Not a close friend, but a friend of a close friend. Best piano player I ever saw in person

[The Polack MSgt]

Hirotaka Izumi from the Japanese Jazz band T-Square passed away 2 days ago.

My buddy just posted in face book about him. Heart failure took him much too young.

[The Polack MSgt]

1. Here's a concert clip of him with the band

[Liberty Belle]

3. Another video of Gene Harris, one of the all-time great jazz pianists:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrS32FOOYpgFhoAslI0nIlQ;_ylu=c2VjA3NlYXJjaAR2dGlkAw--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTcwMARfcgMyBGFjdG4DY2xrBGNzcmNwdmlkA3ZjaTdWVEV3TGpMMGp4UDFYNGNaT2dFb01qWXdNQUFBQUFBZzgucmUEZnIDeWhzLXRycC0wMDEEZnIyA3NhLWdwBGdwcmlkA09CbGlnTlBYUjhxV19iOHZnODBINEEEbl9yc2x0AzYwBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgN2aWRlby5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI5BHF1ZXJ5A3ZpZGVvJTIwZ2VuZSUyMGhhcnJpcyUyMHBpYW5vBHRfc3RtcAMxNjE5NjcxNTgz?p=video+gene+harris+piano&ei=UTF-8&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av%2Cm%3Asa&fr=yhs-trp-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=trp&type=Y193_F163_204687_011921#id=19&vid=cee1f02104c444c95c8ac60625b64889&action=view

[Liberty Belle]

2. Sorry for your loss. The greatest piano player I ever knew was Gene Harris.

The music store I worked for had sold him a piano; he played at a bar in Boise. Baldwin was going to cancel the insurance because they thought the piano was being abused in the bar, since Gene played so hard he broke several piano strings. Our store owner took a Baldwin piano rep to see him play and the guy's jaw practically dropped to the floor. Baldwin not only kept insuring the piano, they signed Gene up to be a Baldwin performing artist.

He was the best I ever saw, though few videos of him remain. Here's one from a music festival where he performed, before he passed on of liver failure a few years ago:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrS32FOOYpgFhoAslI0nIlQ;_ylu=c2VjA3NlYXJjaAR2dGlkAw--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTcwMARfcgMyBGFjdG4DY2xrBGNzcmNwdmlkA3ZjaTdWVEV3TGpMMGp4UDFYNGNaT2dFb01qWXdNQUFBQUFBZzgucmUEZnIDeWhzLXRycC0wMDEEZnIyA3NhLWdwBGdwcmlkA09CbGlnTlBYUjhxV19iOHZnODBINEEEbl9yc2x0AzYwBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgN2aWRlby5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI5BHF1ZXJ5A3ZpZGVvJTIwZ2VuZSUyMGhhcnJpcyUyMHBpYW5vBHRfc3RtcAMxNjE5NjcxNTgz?p=video+gene+harris+piano&ei=UTF-8&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av%2Cm%3Asa&fr=yhs-trp-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=trp&type=Y193_F163_204687_011921#id=93&vid=30826860b6455bf0ffe61dff827c22b6&action=view

[The Polack MSgt]

4. He was amazing, thanks for the knowledge, I'm always glad to learn about great talents

I have to admit I have a poor grasp of who's who in Jazz. I have a wide aperture - I'll listen to almost anything, but not everything stays with me.

His version of Masquerade is tasty as hell though. Whenever the melody starts to go far afield he brings it right back to the blues