CEB Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I saw the Rick Beato interview with Brad Mehldau. Brad is great. But I thought ' I don't think he is the greatest of our generation.' Rick Beato and I are the same age. So I thought to myself 'Who is my favorite Jazz pianist that is about our age?' and the first name who pops into my head is Gonzalo Rubalcaba. I queried Google and asked who are the greatest Jazz pianists today and got 45 pictures and names. No Gonzalo. Oh well. Everyone has different taste. I guess I probably don't understand the subject. The lists I got was interesting I have some new names to check out. It just seems funny to me who becomes legend and who doesn't sometimes. PS - Michel Petrucciani was another guy our age ... he could shred and be very musical. I found him to be amazing. A shame he passed at only 36. Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I'll leave it up to the current generations to sort out the greatest Jazz pianist among their peers. IMO, the greatest Jazz pianist still living is none other than....Herbie Hancock. 😎 4 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 12 minutes ago, ProfD said: IMO, the greatest Jazz pianist still living is none other than....Herbie Hancock. 😎 Herbie is the greatest in my book. There are a lot of great piano players out there each in there own niche of the Jazz don't make sense to lump them together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keepitsimple Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 This magician (RIP) has my vote. 2 1 1 Quote New Solo Piano Album OUT NOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 7 hours ago, CEB said: I saw the Rick Beato interview with Brad Mehldau. Brad is great. But I thought ' I don't think he is the greatest of our generation.' Agree and I think it's worth pointing out that Rick's probably trying to keep up with the YouTube clickbait culture, which is getting more and more insane. I also follow a YouTube legal commentator who provides a very dry, modestly reasoned view of several legal topics. But his headlines are over-the-top just to keep up with everybody else. 🤦♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Brad Mehldau has certainly shaped the way for myriad jazz musicians under 40-45. Of course it's not a horse course here. We all adore and worship Herbie, Chick Corea, Jarrett and countless others. But still Mehldau is younger of all these guys, so generation under 50 can easily identify with. And he has picked to record many staple non jazz songs of our times, so younger listeners from different genres can relate easier to (something Hancock did at his day) my two euros 1 Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 I guess I’m unclear on who my generation is. I love Herbie and Chick. I have a personally autographed picture of Chick in my studio room but I see those guys as the previous generation. Craig Taborn is a technical beast but I can’t get into his playing. Every time I have heard him he is playing too atonal or is way outside for my ears. My ears are not that avant-garde. Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan May Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I always liked Billy Childs jazz piano playing. He recently won a Grammy award, and he's also collaborated with great musicians like Chris Botti. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberGene Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I'm still not sure what "greatest jazz pianist of my generation" means: - The greatest jazz pianist that is the same generation as me - The greatest jazz pianist according to people from my generation Both are still too vague 😀 I'm an X-er (born in 1979) and if I have to name the greatest jazz pianist X-ers, well, Brad Mehldau of course 😀 I will also add Esbjörn Svensson but I'm not sure he's very well known over the pond. May he rest in peace, his loss was a huge shock for me in 2008. Also, he was born in 1964 and that's considered to be Boomer too. And I don't know what the jazz piano aficionados of my generation love but to me it's Chick and Herbie, followed closely by Bill Evans. Not a huge fan of Jarrett though (although he has some brilliant albums too). P.S. Ohh, how could I forget Lyle Mays! I actually love him even more than Chick and Herbie 😀 Or depends on the mood. Never mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberGene Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 8 minutes ago, Dave Ferris said: Kenny Barron was and still is a huge influence. That’s funny, I was gonna mention him in my previous post but I already listed too many others. I discovered him one night on the national radio in 1995 when they played his live duet with Stan Getz “People Time”. I recorded on cassette four of the tracks and I completely wore it down from repeated listening to them 20 times a day. Especially this one: I found the complete album a few years later because those were the poorest years in Bulgaria and there was an obscure record store in Sofia (and I am not originally from Sofia and was still not living there at the time and traveled to it as a high school student with a 6-hour train specially to visit the store) where they would illegally copy albums from CD-s to cassette tape to poor souls like me… Those were poor years again, I’m not defending piracy 😕 On a few consecutive visits I asked for most of Kenny Barron own albums and I remember the store owner asked me: “how do you know about Kenny Barron?! He’s virtually unknown and it’s only the Jazz department students of the National Music Academy that know him and ask me for his records, they hold him in high regard and study his playing”. So, yeah, fond memories of Kenny Barron. Haven’t listened to him in ages. Have to check what he has released recently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Yeah, I definitely think of Brad Mehldau as being in a different world -- both chronologically and on their big formative influences -- than guys like Chick and Herbie. I think of his contemporaries as being guys like John Medeski (not strictly a "pianist" of course). Michel Patrucciani was mentioned earlier and is probably a better comparison, but he was born in 1962, while Mehldau was born in 1970. Not a huge age gap, but a significant time period to separate them as far as formative influences, I might argue. Regardless, I'm sure there are MANY great Gen X-er jazz pianists I've never heard of (and I would love some recommendations!), but I think it's also a much smaller pool of well-known jazz legends that were coming into prominence in the 90s as opposed to the 70s. But as others have pointed out, calling anyone the Greatest of Them All is an unavoidably debatable title. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Number Four Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Peter Martin and Adam Manness did a series on this fun but click-baity topic, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6htIrNo4e2Q&pp=ygUYWW91bGwgaGVhciBpdCBnZW5lcmF0aW9u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnector Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 16 hours ago, CEB said: I saw the Rick Beato interview with Brad Mehldau. Brad is great. But I thought ' I don't think he is the greatest of our generation.' Rick Beato and I are the same age. So I thought to myself 'Who is my favorite Jazz pianist that is about our age?' and the first name who pops into my head is Gonzalo Rubalcaba. I queried Google and asked who are the greatest Jazz pianists today and got 45 pictures and names. No Gonzalo. Oh well. Everyone has different taste. I guess I probably don't understand the subject. The lists I got was interesting I have some new names to check out. It just seems funny to me who becomes legend and who doesn't sometimes. PS - Michel Petrucciani was another guy our age ... he could shred and be very musical. I found him to be amazing. A shame he passed at only 36. Funny that you mention Gonzalo Rubalcaba. I'm not a jazz fan for the most part but of the few jazz CD's I've actually bought over the years, Gonzalo Rubalcaba is one of them. He's a monster. