keyboard greats post 70's ?

[Rufus]

Following on from the post 70's guitar greats thread, what keyboard players have continued to fly the flag !
To be honest i`m struggling to name 5 who I would compare to those from the 70's!
-Jordan Rudess
-Derek Sherinian
Help , i really am struggling !!!!

[Dan Roth]

Following on from the post 70's guitar greats thread, what keyboard players have continued to fly the flag !
To be honest i`m struggling to name 5 who I would compare to those from the 70's!
-Jordan Rudess
-Derek Sherinian
Help , i really am struggling !!!!

It is a tough category. I would probably include Vitalij Kuprij in there. His work with Artension and his solo albums is incredible. Michael Pinnella with Symphony X is also another good one that should be considered.

[Progbear]

Tomas Jonsson.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"'Thin Thighs For Your Man.' But I don't *like* men with thin thighs" --Daria

N.P.:“Danse pour la nouvelle alliance”-Minimum Vital/Esprit d’amor

[Rufus]

It is a tough category. I would probably include Vitalij Kuprij in there. His work with Artension and his solo albums is incredible. Michael Pinnella with Symphony X is also another good one that should be considered.

I agree, some of the keyboard players I've heard in 'symphonic metal bands' sound quite tasty i.e. those youv've mentioned & Nightwish etc. !

[dropforge]

Two right off the bat: Jens Johannson and Erik Norlander.

Gotta give props to Keiko Kumagai (Ars Nova) and Toshio Egawa (Gerard).

I know Mark Robertson played in bands before Cairo, but that's where we mainly know him from.

Jim Alcivar played some really cool stuff when he was in Gamma. His solo on "Skin and Bone" is a standout.

Rick Wakeman's sons Adam and Oliver can rip it up, too.

[Rufus]

Two right off the bat: Jens Johannson and Erik Norlander.

Gotta give props to Keiko Kumagai (Ars Nova) and Toshio Egawa (Gerard).

I know Mark Robertson played in bands before Cairo, but that's where we mainly know him from.

Jim Alcivar played some really cool stuff when he was in Gamma. His solo on "Skin and Bone" is a standout.

Rick Wakeman's sons Adam and Oliver can rip it up, too.

Good call !

[bigbassdrum]

Midge Ure (edit - not uri - d'oh!)
Howard Jones
Thomas Dolby
Tom Bailey
Hiromi

[Ken Baird]

Tom Brislin
Martin Orford
Eric Norlander

I'm sure there are plenty more, I'll post 'em when I can think of 'em, but they come to mind

[Ken Baird]

Midge Uri
Howard Jones
Thomas Dolby
Tom Bailey
Hiromi

Agree that Howard Jones is an amazing player even though he's known for his simpler songs. Thomas Dolby also seems pretty adept although I haven't heard that much of his work to be honest. I should check him out.

I haven't heard Hiromi and I'm not sure the other two could be considered "keyboard greats" although they did good work, it seems to me the thread is looking for "showy" keyboard players that like to strut their chops. I can't think of any difficult-to-play parts from Tom Bailey or Midge Uri. Good synth players but not standout/ not Rick Wakemans of their day!

[GuitarGeek]

I can't think of any difficult-to-play parts from Tom Bailey or Midge Uri (sic). Good synth players but not standout/ not Rick Wakemans of their day!

I thought we were talking about "great keyboardists", not "keyboardists who played difficult-to-play parts". Those two things aren't necessarily the same thing. There's a lot of great music that takes virtually no time at all to figure out how to play.

Personally, I think Tom Bailey's playing on some of the Thompson Twins stuff was brilliant. Doctor Doctor and If You Were Here come quickly to mind.

BTW, I assume "Midge Uri" is supposed to be Midge Ure, from the band Ultravox. I rather like the keyboard parts on the Vienna, though I'm not sure how much of it is Midge and how much it is Billy Currie.

I'd also mention my perennial favorite synth pop band Freur. There were three different people credited with playing keyboards on the Doot Doot album, but I think there's some great melodies on there, and there's a great CP-70 solo on Tender Surrender.

Then there's Nick Rhodes, who played some great synth stuff on the first two Duran Duran albums.

And let's not forget Gary Numan.

