Famous Pianists

Playlist created by boberwig | 57 videos | view description

Wilson, Basie, peterson, Donegan, Jones, Tatum, hines, Brubeck, Garner, Blake, Stacy, Powell, Jamahl, Guarnieri, Lux Lewis, roberts

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In the Dark - Ralph Sutton During the 1989 Bern Jazz Festival we see a performance by pianist Ralph Sutton. This a seldom heard composition by Bix Beiderbecke, called “In the Dark”. The only recording by Bix playing solo piano was his composition “In a Mist” in 1927. Ralph Earl Sutton was an outstanding pianist in the great tradition of Harlem stride giants James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. Ralph Sutton was born in Hamburg, Missouri on November 4th, 1922. His career got under way when he joined Jack Teagarden in 1941 while he was still in college. During the 40s he attracted widespread attention, thanks to his participation in a series of radio shows hosted by jazz writer Rudi Blesh,This is Jazz. He had a trio with Albert Nicholas, and beginning in 1948 he worked eight years as intermission pianist at Eddie Condon''s club in New York. Later he worked for Bob Scobey and, in 1963, was featured at the first Dick Gibson Jazz Party in Denver. This was to lead to the formation in 1968 of the World''s Greatest Jazzband, of which Sutton was a founding member. Thereafter, Sutton''s star rose.  He recorded a series of albums and toured the world, solo and in a variety of settings. His musical partners in these ventures included Ruby Braff, Jay McShann, Kenny Davern, and Peanuts Hucko.

Your feet's too big Waller Fats 1941? Fats Waller Soundie

Honeysuckle Rose Waller Fats 1941? Fats Waller Soundie anno approx 1941

Ain't misbehavin' Waller A soundie of Fats Waller and his Rhythm. Soundies were a brand new form of entertainment conceived in early 1940, born in January 1941 and then suffered a lingering demise mid-way through 1947. They were three minute black and white films with an optical soundtrack designed to be shown on self-contained, coin-operated 16mm rear projection machines situated in bars, diners, nightclubs, roadhouses and other public places throughout the States and Canada Soundies were very popular. Because of wartime production shortages the Panoram machines used for projction were no longer manufactured. However the soundies captured on film mny superb musicans in their peak period.

Jumpin’ at the Woodside – Peterson/Basie 1974 Filmed at a concert in Prague Oscar Peterson and Count Basie play a short version of Jumpin’ at the Woodside. Initially "Jumpin’ at the Woodside" was a huge hit for Count Basie and the Basie band. The tune is fairly simple harmonically and in its arrangement, mostly serving as a vehicle for lively soloing and notable for its excellent swing feel. The tune was named after Kansas City’s Woodside Hotel where many of the band members stayed and where the tune was rehearsed In this impromptu performance Basie starts the tune just like that which creates a big smile on Peterson’s face and off they go for a few minutes of nice and loose playing complimenting each other.

A Gal in Gallico - Oscar Peterson Trio 1958. Oscar Peterson together with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown surely had one of the finest jazz trios the world has known. It appears that this clip was recorded in the Netherlands and probably comes from the radio and TV archives. Maybe it only aired once several years ago and I’m very happy to have been able to fetch a copy.

Cake Walk - Oscar Peterson 1988 Canadian pianist performs at the closing gala night at the 1988 Bern Jazz Festival. He plays Cake Walk, one of his own compositions. He is accompanied by one of Canada’s finest bass players, Dave Young from Toronto. On drums is Marin Drew, originally from Great Britain who earned his fame in London with Tony Scott, a very renowned bebop clarinetist. I always find one of the most exciting parts in many of Oscar’s compositions how he would start his solo all on his own and then after some fairly modernistic improvisations fall into the classic stride format, this in honour of Fats Waller and James P. Johnson. The world will miss the great Oscar!

Blues in G – Oscar Peterson – Count Basie 1974 Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (15 August 1925 – 23 December 2007) He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, and was therefore a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years. We see Oscar in this wonderful clip together with pianist Count Basie play a slow improvised blues in the key of G. You notice the mutual admiration and enjoyment of these two giants for each other. This was recorded in 1974 in a concert in Prague.

Royal Garden Blues – Count Basie Oscar Peterson 1974 After several solo pieces Oscar Peterson invites another pianist to join him. In his introduction Oscar states that this man has had a great influence on his playing. Who is it. No less than Count Basie Oscar Peterson and Count Basie are backed up by bass player Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. This was recorded in 1974 in Prague. The film crew did a fantastic job. Can you imagine having a seat in a chair next to Oscar, count and Niels and be able to get the full impact of these magic jazz masters?

