Piano Blues

There's something about the piano that's just right for the blues. It's large, imposing, monolithic; you play it with your arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes, not to mention your soul — like the blues itself, it towers over you and takes your all. Which is why it takes a master to truly make those ivories sing, masters like New Orleans godfather Professor Longhair, who lets the good times roll on the immortal "Tipitina"; Chicago blues man Pinetop Perkins, who pounds out a signature "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie"; or the late, great Ray Charles, who brings intimate life to "Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)."

Hit Next Steps for more piano blues beauties.

You know that expression about the one hand not knowing what the other one's up to? Well, check out Cow Cow Davenport doing a little dance of the digits on "Cow Cow Blues," or Meade "Lux" Lewis as his left and right tickle it out on "Yancey Special," and you've gotta wonder how anybody can get their mitts to work together so well. Meanwhile, press play on "Rocket Boogie 88, Pt. 1," courtesy of blues shouter Joe Turner and his piano man Pete Johnson, and get a taste of a hot rock precursor; or check out some down-low stylings with a tight touch of jazz on barrelhouse master Champion Jack Dupree's "Junker's Blues."

Go deep into piano blues in Deep Cuts.

An alternate take of the reelin' and rollin' standard "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu" shows off Huey "Piano" Smith's sick skills on the keyboard, while Victoria Spivey accompanies herself to curse a certain species of bad animal on "Black Snake Blues." Little Willie Littlefield sounds anything but small as he tears it up on the Texas boogie-woogie number "Little Willie's Boogie," while blues great Otis Spann settles for simply blowing your mind on "Otis In the Dark."

For the blues greats of the 88s, look no further than Piano Blues Essentials. We've gathered together the best of musical history's blues black-and-whites, with everything from a piano-roll playback of Jelly Roll Morton's "The 'Jelly Roll' Blues," to Dr. John's slightly psychedelic "Iko Iko," to the vintage barrelhouse of Peetie Wheatstraw's "Froggie Blues," to some sleight of hand on Big Easy mad genius James Booker's "Junco Partner." With virtual one-stop shopping, we make it easy to soak up the sudsy stroll of the great Memphis Slim and "Beer Drinkin' Woman," get a taste of Chicago-style honey on Lafayette Leake's "Slow Leake," and bounce to the juke-joint jump of Albert Ammons and "Shout for Joy" — all in one long-playing set.