Dooley Wilson singing and playing As Time Goes By in the film Casablanca perhaps personified the piano bar creating an unforgettable image.
I never made it to Casablanca (or Hollywood) but I stumbled across the real thing in a back street in Amsterdam - Cab Kaye's Piano Bar. Kaye had been a well known figure in the 1940s and '50s recording with many of the top British jazzmen on the Esquire label before moving to Europe and opening up the bar in Holland.
Around about this time (1980ish) I was in Paris and found a piano bar in Montmartre (see photo). I no longer recall the name of the bar or the pianist but maybe, in later years or even the next day, one of the couple sitting next to the piano said, "We'll always have Paris" before going their separate ways.
Closer to home, I remember hearing an excellent pianist in the Harrogate branch of Betty's Tea Rooms and, in the same town at the Cairn Hotel, another fine player playing some beautiful jazz even though we (Marlene, Liz, Denys and myself) were the only ones who showed any appreciation.
Up the A 19 to Middlesbrough and the Dragonara Hotel. A lady of indeterminate age sat in the corner of the lounge playing, among other standards, Body and Soul. It was an absolute knockout version but for all the attention she was getting from the locals she could have been playing Chopsticks!
Which brings me back to Charles Gordon. As well as the Vermont Hotel he also did stints at The Cherry Tree in Jesmond alternating with other local pianists and guitarists on Sunday lunchtimes.
Many of these venues are now long gone and, in many cases, the musicians and the pianos with them replaced by canned music for the 'canned'. A cheaper option but no replacement for a live performer judging the mood of the room and adjusting his repertoire accordingly.
Does anyone else have piano bar memories? Lance
4 comments :
Mitsi and Meena/Mimi (pno & violin) at the Station Hotel in Whitley Bay were brilliant and seemingly could play anything. 1970s and before I guess.
I remember them as MINZI & MEENA (can’t vouch for the spelling, tho), a superb, swinging violin/piano duo. I heard them at various venues around Whitley Bay and Tynemouth including The Station Hotel, The Victoria Hotel and The Grand Hotel - probably mid to late 1960’s. Also heard the Bert Brown Band at the Station Hotel with Brian Chester keyboards, Marshall Walker drums, a female vocalist (Maggie?) and a tenor sax player I recognised as a sales assistant at a well-known music store in Newcastle.
Swinging Tom, Sunday evenings at The Albion Inn, Bill Quay, 1963.
Before the pandemic there used to be someone playing piano on the concourse at the Sage, jazz and other tunes. I believe the piano is still there for anyone who wishes to strike up. I've been known to play a few chords - don't ask me which ones they are! And remember the piano in Ncle Station forecourt. I've heard some good playing there, sometimes anyway.
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