With two new albums out, a constant succession of live dates, a record label and studio to run, Jools Holland is a busy man. Chris Kempster climbs the Helicon Mountain and finds a piano player at his peak...

Willie 'The Lion' Smith, Jimmy Yancey, Pinetop Smith, Professor Longhair, Albert Ammons, James Booker – these are the names of a noble breed of musician rarely found today. These men were piano players – serious piano players – the type that could keep a crowd of hundreds entertained from eight in the evening 'til six o'clock the next morning, and then wonder why people were leaving early! The type of piano player that needed no band to get the joint jumping, and no amplification to get above the din of a group of working folks intent on partying their asses off after toiling to earn a crust all week.

While jazz pianists of these eras are now treated with reverence by music academics and 'scholars', the names above are often dismissed as second-rate and dismissed as 'barrelhouse' or 'boogie-woogie' players. In fact, they were not only technically-accomplished pianists, but also extremely versatile performers. Although firmly rooted in the blues, they'd be able to play stride, boogie, jazz standards and popular songs of the day. And as well as being great musicians, they were usually larger-than-life characters who would be welcome at any gathering as an entertainer. But let's face it, those days are over – how many keyboard players these days could sit down at a piano and entertain you for a couple of hours, without the aid of a sampler, drum machine or synth? Not many – but there is one man who certainly can...

Jools Holland belongs to the tradition of piano players that I've just described. Often pigeonholed as a 'boogie-woogie' piano player, this is actually only one aspect of his playing. His recent albums, Live and especially Solo Piano reveal a broad repertoire of styles that encompasses stride, R&B, latin, gospel and even classical romanticism, all steeped in a deep-rooted blues sensibility. Suitably situated behind a Yamaha Grand at his Greenwich studio, Helicon Mountain, Jools explained the idea behind the Solo Piano album;

"I used the Doctor John record Doctor John Plays Mac Rebennack not only as my benchmark, but also as a source of ideas. There's a piece called 'Memories of Professor Longhair' (Dr John's version of 'Tipitina') and I did that with a Jimmy Yancey kind of idea. There's also a couple of boogie-woogie pieces that I wrote as we were doing it. Sometimes I find that if you just sit at the piano, it will just come together. The trick is to catch the ideas as they come out. There are different styles on the album – some are gospel, some are classical, and so on. I thought about putting one vocal track on there as our benchmark (just like Dr John's), but then we just never got around to it."

Recorded in just one day (see side panel), Solo Piano showcases Jools' versatility. But there is a definitely an English side to his music, even when playing pure American folk music. How did his playing style evolve?

"When I was eight, my uncle use to live around the corner in a terrace house, and he was about 15 years older than me. He was in a band, and was the bass player, and he knew one boogie woogie piece. He taught it to me, and I would listen to it, and play it over and over. Then I developed it to last longer than the 12 bars. I loved it, and I spent all my time trying to make the 12 bars last longer, and have spent the rest of my life doing that. But at the same time I had Beatles records to listen to, and Motown stuff as well. So on one hand I was looking at contemporary music, but also looking at boogie woogie music. And from that I got into jazz pianists, and also blues pianists. I got into people like Jerry Lee Lewis and Oscar Peterson, and I found I could get the same thrill as I did from the piece that my uncle taught me. Then I found gospel, which gives the same kind of lift. And it's something that I still look for, to this day. It's like a drug."

As with much music, it's mostly not the actual notes that excite, but the feel with which they are played. That's what attracts Jools to certain piano players, and especially those from New Orleans.

"The New Orleans thing is fantastic, it's like another world really. You can't really learn it by dots. Fats Domino is great. I think that he is getting forgotten about a bit now, but he really invented a whole style. It's dead simple, but that's what is so great about him – it's right to the point. Doctor John has a lovely style, too. It's through Doctor John that I've come to other records. It all comes from the blues somewhere. It's all folk music, really, that's what it is. The other thing is that it's not simple. It may sound straightforward, but it's actually pretty complicated. I think that in America, in contrast to artists like Duke Ellington, blues and R&B people tend to get pushed to one side, like they're an embarrassment. So I think that people like Professor Longhair haven't been acknowledged, haven't been given their full due. But then I think history will do that."

While Solo Piano spotlights Jools Holland the piano player, the Live album shows the 'entertainer' side of his persona. Backed up by his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra (which must be one of the only big band-type ensembles playing regularly in this country), Jools sings and plays his way through a collection of original and not-so-new tunes;

"The band had been touring together for a year, and they were all playing with a oneness and hopefully hitting the mark. One of the reasons we did that record was that we played about 10 nights at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh. Live, I use a Technics piano, because otherwise there's no consistency – sometimes you get a really good piano, and other times you get a real shit piano. You can't rely on them, and it's too much to lug a grand piano about. I did think about doing it, as we carried about a (Yamaha) CP80. Some shows it would be worth it, but for other shows it was too much bother.

"I like to think of it as a rather ugly R&B monster that got people feeling sexy"

"Anyway, in Edinburgh I got this huge old concert grand. After playing there for eight days, we decided to record the last two, as I had the feel of the piano and could hear what was going on. So that's why we chose to do it there. I hope that it has the sound and enthusiasm of that pre-rock'n'roll, R&B thing, when it wasn't sure what it was. I like to think of it as a rather ugly R&B monster that got people feeling sexy. Also, I like to think that somewhere in there, there's a good old fashioned Anglo-Saxon sound, like the Kinks or the Rolling Stones. I think the only problem we had was on one guitar – the lead came out, and we had to replace a guitar solo, and one vocal that was a bit flat. Apart from that, everything was left as it was. Then we brought it back here, and Laurie (Helicon Mountain's engineer) mixed it. Then, it's a case of mixing it so it doesn't sound too distant. Again, you don't want it there in your face, but with some space around it – it's tricky to get right. It's a bit like an erotic dancer – you don't want it too close, but too far away is annoying. It's the same with sound, you want it in front of you."

Jools' studio might be full of the latest in recording gear, but he still approaches recording from a performance perspective, rather than a purely technical one.

"I got some records of Earl Fitzgerald from the early 60s. The sound of them is out of this world, partly because the people playing on them were at their best, and also because of the way that they used to record them. It's a thrill to hear a beautiful record. You really feel that you're in the ether of something going on. It's nothing to do with how much money you spend, or anything like that – you could spend thousands. You need to get the feel from the person playing, get them relaxed and make sure that the button is pressed at the right time. It's a tricky job, but then that's the job of the record producer."

Maybe it was fools' frustration with the contemporary record industry that prompted him to start his own label. Based at the Helicon Mountain, and making use of the more-than-adequate facilities of his studio, Jools and Laurie Latham hope to encourage the sort of new talent that gets overlooked by bigger labels.

"The label is called Beautiful," explains Laurie,"and it's quite diverse. What I'm mixing at the moment is a band called Mourn. It's evolved quite considerably since its inception, but basically they're a hybrid of old blues stuff. They're using old blues samples, but with dance rhythms as well."

Maybe this is the type of project that can simultaneously keep alive the music that many people love, while also creating something fresh and contemporary. Only time will tell. What's for sure is that if it's up to the same standard as Solo Piano, both musically and technically, then it'll definitely be worth listening to. In the meantime, it's up to people like Jools Holland to champion the cause of good 'ol R&B, and to perpetuate the legacy of Pinetop, Fess, Fats and the rest...

Solo Piano contains a plethora of piano styles, but the track we've chosen is called 'River Boogie Woogie'. It showcases both the playing and writing skills of Jools, and the importance of correct mic placement when recording the piano.