The Gig That Never Was…
May 7th, 2008Okay, it didn’t help that I randomly visited Eric Cheng’s site and found a youtube video of Japanese piano prodigy Aimi Kobayashi… okay, I found another video that’s equally amazing!
So, early today I thought I had a gig at an upscale residence in an upscale part of town. When I got to the door the daughter of the birthday boy greeted me and invited me in. She showed me the options of where our jazz trio would perform, then I asked when the party was going to start because there was no one there yet. Things looked very quiet. And she said that the party wasn’t until June 7th.
OOPS!!!
Okay, today is May 7th. Apparently there was a mix up with the dates. Daughter of birthday boy (he’s turning 100 next month) had to leave to do an errand, then singer and keyboardist arrive in their van. Hehe… when I told them that the party wasn’t until next month… jaws started dropping.
So, no gig… I wasn’t getting paid. And, so I went home…
Okay, getting back to the little Japanese girl who is a piano prodigy… man, that girl plays better than me and I’ve been playing piano for decades… since 5… I’m not jealous or anything but I’m a bit depressed now… well, I’m not really a classically trained pianist, and now I don’t know what kind of pianist I am… hmm…
May 8th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Bummer about the gig! I hope June 7 is still open for you trio!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:03 am
oof! never compare yourself to child prodigies. it’s so not good for the morale…
i recently read a book by a 22 year-old. he’s published 4 books in total now. he’s not amazing or anything, but he still made me feel like dunking my head in a bucket of ice water –hard to find, here in spain. just as well ^-
May 13th, 2008 at 8:18 am
tokyorose: thank you for your thoughts. :o)
that’s true. i watched the video again, and caught another video of a child prodigy. and, the thing is… young prodigies, though they may have brilliant technical mastery of the instrument, they simply haven’t lived long enough to have life experiences that can be expressed through their instrument.
some of the best musicians have the ability to emote via their instrument. they can share their pain and sorrow through their instruments because they’ve been through thick and thin, through good times and bad. drummer buddy rich said that the best musicians are the ones who can “emote” the best.
so, i’m not really too jealous of young prodigies, though i’m amazed at their technical proficiency compared to their age. but, i don’t really hear/see any of them “emoting”.
i’ve been through a LOT of pain and depression in my life. and i think that has tempered my skill at playing my instrument(s). and i think i would be successful as long as i can make some kind of emotional connection to the audience.