Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Who is the best current new age pianist?

Hello all!
I had formed in my mind that the "new age" category for piano or other instruments dealt mostly with the major scale or related scales (major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and perhaps someone is making use of the modes in a stepwise melody frame of mind. My examples have been George Winston, David Lanz, Jim Brickman, and the like. Of course even George doesn't like the term "new age". He considers himself a folk pianist.
If I hear jazz chords or blues licks I immediately think of jazz, blues, or one of the many evolved styles within jazz. Leaving open the idea that styles can merge and take influences from other styles.
Would it be appropriate to say Keith Jarrett is more jazz than new age (for new age I think of relaxing music for spa or meditation)? I ask because I'm in learning mode and not as familiar with all of Keith Jarrett's work as other composers.
I've heard the term "pop piano" and like George's use of the term "folk piano". How about "jazz/pop piano"? I'd like to think one day new descriptors would be more prominent to help up describe what at times we may have had trouble describing. Jazz seems to have broken out substyle names quite nicely, though I'm no expert about jazz.

Just to clarify a bit about Jarrett for those who aren’t too familiar with him…

Keith Jarrett has at least three distinct musical incarnations, which are virtually unrecognizable from each other:

1)Classical pianist. He has recorded Bach, Mozart, and Shostakovich

2)Jazz trio. He’s made dozens of recordings (mostly standards) with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. These recordings comprise the bulk of his output over the last twenty years.

3)Improvised solo concerts. The 1975 Koln Concert is reportedly the best-selling jazz piano album ever. The earlier Bremen/Lausanne record was the Record of the Year in multiple publications, from Time Magazine to Stereo Review. These concerts generate the majority of the most-devoted Jarrett followers, and certain passages probably result in the occasional appearance of the term “new age” in connection with his name.

He has also recorded a number of studio albums, from solo piano, organ and soprano sax to original orchestral scores

This is the funniest post I've read on the forum in months.

Agreed: Keith Jarrett is a JAZZ pianist, not a new age pianist.

It sure does show how much that "new age" label sucks when even the people who are legitimate new age artists go to great lengths to deny the label. Even Brickman prefers to call his music "romantic piano." David Nevue prefers "neoclassical" or simply "solo piano."

Thanks Monica,

Just to be clear, my post was not intended to denigrate new age music. It was meant to emphasize that Jarrett is an extremely strong-minded, often abrasive and egotistical jazz purist. Based on many of his interviews and writings, I would hate to use that term in his presence.

His recordings with Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motion (perc.) are in my opinion, his finest trio work.

Monica-
what's your definition of a legitimate new age artist?

New Age is such a broad and confusing term.
For sure as popular music was growing and spreading it has been that kind of recovered "awareness" in misticism, naturalism and non-religious spiritualism which has allowed the melodic slow soothing music without lyrics to resurface. So this is why that kind of music is nowadays called like the social movement that triggered it. The term is not that wrong in that New Age purpose is to soothe, relax, allow introspection and meditation. Each style of music has its own social context and that of New Age music is indeed a New Age context. For example you wouldn't listen to New Age music at a party, or disco, or at the bar while having lively conversations or while cleansing the house.

I think the mistake is to label whatever melodic smooth lyrics-free piece of music as New Age even when the piece itself lacks the soothing, relaxing and meditating characteristics or in case the style is more rhythmic and lively a more introspective, spiritual, naturalistic or fantasy content required to call it a New Age piece.

A "typical" New Age sounds like this:

The Fairy Ring

I like Edward Weiss explanation:

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, you might be thinking this is some sort of mystical, crystal gazing style only a few robed gurus ever bother to study and play. Well let me set the record straight: Nothing could be further from the truth!

New Age Music is gentle, melodic, and inspirational. It’s a music that relaxes the soul and rejuvenates the spirit – a journey of notes leading into a joyous mystery. The type of style that just begs to be composed and improvised

I'd like to add that New Age is the style closer than any other to classic music. The reason is that no other style nowadays deals with the the descriptive and spiritual role that so much of classical music had. In the past what we know as classical music would be used, among other things, to describe the beauty of nature, to paint wonderful landscapes with the colors of sounds, to tell profecies, myths and legends, to speak of fantasy creatures and fantasy places, to meditate introspectively and to express a deep spirituality. Only New Age nowadays takes advantage of music to express these ideas and sensations.

So far I am seeing comtemporary jazz pianists. New age pianists for my voting should be Suzanne Ciani:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uykdt3nq7SQ&feature=related

Yiruma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4kL9holdqw

and Yuhki Kuramoto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYUGkB5w1SE

Danny-thank you for that wonderful description of New Age music.
Yiruma and Kuramoto seem to play well but I cannot say the same for George Winston or Yanni.
I'm not saying their music isn't wonderful all the same... I realize virtuosity is not part of the genre, and I'm not asking it to be. Meh I don't even know what I'm trying to say here.
Was the original question in this thread who is the new age pianist with the most skill? Or was the question who composes the most relazing rejuvinating music? Or was it just who is the most successful new age pianist?

