there are, of course, many incredible technical players out there (and most of 'em are jazz & classical players). i could think about this for quite a while, but i'll just jump to the things that immediately come to mind... steve nieve of EC&the attractions - hands down, my favorite. has anyone ever heard any of his solo work? this guy can play anything. that tour he & EC did as a duet was pretty staggering, especially when they played the piano-driven version of 'watching the detectives'. cyrus chesnut - haven't heard any of his solo work (tho it's been well-reviewed), but i saw him in betty carter's band 5 or 6 times and he was quite something. his playing on her album 'it's not about the melody' is sweeeet, one of my favorite jazz albums ever. i don't know the name, but whoever plays on eric clapton's 'unplugged' album - the thing i like best about that record is the piano. stevie wonder & kate bush get complete adoration for using-the-keyboard-for-everything. kate can be very complex, but the beautiful simplicity of the piano track on 'moments of pleasure' is to die for. gregg allman is a fabulous blues organ player, especially live-jammin'. bob dylan - i've always been a sucker for his very basic, very rolly r&r piano playing. nina simone is worth a mention for the riff she plays on her cover of leonard cohen's 'suzanne'. there's been a lot of exquisite piano work on many van morrison albums, and i love the piano in the song 'aryan mist' (don't know if i spelled that right). jacky terrason's work with cassandra wilson was great, and whoever she had playing with her on her last tour was just fabulous. hoagie carmichael - i love his playing in "to have and have not", my favorite part of the movie (you know, the movie where betty tells bogie to whistle). i LOVE piano! in fact, i think one of the things that i really love about joni's guitar playing is that it has a real piano feel... barbara np: brian blade, perpetual
