[Dixielandjazz] Fw: [TPIN] thinking in keys...telling tall tales
JimDBB@aol.com
JimDBB@aol.com
Sun, 22 Sep 2002 12:55:49 EDT
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In a message dated 9/22/02 11:39:26 AM Central Daylight Time,
cellblk7@attbi.com writes:
> An interesting post from another list I'm on...the "TPIN".
> Romans
>
> Date: Sunday, September 22, 2002 11:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [TPIN] thinking in keys
>
>
> > "I've played a lot of tunes with a lot of different musicians in
> >> which someone who knew the changes (chords) would indicate the upcoming
> >> change by holding up the number of fingers that represented the upcoming
> >> chord "
> >
> >A man who worked for me as an actuary was, in a prior life, a New England
> >Conservatory graduate who played piano for Lewis and Martin in Las Vegas.
> >Piano at the front of the stage (for Martin to lean against), band at the
> >back. He said Martin, although in fact always drunk, had a very good
> sense
> >of pitch and an excellent feel for what his voice could do on any given
> song
> >and night. Martin would signal the key on stage by holding up fingers --
> >right hand for sharp keys, left hand for flats. One particularly bad
> night
> >for Martin and bottle, he and Lewis did their openning comedy bit then
> >Martin announced his song, turned around and held up three fingers on each
> >had. The piano started in A, the band started in Eb--that's a tri-tone,
> my
> >friends. After the resultant breakdown, Martin ridiculed the piano player
> >in front of the audience and my friend got up walk off the job. (He went
> on
> >to conduct a national touring company of Man of La Mancha and is now a
> very
> >sucessful planner of retirement packages.)
> >
> >Tommy T.
This is a nice story but I don't buy it. I don't know of any name
performer who would signal the key for a tune at the last minute on stage. A
name singer just doesn't signal key changes on stage. Dean Martin would have
his own pianist who would know all this. This would all be well established
before hand via rehearsals and arrangements.
I think that the guy who concocted this story had tipped a few more than
Dean Martin. Planning retirement packages perhaps leads to fanciful
imaginations.
Jim Beebe
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 9/22/02 11:39:26 AM Central Daylight Time, cellblk7@attbi.com writes:<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">An interesting post from another list I'm on...the "TPIN".<BR>
Romans<BR>
<BR>
Date: Sunday, September 22, 2002 11:07 AM<BR>
Subject: Re: [TPIN] thinking in keys<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
> "I've played a lot of tunes with a lot of different musicians in<BR>
>> which someone who knew the changes (chords) would indicate the upcoming<BR>
>> change by holding up the number of fingers that represented the upcoming<BR>
>> chord "<BR>
><BR>
>A man who worked for me as an actuary was, in a prior life, a New England<BR>
>Conservatory graduate who played piano for Lewis and Martin in Las Vegas.<BR>
>Piano at the front of the stage (for Martin to lean against), band at the<BR>
>back. He said Martin, although in fact always drunk, had a very good sense<BR>
>of pitch and an excellent feel for what his voice could do on any given<BR>
song<BR>
>and night. Martin would signal the key on stage by holding up fingers --<BR>
>right hand for sharp keys, left hand for flats. One particularly bad night<BR>
>for Martin and bottle, he and Lewis did their openning comedy bit then<BR>
>Martin announced his song, turned around and held up three fingers on each<BR>
>had. The piano started in A, the band started in Eb--that's a tri-tone, my<BR>
>friends. After the resultant breakdown, Martin ridiculed the piano player<BR>
>in front of the audience and my friend got up walk off the job. (He went<BR>
on<BR>
>to conduct a national touring company of Man of La Mancha and is now a very<BR>
>sucessful planner of retirement packages.)<BR>
><BR>
>Tommy T.</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><BR>
This is a nice story but I don't buy it. I don't know of any name performer who would signal the key for a tune at the last minute on stage. A name singer just doesn't signal key changes on stage. Dean Martin would have his own pianist who would know all this. This would all be well established before hand via rehearsals and arrangements. <BR>
<BR>
I think that the guy who concocted this story had tipped a few more than Dean Martin. Planning retirement packages perhaps leads to fanciful imaginations.<BR>
<BR>
Jim Beebe<BR>
</FONT></HTML>
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