We need to consider that new age pianists are also the composers of their own music. So I think the original question was what new age pianist compose the best music. New age indeed doesn't suit virtuosity and in fact even in classical music virtuosity tended to suit either more dancelike and folk pieces or more dark, strong and tormeted pieces in case of introspective ones. The there is new age which is more minimalist and new age which is a bit more complex.

I think that a good pianist with a good technique and good creativity could compose new age music which shows also technical mastery. Yanni for example is self-taught and doesn't have a formal training in piano. George Winston too is self-taught and took up piano and composition on its own. Yuruma and Ciani on the other hand had a formal training and have degrees in music.
So I think it pretty much reflects other styles of music where you find musicians/composers with different trainings and skills and approached. (John Williams has a degree in piano and composition Danny Elfman is self-taught and took up music in later age)

Jeepers... beats me, Mr_Kitty. And it's not for lack of effort, because this is the genre I love the most and am constantly having to define it for people.

Do you remember that three page "classical vs. nonclassical" piano thread that Sam started some time back? It dealt essentially with this question of "what is new age?" I was able to offer at best the exceedingly lame definition that new age was (a) music written in the past 20 years or so that (b) stressed strong melodies and (c) tended to be on the slow side. I realize that definition is completely inadequate, but I don't think anybody came up with a better one in that thread.

p.s. You really don't think George Winston plays well? You have high standards indeed.

Hmmm.. well how about Jon Schmidt for technical skill? Or Dax Johnson? He died at the age of 30 before YouTube really took off, so there's not many good examples of his playing on there, but here\'s one piece , though I don't think it's his best work.

My standard for technical skill would be Claire Huangci. I don't think George Winston has mastery over the piano on the same level as Claire Huangci. I would hesitate to even say he has 1/100th of her technical skill.
all repertoire choice aside here. I'm talking sheer ability to play the instrument.
Plenty of jazz pianists have oodles and oodles of technical ability, but all of these new age guys sound like hacks who haven't put in their ten thousand hours of practicing. I realize that even scales, rapid octaves, legato 3rds, 6ths, and double note trills are not needed in the new age genre... But I would much rather see someone who HAS the skill play New Age rather than well.... Yanni and George Winston.
When I watch them play on video it always seems that they can barely play their own music(which is VERY simple pianistically).
Call me an elitist snob or whatever... I just like watching a pianist of whatever genre demonstrate absolute mastery over their instrument.

Apologies in advance to Mr. Kitty. George certainly has control of tone and expression far ahead of the not well known new age pianists out there. He records on a Steinway concert grand and tonally has no weakness. A full rich expressive tone is all you can hope to get out of any piano. He is rhythmically dead on. You also have to understand that he has sold 10 million records (probably tops for all new age pianists) as Yanni has sold 20 million. Yanni of course is a marketing package but George did it on solo piano alone. Neither play like Ashkenazy or Horowitz but few aim to or are able to. Some of the world's top orchestral players will tell you you can do more with 10 notes sometimes than with 10,000.
Jon Schmidt is an exciting pianist. His pieces aren't technically thick like classical music but he plays them loud and fast with lots of power and it's fun to watch and takes alot of effort to match his energy.
I am not as familiar with Yiruma and Kuramoto but they sound like wonderful pianists.

I like to think of New Age as music played softly and slowing in a healing way. I realize that not all new age music is like that. The slow/soft type of music gets used in holistic healing circles naturally. For me, classically trained, it's taken a few years to move (and even want to) from classical chops and playing loudly in church to getting a consistently soft and peaceful tone. The players that aren't classically trained have a head start possibly since as mentioned massive technique is not required but to work in a softer thinner landscape.

Wow, Claire Huangci is incredible. Thanks for sharing! I too wish New Age had something on her playing level, but perhaps if it was attempted people would call it something else. I have noticed that one aspect of new age is to set down a relaxing mood and try to keep the listener in that mood withoug mentally being roused or awaken. Anything faster or louder could break that mood. Of course new age umbrellas a broad spectrum of musicians. One aim I have sought in composing new age is to play slow enough that automatic relaxation and deep breathing occurs just from listening. I think Enya and 2000 (2002music.com) achieve some of this. It's sought to an extent in massage/spa circles as a functional attribute. George Winston and Jim Brickman don't define themselves this way but they also consider themselves to be a folk pianist/romantic pianist respectively.

This here is some neat new age piano playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i95K987oWeY

This video has to be considered jazz. It was performed it appears at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival. It consists of jazz rhythms and blues/jazz licks and uses rapid 16th and 32nd notes and patterns, triplets, two handed unison playing, a hallmark of Oscar Peterson, used thoroughly in jazz styles. New Age piano has used more flowing 8th notes, sometimes 16ths, much less complex rhythms, simpler ballad style melodies. Blues licks are rare. The 150 pianists listed at solopianopublications.com should give a nice overview of what's currently thought of as new age piano. Hope that helps.

New Age = Yanni = Music to ease the fears of the claustrophobic in elevators...

Again...sorry for the personal bias.

Continue on, this is really good reading, since most of the discuss in really bent around jazz piano.

I promise not to interject again. Two thumbs up

Not that's ambient
Again unfortunately because in my opinion ambient music has much to offer than just background.