plays in a standard, traditional manner, not experimental. If cocktail is a bridge between pop and jazz, then Beegie Adair would be a bridge between cocktail and other forms of jazz.

 

Cocktail is its own art, just as you can say that bebop or modal jazz is its own art. It's not fair to say cocktail is "subpar" compared to jazz, because the technique and skill involved in playing good cocktail piano can be rigorous.

 

Either Dave Mc Kenna, or Ray Santisi, both in Boston.

 

CDs? mp3s? link to download their music?

[Adan]

Dave McKenna called himself a "saloon" piano player, which was being too modest, since he also played concert halls, but I think he was trying to get across some kind of distinction between his style and "coctail." "Coctail" does carry that "musical wallpaper" connotation, which is unfortunate, but it is supposed to hit a sweet spot where the listener can be entertained if they choose to listen, but not distracted if they choose not to.

 

I go for what I call a saloon style, and perhaps like Jazz+, I'm trying to appeal to an audience in the 25-50 year old range. In part because these folks are out and about, spending money. In part because I'm in that range myself, and I want to play a style and selections that I dig.

 

Whether I'm walking a bass line, doing a modified stride, or something else, I'm keeping a steady rhythm. I'm supposed to be background music, but if listeners find themselves unconciously tapping their toes and humming along, then I'm succeeding in spades.

 

I'm also emphasizing melody, with brief sections of improvisation that don't go too far afield. As a corollary to this, I'm moving from tune to tune fairly quickly. Repeating a verse 3 times doesn't work, and neither does too much improv, so you just have to move on. The art is in doing it tastefully and cleverly.

[Jazz+]

 

I'm also emphasizing melody, with brief sections of improvisation that don't go too far afield. As a corollary to this, I'm moving from tune to tune fairly quickly. Repeating a verse 3 times doesn't work, and neither does too much improv, so you just have to move on. The art is in doing it tastefully and cleverly.

 

Yep, that's right.

 

And I find most cocktail parties are so loud that I wear earplugs and play the current Top 40 hits in pounding rock style (fff) with rocking octaves in the left hand and a loud percussive right hand. All in tempo. Trampoline style.

[Bobadohshe]

 

Either Dave Mc Kenna, or Ray Santisi, both in Boston.

 

CDs? mp3s? link to download their music?

 

Can't give stuff away on a public forum like that.

[mmartinez]

I don't think of Diana Krall as cocktail. She tries to be straight jazz. I say "try" because she's not much of an improvisor. But nobody can deny her voice, of course.

 

The art is in doing it tastefully and cleverly.

 

Yes! This would be the thing that a good cocktail pianist tries for.

 

However Liberace seems too showy and "classical" for cocktail.

 

I agree with this. But I also agree with most of what Bobadohshe said too

 

I mentioned Simon Schott before, and I'll mention him again. An interesting fellow. German guy, played cocktail piano in Europe his whole life, right up until he died at something like 96 years of age. Also wrote a very interesting little book called Play Piano by Ear, which in my opinion is quite a gem. Deliberately avoids theory but somehow ends up teaching quite a bit about harmony in his cocktail-piano fashion. In fact if you are fairly new to music, you may not realize the differences between the various kinds of Cmajor and G-major (G7-ish) harmonies. He does quite a good job of imparting that information and getting you to hear the differences. I believe he was self-taught.

 

 

Either Dave Mc Kenna, or Ray Santisi, both in Boston.

 

CDs? mp3s? link to download their music?

 

Can't give stuff away on a public forum like that.

 

Then, youtube vids? Anything?? It doesn't really do me any good to see the names without being able to listen to their music.

[Jazzmammal]

Page Cavanaugh. Looking at his bio the titles of his albums says it all:

 

"Page Cavanaugh plays and sings for the Cocktail Hour" and

"Lounge Music A La Carte".

 

I would say he was the quintessential cocktail pianist. He was a fixture at the Money Tree in Burbank for years and I drove about 20 miles out of my way to see him several times. He had a guitarist with him but no bass. The piano was at one end of the dining room with booths and tables right up to it and we would try for the booth just to his right so I could see him playing.

