20th-century American pianists

Knocky Parker (August 8, 1918, Palmer, Texas – September 3, 1986, Los Angeles, California), born John William Parker, II, was an American jazz pianist. He played primarily ragtime and Dixieland jazz.
A native of Texas, Parker played in the Western swing bands The Wanderers (1935) and the Light Crust Doughboys (1937–39) before serving in the military during World War II.After the war he worked with Zutty Singleton and Albert Nicholas. He became an English professor at Kentucky Wesleyan College and the University of South Florida. On the side, he played piano with Tony Parenti, Omer Simeon and Doc Evans. He recorded albums for Euphonic, GHB, Jazzology, London, Progressive, Paradox, Audiophile and Texstar. At Audiophile, he was one of the first to record all known ragtime pieces by Scott Joplin, excluding "The Silver Swan", which was not discovered at that point.
In 1984, he was nominated for a Grammy Award with Big Joe Turner for Big Joe Turner with Knocky Parker and His Houserockers.

Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". Littlefield was regarded as a teenage wonder and overnight sensation when in 1949, at the age of 18, he popularized the triplet piano style on his Modern Records debut single, "It's Midnight". He also recorded the first version of the song "Kansas City" (originally issued as "K. C. Lovin'"), in 1952.

William Franklin Lee III, aka Bill Lee (February 20, 1929-October 23, 2011) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, author, and music educator who was renowned for pioneering comprehensive music education, including jazz, at the collegiate level. He led the University of Miami School of Music and was the University of Miami's third music school dean from 1964 to 1982.In 1989, Lee retired from the University of Miami but continued to work in music education at other institutions. He was distinguished professor emeritus of music theory and composition and emeritus composer in residence. Lee was vice-president and provost at the University of Miami and president and executive director of IAJE.His son Will Lee played bass guitar for Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman.

JB Floyd (né James Robert Floyd; born June 2, 1929) is an American concert pianist (jazz, classical, experimental, avant-garde, and the like), composer, and music pedagogue at the collegiate level. Before retiring in 2013, Floyd spent 64 years as a music educator in higher education, including as chairman of keyboard performance at Northern Illinois University from 1962 to 1981 and chairman of keyboard performance at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music from 1982 to 2013. Floyd is a Yamaha Artist.

Ivan Roy Davis, Jr. (February 4, 1932 – March 12, 2018) was an American classical pianist and longstanding member of the faculty at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist.

John Browning (May 23, 1933 – January 26, 2003) was an American pianist known for his reserved, elegant style and sophisticated interpretations of Bach and Scarlatti and for his collaboration with the American composer Samuel Barber.

Robert Howard Ralston (born July 2, 1938, in Upland, California) is an American pianist and organist who performed on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1963 until 1982, when the series ended.

Jo Ann Castle (born September 3, 1939) is an American honky-tonk pianist, best remembered for appearing on The Lawrence Welk Show. She adopted her stage name from the name of an accordion manufacturer, another instrument she played proficiently. She was often referred to as "Queen of the Honky-Tonk Piano" by Lawrence Welk himself.
Originally introduced to Welk by Joe Feeney in 1959, Castle became a permanent member of the Welk Family, replacing the departing Big Tiny Little. Shortly after joining the Show, Castle married cameraman Dean Hall. They divorced in 1966 after having a daughter. Castle married again in 1968 and had a son and a daughter. Castle left the Welk Show in 1969 and divorced in 1971. Her third marriage, in 1978, ended in 1986.
In the 1990s, Castle performed at the Welk-owned Champagne Theater in Branson, Missouri, as well as making a guest appearance for a show with Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra on RFD TV.
On September 3, 2011, Castle married her fourth husband, Lin Biviano, who was a trumpet player from Boston.

Claudia Miriam Gonson (born April 5, 1968) is an American musician best known for her work with The Magnetic Fields. She often provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums. She is also the band's manager.
Gonson met Stephin Merritt in high school in the early 1980s, and the pair have worked together ever since.
While in high school at Concord Academy, Gonson performed in her first band, the Zinnias, in which Merritt wrote or co-wrote most of the band's material with John Gage. The band broke up when Gonson left to attend Columbia University. Gonson later returned to the Boston area to attend Harvard University, and joined the group Lazy Susan, which also included Therese Bellino and Shirley Simms.She has since performed on many of Merritt's albums, including the critically acclaimed 1999 album 69 Love Songs, and frequently appears with him live as part of the usual quartet that constitutes The Magnetic Fields.
Gonson has been Merritt's longtime manager. She appears extensively in Strange Powers, the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara about Merritt and The Magnetic Fields.
As well as her work with Merritt, Gonson also plays drums in the band Tender Trap. She has written and performed her own music with Shirley Simms, Michael Hearst, Tanya Donelly and Rick Moody. She has also played drums in Providence, Rhode Island-based band Honeybunch and performs as the lead vocalist in Merritt's Future Bible Heroes project. She sang on Neil Gaiman's song "Bloody Sunrise".In an interview with The Advocate, Gonson remarked:
"When we started Magnetic Fields we purposely had one lesbian, one gay guy, one straight woman, and one straight man. The audience could identify with whomever they wanted."In that interview, Gonson noted that she feels that Merritt's songs are predominantly about "Loneliness, isolation, and the need to be recognized by another person." She believes that if homophobia were not so prevalent, these experiences "would be less rampant instead of being so associated with the gay personality." Gonson believes that many LGBT youth have listened to The Magnetic Fields for "words of wisdom".
In 2010, Gonson gave birth to her daughter Eve.