Eyeball wrote:Haydn wrote:
But I didn't know all these were pianists too:
Nat King Cole
Earl Hines
James P Johnson
Willie "The Lion" Smith
Jess Stacy
Teddy Wilson
OK - I am curious. How long have you been listening/involved with this type of music?
I pared the list down and these are 6 acknowledged masters of the instrument; Jazz piano legends and I am really surprised that you have not known they played piano.
Are there other bandleaders that you do not know what instrument they played?
fwiw - of that list of 6, only Hines would be thought of immediately as being a "bandleader".
You know, sometimes one person says something and others seize on some aspect of what they've said and then use this as a stick to beat them with, and instead of opening up the 'discussion', it can easily become a battle of egos
. Thank you for your comment and allow me to clarify.
I listen to classic 1930s and 1940s swing all the time, and recently I've started to notice the piano more. I noticed that the piano often really helps a piece swing, as in 'Bearcat Shuffle' or 'The Goon Drag'.
When I did a bit of research, I was surprised at how
many bandleaders were also pianists. Of the ones I've listed, I knew that Basie, Ellington, Waller, Hines, James P Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Jess Stacy and Teddy Wilson were pianists. I'd forgotten that Nat King Cole and Claude Hopkins were. I didn't know that Fletcher Henderson and Horace Henderson were pianists - I knew them as arrangers and bandleaders. Edgar Hayes I knew as the leader of a fabulous late 1930s black band, but not as the pianist in his band. Buddy Johnson I knew as the leader of the band that played at the Savoy Ballroom in the 1940s, and released great hits like 'Walk 'em' and 'Be Careful If You Can't Be Good', but I didn't know he played the piano in his band. Sammy Price - knew some of his records, didn't know he was a pianist. Adrian Rollini from the early 1930s - love some of his band's music, but didn't know he was a pianist. I was surprised at how many of these musicians were pianists. As we are on the subject, I'll add a few more:
Alex Hill
Jelly Roll Morton
Art Tatum
Claude Thornhill
Clarence Williams
Mary Lou Williams
I'm sure I've missed quite a few as well.
In 1930s swing the piano seems to be interwoven into the music. Trumpets, saxophones and trombones seem to either play 'hey, listen to me' solos or collective bursts of section 'colour'. But the piano just sits there, quietly knitting things together. Perhaps it's the 'percussive nature' of the piano itself (a series of cushioned hammers hitting strings) that distinguishes the piano and makes it good for swing.
Eyeball wrote:Nat King Cole
Earl Hines
James P Johnson
Willie "The Lion" Smith
Jess Stacy
Teddy Wilson
OK - I am curious. How long have you been listening/involved with this type of music?
I pared the list down and these are 6 acknowledged masters of the instrument; Jazz piano legends and I am really surprised that you have not known they played piano.
Are there other bandleaders that you do not know what instrument they played?
I've been listening to this type of music for about 4 years. Of those 6, I forgot that Nat King Cole was a pianist, I knew the others were. I've grown up to know Nat King Cole mainly as a 'crooner' vocalist, not a pianist. And he's not one of the first names I think of in 1930s and 1940s classic swing (compared to Basie, Shaw, Ellington, Miller, Dorsey etc).
I'm sure I don't know which instrument a lot of bandleaders play. The important thing to me is the music, not who plays what. When I looked up Fletcher Henderson, most of what is written talks about his arranging and his bands; his piano playing is hardly mentioned. But I guess it is interesting to know which instruments people played as well, and I suppose it can help you discover more about their history and their music.
