Recorded pianos you just love

[Ashermusic]

So the VI piano thread got me thinking, if I could only have my virtual piano sound like one recorded piano, what would I choose?

For me it's this:

[progger]

My kind of thread, thank you Jay! And big respect to Dave Grusin, that's a cool choice.

A huge number of my favorite piano recordings tend to come from jazz records of the '80s and '90s. I particularly love how Ed Simon's piano (one of my favorite players, ever) was recorded and mixed on Mark Turner's eponymous album from the late '90s, here's one of my favorite tracks.



And my favorite pianist ever, the great Kenny Kirkland, only ever released one solo record, but I love how he sounds on the whole thing. Here's a great example.



A couple years ago, I got reasonably obsessed with Keith Jarrett's "Standards in Norway" record, and that's actually a big part of what launched my deep dive into piano VI madness. I wanted a Steinway that I liked as much as the Yamaha in Keyscape, which I eventually found when Modern D was released. Add some saturation and Lexicon reverb and it gets quite close! Can't ever touch Keith's playing, though, he's one of a kind.

[Ashermusic]

Thanks, Brian.

Nobody else wants to play?

[progger]

I'll also add... While I absolutely love older ('50s, '60s) jazz records from Columbia, Atlantic, RVG, etc, technology since the '70s and '80s allowed such enormous strides for capturing piano in particular. So some of my favorite playing from Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, etc, is from the older era, but later recordings of the instrument are just so much better. Big, clear, smooth, even, not boxy or weird. RVG piano in particular is a bit of an acquired taste.

[Ashermusic]

I listen to and appreciate that music, but not piano sounds that are ideal for the pop music I mostly perform.

[Lawrence]

I'll also add... While I absolutely love older ('50s, '60s) jazz records from Columbia, Atlantic, RVG, etc, technology since the '70s and '80s allowed such enormous strides for capturing piano in particular. So some of my favorite playing from Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, etc, is from the older era, but later recordings of the instrument are just so much better. Big, clear, smooth, even, not boxy or weird. RVG piano in particular is a bit of an acquired taste.

That’s the era I love the most, and why I love the Art Vista VGP2. ( sensing a theme here?)

It’s always struck me as a good compromise-capturing that vintage warmth and “Days of Wine and Roses” feel but still sounding modern enough to not simply assign it a purely character designation.

[Ashermusic]

I also love the way Roberta Flack’s piano on her “Chaprer Two” album sounds.

[Linos]

While it's not my favourite interpretation of all time, the recorded sound amazes me in no small measure. Christopher Tarnow did an impressive job with this recording.

[Piet De Ridder]

Deutsche Grammophon’s piano recordings of recent years usually sound very good, yes. Releases by a.o. Ólafsson, Trifinov, Blechacz all have an exceptional piano sound.

I had made a rather long list of things I wanted to post in this thread, and it included examples of those three pianists’s latest recordings. Plus several dozens of examples of recorded pianos — jazz, classical, pop/rock, soundtracks, … — that I really like the sound of.

But if I have to pick just one, it would be Erika Ribeiro’s album “Stravinsky, Gubaidúlina and Pascoal”, released on the Rocinante label. The music might not be to everyone’s taste, but for this thread that’s a bonus because it helps to focus on just the piano sound. Listened to on a good system — when you can hear all the details, nuances, dynamics, note releases, resonances, rich blends, and the way the sound takes wing and fills the space —, this one amazes me every single time.
(There's inevitably a bit of audio quality loss on YouTube, but there's still enough left.)




Another favourite — as far as the piano sound is concerned anyway — is the Double Moon Records release “Parvaneh” by the Thomas Rückert Trio. Gorgeous sound.




A very different sound, but one which I also love, is captured on Toni Saigi && Tronik's "Plisisiplis" album.(Released on Fresh Sound.) I've only recently discovered Saigi. Brilliant Spanish player (with quite a bit of Thelonious-corpuscles running through his veins, it seems).



And talking of Thelonious Monk: fabulous piano sound on the Kenny Barron - Dave Holland collaboration "The Art Of Conversation" (released on Impulse!). Here's Monk's "In Walked Bud":



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[Ashermusic]

Clearly, the type of music and how the piano sounds works with it is key. Piet on your examples they all sound glorious to me, except for Plisisiplis" which I really dislike.

Linio, also I don't love that one was much as you do. Although his is live, I prefer the sound.

[Linos]

I can understand why you prefer the more vibrant and brilliant sound of the live recording. Personally, I like the softer, rounder sound of the Olafsson recording. However, I think both recordings have a lot going for them.

[RobS]

it's almost impossible for me to separate the piano instrument from the pianist, but anyway, our young Beatrice Rana has some excellent recordings that I like very much in terms of piano tone, like:



on the jazz front, Antonio Faraò, but again the tone is so much connected to the pianist's touch:

[Markus K]

This is one of my all time favourite records and although me not being very sensitive or picky to the sound of different piano recordings I'm not sure if the way it is recorded isn't part of the magic or is it just the incredible playing of Bill. Anyway if Jay asks about recorded pianos I love this is what comes first to my mind.

Second would be Andras Schiffs Bach "Well Tempered Clavier" I suppose. And it's probably more the insane quality of piano playing than the recording.

[RobS]

...
This is one of my all time favourite records and although me not being very sensitive or picky to the sound of different piano recordings I'm not sure if the way it is recorded isn't part of the magic or is it just the incredible playing of Bill. Anyway if Jay asks about recorded pianos I love this is what comes first to my mind.
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great recording, if I was the mixing guy I'd have taken Gomez down one or two dB, and maybe given him some air. He sounds so pickup-ish here (though that was kind of Eddie's signature sound)

[Piet De Ridder]

Goldberg ... that reminds me: Iiro Antala has released an interesting album "My History Of Jazz" (ACT Music) on which he alternates between improvisations on the Goldberg theme (and its variations) and a sort of journey through the history of jazz piano, from stride to pretty free.
Here are two tracks from that album (which have their place in this thread cause I like the piano sound):

- Goldberg Improvisation I
- September Song

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[RobS]

nice find Piet, I never heard of Antala before. Like the sound of the piano, though I'm not crazy about this kind of "I can do everything" display

[Markus K]

...
This is one of my all time favourite records and although me not being very sensitive or picky to the sound of different piano recordings I'm not sure if the way it is recorded isn't part of the magic or is it just the incredible playing of Bill. Anyway if Jay asks about recorded pianos I love this is what comes first to my mind.
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great recording, if I was the mixing guy I'd have taken Gomez down one or two dB, and maybe given him some air. He sounds so pickup-ish here (though that was kind of Eddie's signature sound)

Yes Eddie Gomez is very present. Maybe a bit much. I'm kind of used to it and like it. Incorporating his bass players as an independent and almost equal part was since the Scott La Faro years one of the big innovations of Bills trios imo. In that regard the somewhat less powerful, less acoustic sound that Marc Johnson also had, to my ears, makes sense.

[progger]

Great stuff, all. Piet, that Erika Ribeiro album is particularly interesting repertoire-wise (I used to play a ton of Hermeto Pascoal's music with a group) and the piano does indeed sound fantastic.

"You Must Believe In Spring" is a timeless record, too, great sound and (of course) inimitable performances.

In the world of orchestral repertoire and recordings, my favorite piano concerti are Prokofiev's second and third, and there are some really phenomenal versions of those. The 1974 recording of Martha Argerich performing the third with the Berlin Philarhmonic is beautiful.