History of the Jazz Piano

The history of the jazz piano starts in 1899. By my count, 20 pianists changed the direction of jazz over the course of 75 years. Here are 20 sample tracks in chronological order of those pianists. Listen for how the the piano evolves over time—the right hand, the left hand, the feel and the bounce

Here's Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Registered in 1899 as the Original Rag, Joplin's playing was preserved on a player-piano roll. With the popularity of John Philip Sousa in the late 1800s, piano rags emulated the 2/4 tempo of marching bands, with the left hand assuming the role of the Sousapone...



Here's Jelly Roll Morton's Jelly Roll Blues. It was published in 1915 and is considered the first published jazz composition. With this song, the piano began to emulate the jazz orchestra...



Here's James P. Johnson playing his Harlem Strut in 1921, which illustrates the New York stride sound. With the rise of dance, the left hand began jumping around prominently in the bass clef and operated a swagger or stride...



Here's Fats Waller's masterful solo stride piano in 1922 on Birmingham Blues. The bass notes here don't jump nearly as far as Johnon's and instead operate almost like an upright bass...



Here's Duke Ellington's Black and Tan Fantasy in 1928, giving the the keyboard more elegance and less speakeasy stride in the left hand...



Here's the spectacular Art Tatum, a blind solo pianist who treated the keyboard almost like a harp, loading in as many notes and conversational elements as possible. This is Tiger Rag in 1932...



Here's Teddy Wilson, who was the first to start playing the piano with a modern flair. Rather than deploying a rigid stride or stride-influenced left hand, his right hand did all the work with the left hand functioning in single notes and in chords almost as a bassist. This is Somebody Love Me in 1934...



Here's Count Basie in 1936 on his first record date playing Lady Be Good with his sextet, which included tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Basie was the master of keyboard minimalism and the king of Kansas City swing. With the advent of the swing era, the piano began to play a more prominent role in keeping dancers on the floor...



Here's Earl “Fatha" Hines in 1939. Hines's style was loaded with modern harmony and complex voicings among a chord's notes. His dexterity is simply extraordinary. Even today, he is considered one of jazz's most influential players. This is The Father's Getaway...



Here's Thelonious Monk playing April in Paris in 1947. Monk's fractured approach to the keyboard combined Cubist abstraction and lush bebop. With the dance era over, Monk set the pace for modernism, approaching the piano as a guitar, leaving gaps of space and mashing in sly touches of earlier piano styles...



Here's Bud Powell in 1949 playing his composition Celia. Powell was the godfather of bop piano, and his impeccable time, spirited improvisational runs and flourishes resulted in a style that was a massive influence on virtually every pianist who followed—black and white, East and West coasts...



Here's Horace Silver in 1952 playing his composition Horace-scope. Silver was influenced by Powell but he brought a new jaunty funk to his playing while his works like this one were distincly fresh and original and rooted in gospel...



Here's Ahmad Jamal in 1952 playing Gal in Calico. Jamal's spare bass lines and twinkling right hand in the upper register was enormously engaging. Most important, he was a huge influence on Miles Davis in the 1950s, who urged Red Garland to play like him. Though Davis knew how great Jamal was, the pianist was largely overlooked because critics found him too light. A rare instance in jazz history when virtually all of the jazz writers were wrong...



Here's Sonny Clark playing Tadd Dameron's Tadd's Delight in 1957. Clark's classic trio sound and rich sensitivity in his attack not to mention his conversational approach with his bass players and drummers had a profound influence on Bill Evans...



Here's Bobby Timmons in 1960 playing his composition Dat Dere. Timmons's church approach launched soul jazz...



Here's Bill Evans in 1961 live at the Village Vanguard playign his own Waltz for Debby with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums. Evans's hyper-sensitivity and arranger's mindset when choosing and improvising on songs revolutionized the piano's role. Not only did the piano, bass and drums interact as equals but Evans combined swing and bop with classical elements to create a poetic melancholy that produced chord voicings that still resonate with fans...



Here's McCoy Tyner in 1962 playing his own Inception. Best known as John Colrane's pianist, Tyner brought a muscular storminess to his playing through drone-like modal chords and scales. Tyner's roiling approach makes you feel as if you're in a canoe being rocked front and back...



Here's Cecil Taylor in 1966 playing Conquistador. Taylor influenced a generation of players exploring abstraction and free jazz. Thought his approach take some getting used to, once you hear what he's doing and how he's building his songs, it all clicks into place...



As beautiful as Herbie Hancock's playing was as a leader and sideman in the 1960s, it wasn't until his electric band leadership albums in the 1970s and '80s that he became a major force with a new, younger generation of players. Here's Sly in 1973 with Hancock on multiple keyboards...



Here's Chick Corea in 1975 on No Mystery. Corea's playing on electronic keyboards could be bombastic and delicate, and came across as glowing sonic curtains. His playing in his band, Return to Forever, helped launch psychedelic jazz fusion in the 1970s...