Favorite musician? ... too many to name, but I guess if I had to it would be Oscar Peterson ...
BUT,... Lydia and I spent the weekend before last in Newport RI to celebrate our 45th wedding ann'y ....After dinner, we stopped at a club to hear Mac Chrupcala's jazz group - EXCELLENT - piano, bass, drums, http://cdbaby.com/cd/chrupcalatrio2 and a male vocalist, in the style of Mel Torme ... http://cdbaby.com/cd/porcella3
After a while, a guy sits in on piano ... he is playing some 'way out' stuff as a 'warm up' and I ask the bartender if she knew who it was ... she answered it's Mike Renzi ... http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/credits/0,,484209,00.html
Mike was the piano player for Mel Torme for many years and has backed numerous top vocalists on their recordings ... After he played he sat and chatted with us a while ... nice guy, great night ...

I also met Dizzy Gillespie in Newport a few years ago ...

t.