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The players

Jazz Piano Legends

Thirty-six pianists, and one question running under all of them: what do you do with your hands when the chord symbol says Dm7. Ten have a full profile. The rest are here through their hands, on the shapes they share, or through their place in the line.

Every pianist below leads somewhere real. A name with a written profile goes to it. A pianist whose voicings the app has transcribed goes to the shape that most distinguishes them, where the notes of both hands are printed. The rest go to the family tree, where their position is the truest thing we can tell you.The whole tree is here.

Ragtime

a parlour upright in a pool of oil-lamp light, the rest of the room gone to black.

the torn edge of sheet paper, dark mahogany, tarnished brass

  1. Ragtime era still life for Scott Joplin: a wind-up metronome in dark lacquered wood with a brass pendulum, stilled off-centre.

    Ragtime

    Scott Joplin

    Ragtime

  2. Ragtime era still life for Jelly Roll Morton: a pocket watch on its chain, coiled on dark lacquer.

    Ragtime

    Jelly Roll Morton

    Ragtime

Stride

a Harlem rent-party room after everyone has gone home.

brass, a blade of spilled light under a closed door, worn floorboards

  1. Stride era still life for James P. Johnson: a stack of ink-copied manuscript paper, curled at the corner.

    Stride

    James P. Johnson

    Stride

  2. Stride era still life for Fats Waller: a bowler hat resting crown-down on a worn piano stool.

    Stride

    Fats Waller

    Stride

  3. Stride era still life for Art Tatum: a table lamp with a fringed shade, its light the only thing in the room.

    Stride

    Art Tatum

    Superhuman technique, endless creativity, harmonic sophistication beyond his era

Swing

an empty bandstand with the house lights down.

heavy velvet curtain, chrome music-stand tubing, amber

  1. Swing era still life for Teddy Wilson: a pair of white gloves folded on a closed fallboard.

    Swing

    Teddy Wilson

    Swing

  2. Swing era still life for Count Basie: a music stand holding one blank card, everything else dark.

    Swing

    Count Basie

    Swing

  3. Swing era still life for Oscar Peterson: a piano bench pushed square to the keys, the seat leather cracked.

    Swing

    Oscar Peterson

    Blazing speed, impeccable swing, orchestral approach to piano

Bebop

a 52nd-street basement under a single hanging bulb.

cigarette smoke, painted brick, condensation on glass

  1. Bebop era still life for Bud Powell: a single tumbler of water on the piano lid, ring-marked.

    Bebop

    Bud Powell

    Single-note right-hand lines, sparse left-hand comping, bebop vocabulary

  2. Bebop era still life for Thelonious Monk: a felt fedora resting crown-down on a piano bench.

    Bebop

    Thelonious Monk

    Angular melodies, dissonant harmonies, percussive attack, compositional genius

Cool Jazz

a west-coast studio in the first hour of morning, light through plate glass.

cool ivory, plate glass, pale wood

  1. Cool Jazz era still life for Ahmad Jamal: an empty music desk with nothing on it at all, the rest of the frame black.

    Cool Jazz

    Ahmad Jamal

    Written arrangements that leave space for the soloists, extreme dynamics, orchestral concept for a three-piece band

  2. Cool Jazz era still life for Red Garland: a pair of taped boxing wraps coiled on a studio stool.

    Cool Jazz

    Red Garland

    Block Chord Master · Block Chord + Octaves

Hard Bop

a Blue-Note-era studio with the tape machine idle.

a tape reel, a ribbon-microphone grille, warm amber

  1. Hard Bop era still life for Horace Silver: a reel of quarter-inch tape half unspooled across the console.

    Hard Bop

    Horace Silver

    Hard Bop

  2. Hard Bop era still life for Wynton Kelly: a ribbon microphone on a short boom, grille catching the key light.

    Hard Bop

    Wynton Kelly

    Swing & Blues · Swing Shells + Blues

  3. Hard Bop era still life for Kenny Barron: a brass sustain pedal worn bright at its centre.

    Hard Bop

    Kenny Barron

    Modern Mainstream · Modern Rootless + Spread

Free Jazz

fractured light across broken planes.

