Four Hands Boogie-Woogie*

One of my favourite albums in my increasingly oversized collection has always been a little compilation innovatively entitled 'Boogie Woogie Piano'. I would give you a link, but I simply can't find it to buy online at the moment.

Edit: Thanks to 'anonymous' who got in touch via the chat widget on my blog. However, it's not this identically titled compilation which is available second-hand on Amazon. That one looks good though.

This album is a collection of pieces from Jimmy Yancey, Meade 'Lux' Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson. If those names don't mean much to you yet, then the next couple of hours of your life should be very enjoyable ones.

Most special though, are the tracks featuring Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons playing simultaneously. I can't think of much which is more demanding than perfectly synced boogie-woogie pianos playing themes and trading improvised solos. So, you can imagine my excitement when I found the following video of two modern pianists, each famed for their sickeningly good technique, doing much the same thing:


_{Jools Holland and Dr. John playing four hands boogie-woogie}

This one's really special, I can't recommend it enough. Also, have you ever seen either of those guys concentrating so hard? None of Jools' usual hand-lifting, flicks of the fingers or looking up at the sky here.

--

* or should that be Four Hands' Boogie-Woogie? Go argue about apostrophes here.