As for progressive music, I'd mention Martin Offord from IQ and Mark Kelley from Marillion.

Oh, and I have to mention Bernd Kistenmacher, the German synthesist, who plays in a style similar to Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. And in the world of ambient music, there's also Steve Roach and Robert Rich.

[Ken Baird]

I thought we were talking about "great keyboardists", not "keyboardists who played difficult-to-play parts". Those two things aren't necessarily the same thing. There's a lot of great music that takes virtually no time at all to figure out how to play.

Personally, I think Tom Bailey's playing on some of the Thompson Twins stuff was brilliant. Doctor Doctor and If You Were Here come quickly to mind.

BTW, I assume "Midge Uri" is supposed to be Midge Ure, from the band Ultravox. I rather like the keyboard parts on the Vienna, though I'm not sure how much of it is Midge and how much it is Billy Currie.

I'd also mention my perennial favorite synth pop band Freur. There were three different people credited with playing keyboards on the Doot Doot album, but I think there's some great melodies on there, and there's a great CP-70 solo on Tender Surrender.

Then there's Nick Rhodes, who played some great synth stuff on the first two Duran Duran albums.

And let's not forget Gary Numan.

As for progressive music, I'd mention Martin Offord from IQ and Mark Kelley from Marillion.

Oh, and I have to mention Bernd Kistenmacher, the German synthesist, who plays in a style similar to Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. And in the world of ambient music, there's also Steve Roach and Robert Rich.

Maybe I misunderstood the thread, but I was thinking more "who's flying the flag of playing great keyboards in a virtuostic sense" I always think of great players as people that can "really play" even though there's a lot to be said for "sound crafters" and even "programmers". Great music can be very simple and doesn't need a million notes I agree, but a great guitarist or keyboard player generally suggests they're someone that "few people can touch" without a lot of effort. They know their scales and are not afraid to use them! So, with great guitarists, you generally get people like Steve Howe being mentioned as opposed to David Rhodes. While I really like what David Rhodes does with Peter Gabriel, he's generally a very subdued and simpler, more "textural" guitar player and I'm sure he's rarely mentioned as a GREAT guitarist even though his work is totally appropriate and effective, sometimes much moreso than a virtuoso player! I love that on PG albums you don't get a showy guitar player and I can thank David Rhodes for that. But....I'm sure he'd be the first to admit he's in a different playing category from people like Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Mike Oldfield etc. Mind you, he may well be able to play like those guys for all I know, but he chooses not to. I give him top marks for what he does and he'd make my personal list of guitar greats but I also recognize he's not a typical "top guitarist" kind of player. So, I don't mind if he doesn't make many lists of top players and I'm sure he wouldn't put himself in those categories either (and would lose absolutely no sleep over it because he knows he's doing a great job)

But getting back to keyboards, a lot of the above mentioned 80's players also did an awful lot of programming too which, while pretty amazing sounding on those records, I don't consider "great playing" on its own. Again though, it's entirely appropriate and effective, sometimes even moreso than having some fancy playing on there. There are also great players from the 70's (and 60's) like Rick Wright or Mike Pinder who are not "lots of notes" kinds of players at all, but I'd put them way above a lot of 80's players simply because of the sounds they made and the style they had (Pinder was an amazing arranger for example). I guess there is an argument for some of the 80's guys then, I just have a hard time with a lot of them. Even as a child of the 80's, I had to search the 70's to find keyboard heroes for the most part. I think it's the programming factor. Can Nick Rhodes actually PLAY? Truth is, I don't really know and that's the problem I have with the 80's. As Carl Palmer once said, "a lot of identity was lost in the 80's due to the programming"

Agree with Mark Kelly and would like to add Mike Lindup to the list. Bernd Kistenmacher I've not heard, will have to look into his stuff.

[bigbassdrum]

Good call on Nick Rhodes and Mike Lindup

I think of the 'programming' as being akin to 'arranging'; I love the layers of sound of the 80's keyboardists

What is tough to find is the 'soloing' keyboards after the 70's (other than the continuing artists from the 70's) . I think the 70's greats are considered great because we can hear their work featured.

How about...?
Bruce Hornsby
Gary Husband

[Scott Bails]

One guy that never seems to get mentioned in these kind of things is Neal Morse. Guy's a monster musician, IMO.