Mack The Knife - Oscar Peterson 1974 This is a duo performance by Oscar Peterson together with one of his favourite bass players Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. This was recorded in 1974 in Prague. The film crew did a fantastic job. Can you imagine having a seat in a chair next to Oscar and Niels and be able to get the full impact of these two magic jazz masters? I’m always totally taken that even on the small section of the computer screen one can get the full musical impact, particularily if one connects the computer sound output via an amplifier into top notch speakers or headphones. Just to watch and listen to these giants through the best possible sound reproduction makes it worth investing in such equipment. I did and it has been worth every penny.

I Love You - Oscar Peterson 1974 Oscar Peterson is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest piano players of all time.His virtuosity and command of the piano have routinely stunned audiences worldwide for almost 60 years. Norman Granz heard Oscar Peterson for the first on a "live local" broadcast in Montreal in a cab to the airport. He turned around invited him to New York. At the age of 24 Oscar Peterson stunned Carnegie Hall in 1949 and began a prolific jazz career in the next year. In the early seventies he met a young bassist from Denmark. Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen joined Oscar on many of his concert tours and together they recorded more than 50 albums This clip was recorded in Prague in 1974. One hears the incredible togetherness and of course the skill and talent of these two master improvisors. One can say that Oscar, now not yet 50, was in the prime of his career with his creative and technical command at an all time high. Pedersen on bass had not even reached the age of 30 yet. Just watch them. Unbelievable musicians, both of them

Thank You - Dave Brubeck Dave Brubeck already recorded this tune in 1958, but here we have a performance from the late nineties by his new wonderful quartet. After Brubeck’s introduction alto sax player Bobby Militello plays a solo that gets hotter by the minute. From Brubeck’s grin of surprise and satisfaction one notices that something special is happening. Then the mood changes completely and in the piano part there is this lovely Chopin like music coming through. A great composition played in utter extremes, totally magic! From a Jazz Festival in Europa Park in Germany. Dave Brubeck piano, Bobby Militello alto sax, Jack Six bass and Randy Jones drums

Rosetta - Okanagan Swing 2007 Yesterday during a rehearsal I brought my small Sony camcorder to our rehearsal. I had not done any music filming for many years so I thought to try it out on our rhythm group. I was amazed by the pick-up quality of the Sony TRV460 with the optical 20x zoomlens. The band played well, so I thought why not give it a youtube/daily motion try. Pianist Don Ross from Kelowna is on piano, Randy Millan from Vernon on guitar, our new bass player Bernie Addington just settled here from Vancouver and Bill Lowden on drums ( Jazzbobill) from Westbank give Earl “Fatha” Hines’ Rosetta a try. We all live in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, Please check it out, you might decide to move! http://www.okanagan.com/ Bob

Perdido - Ben Webster and Oscar Peterson 1973. Somewhere in Germany tenor saxophonist Ben Webster was videotaped with the Oscar Peterson trio. With Oscar on piano are Niels Henning Orsted Petersen and drummer Tony Inzalaco Ben Webster is without question one of the music’s immortals. He did not originate a style or spearhead a period of radical change; but his magnetic tenor saxophone playing moved listeners as deeply as the work of any other artist on his or any other instrument. Intensity and honesty were the hallmarks of Webster’s music from his early days in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. During the Twenties and Thirties, he gained fame as a major Coleman Hawkins disciple and one of jazz’s premier hot soloists through his work with the big bands of Bennie Moten, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, and others; and while his uptempo brilliance continued to be displayed after he joined Duke Ellington in 1940 on classics like "Cotton Tail," the Ducal environment and nightly exposure to alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges brought out a ballad mastery in Webster that continued to blossom in the Fifties, when he made a series of recordings for Verve. Appreciation of Webster’s work has only grown since his passing in 1973. Excerpted from Bob Blumenthal’s notes to Ultimate Ben Webster

Avalon - Teddy Wilson with DSC 1976 In 1the seventies pianist Teddy Wilson recorded several LP’s with the Dutch Swing College. Therefore it was a real pleasure to receive a film from a jazz friend in Germany of a filmed concert in Austria in 1976. Clarinetist Bob Kaper has always been a fan of Benny Goodman. Next to the Dutch Swing College he runs his own group called the Flashback Quartet who play many of the Goodman arrangements. So it is no wonder when Teddy Wilson did a concert with the band that one of these Goodman quartet tunes was being played. Bob swings just as hard as Goodman but still has his own sound. In the end they pick up on the standard Goodman arranged end. Wonderful job, Bob!