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam6599643 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 19 hours ago, CEB said: I saw the Rick Beato interview with Brad Mehldau. Brad is great. But I thought ' I don't think he is the greatest of our generation.' Rick Beato and I are the same age. So I thought to myself 'Who is my favorite Jazz pianist that is about our age?' and the first name who pops into my head is Gonzalo Rubalcaba. I queried Google and asked who are the greatest Jazz pianists today and got 45 pictures and names. No Gonzalo. Oh well. Everyone has different taste. I guess I probably don't understand the subject. The lists I got was interesting I have some new names to check out. It just seems funny to me who becomes legend and who doesn't sometimes. PS - Michel Petrucciani was another guy our age ... he could shred and be very musical. I found him to be amazing. A shame he passed at only 36. For me the greatest of the generation born around 1960 would be Geri Allen, who unfortunately passed away t way to early a couple of years ago. Also unfortunately never got the recognition in her time either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedar Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I always assumed that the term "generation" referred colloquially to a period of about 10-15 years. Just seems to me the way the term is usually used. Under any definition of the term, Herbie can't be considered the same generation as Brad. (If we really were to put Brad in the same conversation as those musicians who were active from 1960s-1980s, I could literally name dozens who I prefer to listen to - but I know that's just personal taste.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, jazzpiano88 said: I wonder who the greatest pianist of the greatest generation is? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I can't necessarily mention a real pop god from this era either, comparison-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Niels Lan Doky should be in the conversation. He's very under the radar. Same with Otmaro Ruíz. Quote The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I did ponder for a while who was the best pianist between Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. I eventually concluded Herbie is the best... at being Herbie. Chick was the best... at being Chick. Lyle Mays was another fave of mine, because he was the best at composing, arranging, and performing Lyle Mays music. Lots of really good younger pianists out there of course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonizer Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 My favorite jazz pianists of the previous generation were McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans. I also liked Chick Corea a lot. I'm not sure who my favorite would be in the more current generation. I love some of the piano playing I heard on the early Roy Hargrove albums, but checking personnel I see 3 different pianists played on "Diamond in the Rough" and "The Vibe". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 IMO, great is harder to define in the absence of three elements, 1) signature voice and 2) body of work and 3) influence on future generations of musicians. There are many excellent Jazz musicians past and present. Not all of them meet those 3 elements. Thelonius Monk, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Bill Evans to name a few are schools unto themselves when it comes to Jazz piano. Of the aforementioned, it's easy to hear excellent Jazz pianists using their chord voicing and elements of their melodicism in solos. Over the past 50 years and counting, Jazz pianists have been borrowing from those greats in one way or another.😎 3 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 On 2/15/2024 at 12:56 PM, SamuelBLupowitz said: I'm sure there are MANY great Gen X-er jazz pianists I've never heard of Of course. For us Gen Xers, no one having heard of us is a feature, not a bug! 🤣 [point of clarity: I’m not saying that I am one of those great pianists, I’m saying Gen X is routinely skipped or ignored, and we usually prefer it that way. 🤫 ] 2 Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
re Pete Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 There are so many excellent pianists out there. To me Art Tatum was at the top. With the jazz clubs that have live online viewing now, you can see young cats that have been taught or worked with available resources out there that are playing their asses off. Good to see they are putting in the work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Why must we rank these pianists, or pronounce anybody the "greatest"? It's subjective - and will of course depend on one's taste in music. Me sharing who I think is the "greatest" doesn't add anything to the conversation, even if I can give what I think are good reasons why you should all agree with me! 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 I'm sure it would be at least somewhat interesting and with taste. How do you compete in the musical landscape as it developed with the great names from the past if you'd already think that some sort of maxim of the kind is what you should go for ? What would a modern day Oscar do? What would a Grolnic find for a band, how would a contemporary Duke find his Duke example? T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 On 2/15/2024 at 1:56 PM, SamuelBLupowitz said: I'm sure there are MANY great Gen X-er jazz pianists ROBERT GLASPER 2 1 Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 3 hours ago, Reezekeys said: Why must we rank these pianists, or pronounce anybody the "greatest"? It's subjective... IMO, it's a pointless exercise because playing music isn't a sport or competition. However, whenever folks do go there as it relates to Jazz, it's helpful to make sure the facts are straight. Otherwise, the greatest tags might get misappropriated.😎 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberGene Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Apart from that YouTube title being a clickbait, which we already discussed, I find it pretty amusing to discuss who’s the greatest in this or that because apparently it’s for fun and because a forum is for chats but music is not chat, so what can you eventually discuss about music if not some ridiculous topics such as who’s the greatest jazz pianist 😀 Just don’t take it too literally. Most people would simply share who their favorite pianists are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finale Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Don't forget Bugs Bunny, Schroeder and Rowlf the dog. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 28 minutes ago, CyberGene said: ...eventually discuss about music if not some ridiculous topics such as who’s the greatest jazz pianist 😀 Just don’t take it too literally. Most people would simply share who their favorite pianists are. Sure. As long it doesn't turn into a food fight.🤣😎 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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