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There is one song on youtube, click below or paste it in your browser. The sound and video are far superior on the DVD. (Nothing against youtube, but what do you want for free?) And by the way, why can’t I hear that darned cowbell? MORE COWBELL!

The real reason that musicians like to hang out together…

I was jamming with Biff and Rod back in high school and Danny was my roommate at Berklee. Joo was in a very popular all girl band in Seoul Korea – called Happy Dolls – when she was a teen. (last year) (kidding) She gets a special mention here because she didn’t know most of these songs – there were quite a few of them that she had never heard before. For the rest of us it was like rolling off a log, playing top 40 rock songs from our high school daze.

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2009 STUDIO SESSIONS
I did a country session on piano for The Suburban Cowboys. It was only recently that “What’s Left To Finish” was released.
(hmmm….escaped?) Here are a few pics from the session. Looks like I caught only the bow of the fiddle, on the left. I really envied that bass
player – great shoes! That is NOT Forest Whitaker on drums. He doesn’t look Japanese but apparently his name is Yamaha.

If you want to hear the song (and you do!) click on this link.

www.suburbancowboys.net/WhatsLeftToFinish.html
Find “songs” in the middle of the page and beneath that What’s Left To Finish. Click on “play” See how simple?

Also in 2009 I recorded Rhapsody In Blue at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. I have a few CDs left (5,000!) (kidding) if you want one.


MUSICAL THEATRE
In 2003 I started playing musical theatre. The first show I did was The Rocky Horror Show. I didn’t know that it been a musical before it was a movie. Please note that only the MOVIE is called The Rocky Horror PICTURE Show. I could not get the idiotic editors at the San Francisco Chronicle to change the advertising, even though I knew what I was talking about. (Groucho Marx – “That’s a novelty”.) This was in San Jose at City Lights Theatre, with Gus Kambeitz as the musical director, Jana Morris doing the incredible choreography, and featuring a cast of dozens. I was recruited as the rehearsal pianist and did double duty as the keyboard player in the band. Rehearsals lasted about a month. The Yamaha electric grand piano and the Oberheim synth got hauled out of my studio for this gig, I simply HAD to have three keyboards dahling. (Just needed one more hand.) The playbill says the show ran May 15 – June 21 but it was so super successful that it was extended several times and ran almost the entire summer, four nights a week. (Okay, three nights a week and a Sunday matinee.) I was the only band member that played every show because once the extensions started the other musicians already had bookings. (Therefore it pays to be lazy.) There are precious few photos from any of the shows, as  photography or videotaping is expressly forbidden by the copyright holders. If you go back to the home page (or even if you don’t) the last picture under “photos” was taken in the pit at the theatre. These are publicity shots and a few backstage photos. You can click on them if you want to read the cast and crew members names and the fine print.  That’s Gus playing bass in the photo of my Oberheim synthesizer, I don’t know how he got in there.  During the publicity photo shoot the guitarist was tuning up offstage and the cameraman yelled out “HEY BAND GUY, YOU’RE IN THE SHOT!” The first photo is the band, which went by the name of Amateur Pet Autopsy. We wore scrubs during the show. I played Bach’s Toccata And Fugue in D Minor every night – the Toccata to start the show and the Fugue as the exit music. There is an excerpt on the “videos” page. I am wearing a long hooded monk’s robe that I removed after the Toccata and then changed into my scrubs. Rocky was not for the faint of heart. From left to right, Gerald – drums, Bill – guitar, Gus – bass, Doh! – keyboards.

Immediately after Rocky was “A Pocketful Of Rhymes”, at the Children’s Musical Theatre in San Jose. Tina Paulson (then girlfriend, now wife of Gus Kambeitz) was the musical director. Again featuring a large cast (seemingly hundreds) it ran for only a week but became very confusing on the weekend because there was a matinee and an evening show. (Is this intermission or is the show over? I’ll ask Tina.) I used a lot of synthesizer (my Kurzweil), trying to give each song a unique sound. The orchestra pit was actually underneath the stage. Gerald from Rocky again played drums.

