The Top100 Keyboardists/Pianists of All Time

Keyboardists/Pianists: Top 100

This is one of the DMDB’s most diverse best-of lists, with everything from classical (Beethoven, Mozart) to jazz (Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock) to R&B (Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder) to pop/rock (Billy Joel, Elton John) to progressive rock (Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman). As always, DMDB lists are determined by an aggregation of multiple lists. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories. 1. Franz Liszt 2. Art Tatum 3. Vladimir Horowitz 4. Chick Corea 5. Thelonious Monk 6. Bill Evans 7. Frederic Chopin 8. Sergei Rachmaninoff 9. Ludwig van Beethoven 10. Oscar Peterson 11. Dave Brubeck 12. Duke Ellington 13. Ray Manzarek 14. Josef Hoffman 15. Keith Emerson 16. Herbie Hancock 17. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 18. McCoy Tyner 19. Ahmad Jamal 20. Earl Hines 21. Billy Joel 22. Count Basie 23. Keith Jarrett 24. Erroll Garner 25. Richard Wright 26. Glenn Gould 27. Sviatoslav Richter 28. Tommy Flanagan 29. Red Garland 30. Horace Silver 31. Fats Waller 32. Bud Powell 33. Jelly Roll Morton 34. Wynton Kelly 35. Jon Lord 36. Gene Harris 37. Jordan Rudess 38. Rick Wakeman 39. Arthur Rubenstein 40. Gregg Rolie 41. Stevie Wonder 42. Alfred Cortot 43. Elton John 44. Steve Winwood 45. Jonathan Cain 46. Claudio Arrau 47. Teddy Wilson 48. George Shearing 49. Al Kooper 50. Martha Argerich 51. Alfred Brendel 52. James P. Johnson 53. John Paul Jones 54. Ray Charles 55. Billy Taylor 56. Nicky Hopkins 57. Andre Previn 58. Arturo Bendetti Michelangeli 59. Jan Hammer 60. Henry “Hank” Jones 61. Willie “The Lion” Smith 62. Nat “King” Cole 63. Billy Powell 64. Hampton Hawes 65. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan 66. Patrick Moraz 67. Bobby Timmons 68. Neal Doughty 69. Janne Warman 70. Tony Banks 71. Walter Gleseking 72. Robert Schumann 73. Sonny Clark 74. Billy Preston 75. Liberace 76. Phineas Newborn Jr. 77. Brian Eno 78. Gregg Allman 79. Evgeny Kissin 80. George Duke 81. Eubie Blake 82. Mose Alison 83. Mary Lou Williams 84. Rod Argent 85. Dennis DeYoung 86. Michael Petrucciani 87. Paul Bley 88. Kerry Livgren 89. Kenny Drew 90. Richard Tandy 91. Brad Mehldau 92. Don Airey 93. Geoff Downes 94. Alicia Delarrocha 95. Marc-Andre Hamelin 96. Roy Bittan 97. Mike Pinder 98. Robert Lamm 99. Vince Guaraldi 100. Joe Sample Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories First posted 5/14/2017; last updated 1/26/2022.

50 years ago: Marion Harris hit #1 with “Tea for Two”

Tea for Two Marion Harris

Writer(s):Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 24, 1925 Peak: 13 US, 3 GA, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US (sheet music sales) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.05 video, -- streaming

Awards (Marion Harris) Awards (Art Tatum):

About the Song: This “charming boy/girl duet” LW was introduced by Louise Groody and John Barker in the Broadway musical comedy No, No, Nanette. JA The score was generally regarded as the best of composer Vincent Youman’s short career. He died from tuberculosis at 48. LW Meanwhile, lyricist Irving Caesar “demonstrates all the hallmarks of Tin Pan Alley craftsmanship, artfully simple and pleasingly full of rhymes and alliterations.” LW He was “the archetypical Tin Pan Alley cigar chomping, wisecracking showman” LW with more than a 1000 songs to his name upon his death at age 101 in 1996. The lyrics, which were dashed off in 5 minutes, were intended to be temporary, but were never changed. TY Marion Harris had the first charted version, taking it to #1 in 1925. That same year, the Benson Orchestra of Chicago landed at #5 with their instrumental version while Ben Bernie also had a top ten hit with the song. PM Other charted versions came from the Ipana Troubadours (#15, 1930) and Teddy Wilson (#18, 1937). PM Warren Covington had a million-selling cha-cha version with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (“Tea for Two Cha Cha,” #7, 1958). TY The song “is one of the most recorded standards of Tin Pan Alley,” JA having been covered by musicians as diverse as Russian classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who adapted the tune as “Tahiti Trot” in 1928, LW and jazz pianist Art Tatum (#18, 1939) whose instrumental version is “a masterclass in piano virtuosity.” LW Jazz musicians have particularly responded to the song because “the complex harmonic construction of the melody gives great scope for improvisation.” LW Tatum had played the song for years, even predating his initial 1933 recording of it at his debut solo recording session. Fellow musician Fats Waller once stopped in the middle of playing at New York Club when Art Tatum entered and announced, “I play piano, but God is in the house tonight!” SS Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marion Harris DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fats Waller DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Irving Caesar JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 189. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 50. PM Record Research’s Pop Memories 1890-1954 (1986). By Joel Whitburn. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 590. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 598. TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Page 132. Last updated 11/23/2022.