good jazz piano

Here are some good-sounding piano jazz titles. Note that these are not always the best performances from these artists, but all have what I consider to be good or better sound quality and content. Recordings marked with a * are my personal favorites.

Tommy Flanagan
-Nights at the Vanguard
-Lady Be Good*
-Confirmation
-Moodsville*

Andre Previn
-My Fair Lady (w/Shelly Manne)
-Gigi
-Like Previn
-Plays Songs of Jerome Kern
-Plays Songs of Harold Arlen
-Plays Songs of Vernon Duke

Phineas Newborn
-Here is Phineas

Pamela York
-Blue York

Toshiko Akiyoshi
-Remembering Bud

Kenny Barron
-The Moment*
-The Only One
-Green Chinmeys

Duke Jordan
-Fight To Jordan*
-Flight To Denmark

Hank Jones
-Upon Reflection*

Kenny Drew
-Pal Joey

John Lewis
-The Bridge Game

Ellis Marsalis
-Heart of Gold
-Ellis Marsalis Trio

Red Garland
-Groovy
-All Kinds of Weather
-Red Garland's Piano*

Hampton Hawes
-Trio, Volume 1
-All Night Session Volumes 1, 2, 3

Benny Green
-These Are Soulful Days

Lynne Arriale
-Melody

Wynton Kelly
-Piano
-Full View

Eric Reed
-Manhattan Melodies

Barry Harris
-At The Jazz Workshop

Ramsey Lewis
-Appassionata

Richard Wyands
-Half and Half
-Reunited

George Shearing
-Walkin'
-Grand Piano
-More Grand Piano
-Piano
-Jazz Moments

Jessica Williams
-Higher Standards
-Arrival
-Some Ballads, Some Blues
-Momentum

Jazz label "Reservoir Music" has a fantastic series of recordings they call the "New York Piano" series. Rudy Van Gelder is the recording engineer for most of the sessions. The artists are generally unknown outside the NYC area, but both performances and sound quality are superb on each of the dozen or so titles I have purchased by pianists Hod O'Brien, Steve Kuhn, Rob Schneiderman, Pete Malinverni, and Dick Katz.

A modern recording with excellent sound and music equal to any contemporary performer is Cyrus Chestnut on Atlantic. HDCD encoded to boot! An all around superb disc that belongs in any jazz fan's collection.

Brad Mehldau

Marcin Wasilewski

Bobo Stenson - Cantando is a spooky good recording. 

Julia Hulsmann

Esbjorn Svensson 

Lots of good choices on the Three Blind Mice label.  My favorite is Midnight Sugar, a studio recording by the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio.  Great performance, excellent sound.

Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival.  A fine live performance that has Evans playing a bit more lightheartedly.  Recording puts you in the hall with them.

Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis.  A lovely, inspired session recorded with holographic clarity.

Andrew Hill
Randy Weston