shattered reflections, hard shadow, angular geometry

  1. Free Jazz era still life for Cecil Taylor: a shattered pane of glass laid flat, reflecting one warm line.

    Free Jazz

    Cecil Taylor

    Free Jazz

  2. Free Jazz era still life for Andrew Hill: manuscript paper torn clean in half and laid slightly apart.

    Free Jazz

    Andrew Hill

    Free Jazz

  3. Free Jazz era still life for Kris Davis: a prepared-piano bolt standing upright between two strings.

    Free Jazz

    Kris Davis

    Cluster + Bitonal · Cluster + Bitonal

Fusion

an electric-piano action in raking light, chrome hardware around it.

electric amber, brushed metal, coiled cable

  1. Fusion era still life for Chick Corea: an electric-piano tine and tonebar in extreme macro, raking light along the metal.

    Fusion

    Chick Corea

    Boundless curiosity, Spanish influences, electric piano pioneer, compositional brilliance

  2. Fusion era still life for Joe Zawinul: a bank of unmarked sliders, one pushed to its top.

    Fusion

    Joe Zawinul

    Fusion

  3. Fusion era still life for Hiromi Uehara: two coiled cables crossing on a brushed-metal deck.

    Fusion

    Hiromi Uehara

    Fusion Explosive · Fusion Quartal

Contemporary

a modern grand's lacquer reflecting a city night.

black gloss, distant amber bokeh, glass

  1. Contemporary era still life for Brad Mehldau: a closed hardback book left spine-up on the piano lid.

    Contemporary

    Brad Mehldau

    Contrapuntal Complexity · Rootless + UST

  2. Contemporary era still life for Fred Hersch: a single glass of water on black gloss, the city bokeh behind it.

    Contemporary

    Fred Hersch

    Transparent Voicings · Rootless

  3. Contemporary era still life for Robert Glasper: a snapback cap resting on an electric-piano lid.

    Contemporary

    Robert Glasper

    Hip-Hop Harmony · Gospel + Neo-Soul

  4. Contemporary era still life for Vijay Iyer: a slide rule lying fully extended on black lacquer, its scale catching one line of light.

    Contemporary

    Vijay Iyer

    Rhythmic Quartal · Rhythmic Quartal

  5. Contemporary era still life for Jason Moran: a roll of paper unfurling across a dark wooden floor, its far end lost in shadow.

    Contemporary

    Jason Moran

    Contemporary

  6. Contemporary era still life for Tigran Hamasyan: a hammered brass bowl on black lacquer.

    Contemporary

    Tigran Hamasyan

    Armenian Polyrhythm · Polyrhythmic + Quartal

  7. Contemporary era still life for Gerald Clayton: a folded music score standing open on an empty stand.

    Contemporary

    Gerald Clayton

    Gospel Soul · Gospel

  8. Contemporary era still life for Aaron Parks: a window's amber reflection lying across the closed lid.

    Contemporary

    Aaron Parks

    Cinematic Lydian · Cinematic + Quartal

  9. Contemporary era still life for Shai Maestro: a single unlit candle stub on dark wood.

    Contemporary

    Shai Maestro

    Israeli Lyricism · Romantic + Rootless

  10. Contemporary era still life for Esbjörn Svensson: frost on the inside of a dark window, one warm light beyond it.

    Contemporary

    Esbjörn Svensson

    Nordic Atmosphere · Nordic + Modal

  11. Contemporary era still life for Jacob Collier: a tangle of cables resolving into one clean loop on a bedroom floor.

    Contemporary

    Jacob Collier

    Reharm Genius · Polychords

Free download

The Jazz Voicing Cheat Sheet

Shells in C, then the two rootless voicings pianists trade between, written out in all 12 keys, with a twelve-key checklist to tape to the piano. Ten pages, free.

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The PDF book

The Ultimate Jazz Piano Voicings and Chord Atlas

From shells to advanced voicings. A practice book first, with all the theory you need explained in plain words.

  • 7 levels of voicings for every ii‑V‑I chord, from shells to quartal and upper-structure color
  • A 30-day plan and a 12-week schedule, 15 minutes a day
  • A PDF you download and keep, no subscription

See inside the book