Tord Gustavsen, a jazz pianist for a few years has been a renowned personality of the Norwegian music. He has been a pilar of many projects involving some best Norwegian musicians, such as: Silje Nergaard, Siri Gjare, Kristin Asbjornsen, or Live Maria Roggen. He shows an ability to combine history of jazz with Nordic ambience and lyrical beauty, which has an intriguing influence on contemporary jazz scene.
In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz, original Jazz Warrior, and veteran jazz double bassist, Gary Crosby turned a musical concept into a joyful reality. Gary
Abdullah Ibrahim (born 1934, Cape Town, South Africa), formerly known as Adolph Johannes Brand, and as Dollar Brand (from a popular brand of cigarettes), is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. He first received piano lessons at the age of seven, was an avid consumer of jazz records brought by American sailors, and was playing jazz professionally by 1949.
Sun Ra (1914
Marilyn Crispell is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied classical piano and composition, and has been a resident of Woodstock, New York since 1977 when she came to study and teach at the Creative Music Studio. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and other contemporary jazz players and composers. For ten years she was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet and the Reggie Workman Ensemble and has been a member of the Barry Guy New Orchestra and guest with his London Jazz Composers Orchestra...
The Play Bach Trio (also credited on releases as Jacques Loussier Trio), was a Third Stream jazz piano trio that became known for their Jazz interpretations of European classical music. The Play Bach Trio was formed in 1959 by pianist Jacques Loussier, bass player Pierre Michelot, and percussionist Christian Garros. They reworked mostly Baroque music, in particular by Johann Sebastian Bach, to fit their own style and instruments.
Laurent De Wilde, the Mid-Atlantic piano player of the year, is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure. This school and a few others like it are called Les Grandes Ecoles and they are comparable to the Ivy League. They produce the elite in this country. And so it seemed appropriate to ask De Wilde: "What's a nice guy like you doing in a métier like this?" He replied with a very American have-a-nice-day croon: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA) is an American pianist and composer. He is considered one of the most important jazz pianists, renowned for his elaborate solo improvisations. He began piano lessons at the age of two and played for the first time on stage at the age of seven. In 1962 he played a self-composed two-hour concert, without the benefit of any prior formal instruction in orchestration or composition.