I had a short break and then did “The World Goes Round”, the Kander and Ebb show. I played piano (and got to sing) and  Jean Narunsky played synthesizer. Jana Morris was again the choreographer. Saying that The Pear Avenue Theatre is small is like saying The Grand Canyon is large. Talk about intimate – if you sit in the first row you can reach out and touch the actors. (Not that you should.) Nothing was miked. This is where I met Stephanie, the soon to be singer for The Nut Club. I vividly remember her audition and although I didn’t know it at the time it was a life changing moment. The band (both of us) was on the side of the stage, actually visible to the audience for a change, and right before Stephanie sang the opening number (the title song) I would glance over to her while the stage was still dark and marvel at the fact that I was about to play piano while she sang. That’s how magical it was. Before the show I had heard only a few of the songs – My Coloring Book, (which was a hit by two different female singers during the 60’s and Barbra Streisand  also has a well known rendition) Cabaret, New York New York and a few songs from the smash hit Chicago. Once I became familiar with the show I loved all the music. This is where I made my theatre singing debut, a duet with Kereli Jones on  “All That Jazz”, from the show Chicago. (This song was mentioned as one of the highlights in the review below. Maybe because she draped herself all over the piano?) There was a song where the five cast members all played banjo – talk about a sight and sound to behold. I was the rehearsal pianist so I witnessed their banjo lessons. Invariably someone would ask “Where did you find five people who could all play banjo?”

That wound up 2003. Talk about frantic – back to back to back shows! I don’t think I could do that again.

2004

Jesus Christ Superstar (and Gus Kambeitz) came calling, in my humble opinion the best thing that Andrew Lloyd Weber ever wrote. This was in Sunnyvale and again the orchestra pit was under the stage. It was quite crowded under there because a number of background singers occupied half the room. My most vivid memory is of a female member of the chorus bringing beers to the band during a show and being fired shortly afterwards. We didn’t have brass or strings so I did my best to cover those parts on synthesizer. There is a lot of piano and organ in the show so I was in heaven. (Pardon the expression.) I had so much fun playing this music that I bought the DVD and a t shirt. (no band discount) It was again my privilege to play with Gus, Gerald and Bill. We really felt like a band.

2005

Next up was “A My Name Is Alice”, an off Broadway show that I had never heard of. Back to City Lights Theatre, which started to feel like my home away from home, with Gus as musical director. Featuring five female actors/singer/dancers, this show was a riot every night. These gals are all triple threats and they ran the gamut of emotions, four nights a week. Take a look at the rehearsal schedule below, it will give you some idea of how hard everyone worked.  Again I was the rehearsal pianist. The director, stage manager and house manager were all female, so it was myself and eight women at rehearsals. (Somebody up there likes me.) There is a brief scene from the show under “videos”, the very last one. That is not a guitar on the track, it’s synthesizer. Ha, who needs a guitarist? DISCLAIMER! This video was shot to archive the show, which does not violate the contract between the theatre and the copyright owners. (I hope.) Gus and Gerald were again my band mates. Cast members left to right…Robyn, Lisa Marie, Heidi, Ashley and Michelle – all are incredibly talented and wonderful, not to mention beautiful. Beautiful? I said not to mention beautiful!

Around this time I met a playwright in search of a musician. Jan Stafford had a script, melodies and lyrics to twenty songs. (20?!?!) The name of the show is Ball And Chain and it’s about the characters at a lesbian bar, set in San Francisco. (what a concept…) The time period covers the 50’s through the 80’s and the music reflects that. I spent a year fleshing out the melodies and arranging the songs for keyboards, guitar, bass and drums and a lot of female vocalists. (Yet another show with an all women cast.) I was the musical director this time and Gus Kambeitz was actually working for me! Much to my delight Stephanie agreed to be in the show and City Lights Theatre was kind enough to premiere it. There are a ton of good songs in it and someday it WILL be on Broadway.

2006

I was a sub keyboard player for Love, Janis at the Marines Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. This means I was not the primary keyboard player, I substituted when the main guy had a card game to go to. (I’m just sayin’…) I sat in the audience one night and another night I watched the show from backstage, then I plunged in. It ran for months, eight shows a week, and the role of Janis Joplin was so demanding that two singers alternated. I happened to play with the amazing Cathy Richardson, who played Janis in the original Broadway production. She has done a lot of shows with Big Brother And The Holding Company.  A few years ago Cathy took over Grace Slick’s spot in Jefferson Starship. She is a force of nature, catch her act if you have a chance. (That is Janis on the poster. As you can see, Cathy is much better looking.)

Click here for a glowing review from the San Francisco Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/18/DDGVTJVPQR1.DTL
Love, Janis: Musical biography. Written and directed by Randal Myler. (Through Sept. 3. Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter St., San Francisco. Two hours, 20 minutes. Tickets $35-$67. Call (415) 771-6900 or visit www.ticketmaster.com).

2013

Another Rocky Horror Show – 10th Anniversary at City Lights Theatre. Pulled triple duty, handling rehearsal pianist, keyboards some nights, bass guitar other nights. I used the Fender most nights but also brought in the Gibson (incredible output) and the Vox. (a little buzzy) (like me) It was a completely new production – cast, band, staging, director, choreography – and yet it was the same spectacular show. (Eventually I’ll tell the story of being banned from the ladies dressing room.) If you can be a bit more patient – and why not, it’s been over two years – I’ll be adding some pictures.