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Historical Influences
Art Tatum
Art Tatum (1909-1956) played the piano with amazing dexterity and to this date, there are few, if any pianists that can match his technical abilities. Tatum was a product of swing music and the stride piano style that was pioneered by pianists such as Earl "Fatha" Hines, James P. Johnson and "Fats" Waller . Tatum essentially took the art of stride piano to a new level, laying the ground work for modern pianists to follow. Tatum's playing can be described as a summary of jazz music up until about 1940. Tatum, who was originally from Ohio, performed in both New York City and throughout the midwest where he was discovered and later returned in the 1930's. Art Tatum is like the line that is drawn between the "old" and "new" as it relates to the development of jazz music. This is because that everyone after him seemed to serve the purpose of modernizing jazz music to a more technical and theoretical language. Art Tatum provided some of this motivation and frame work for what was to come in jazz music.
             
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) is arguably the musician most responsible for the evolution of modern jazz music the way it is perceived today. Monk's contribution not only to modern jazz harmonic concepts but to the standard jazz repetoire is unparallel to any other musician. His unorthodox lifestyle and approach to playing the piano was ultimately what earned his celebrity, however after his music had time to soak in amongst listeners and musicians alike, he earned a reputation that would far exceed his death in 1982. Monk recorded for virtually every major jazz recording label throughout his career including Blue Note, Columbia, Riverside and Prestige. Monk operated within the same circle as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Bud Powell in New York thus, he was equally responsible for the development of be-bop that was exploding on the scene in the late 1940's.
                     
Bud Powell
Bud Powell (1924-1966) is generally mentioned as the most important figure to the development of modern jazz music along with the pianist, Thelonious Monk. Bud Powell's story is tragic, yet very intriguing. He suffered from mental illness for the majority of his career, much of which was provoked by an incident in which he was severely beaten by New York City police officers in the 1940's. Powell underwent shock treatment after this incident which also had a long term effect on his memory and physical condition. However, Powell is credited with adapting the be-bop language of Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie for the piano. Powell recorded for Blue Note and Mercury records in the late throughout the span of his relatively short career, playing with "Fats" Navarro, Art Blakey, Oscar Pettiford, and a young Miles Davis to name a few. When Bud Powell went to Paris in the late 1950's, befriended Francis Paudras who later wrote a biography of Powell entitled Dance of the Infidels. Paudras' story is also reflected in the 1986 film, Round Midnight.
       
Hank Jones
Hank Jones (1918) is a jazz pianist and one of the last living jazz legends. Since 1950, he has recorded dozens of albums as a band leader and has performed with everyone from Nancy Wilson and Ella Fitzgerald to Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery. Jones is very fluent and graceful at the piano, a characteristic that likely landed him plentiful work with vocalists. Jones has been nominated for several grammy awards for solo and group work over the years in the jazz category.
     
Red Garland
Red Garland (1923-1984) was a pianist whose career spanned from the mid- 1940's to the early 1980's. His famous block chord technique laidthe ground work for many pianists who would later imitate and expand onthis approach. Other pianists who are known to have expanded on thistechnique are Bill Evan's and George Shearing. Red Garland continuedto expand on the capabilities of the right hand improvised line,something that pianist Bud Powell seemed to define slightly beforeGarland. Garland had a very "bluesy" approach to his improvisation,while still incorporating the be-bop language that many players in the1940's and 1950's preferred. In essence, Garland's right handimprovisational technique resembled that of a jazz horn player. Thisstyle amongst jazz pianists quickly became the "norm" and is still thepredominate approach that you hear today. Although Garland worked withsome of the most important figures in jazz, he was most known for hiswork in Miles Davis' first quintet in the 1950's that featured John Coltrane on tenor sax, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones ondrums. This rhythm section later became Garland's primary set up inhis later trio recordings. Garland worked as a side man on some ofMiles Davis' most historical albums; "Workin," "Cookin" and "Relaxin,"all of which were recorded in the mid 1950's.
        
Tommy Flanagan
Tommy Flanagan (1930-2001) was from Detroit, MI, an area that during the 1950's was becoming known for producing some very competent musicians. Others include Hank Jones and Kenny Burrel. Aside from the geographical similarities, there are characteristics one recognizes when comparing Hank Jones and Flanagan. Perhaps this is partially due to the fact that both pianists regularly worked with vocalists. Flanagan, who was best known for working as the pianist for Ella Fitzgerald, had the technical command of most pianists, used it wisely and appropriately. This is a trait that Hank Jones possesses as well. Flanagan can be heard on John Coltrane's album, Giant Steps, and album that is arguably the most important album in John Coltrane's career as a band leader and soloist. Throughout his career, Flanagan recorded a number of albums with his trio, as a sideman and as a soloist. Like Hank Jones, Flanagan was nominated for two grammy awards later in his career.
   
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly (1931-1971) was a Jamaican born pianist, and yet another who was best known for his work with Miles Davis, particularly on the album Kind of Blue where he replaced Bill Evans on Davis' tune, Freddie Freeloader. Kelly's style was similar to that of Red Garland's however he seemed to have a more sophisticated harmonic approach and a bit more dexterity when it came to his right hand lines. His contribution should not go unrecognized as he not only worked as a side man with many historical jazz figures, but also recorded several important albums as a band leader. In addition to Miles Davis, Kelly performed and recorded with Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, John Coltrane, Dinah Washington, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley and Betty Carter.
   
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