 

Like it's been said, cocktail players don't do strong jazz, they play standards in a standard way but Page really put some flourish into it while holding the volume down. Smooooth is the word. I enjoyed listening to him while having dinner and that's the whole point.

 

Here's an old YT vid:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW5PgcLGy2c

 

Just had a thought, I think Nat King Cole would have been a great cocktail pianist if he had never made it. His easy listening standard version of Route 66 was a classic piano bar song for years. Everybody I know including me does it like an old 50's rocker but that's not the original hit version.

 

Bob

[Bobadohshe]

I don't think of Diana Krall as cocktail. She tries to be straight jazz. I say "try" because she's not much of an improvisor. But nobody can deny her voice, of course.

 

I think she's super tasteful and swings her ass off.

[Jazzmammal]

Agreed and a nice ass it is too I'm sure. It's true that for people here who are hard core jazzers she isn't going to be compared to Brubeck or Oscar any time soon but she's a solid pianist anyway and she started out here in SoCal at the Marriott in Orange County in the lobby. Sounds like cocktail piano to me.

 

This isn't cocktail style but it's one of my favorite vids of her because she's getting loose in the intro and solo:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOi0VgR3nvs

 

Bob

[Adan]

Another point I'd like to make is that a good "ambient" pianist (of which cocktail is a subcategory) is listening to and (if possible) watching the room and sensing what's appropriate. That should be an obvious point and yet I see a lot of pianists going at it like they're in their own little world. We're talking now of course not about the great ones, but rather the run of the mill hacks. Well, I'm kind of a hack, but I think I've got the right idea and am having a wee bit of success . . .

[Adan]

Agreed and a nice ass it is too

 

Quite the unfair advantage, that.

[rien]

This isn't cocktail style but it's one of my favorite vids of her because she's getting loose in the intro and solo:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOi0VgR3nvs

 

OT: looking at this video, i can't keep my eyes off... the drummer ! Peter Erskine is a monster drummer.

One thing for sure, diana krall knows how to surround herself with the best musicians.

[Bobadohshe]

This isn't cocktail style but it's one of my favorite vids of her because she's getting loose in the intro and solo:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOi0VgR3nvs

 

Yeah dude. She's awesome. Shoutout to Anthony Wilson as well. Great guitar solo. Perfect blend of jazz and blues.

[I-missRichardTee]

Dave McKenna called himself a "saloon" piano player, which was being too modest, since he also played concert halls, but I think he was trying to get across some kind of distinction between his style and "coctail." "Coctail" does carry that "musical wallpaper" connotation, which is unfortunate, but it is supposed to hit a sweet spot where the listener can be entertained if they choose to listen, but not distracted if they choose not to.

 

I go for what I call a saloon style, and perhaps like Jazz+, I'm trying to appeal to an audience in the 25-50 year old range. In part because these folks are out and about, spending money. In part because I'm in that range myself, and I want to play a style and selections that I dig.

 

Whether I'm walking a bass line, doing a modified stride, or something else, I'm keeping a steady rhythm. I'm supposed to be background music, but if listeners find themselves unconciously tapping their toes and humming along, then I'm succeeding in spades.

 

I'm also emphasizing melody, with brief sections of improvisation that don't go too far afield. As a corollary to this, I'm moving from tune to tune fairly quickly. Repeating a verse 3 times doesn't work, and neither does too much improv, so you just have to move on. The art is in doing it tastefully and cleverly.

 

Wow! Very true, and very well said. ++++10000

[wmp]

Either Dave Mc Kenna, or Ray Santisi, both in Boston.

You beat me to it.

 

Dave often watched the Red Sox games playing the Copley. It was background music for him too.

 

Ray pays more attention. He plays to impress young girls.

 

Two awesome players and total characters.

[mmartinez]

Page Cavanaugh. Looking at his bio the titles of his albums says it all:

 

"Page Cavanaugh plays and sings for the Cocktail Hour" and

"Lounge Music A La Carte".

