What to do when the keyboard doesn't work during a gig?

recycle

A life lesson from the genius of Stevie Wonder

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

I saw an Eddie Harris gig when he decided halfway through the first number that his mouthpiece was broken, and announced that he would sing the rest of his solos. I was disappointed at the announcement, but it turned out to be a really good show.

Here’s what he sounds like on sax, one of the first guys after Terry Riley to play through a delay:

jwmmakerofmusic

One of the signs of a true musician is the ability to adapt on the spot. When I used to play at the Mitchell Park Domes, they had this upright piano that was practically busted. I made that thing sing. They eventually replaced it with a Yamaha Clavinova, which was a much better choice.

u0421793

I remember in the late 80s or early 90s sometime we (magazine friends and colleagues) all journeyed up from Chichester to somewhere in the middle of England to see Erasure, and it was the time when Vince Clarke had that ‘tank’ thing which perambulated about the stage while Andy Bell sang

At one well-known song (I suppose they all were) the sequencing totally crashed during the intro and silence while Andy was singing, so he stopped too – Vince apologised and did something and tried it again, same thing! And again, and this time Andy just kept singing a-Capella and the whole audience clapped the beat along for timing and a lot of us sang along too! Truly excellent all round