jazz piano

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.

Mehldau plays original compositions, jazz standards and jazz arrangements of popular music, especially rock music. With his trio, he has recorded arrangements of the music of Nick Drake, The Beatles, Radiohead and Paul Simon. Mehldau has a distinct talent for transforming these ‘Rock’ songs in such a way that they sound as if they were Jazz Standards in the first place. He is best known as leader of the Brad Mehldau Trio, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummers Jorge Rossy and Jeff Ballard (who succeeded Rossy in 2005).

Jack DeJohnette (b. 1942) is an American jazz drummer and pianist. DeJohnette was born in Chicago, Illinois. Besides the drums, he studied the piano, which he plays on several recordings. He first became known as a member of Charles Lloyd's band, a band that Keith Jarrett also was a part of at that time. From 1969 to 1972 he played with Miles Davis and recorded many albums for ECM as both leader and sideman.