Agree w/Sogood re Houston Persons. Most any of his recent recordings on Blue Note. My wife prefers these when we have guests.
Also there are recordings by Charlie Haden that are not only good dinner stuff, but outstanding performances 'Beyond the Missouri Sky', and 'Night and the City'. Additionally, Andre Previn has three recordings on Telarc - piano trios with Ray Brown, Mundell Lowe and Joe Pass (on one disc).
While I love classical, especially piano, its hard to make a recommendation - I just don't think of it as good background music. But, having said that, the Jacques Loussier Trio has several lite jazz transcriptions of Satie, Vivaldi, Bach, etc, which might fit the bill.
Also there are recordings by Charlie Haden that are not only good dinner stuff, but outstanding performances 'Beyond the Missouri Sky', and 'Night and the City'. Additionally, Andre Previn has three recordings on Telarc - piano trios with Ray Brown, Mundell Lowe and Joe Pass (on one disc).
While I love classical, especially piano, its hard to make a recommendation - I just don't think of it as good background music. But, having said that, the Jacques Loussier Trio has several lite jazz transcriptions of Satie, Vivaldi, Bach, etc, which might fit the bill.