The Worlds Very Best Keyboard Players

[winston]

We recently did something similar on the best drummers and it proved to be quite interesting.

Here's a six pack of the best keyboard players to kick this discussion off. For the sake of brevity I have only listed the bands that made them a household name.

1. Keith Emerson (ELP)
2. Rick Wakeman (Yes)
3. Jon Lord (Deep Purple)
4. Nicky Hopkins (Rolling Stones)
5. Richard Wright (Pink Floyd)
6. Ian McLagan (The Small Faces)

[jps]

You can add Tony Banks to that list.

[captsandwich]

Jerry Dammers - the Specials
Steve Nieve - the Attractions
Joe Jackson - Joe Jackson Band

[ozover50]

Gary Brooker and Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum)??

By no means keyboard gymnasts but brilliant given the style of music and execution..... IMHO, of course!

[antipodean]

Brian,

I'd put Jon Lord at number one, but can't fault the list.

From different ends of the spectrum, neither being technically adept by their own admission, I'd add:

Jerry Lee Lewis
Brian Eno

Booker T might just earn a guernsey as well!

[ozover50]

Excellent calls, Evan..... especially Jon Lord.

[tennis_nick]

My two all time favorites


Billy Preston

and the always underrated, Bobby Whitlock

[woodyng]

love them all,esp,mr emerson...rod argent,and patrick moraz are also very high on my personal list.also michael brown from the left bank/stories...

[phlemmy]

Jens Johansson (Malmsteen, Jonas Hellborg, Stratovarius)
Chick Corea

[whojamfan]

What, no Gary Numan or Thomas Dolby?

[winston]

Steve Winwood deserves a mention for his time with The Spencer Davis Group. Plus he's a terrific singer to boot.

[whojamfan]

Tangerine Dream did some very interestings with their keyboard arrangements, as well as Richard Tandy(ELO), who really put the vocoder on the map with "Mr. Blue Sky".

The worlds very best though, IMHO, were the B3 jazz greats that inspired Winwood, McLagen, and Lord, as well as countless others of that era.

[jps]

Brain Auger!

[charlyg]

Max Middleton, IN this video, he is not featured, but you can hear his tasty stuff supporting a great lead, just as with Jeff Beck....



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Middleton

[vito]

The list seems to assume rock keyboard players. Which is fine if that's what ya wanna do, but any global list of keyboardists that doesn't include Jimmy Smith is grossly incomplete.