 

I would say he was the quintessential cocktail pianist.

 

Sounds interesting. i never heard of him. I'm definitely going to check him out, along with the other names mentioned in other replies.

 

 

[mmartinez]

Agreed and a nice ass it is too

 

oh yeah

 

 

I never heard her in that Marriot Hotel venue, only her popular albums and live (TV) performances

 

 

[mmartinez]

a lot of pianists going at it like they're in their own little world. We're talking now of course not about the great ones, but rather the run of the mill hacks.

 

Well, as long as one is making a living, it doesn't really matter how hackish you are, as long as they aren't begging you to stop playing

 

Actually the straight jazz guys tend to respect the competent cocktail pianists simply because they know so many damn tunes!

[yannis D]

Irving Fields

[moj]

Cy Walter - He was a contemporary of Tatum and was called "The Art Tatum of Park Avenue". He played primarily in nightclubs and hotels, so he can best be described as a "cocktail pianist" and probably the greatest, imo.

 

Richard Cameron-Wolfe, a Taos, New Mexico musician with an NPR radio program that mostly presents classical music, wrote the following excerpt from an article entitled "Confessions of a Clash-ical DJ". Orignially published in the May, 2007 Taos, New Mexico "Daily Horse Fly" newspaper, the piece describes his experience in playing various composers' music, and focuses in part on the phone calls received in reaction to his choices. The passage below encapsulizes the enigma inherent in attempting to categorize or label Cy Walter's musical style:

Improvisations by the legendary cocktail jazz pianist Cy Walter followed. One heard familiar manifestations of melody, harmony, and rhythm, contrasting themes, etc., but ... another phone call. Not "classical" enough for the classical connoisseurs. Problem: not jazzy enough for the jazzers. A man without a niche, without a marketing label, without a record store bin. Walter did what the great historical improvisers (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt) had done, only his "themes" were show tunes instead of opera arias. Give a listen and see what you think, at www.cywalter.com.

Take a listen:

[video:youtube]

[video:youtube]

[mmartinez]

a Taos, New Mexico musician with an NPR radio program

 

My home state!

[mmartinez]

Page Cavanaugh. Looking at his bio the titles of his albums says it all:

 

 

Well, this is going to be interesting trying to locate a solo piano (or at least non-vocals) Page Cavanaugh album. Almost none of the albums available on Amazon have been digitized and so there are no samples available. The couple that do have samples are with singers (and not in a cocktail style).

 

Re: Dave McKenna. There are bunch of albums on amazon, but the ones whose titles seem promising, do not have samples, while the others I wouldn't call cocktail piano.

 

Re: Ray Santisi: seems (at least from Amazon) that he's mostly straight jazz with a trio.

 

So for those two guys, if someone has an album recommendation (cocktail style of playing), that would be great.

 

Re: Cy Walter. Interesting. There's one CD, which has samples and it's pretty cool stuff. And there's a few vinyls. I'm definitely getting the CD, and probably one of the older vinyls.

[mmartinez]

If nobody has any McKenna or Santisi album recommendations, then unfortunately I'll have to pass those guys over.

 

I'm really interested in Page Cavanaugh, so if someone could recommend an album (vinyl is ok) where he's either solo piano or at least without any singers that would be awesome

 

 

[mmartinez]

Cy Walter: Whoever originally recommended him, thanks for that. This is truly a pianist from several decades ago: 1930s - 1960s ... In trying to locate recordings, I'm finding there's very little available. A few vinyl on Ebay, and a CD (with mp3s) on Amazon. The reason becomes apparent when you go to his website (maintained by his family) where they say they are in the process of trying to digitize his recordings, but haven't made it far (and apparently it's difficult to get these things in the U.S)

 

This type of thing makes me wish I lived in Oakland or Berkeley instead of the South Bay, so I could browse vinyl shops.

 

About Cy Walter - he's definitely his own interesting style. I would say it's rag-timey, with a lot of runs and flourishes.

 

Taken from his website: "Unhappily, almost all of Cy's recorded music remains largely inaccessible in out‑of‑print vinyl record format. "