Results for "piano"

Makoto Ozone

Born: March 25, 1961

Born and raised in Kobe, Japan (on March 25, 1961) Ozone was playing the blues organ by age four, the product of a jazz organist father and the musically rich environment he was brought up in. It was an Oscar Peterson concert that turned him on the piano at the age of twelve. The talents of the legendary pianist caught the young boy by total surprise and inspired him to tackle the instrument himself. It is with special pleasure then to hear that the very same Oscar Peterson regards Ozone as an "outstanding pianist. Firt of all, his trechnique is extraordinary. And secondly, there isn't an ounce of waste to his performance

Junko Onishi

Born: April 16, 1967

Junko Onishi - pianist Debuting as a recognized young virtuoso, Junko Onishi, made a splash on the New York scene after coming out of Berklee in 1989, and by 1993 had recorded with some of the top tier jazz men primarily Kenny Garrett and had a solid effort out as leader with her debut “Cruisin.” Ms. Onishi by 1994 did a double set recording “Live At The Village Vanguard,” (Blue Note) which was well received and showed what she is capable of in a live setting at a legendary venue. She was backed on these sessions by bassist Reginald Veal and drummer Herlin Riley. In 1995 she released “Piano Quintet Suite,” again for Blue Note in which she was accompanied by trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, alto sax man Elichi Hayashi, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Tony Rabeson

Johnny O'Neal

Born: October 10, 1956

In the Hollywood film “Ray,” Ray Charles, played by Jamie Foxx, goes to a nightclub to see legendary Toledo jazz pianist Art Tatum played by Johnny O’Neal. During filming, O’Neal played three or four songs, although only one “Yesterdays” made it to the silver screen. “That was a real honor for me, and for Toledo audiences, to play the part of Tatum—one of the greatest pianists ever.” A lot of people asked Johnny what Tatum record he was playing along with. “I was playing live! That was me,” he said. Following the success of “Ray”, the Ray Charles Band asked Johnny to take the piano chair for its major venue tour in 2005

St. Louis Jimmy Oden

Born: June 26, 1903

Blues pianist and composer St. Louis Jimmy was born James Burke Oden on June 26, 1903, in Nashville, Tennessee. He moved to St. Louis in 1917, where he performed and picked up his name. Along with fellow pianist Roosevelt Sykes, he moved to Chicago in 1932. Oden recorded regularly during the 1930s and 1940s, scoring a big blues hit with "Going Down Slow" for Bluebird in 1941. This song alone has become an enduring blues classic and has been covered countless times over. His most sustained success was as a songwriter during the post war years in Chicago, where he was supplying songs to a range of artists, from Muddy Waters and Little Walter to Otis Spann and others

Bill O'Connell

After a 40-year long career that has seen him excel as a leader, soloist, arranger, musical director, and accompanist for some of the most celebrated names in jazz and Latin music, Bill O’Connell can lay claim to a track record of challenging and artistic-diverse triumphs that few of his peers can match. As a recording artist, his 13 dates as a leader have drawn universal critical acclaim while his talents as a pianist and arranger have been tapped by a diverse range of noted soloists to elevate their sessions. Today, as both a respected educator and leader of The Latin Jazz All-Stars, O’Connell’s professional life brims with new opportunities to express and fulfill his singular music vision. O’Connell was born in New York City on August 22, 1953

Hod O'Brien

Born: January 19, 1936

There are jazz legends and then there are the “underground of the jazz renowned” – those who, although not as well known to the general public, are hailed by critics, revered by their legendary peers, influential upon younger players and sought after by collectors and cognoscenti. Hod O'Brien is one of these.
 Hod O’Brien is one of these quiet-and-true jazz giants. He burst upon the scene in the late 50s when he came to New York City from his hometown in the Berkshire Mountains of Northwest Connecticut near Lenox, Mass. and Tanglewood. He soon became part of the “loft scene” jamming with other bop-influenced players like Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz, to name a few

Walter Norris

Born: December 27, 1931

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 27, 1931, Norris first studied piano at home with his mother, then with John Summers, a local church organist. His first professional performances were with the Howard Williams Band in and around Little Rock during his junior high and high school years. After graduating from high school, Norris played briefly with Mose Allison, then did a two-year tour in the US Air Force. After his time in the Air Force, Norris played with Jimmy Ford in Houston, Texas, then moved to Los Angeles where he became an integral part of the West Coast Jazz scene. While in Los Angeles, he played on Jack Sheldon's first album and on Ornette Coleman's first album, Something Else! The Music of Ornette Coleman (1958) for Contemporary Records. In 1960, Norris relocated to New York City and formed a trio with guitarist Billy Bean and bassist Hal Gaylor, and the group made one album

Mike Nock

Born: September 27, 1940

Mike Nock’s career has spanned a broad range of contemporary musical styles and he is widely recognised as an important voice in Australian modern music. Based in Sydney since 1986, he previously spent 25 years in the USA, working with many of the world’s top jazz artists. His compositions include orchestral music, woodwind / percussion ensembles, electronic / choral works etc., and have been recorded and performed by a range of jazz & non-jazz performers. Attracting many awards and honours over his lengthy career in 2014 he was awarded the Don Banks Music Award, the most valuable individual music award in Australia. In 2009 he was inducted into the Bell Awards Australian Jazz Hall of Fame and in 2003 presented with the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). In 2010 a biography of Mike’s life and career was published: Serious Fun: The Life and Music of Mike Nock

Herbie Nichols

Born: January 3, 1919

Herbie Nichols is a perennially neglected jazz pianist and composer. He recorded less than half of his 170 compositions on three classic trio albums for Blue Note and one for Bethlehem before dying of leukemia at the age of 43 in 1963. He is often compared to Thelonious Monk, and his piano playing and compositions certainly do have some of the harmonic angularity people associate with Monk. But he had a very distinctive sound of his own, more melancholy and, for lack of a better word, poetic than Monk in many ways. In fact, Nichols was something of a poet, as the titles to his tunes suggest

Phineas Newborn, Jr.

Born: December 14, 1931

Phineas Newborn, Jr. was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell. Newborn came from a musical family with his father being a blues musician and his brother (Edwin) Calvin Newborn (born April 27, 1933) being a jazz guitarist. Phineas studied piano as well as trumpet, and tenor and baritone saxophone. Newborn first played in an R&B band led by his father (Phineas Newborn, Sr.), a drummer and with Tuff Green and his brother before moving on to work with Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, and others. His earliest recordings were with blues harmonica player Big Walter Horton. From 1956 he began to perform in New York City, making his first album as a leader in that year