Five Modern Jazz Pianists You Should Listen To

In the last hundred years, jazz has undergone multiple revolutions on the piano, from stride right through to experimental fusions.

In this time, a wide range of styles have been employed, drawing on influences from around the musical world.

As a result, there are many jazz pianists today who are masters of the genre, and who can offer students a huge amount of inspiration.

Here are five pianists I consider essential listening, and whose gigs I would recommend going to should the chance arise.

Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper started his life in jazz as a straight ahead player at the turn of the millennia.

Having forged a strong reputation as a sideman and a talented trio artist, he established the Robert Glasper Experiment, which has since become one of the most groundbreaking jazz bands of the 21st Century.

His style is now more fusion-oriented, and he is one of the central figures in modern jazz, with hip-hop and neo soul genres growing enormously in popularity around his influence.

His Black Radio albums are a brilliant showcase of the new direction of jazz from the 2010’s, and have provided influence to the whole jazz genre since.

Glasper continues to be a huge cultural and artistic figure in the jazz world, and his work with a huge variety of projects is worth investigating.

Gerald Clayton

A brilliantly characterful improviser, Gerald Clayton gained widespread recognition as a trio specialist, with his trio albums containing some of the most conversational ensemble performances on record.

Like so many modern pianists, his original work delves deep into experimental genres, giving students a wide range of material to listen to and take inspiration from.

His 2022 album Bells on Sand is a brilliant study in textural sensitive performance.

Alternatively, a brilliant example of Clayton’s ingenuity is his 2025 album Ones & Twos; an album in which the A side and the B side can be played simultaneously to create one whole piece, but both operate perfectly when played individually.

Brad Mehldau

A behemoth of the 90’s jazz scene, Brad Mehldau is recognised by many as the greatest jazz pianist of the 21st Century.

His ability to bend genres and make meaningful and evocative music in practically any musical situation is phenomenal.

Mostly a trio artist, his solo work is a brilliant example of a pianist in full control of the textural range of the piano.

His solo sets at Smalls are available on YouTube, while his Art of the Trio albums from the late 90’s still hold tremendous value today.

Over the years he has become less technical in his style and more delicate, making him much more accessible for students than his earlier work.

Aaron Parks

Another revelation from the turn of the millennia, Aaron Parks is an innovative and forward-thinking jazz pianist.

As with many modern pianists, he has created a signature sound that forms an entire musical universe of its own, incorporating a huge variety of influences, including eastern modality and indie rock.

He is also a prolific sideman, having begun his career in the band of the great Terrence Blanchard, and has appeared on albums by a large number of top class band leaders.

His trio album Find the Way is my favourite of his works, which is a brilliant study in subtlety of improvisation and composition.

His music tends to be attractive in how technically undemanding it usually is.

Much like Mehldau’s later Mehldau work, Parks takes pride in the beauty of simplicity.

Tigran Hamasyan

A breathtakingly virtuosic pianist, Tigran Hamasyan has been mesmerising music fans since he broke onto the scene.

His compositions are incredibly complex rhythmically, making them all distinct challenges for anyone to play.

They are however a brilliant insight into the experimental possibilities in jazz music, generating unique melodies against the backdrop of swimming dense textures.

His album Mockroot is a brilliant collection of tunes which showcases the ultimate beauty of the music Hamasyan creates.

While his music is anything but relaxing to listen to, it contains an almost constant sense of soaring.

Of the artists on this list, he is the one I would most recommend seeing live for the full force of his unique style.

For all of these modern greats, there is a wealth of recorded material out there to find, more than ever before.

Deep dives on YouTube will have you discovering some incredible bootleg recordings.

It is also worth looking at the sideman discography of all of these players, as some of a pianist’s best work is done in a supporting role, and the potential for broadened horizons should not be missed.

Additionally, browsing the work of the sidemembers for the artists mentioned is also a great way of discovering more artists from similar veins of jazz. I hope one or more of these artists will give you some inspiration in your own music!

If you feel inspired to explore jazz piano further, we invite you to join us.

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