Piano On Gigs

Before the music scene turned electronic it must have been a frustrating challenge for piano players to have to endure the pianos that were supplied by the clubs, dance halls or whatever in those days.  Some of these instruments had been ready for the scrap heap for years.  It reminded you of the joke "Fix the piano?   We just had it painted last week."

In fact I remember some musicians that had to endure an evening at some ethnic hall on the "piano" provided, decided to break a few more hammers to render the "instrument" unplayable. This didn't work. The following week the band had to play on that same piano but with more missing notes.

There is a Polish area in Toronto called Roncesvalle.  Most of the restaurants and stores in that area cater to the dense Polish population.   There was one restaurant that I used to frequent called The Chopin.   It was a great place to eat delicious pierogi and sample some interesting Polish beer.

In the summer time one could sit on the patio near the sidewalk and take in the sights of this European atmosphere. It was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The Chopin's entertainment was an elderly gentleman that played their piano (an old up-right).  He apparently knew a lot of Chopin compositions and did his best on the piano provided.   However the piano had big gobs of silent notes missing in the middle register.  This didn't matter. The guy just barrelled through the compositions and pretended that the missing notes were there. (He sang the silent notes to himself.)   There wasn't any way he could know where he was in the composition if he didn't take this approach.

From my standpoint, it was like a live Pete Barbutti routine and worth listening to and enjoying. It didn't matter to the patrons or the restaurant owner that this musician was being challenged on this "monster" of an instrument.  It was like trying to build a "watch" with a hammer. Poor guy. 

He always had a sunny disposition and it appeared he enjoyed the employment if not the instrument. He would tackle the numbers with great gusto.

Some time later, I heard that the restaurant finally relented and addressed the piano situation when they renovated the entire restaurant. 

They repainted the piano.

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