pianist vs. piano player

[Herbert Stahlke]

In all those Westerns where the piano in a saloon gets
shot up, it's always a piano player, even though it's
nearly always solo.  Wasn't Sam in Casablanca also a
piano player, not a pianist?  Or doesn't that function
get mentioned in the film?  But I think venue is a
factor.  In a bar or a night club it's more likely to be
a piano player.

Herb Stahlke
> On 2/7/02 12:03, "Michal Lisecki" <magura at GIGA.PL> wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> > perhaps the resources I've looked up were too poor or is it just that as a
> > non-native I am just not able to judge it by myself but what (if any) the
> > difference is between the two notions from the subject: "pianist" and
> > "piano player".
> > To the best of my knowledge, or perhaps rather to my "senses", I guess that
> > "pianist" refers mostly to the field of classical/chamber music or to those
> > artists who either play the piano solo or whose performance is central to
> > the rest of the group/band (in jazz?). Whereas "piano player" would then
> > perform as only one of the many members of a group/band.
>
> I'd kind of agree with this and suggest it's like "fiddler" vs. "violinist."