The piano has a long history of being the instrument of choice for creative Texas musicians. In Texas Piano Players: A Legacy (Part 1) we described the commonality of a piano in most homes throughout Texas at the beginning of the 20th century and profiled Texas-born pianists 'Moon' Mullican and brothers George and Hersal Thomas. Mullican and the Thomas brothers each made hugely influential recordings of boogie-woogie piano. In part two, we name a few contemporary Houston pianists who explore(d) the outer edges of blues, pop, and modern jazz.
From Bartok to BB King Fifth Ward-born pianist and organist Eugene Carrier (1946-1997) could "play everything from Beau Jocque to Bartok" thanks perhaps in part to a Creole family, the influence of Zydeco music he heard growing up, and his time as a jazz studies major at North Texas State University. He's best known as a bluesman who played with Lightning Hopkins, Albert King, and most famously B.B. King. Carrier's slow and thoughtful style could veer into unexpected musical territory much to the delight of those on the bandstand and in the audience. Check out the video below of B.B. King's big band with Carrier soloing on When It All Comes Down about six minutes in. Some truly visceral single-note stabbing and wild cyclic motifs in the extremes of the piano's range call to mind the music of Thelonious Monk and the aforementioned Bela Bartok. B.B. seems to be giving him an "Okay! Time to cut that shit out!" signal around 8:25 but quickly ends up smiling and at the end of the tune asking the audience for a round of applause for Carrier.
The Houston Press' recent Top 10 Honorary Texas Musicians quotes Ray Charles as saying: "If you want to put a great band together, go to Houston, Texas." And that's exactly what so many musicians, including B.B. King, did. It's heartening to know that in his lifetime, Carrier's talents were appreciated both at home in Houston and by audiences in venues all over the world.
Joe Sample and Joe LoCascio
"Unfortunately, we are often a society that not only abides by categorization, but also feel we can measure relevance, even greatness, through categorization." Pianist Joe LoCascio from his essay The Estate of Jazz.
Listening to Houston-born, Fifth Ward-raised and North Texas State alum Joe Sample (b. 1939) playing keyboards on his pop-jazz classic Carmel might prompt you to think: "Well, this is a long way from jazz..." But trying to put a musician of Sample's calibre into a box, be it hard bop, fusion, and/or jazz-pop, is not only pointless but - given the scope of his talent at the piano - pretty much impossible. Of course, Carmel or any other number of recordings made with the commercial marketplace in mind will indeed consciously embrace "categorization" to try and sell units. But instead of dwelling on whatever it is the culture police will have you think when it comes to "jazz" or "pop" (i.e. jazz good, pop BAD!!!) it's much more interesting (and fun) to focus on the breadth of a musician's talent and admire their ability to play convincingly and movingly in different creative contexts.
