If you want classical stuff that sounds like movie sountracks, I suggest you check out Michael Nyman and Philip Glass.
I personally like all Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Ravel piano music.
If you enjoy classical piano music, solo piano music, rich and soulful vocals, youthful swing dance music, soothing soft jazz music, and a collection of soft rock music, we invite you to peruse the collected works of Fred Potvin, pianist extraordinaire. He is not simply a piano musician, but is actually a true pianist at heart, and it is easy to see just how dedicated he truly is to creating delightful music to be appreciated by people of all ages.
not strictly piano, but classically trained Rick Wakeman is probably one of the best keyboard players on the planet. Hasn't put out an album in quite a while now. Don't know what he's doing.
Probably know of the mega-group YES. He was the keyboardist. Put out at list 6 of his own albums.
I was just gonna say, The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Rick Wakeman has some incredible music.
well to pour cold water on the piano you could try Gil Dech with " Rememberence " and "Robins Return" truly awful!!!!!
They used to play it on the request sessions years ago and unlike good wine it has'nt aged well
If you like jazz, Brad Meldau is great. He has solos plus with his trio. But you can't beat Oscar Peterson for some of the best jazz piano ever. Ellis Marsalis also plays great jazz piano, many times with his famous sons, Winston and Branford.
I have a newfound respect for you, Judy. Mehldau is great -- I have one called Places which I like a lot.
Vince Guaraldi sounds good this time of year, but all the Charlie Brown stuff aside, he was a capable West Coast pianist and could swing like mad.
Dave Brubeck - Jazz Goes to College ("Souk" is an AMAZING piece of pianism!)
Herbie Hancock, Jacky Terrasson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Simon Nabatov, Andrew Hill... Monk, of course. I could go on for days.
Originally posted by Zigomar:
Keith Jarret anytime.
Few people realize Jarrett's a capable classical pianist as well. I absolutely love his reading of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues.
I'm also a fan of others already mentioned: Liz Story, Susan Ciani, David Lanz, Rick Wakeman...
Also: for some incredible Classical Oriented Rock piano, listen to the album "Emerson Lake and Palmer" (group and album name). I love those old ELP albums, but the other day I listed to that one while working, and it dawned on me how much of it is mainly piano.
And then there's Renaissance (the one with Annie Haslam). I can't think offhand which is the best intro to them and piano, but if you start with Prelude, you can't go wrong.
Oh, almost forgot some jazz greats: Chic Corea, Keith Jarret!
Concerts, Rhapsodies, etc (these are usually for piano & orchestra):
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 - The first six videos in the playlist. This one's truly epic when you listen beginning to end, but both the 2nd and 3rd movements are masterpieces by themselves (I listed them in the "slow" and "fast" sections above as well).
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 - The whole playlist. I personally like the intro a lot, the rest not so much... but others love the whole thing.
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue This is a lot of fun, and you definitely know it. Also has plenty of piano-only versions, with anything from one to four pianos.
Links are to YouTube videos and playlists. I'll keep updating this post as I think of more.
