Who is your Favorite Keyboardist?

[Riotblade]

So who is your favorite keyboardist? This can include band members or performing artists alone.


Mine have to be:

1) Rick Wakeman from the band Yes

and

2) Janne Wirman from the band Children of Bodom (also made his own project called Warmen)

 

[Sargas]

Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater is by far my favorite. Though I haven't really researched in any other keyboard players, I've seen one movie on youtube with Rick Wakeman, and one with Children of Bodom. I guess one video is not enough to state an oppinion, so I don't really know wether I like them or not

 

[Riotblade]

Jordan Rudess has some lovely keyboards

 

[Laura]

So who is your favorite keyboardist? This can include band members or performing artists alone.


Mine have to be:

1) Rick Wakeman from the band Yes

and

2) Janne Wirman from the band Children of Bodom (also made his own project called Warmen)

How about the guy who did the solo LIGHT MY FIRE ?

As for great songs with Keys solo's... I love She's Not There by the Zombies. I think it was in 1965. I don't know the musician. Really one of the first 'pop' songs I ever heard & it's still one of my top 10.

Oh and also In a Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly has great keys parts to learn.

Oops, the topic was "fave musicians" not "fave songs".

 

[Mourndark]

Oh dear. I was waiting for this thread to turn up - I've given up arguing this on youtuber comment threads. [Warning, this may become a very drawn out analysis!]

Here's my two pence:

1st Place: Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) take the crown for his combined technical brilliance, compositional originality and the fact that he tours with a Modular Moog and sticks knives in his Hammond. Special note for me as his music got me playing classical again.

2nd Place: The Caped Crusader, Rick Wakeman. For all round awesomeness and ordering a curry on stage with Yes. And all those keyboards. Combine his right hand with Keith's left and you have the ultimate keyboard player.

3rd Place: Tony Banks (Genesis) For services to the Mellotron (listen to the intro to "Watcher of the Skies". Then listen to it again. Bathe in the washes of sampled brilliance. Repeat.). Also for Firth of Fifth. Need I say more.

Honourable Mentions:

Rick Wright: Doesn't strike many people as technically brilliant, but as soon as you remove the keys from Pink Floyd, it becomes very bland indeed. In particular listen to early Floyd where it is impossible to distinguish keys from guitar.

Jordan Rudess: Oh alright then... I've only recently started listening to Dream Theatre and while there's no denying his technical skill, his compositions let him down - they are essentially just the keys parts from DT songs. Such a shame, since he is one of the few people who can push the Oasys and K2600 to their technical limits. I might try some LTE...

Jean Michel Jarre: For inventing Ambient and Dance music as we know it. And for the live shows - massive is an understatement. 1.3 million in Houston, draining the power to FBI building? 3.5 million in Moscow. And the Laser Harp.

Ray Manzerak (The Doors) for services to the organ, Bob Mayo (Peter Frampton) for services to the concept of the Live Double Album, Dave Brubeck for services to polyrhythms, Jimmy Smith for bringing the Hammond to prominence and something other than a church instrument.

[/essay]

I could go on, but this is quite long enough!

 

[Riotblade]

2nd Place: The Caped Crusader, Rick Wakeman. For all round awesomeness and ordering a curry on stage with Yes. And all those keyboards. Combine his right hand with Keith's left and you have the ultimate keyboard player.

Oh my Keith's left hand combined with Rick's right, that would be insane haha

 

[Dr.Clock]

Erez Aizen

 

[xWill.]

Ben Folds, Now solo, formally a member of "Ben Folds Five"

 

[Dr.Clock]

Ben Folds, Now solo, formally a member of "Ben Folds Five"

He's great too.

 

[ryanmckenzie]

Jonathan Cain from Journey is a pretty epic keyboarder.
Daniel the Hawk from equaleyes would probably have to be my favorite keyboarder of all time though. Check him out at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=77740753.

 

[bsr2002]

Rick Wakeman
David Benoit
Jonathan Cain
Jordan Rudess

Not in any particular order

 

[Freslanta]

Hail to the original Progsters!
Keith Emerson (The Nice, ELP, solo)
Rick Wakeman (Yes, solo)
Tony Banks (Genesis)
Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat)
Rick van der Linden (Ekseption, Trace)
Patrick Moraz (Yes, Refugee, solo)
Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, solo. OK, so he's not one of the originals, but he can hang with the big dogs!)


I could get into naming some of the jazz/fusion guys, but that's another thread.

 

[Benson_JV]

Janne Warman (Children Of Bodom, Warmen)

Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, Solo)

Rick Wakemen (Yes, Solo)

Henrik Klingenberg (Sonata Arctica)

Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia)

Martin Brändström (Dark Tranquility)

Janne Tolsa (Eternal Tears Of Sorrow)

 

[kanthos]

Not in any particular order:

Joe Zawinul
Chick Corea
Lyle Mays
Keith Emerson
Jordan Rudess

 

[Mourndark]

Joe Zawinul
Chick Corea

The fathers of fusion! In A Silent Way is one of my favourite albums of all time - Corea, Zawinul and Hancock on one album. Surely the ultimate supergroup!

 

[fbieler47]

Oscar Peterson and the Hogtown Blues, I have to listen to it at half speed to catch the subtle notes that are faster than my ears can hear.
Keith Emerson, the guy with three hands and 7 fingers on each hand.
Rick Wakeman, what can I say, so great with awesome dexterity, I know he's got the extra fingers too, cause I have ten and I can't even come close to playing like him even after 40 years....lol...Of course that could be because I don't have any talent..
Walter Carlos made me buy a moog and almost hang myself with fifty pounds of patch cables. It was bliss, classical musical with strange sounds
Wendy Carlos played just as well as Walter did...lol
Chip Davis played music that made my stereo strain to reproduce. And I just liked the name Mannheim Steamroller

 

[kanthos]

Shame on me for missing one: the late Esbjorn Svensson. There's better jazz pianists, sure, but no one has such comical titles or makes such interesting use of electronics.

 

[AdamGBB]

What's the point of this everyone's generally going to pick either one/two/all of Rick Wakeman, Janne Warman and Jordan Rudess

On that note, Warman would be my favourite. Might not be versatile, but boy, his lead playing is full of hooks and twists. I find his solos to be very listenable.... his playing is quite similar to Alexi's I guess. Don't get me wrong though, COB as a band aren't really my cup of tea

 

[Moonchild]

Rick Wakeemn of Yes and John Lord of Deep Purple.

 

[Bren]

My two personal faves would be
Mr Keith Weir From the quireboys
jonathan Cain from journey.

I saw Keith play an acoustic gig with the quireboys in march 09 and he just blew me away. Misled is one of my favorite songs he does.