MIDIdiot Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I'm interested to know what some of the most unlikely songs one would expect to hear by a solo pianist that you play. Ever adapt rock tunes, say classic 70s rock etc into a jazzed up or other style interpretation that would be suitable in this setting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudo Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Several years ago i used to play piano in lounges/bars and yes i used to play several 70s classic rock songs...I found that some worked better than others in a solo piano setting - Of course, all songs that have piano in them sounded good as far as i remember, but not all guitar-based songs sounded convincing on the piano - gerenally, slower guitar-based songs worked better than faster ones... For e.g. i used to play Hey You (Pink Floyd), Hotel California, Stairway to heaven, even Soldier of fortune (Deep Purple), etc.. and they worked very well... But again, that might be relevant to my style, others might have different opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermanjoe Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 A LOT OF MODERN JAZZ PIANISTS ARE DOING STUFF BY RADIOHEAD AND SIMILAR GROUPS. BRAD MEHLDAU IS ONE OF THEM, ALONG WITH HERBIE HANCOCK WHO RELEASES "THE NEW STANDARD' WHICH IS ALL JAZZ RENDITIONS OF POPULAR TUNES LIKE "NEW YORK MINUTE" BY DON HENLY. "Learn the changes, then forget them." -Charlie Parker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DafDuc Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Birdland, I guess - that's not very far out, is it? I've been toying with Metallica's "Enter Night", dunno if it'll ever make it into the rep... Daf I played in an 8 piece horn band. We would often get bored. So...three words: "Tower of Polka." - Calumet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 - I used to play classical guitar in a Spanish Restaurant while I was in school. I would do adaptations of Rush - "Free Will" along with some of the more typical stuff. Nobody ever caught on to Free Will. Some people would request songs but I wasn't a table to table player, I would sit back in a corner over by some plants acoustic - not amped. I mostly said I stick to a program but if I knew the request I'd play it but in a spanish or classical style. Requests would be like Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle (yeesh) Santana - Oye Como Va or Black Magic Woman - The Beatles (anything). There is a cocktail pianist at a restaurant in Philly (or outside of Philly) called The Marker (or Adams Mark - I forget). I regret I lost this guy's card - He was amazing - apparantly he played every Sunday for the early dinner crowd (blue hairs) - his reportoire included ELP - King Crimson (yes he played Fracture!!!) and Wakeman stuff. If anyone knows this guy - Please pass along his name and/or number - I plan to get married in the next 2 years and I'd love a prog cocktail hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIDIdiot Posted August 6, 2004 Author Share Posted August 6, 2004 prog cocktail hour - now you're talkin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Originally posted by InTheDark: prog cocktail hour - now you're talkin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 There's a album by former metal guitarist Alex Skonick on which he performs fairly straight-ahead jazz arrangements of unlikely hard rock and metal tunes. Things like "Detroit Rock City", "Pinball Wizard", and "War Pigs". I've heard it, and it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I used to do a lot of piano bars....you know, singing, playing, entertaining, whatever. Anything is fair game in that kind of situation, but it's got to be familiar to connect. I'd mix Gershwin with TV commercials,ZZ Top, even AC/DC but I wouldn't ever try something the people in the room didn't know...I mean, I wanted smiling, happy tipping customers! Those rooms have all dried up around here...I miss 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIDIdiot Posted August 6, 2004 Author Share Posted August 6, 2004 I'm curious, Bill, to know how you handled the ac /dc tune! I'm glad to hear I wasn't crazy for thinking of doing stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 I used to do "You Shook Me All Night Long" and it would sound about like you'd expect on piano. I'd bang out the chords and sing it irreverently with a wink and a smile...it was all for fun, and I'd only do it if I were sure some people in the room were familiar with the song and would get a kick out of it. The rooms I used to do with just piano were not background cocktail rooms, but piano bars where you were expected to entertain first, with proper musicality a distant second. Since these rooms have largely disappeared around here, I've morphed my piano bar act into keys and vocals with backing tracks. And I still do ZZ Top and AC/DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resigned Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 I am a solo pianist with SMF for accompaniment. Some of the rock songs I do in a "dinner music" motif are Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and Allman Brother's "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". I don't go out of my way to do rock as dinner music - I just enjoy these songs and they fit my style. By the same token I do Seal, Sting and even BackStreet Boys tunes. I also do very contemporary versions of lounge piano standards, so in the end you hear an eclectic mix of songs that tickle your memory but have a fresh sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangsu Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 Jazzed up rock tunes would be fun. Burt Bacharach or The Carpenters would be funner. Unexpected, you could say. I was hyped to do the piano bar thing once. Knocked on a lot of hotel doors and landed a job. The manager billed me as honkey tonk! Just goes to show you have to be ready for anything. "........! Try to make It..REAL! compared to what? ! ! ! " - BOPBEEPER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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