This is a video of me playing for a cocktail party at the Montauk Club (which is gorgeous by the way) in Brooklyn, a historic building so old that when I asked where the restroom was on the 2nd floor, I was told I had to go to the first floor because when it was built, women weren't allowed on the 2nd floor.
It seems the majority of performance gigs I get (as opposed to accompaniment gigs) are for events such as restaurant and cocktail party background music. I love playing for those. I get to sit in a corner with a piano and play whatever I want. I know that people are listening, but not giving me a hundred percent of their attention, which takes some of the pressure off. I would be happy if I could do just one or two of these a week. That would fulfill my performance craving. It would be Heaven.
This song is "Lover Man," recorded by a ton of people, but my favorite version is Billie Holiday. When I played this for Ceil (one of my piano teachers from years ago), she said it sounds like Billie Holiday sings Gershwin because of the heavy bass and fullness in my style of playing. I took it as a compliment. There is one or two jumps in the video because I had to cut out some of the piano solo, or it would have been about ten minutes long. Hope you enjoy.
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