[Dixielandjazz] Trad Jazz (British) and the piano

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi all,

I've never been a fan of pianoless rhythm sections, but in the days before electric pianos, a trad jazz gig was always a lottery given the shocking state of the majority of pianos encountered in pubs and clubs. One disastrous piano gig above all sticks in my mind: it was a rugby club dance and the piano was BAD. In the main it was a semi-tone out, but of course not consistently so across the 88 keys. Our pianist tried bravely to play everything a semi-tone different from normal, but eventually retired to the bar at the first interval a defeated man.

There he had a heated conversation with the organiser, who asked him if the piano just needed a "bit of tuning or a full overhaul." The pianist's reply was "What it needs is a (expletive deleted) Viking Funeral!"

Cheers,

Ken