| MP3 SAMPLES | 12TH St Rag-Yes Sir, That's My Baby | ||||||||||||||||
| Recorded live at Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, CA | Nature Boy (with story) | ||||||||||||||||
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Piano Bar a place where people come to listen to piano music, sing, make requests for their favorite songs, tell stories and jokes, and generally share a musical experience with friends and neighbors
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The Piano Bar Show with Robert Goldstick is a one-hour performance of songs, mostly from the 20s, 30s, and 40s, that our elders love, presented with high energy and professionalism that guarantees all residents and staff will have a great time. Usually, people start tappin' their feet, clappin' their hands, and singing along from the very start of the show. After performing about 30 shows a month since 1993, Robert has learned what works in every setting and can always provide an entertaining experience. He's performed shows at every type of facility you could imagine, including Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, CA (for about one thousand folks) to small Alzheimer's units (with only 5 or 6 residents). In all situations the show is finely tuned to provide the most entertaining experience possible. In all cases the reactions are similar.
One of the reasons the show is so universally enjoyed is that Robert takes requests. This is the essence of the Piano Bar experience. He introduces the show with the following - "I call this The Piano Bar Show because it's like the old style piano bar where you could ask the piano player to play anything you'd like. I don't know all of the songs, but I do know most of them, and the ones I don't know, I go home and learn. So, don't be bashful. Ask me for your favorite songs and you'll be surprised how many I know." This invitation brings the audience into the show and allows them to choose what they will hear. Most of the requests are included in the list of Top 100 Favorite Songs, so it's not hard to get at least nine out of ten requests. Another reason the show is greeted with such enthusiasm is that Robert is a gifted piano player who has played these songs for years. People tell him he reminds them of Fats Waller, Eddie Duchin and Liberace. Because he's such a good piano player they even think he sings well. But, it's mostly his personality and approach to the show and the audience that make the experience unique and special. Comments By Activity Directors The best way to see the wonderful response from this show would be to actually see a show or a good video representation, We have a rough video of a performance at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, CA and can make that available. In lieu of the video, the next best way is to read some of the comments by Activity Directors. They are presented on our Testimonials page. |
| How The Show was Developed
Pictures taken at Mission Ranch, Carmel, CA, 1993 Throughout Robert Goldstick's career as a musician, the most common thread was playing piano bar. While his musical background includes everything from performing with rock 'n roll bands, jazz groups and writing musical comedy, he always came back to piano bar because it provided the most stimulating, reliable and entertaining (for him) venue. From his early days in Philadelphia, PA, to New York City, Paris, Hollywood, and San Francisco, he was always performing at one piano bar or another. In 1988 he started performing at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch in Carmel, CA, where he perfected the piano bar experience of making every night a musical delight for everyone. During this time, he learned the basic rules of piano bar: Mix it up. Do everybody’s favorites--from 1900s to 1990s. There are 100 songs that everyone loves. Choosing songs from "The Top 100" guarantees that everyone’s favorite songs will be played. All styles, all rhythms. (The Top 100 Songs changes for different circumstances.) Do it with feeling. Every song is a potential gem if you treat it that way. If the performer puts their heart into the song and plays or sings it with feeling, the audience will respond in kind. If you make the song special in how you present it, the audience will love it, even if you're not the best player or singer. It's the effort and intimacy that reaches people in the piano bar setting. Keep it lively. It’s party time!!! Don't let the show slow down. Mostly up-tempo songs with a few ballads thrown in--but even the ballads should "move along". Stay away from the real 'tear jerkers', when possible. (Sometimes someone really wants to hear The Green Green Grass of Home or some other song that's almost guaranteed to make everyone sad. When that happens, do the song and move on to something lively to quickly change the mood back to a party.) Invite the audience into the act. Ask for requests and invite the audience to sing or dance. Invite them to sing on the microphone or pass it around the piano bar. ( not applicable for nursing homes) Talk about where the songs came from and tell stories. This often brings up stories from the crowd and they often start telling tall tales and jokes. Soon you take a crowd of strangers and turn them into a group of people who feel like they've known each other for years. Combining these general rules guarantees a pleasant musical experience for every audience. Robert applies the above principles to his piano bar shows--in clubs AND in nursing homes/convalescent hospitals. He performs about 30 shows a month in the San Francisco Bay Area and is often greeted with comments by the residents like:
It’s quite a miracle to see elders in their walkers/wheelchairs actively taking part in a real live Piano Bar Show. They were all young once too, and the presentation of the music in this manner is another way in which we are able to "bring back the happiest times" of their lives. Performance Schedule
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Our performance schedule and focus has
recently changed. Robert is starting the pilot project as an in-house
entertainer at The Leon Sullivan Health Care Center in Seattle
Washington. He will be there 4 days a week, Saturday through Tuesday,
for the first three weeks of every month. During those days he will be
performing two shows every day; one for the general residents and one
for the Alzheimer's residents; doing room visits for those who can't get
to the shows and preparing personalized CDs for residents to have so
they can listen to their favorite music when ever they want. After 10
years of performing in hundreds of different facilities and trying to
figure out how to change the system for the better, we believe that we
have found the answer. For more information on this concept see the
In-House Entertainer page.
Robert is also available for shows in the Seattle area during the remaining three days of the week, (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) and is performing shows in the Bellingham, Washington area the last week of the month.
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| HEART AND SOUL MUSIC |
360-961-6485 |
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P.O. Box 2147 |
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Ferndale, WA, 98248 |
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| Copyright (c) 2002 Heart and Soul Music |