Underrrated Keyboardists

All:

Well...given that, for most people, prog keyboard begins and ends with Emerson and Wakeman, almost everyone else is underrated (with the exception of Moraz, who is wildly overrated, Jobson, who is highly overrated, and Hammer, who is somewhat overrated).

So, for my money, the most underrated keyboardists are:

Tony Banks (Genesis).  Overall, the single most underrated keyboardist ever.  For goodness sakes, he helped "make" one of the two top bands on this site!!

Kerry Minnear (Gentle Giant).  If Tony Banks didn't exist, Minnear would unarguably be the most underrated keyboardist in music history.  The guy is simply a genius, and plays every type of keyboard equally well - and equally tastefully.

Tony Kaye (Yes).  I'm shocked - shocked! - that everyone has forgotten the man who originally helped "make" Yes, including being perhaps the true driving force behind "The Yes Album," an undeniable prog masterpiece.

Rick Wright (Pink Floyd).  See my comments re Minnear.  Although Waters and Gilmour dominated the band, where would Floyd be without its textures and atmopsheres, which are largely a product of Wright's keyboards?

Mike Pindar (The Moody Blues).  One could argue that almost every prog keyboardist owes something to Pindar, since he predates all but Wright.

Alan "Taff" Freeman (Nektar).  The original keyboardist.  Just listen to his work on "A Tab in the Ocean," "Remember the Future," "Down to Earth," and "Recycled," and tell me this guy is not sadly - sadly! - underrated.

Fabrizio Puglisi (Deus ex Machina).  By the mere fact that everyone is this band are among the best players in the world right now, Puglisi rates.

Finally, there is one keyboardist (pianist) whom no one has mentioned, but who really is highly underrated: Freddie Mercury.  (One could also include Elton.)

Peace.

I second Tony Banks......

but also Hugh Banton of VdGG....he had a huge role to play since there were no guitars in much of their music....a huge task that he accomplished quite adequately!!!!

 

maani wrote: Hammer, who is somewhat overrated. Tony Kaye (Yes).  I'm shocked - shocked! - that everyone has forgotten the man who originally helped "make" Yes, including being perhaps the true driving force behind "The Yes Album," an undeniable prog masterpiece.

Sorry Maani

Can't agree with you there with these two. Jan Hammer was/is a master keyboard player (the low point, when he made his money, was the Miami Vice and the other TV theme stuff - alas is that what Eddie Jobson is reduced to nowadays?). Through the 70's his distinctive sound especially on mini-moog  was instantly recognisable. He raised Jeff Beck's game and many other good/excellent rock guitarist - and was the driving force on perhaps the last jazz rock album of the 70's before jazz rock became jazz fusion, Al DiMeola's Scenario (btw not my own  assessment but a music critic, with whom I agreement) . Unfortunately I missed Beck and Hammer touring the UK earlier this year but I'm told they were fantastic.

Tony Kaye wanted to play the Hammond organ not the new fangled synths, to retain more of a  blues-rock sound in Yes - his subsequent One Live Badger  demonstrates that desire to a greater degree. The first two Yes albums are favorites but there were a lot better around at that time. It needed something extra to propel Yes into the top rank and  turn that difficult third album, into a album a large quantum jump ahead of the first two, a masterpiece. It was Steve Howe who  injected that special something into Yes, which  started with his tenure in the psychedelic Tomorrow and honed in Bodast (check some of the Bodast recordings to hear many of the classic Howe riffs made more famous with Yes). When I saw Yes less than a month after The Yes Album was released, it was notable for Howe and Squire's  domination in the solos and instrumental duets, while Kaye filled in at the back, having a small  fraction of the time up front. From that performance it was no surprise that Kaye was replaced.

2-3 years ago the Keyboard Magazine released a list of the 25 biggest keyboard players of all times; MAN what a blast, Tori Amos, Elton John and Billy Joel was on the list but no Vangelis, no Kitaro, no Tony Banks, no Tony Kaye and no Richard Wright, just to say a few examples.

This could go on and on, but lets stick to Prog Rock and to the least just mention a few guys that have made this side of the moon a bit brigther: Rick van Der Linden, Thjis van Leer (the absolute King of the Hammond Organ) Peter Barden, Jon Tout, Hans Jurgen Fritz, and Tony Kaye.

What I wanted to know is who are then the top keyboard players and where is the bottonline ?

Does Jon Lord fit here ? Ken Hensley ? Gayle Moran (when with Mahavishnu Orchestra) ? Vangelis underrated ? He is IMO the greatest of all, the true GOD of keyboards....

_________

Lunar 

danbo wrote: Sorry manni, Hammer was, at least, deserving of his rating. There and Back, Wired and Scenario are awesome. He was an effective foil for Jeff and Big Al. Being the Queen fan that I am, I'm embarrassed that I forgot Freddie. "Seven Seas of Rhye" was  thrilling.

Don't forget  John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra!  The original Orchestra included Jan Hammer!

I thought Don Airey replaced Jon Lord in Deep Purple.