Cecil Taylor plays a Bösendorfer when he can get one.

It's true that Cecil Taylor is classified as a jazz player but his music ("such as it is"), has, methinks, only a little to do with what most would call mainstream jazz. (I'd classify it more as classical music from Mars.)

The choices of some mainstream players like Herbie (Fazioli), Bill Evans (apparently an old Chickering), Oscar Peterson (Bosendorfer), and Chick Corea (Yamaha), McCoy (Steinway), Duke Ellington (Steinway) are well known. Besides Chick, however, many other jazz artists play Yamaha pianos: Bob James, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Eddie Palmieri, the late Hank Jones, Dick Hyman, and Tom Grant, to name a few. I was just reading Larry Fine's The Piano Book and he says pretty much what I have--that jazz people as a group tend to like what they perceive as the clear sound of Yamaha while some classical players do not.

It ain't about "better" or "worse." However different kinds of music may tend to lend themselves to different sounding pianos.

George Shearing recorded his My Ship album on a Bösendorfer and it is a gorgeous sounding piano. If you only bought one solo jazz piano album, it should be that one.

Cecil Taylor ... I liked Dick Hyman's editorial comment on his A Child Is Born album.

OK, Dave. So what did Dick Hyman have to say about the controversial Mr. Taylor? Please don't leave us hangin'! Inquiring minds want to know.

On that album Dick Hyman plays A Child Is Born in a handful of other player's styles, Cecil Taylor being one. At the end of his Cecil Taylor impersonation he slams down the fallboard.

Hi Dave,

I never left. I just haven't had the time lately to contribute more than an occassional thought or two. Regarding your inquiry about N3 actions, I'll be getting an instruction video in the mail in the next few days. I'll send you a PM as soon as I've seen it. Regarding N3 and N2 sales, they continue to be good (and interesting). I'll share some tidbits soon.

Very interesting and informative thread.



Hi jivemutha, when searching opinions and experiences on silent piano, I find you are perhaps the only other person who bought a new Yamaha U Silent in the U.S.

I ordered my U1SG a month ago. It took 2 weeks for the shipment to arrive at California from Japan and another 10+ days to be at the dealer's warehouse. The piano will be delivered to my house tomorrow.

I actually went to the dealer's store yesterday to check it out. Was surprised that there is no U1SG sign anywhere on the piano. Instead, it only shows U1 Silent. I was concerned if I got a U1S, a discontinued model. The dealer never had one so he wasn't sure either. He called Yamaha U.S. office in Buena Park, California, to verify. They told him if the owner's manual says the Silent has 10 voices then it must be a U1SG. What a relief, whew!

I don't get why silent pianos are so rare in the U.S. It must have something to do with the marketing. If one visits, say, Yamaha's U.K. site, one will find a lot more silent models. As for Kawai, it doesn't have any silent piano (Anytime) marketed in the U.S.

For irving, you have listed 10 scenarios in which people buy AvantGrands. What are the scenarios for those who prefer acoustic silent (like Yammy's U Silent)? I'd like to see if I fall into any of these. Thanks in advance for your input. Also, are the U1SGs in your stores also just stamped with U1 Silent?

VNDAD: Nice to know I'm not the only American to get a silent Yamaha. I don't know why your U1SG took a month to arrive while my piano took five. Thank you for the heads-up about the odd designation inside the box. If mine only says U3S I now won't faint!

As to why hardly any Americans buy Silent Yamahas, I think it's partly because they have the space for both a digital and an acoustic. Moreover, many don't live in dense apartment settings and can therefore get by without headphones. If I weren't moving into what had once been an apartment I would have kept my old U3. If I had more square feet, I simply would have kept my U3 and also paid a mere $550 for a P95.

In choosing between a Silent Yamaha and an AvantGrand, each takes up the small space of one instrument (especially N1 or 2), each costs a lot of money, each sounds great with headphones, but only one won't need tuning etc. (AG), only one almost sounds like a big grand (AG), only one has a real grand action (AG), but here's the crusher for me: only one sounds like a real piano, and the AG ain't it, despite sounding closer than any other digital on the market.

If sounding like a real piano isn't a big deal to someone, it's hard to see why they wouldn't get the AG, as it wins on every other count. If not sounding like a real piano is a deal-breaker for you (it is for my ear), then you only have one choice, regardless of how few of 'em Yamaha sells: a Silent Piano.