[sonic]

Trent Reznor — NIN sounds nothing like ELP, but Trent is actually a trained and gifted pianist.
Nick Cave — I always felt he had a unique and identifiable sound on the piano.

[Ken Baird]

Good call on Nick Rhodes and Mike Lindup

I think of the 'programming' as being akin to 'arranging'; I love the layers of sound of the 80's keyboardists

What is tough to find is the 'soloing' keyboards after the 70's (other than the continuing artists from the 70's) . I think the 70's greats are considered great because we can hear their work featured.

How about...?
Bruce Hornsby
Gary Husband

I love the layers of seqenced sounds too, don't get me wrong, it's just that a guitarist or bass player or drummer can do it just as well--all you need is some skill with a computer and the musical inspiration. Does that make them great keyboard players? Certainly makes for some great music though, so it doesn't matter too much since the sound can be really cool. But for this thread, that's why I was saying I'd have a hard time with the guys that mostly program rather than play as being considered "great keyboard players", surely we should say "great arrangers or even great composers", but not players. Unless of course it's coupled with some good "hands on" playing as well.

So yes, the guys that "solo" are the ones I was thinking of for the most part, but with a fair bit of notable exceptions such as for 70's Mike Pinder (one of my favourite keyboard players) or for 80's/90's/00's how about Richard Barbieri? Not a lot of solo work but great textures--come to think of it, Mark Kelly has kind of gone in that direction more often as of late as well.

But Bruce Hornsby for sure but isn't Gary Husband a drummer? You might have meant "the other guy" in level 42, Wally Badarou who played keys, produced and co-wrote on the early albums

Agree with Trent Reznor I think??? I have to be honest that I never really checked out NIN that much but it certainly looked like he was playing the crap out of the keys and it wouldn't surprise me to learn, as you say, that he's a gifted pianist--and Neal Morse, yes, the dude can play!

Hmm, thinking of the early nineties, Tori Amos is a fantastic piano player, right up there with the best from what I've heard.

Nick Cave, I've never heard him much, I didn't know he played piano even! Will have to check out

[iguana]

richard barbieri

[bigbassdrum]

... but isn't Gary Husband a drummer?

I too thought of him as just a drummer, but was suprised to hear him play piano with John McLaughlin's Fourth Dimension, and to learn that he was a pianist before picking up drumming

[Ken Baird]

I too thought of him as just a drummer, but was suprised to hear him play piano with John McLaughlin's Fourth Dimension, and to learn that he was a pianist before picking up drumming

This is great, I stand corrected!

Geez, I think I better practice

[trurl]

Well, in the area of prog and/or rock, while I don't like everything he plays I would put Jordan Rudess in the top echelon for technique. He's a monster. Jens Johansson (I'm sure I spelled that wrong but I'm too lazy to look it up right now) is pretty hellacious just in terms of speed, which does count as a form of greatness imo. Derek Sherenian is pretty darn good. But really, as far as players I love to hear? None really. The guy from Wobbler probably comes closest really. Neal has moments here and there but... meh. Don't get me started on f*king Eric Norlander. (Who is a super nice guy, for the record.)

[polmico]

Rikard from Beardfish.

And, yes, that guy from Wobbler.

[East New York]

Feel free to call me biased because I'm married to him...but I've worked with him myself and he's an absolute monster who has not just brilliant chops but exquisite soul...and there are a few other respected musos on this board who can back me up on this.

[trurl]

Dammint, I wish my wife was a member here! *lol* Yes, Matt is a definite goodern. Lest we forget he backed up Chris Squire Himself recently...

[Garden Dreamer]

Two right off the bat: Jens Johannson and Erik Norlander.

Gotta give props to Keiko Kumagai (Ars Nova) and Toshio Egawa (Gerard).

These are the first three that came to mind for me. Hey, Martin Offord of IQ is no slouch either!

[East New York]

Dammint, I wish my wife was a member here! *lol* Yes, Matt is a definite goodern. Lest we forget he backed up Chris Squire Himself recently...

Tell your wife I'd like another female friend on this here board.

Yeah, it was rather surreal hearing Squire's voice on the answering machine, pre-rehearsals!

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

Robin Piso
Michele Epifani