conscience

I was watching THE FIRM the other night and it has one of the greatest up beat, but mellow piano scores.

I am looking for any recs. on upbeat, but mellow type of piano music --- with a little blues/jazz mixed in.

I loved The Firm score and hopefully will be picking it up. I hope I can find it.

Any recommendations?

eXcentris

Might as well start with the best jazz piano solo performance ever:

Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert

Recorded in 1975 at the Köln Opera House and released the same year, this disc has, along with its revelatory music, some attendant cultural baggage that is unfair in one sense: Every pot-smoking and dazed and confused college kid -- and a few of the more sophisticated ones in high school -- owned this as one of the truly classic jazz records, along with Bitches Brew, Kind of Blue, Take Five, A Love Supreme, and something by Grover Washington Jr. Such is cultural miscegenation. It also gets unfairly blamed for creating George Winston, but that's another story. What Keith Jarrett had begun a year before on the Solo Concerts album and brought to such gorgeous flowering here was nothing short of a miracle. With all the tedium surrounding jazz-rock fusion, the complete absence on these shores of neo-trad anything, and the hopelessly angry gyrations of the avant-garde, Jarrett brought quiet and lyricism to revolutionary improvisation. Nothing on this program -- so ideally suited to CD -- was considered before he sat down to play. All of the gestures, intricate droning harmonies, skittering and shimmering melodic lines, and whoops and sighs from the man are spontaneous. Although it was one continuous concert, the piece is divided into four sections, largely because it had to be divided for double LP. But from the moment Jarrett blushes his opening chords and begins meditating on harmonic invention, melodic figure construction, glissando combinations, and occasional ostinato phrasing, music changed. For some listeners it changed forever in that moment. For others it was a momentary flush of excitement, but it was change, something so sorely needed and begged for by the record-buying public. Jarrett's intimate meditation on the inner workings of not only his pianism, but also the instrument itself and the nature of sound and how it stacks up against silence, involved listeners in its search for beauty, truth, and meaning. The concert swings with liberation from cynicism or the need to prove anything to anyone ever again. With this album, Jarrett put himself in his own league, and you can feel the inspiration coming off him in waves. This may have been the album every stoner wanted in his collection "because the chicks dug it." Yet it speaks volumes about a musician and a music that opened up the world of jazz to so many who had been excluded, and offered the possibility -- if only briefly -- of a cultural, aesthetic optimism, no matter how brief that interval actually was. This is a true and lasting masterpiece of melodic, spontaneous composition and improvisation that set the standard. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

palebluedot

My favorites.


Bill Evans - An astounding player...probably my favorite. I suggest the album "You Must Believe In Spring".

Oscar Peterson - Can't really go worng with this guy. Been around forever. If you have the money I suggest you pick up the 4 CD set "Exclusively For My Friends".

Bud Powell - Pick up "Bouncing With Bud" and "The Amazing Bud Powell 1 & 2". Amazing was an understatement for this guy.

Benny Green - I like Benny Green a lot lately. Green came out of the young talented group like Diana Krall and Joshua Redman (I think they were all in school together). No particular album suggestion for Green...but so far most of it is good.

Those are a few in the style you are looking for.

eXcentris

All excellent recommendations by palebluedot. Peterson, Evans, Powell, Wynton Kelly, and McCoy Tyner were all influential in initiating the "art of the trio" which is a classical form of jazz. This was then perpetuated by Jarrett and the likes of Chick Corea, Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton, etc... So, palebludot's choices are probably a better starting point if you want to familiarize yourself with jazz pianists. You might find Jarrett's solo improvisational works a tad "dry". Although you could always look into his trio works.

If you are looking for more "modern" stuff. One contemporary pianist stands above all others, Brad Mehldau. He is often described as the most influential jazz pianist of his generation. His influences range from Bach to Liszt, to Coltrane and Davis, and to Radiohead. You should look at his Art of the Trio (Volume I thru IV) series. Especially "Art of the Trio 4 - Back at the Vanguard".

Of course others will argue that Cuban born Gonzalo Rubalcaba is the greatest young jazz pianist in the world.

"No one in the world can touch his technique, his multicultural reach, or his deep well of soul."

Check out his best work, 1999's "Inner Voyage", described by saxophonist Michael Brecker (who guested on 2 songs) as a towering achievement.

lorenzoh

I second the suggestions from palebluedot and eXcentris. I would add Vince Guaraldi, Chucho Valdez and early George Winston's bluesy stuff.

conscience

Thanks guys! I will check all of these out and see what catches me...which they probably all will.

ViewAskewbian

Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane (****)

Herbie Hancock: Madian Voyage

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If you wanted to get more Jazzy/Classical: George Gershwin Rhapsody In Blue

LurkerDan

Damn, I read the title, thought well, obviously I have to post Keith Jarrett, Koln Concert, open the thread, and voila...

Andalusia

Any McCoy Tyner album is a safe bet for greatness.

LurkerDan

While I love McCoy and don't disagree with you, some of his music is not very "accessible" to someone new to jazz.

devilpants

If you don't mind a little bit of blues singing, try Mose Allison. The Who covered his song "Young Man Blues".