A Big, Old Steinway is a Wonderful Thing!

Big Steinway Video
A few months ago, I spent some time at the big old, wonderful Steinway  that's a fixture of Glenn Memorial Auditorium on the Emory University campus here in Atlanta.. My good friend, Fitz, did his usual video wonders and here is his compilation of some of the random things that happened.

Several of the songs are truly oldies because I needed some public-domain tunes for videos---thus there is some older material here. But I think the oldies, like My Wild Irish Rose, for example,  have become classics for a very good reason--they're just great songs.
 
I hope you agree.

The Breakthrough Moment is Pretty Close to the Goof . . .

Sometimes a photo is really worth quite a few words.








 This one is the reaction you DO want.

And here's the one you DON'T want!






Searching for the AHA! moment. Trouble is, the HA moment is pretty close to it. .

Well, Everybody Should Have a Hobby, I Guess . . .

Maybe you read, on the front page of The New York Times, the incredible tale of the mysterious grand piano found on a sandbar in the Miami harbor. It was burned to a crisp. No one knew where it came from, and most sandbars don't have pianos on them, even in Miami.

It turns out that, apparently, burning grand pianos is something of a family project.

If you didn't happen to see the story, here it is.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but . . . burning a piano, even for a music video, seems an odd thing to do.

I have a lot of photos of pianos, but nothing to illustrate this post. The picture in the Times says it all.

Office Christmas Parties . . . RIP?

So, 'tis the season, but there don't seem to be many traditional office Christmas parties this year. Probably the economy, and that makes sense to me.

In years past I'd play--usually with bands--for fifteen or twenty big, huge, extravagant company Christmas parties. We learned to dread them because they could be so brutally bad. Seems odd, though, doesn't it? But not if you think about it for a minute.

First, there is almost always an open bar, which invites overindulgence. And once people have one drink too many, it's easy for jealousies, resentment, suspicion and just plain stupid behavior to take over. If you've been to many of these parties, you know exactly what I mean. It doesn't have to involve a lampshade on the head--it can be a husband dancing once too often with his secretary, or a VP making snide remarks on the microphone about the boss, or . . .

The worst of the worst company events I ever played, in the sense of just a depressing evening, was  years ago, when a big Atlanta architectural firm that had its blowout Christmas party on the first Friday night in December. That afternoon, they had laid off about a third of their workforce, and the rumor was that more pink slips would be issued on Monday.

It was the darkest mood I've ever witnessed in a party setting, for sure. The managing partner in charge of the party kept harassing the band to get people on the dance floor, to "get the party going." Talk about divorced from reality. Those people wouldn't have danced with guns to their heads.

So, I'll not be missing those blasts from the pasts. Maybe younger musicians are happily playing those events, or . . . maybe they have deservedly gone away for good.

And f the recession killed them, then there is a silver lining!

Looks Like a Family Lives Here

At a neighborhood reception recently I noticed the family piano, and it made me think of how the piano was once the center of family life.  In the old days, families would gather around the piano for entertainment, and it's interesting to think of all the other benefits that came along with such a group activity.

But this piano clearly has much family use in 2010, and I think that has to a good thing. In fact, I'd say a very good thing..

There's a beginning book of music open, which probably indicates piano lessons. We all know the many benefits of music lessons at a young age.

And then there's just the beauty of the instrument itself, and the way it becomes a focal point for not only the family's educational and musical activities, but as a place to collect many family pictures. What could be more appropriate? It's silently sitting there, symbolizing all kinds of real-world family values.

(And wouldn't it be a good thing if more families had active pianos in the living room? Maybe where the big-screen TV now sits?)

Played this great Steinway last night in the Great Hall--there's no other way to describe it--in Glenridge Hall, an old (major) mansion in North Atlanta. This house is used for movies, but is an actual home.

The piano is perfect, and is perfectly maintained BUT it sounds so good in the room that I went looking for the reason. I play a lot of very good pianos, but this one sounds SO much better that I wondered why. It's not just the size of the piano---around 7 feet--tho that certainly helps.

I figured that the warm, full, almost perfect sound came largely from the wood in the room---the old wood--and from the high ceiling, but I think (after some research) that the enormous size of the hall helps. The wood adds richness and natural reverb , and the ballroom-sized room makes that a natural reverb. You just can't get that sound in a regular-sized room.

Here's a nice explanation of room acoustics and piano sound from the Beethoven Pianos website. Acoustics is an arcane science, but you sure know good acoustics when you hear it . . . so . . . I guess I need a living room that's roughly the size of my entire house!

They Were Lucky Back Then

So . . . I'm almost ashamed to say that there was a time when I wouldn't have enjoyed playing for a group of senior citizens, (as I did tonight at Clairmont Place in Atlanta.)
But times change. Now seniors among my very favorite folks to play for, and the reasons are simple.

1. They know and love great popular music because they were lucky enough to grow up with it. Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Mercer and all the rest - --that was their hit parade. They know the songs, and they ask for them. They smile and tap their feet. They enjoy the best of American popular music.

2. They appreciate the music. I get more attentive looks, more high-quality requests, and more warm and appreciative comments from these groups than from any other. And they're not kidding.

(But, I have to say it gives me pause to project ahead 50 years. I just wonder . . . what will today's 20-somethings look back on when they're in their senior years?)

Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, and Irving Berlin offer words that last, and melodies that keep on giving. It's a bonus for those who know, lived with, and still love this great music. I enjoy being able to be part of it.

It's true: the melodies do linger on.