>p.s. I was talking to my wife (a classical pianist) about tapping out
>the time with ones's foot and she said that she had been taught Never
>Never to tap since the foot should be free for the pedals. So I played
>some clips of Monk playing from "Straight, No Chaser" for her!
>
>
So now Garrett says:
I thought it was interesting to see Marian McPartland's name come up in
another thread regarding playing in the key of B. I can recall seeing her at
Rick's Cafe American in Chicago back in the late seventies (last I heard it
became a disco... who knows what it is now).
I heard several of her interviews back in the seventies where she got into
her self aggrandizement and how she could play in the key of B... no one
that I can recall gushed over how remarkable that was.
Anyway... I do remember that she taps with her right foot while reserving
the left foot for the pedal. She also had kind of a semi-side-saddle
approach to the bench. She'd really get her right leg boppin' up and down to
the beat.
So, I was just a kid wanting to get my darn record autographed... I ventured
over to her table where she was chatting with friends after her first set. I
was a bit nervous and couldn't think of much to say as I shoved my album at
her with a ballpoint pen. She looked at me with that haughty,
this-had-better-be-good look of hers... so I, not knowing what to say,
blurted out my feeble compliments on how well she could play in the key of
B. I felt stupid for saying that, but it was my best attempt at sucking up
to her. (I had to say something... When I handed the record to her,
initially, she didn't reach back for it. It was one of those awkward moments
like reaching out to shake someone's hand, but they hesitate for a moment
before responding.)
Eventually, I got the damn record into her hands, she scribbled her name
with lightening speed, and said something to the effect that no good player
is a stranger to B.
I got the hell out of there quick!
Garrett Wilner
Austin, Texas