piano bar

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

"Open Mic" piano bar - musician Tom Saputo at Squire Rockwell's - Annandale, Virginia

A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician, located in a cocktail lounge, bar, hotel lobby, office building lobby, restaurant, or on a cruise ship. Usually the pianist receives tips in a jar or basket on or near the piano, especially from patrons requesting a song. Some piano bars feature a baby grand or grand piano surrounded by stools for patrons (or, somewhat humorously, an upright piano covered by a counter that makes it appear to be a grand piano). Others have a bar surrounding the piano or keyboard.

Jimmy Durante started as a piano bar player, as did Billy Joel. Joel's classic hit "Piano Man" is based on his experiences as a piano bar player. Tenor Andrea Bocelli also played in piano bars to pay for his education.

Theatre historian John Kenrick describes the piano bar as follows:

"A piano bar is a hybrid creature: part performance space, part living room, part cruise-a-thon, and part saloon. The bar is there to sell drinks, the pianist is there to perform, and the crowd is there to sing, listen, drink and socialize. All of this means that it's impossible to predict what a given evening's chemistry will be, even if most of the people on hand are regular customers.... While every factor counts, the most important issue is the person at the piano. The pianist determines the type of music, the style of performance, and the general tone of the evening.... The experienced piano bar player knows how to take genial control of most any situation and generally keep the party going".^[1]

There are several different types of piano bars:

• "instrumental only": the professional piano/keyboard player plays strictly instrumental music, which is usually classical, semi-classical, or "easy listening"; this type of piano bar is often found in hotel lobby lounges or "fine dining" restaurants.

• "only the musician sings": the professional piano/keyboard player sings to his/her accompaniment, usually on microphone, but no other singers are generally allowed.^[2]

• "the musician and waiters sing": the professional musician sings and also invites waiters to sing solos.

• "sing-along": patrons surrounding the piano/keyboard sing as a group, sometimes without microphones, often preferring "standards" and "show tunes", or very old songs like "Down By The Old Mill Stream", "Bicycle Built For Two", etc., but in some cases pop or rock. It is " a social venue for singing".^[3]

• "dueling pianos": usually on stage with two grand pianos, each played by a professional player who sings and entertains; humor and audience participation are prevalent. Usually these types of piano bars have substantial sound systems, and most of the songs performed are rock and roll, "classic rock", Top 40, R&B or country, sometimes played by request. The format is based on dueling piano entertainments offered at Pat O'Brien's Bar in New Orleans, LA, and was popularized in late 1986 at Alley Cats in Dallas, Texas.^{[citation needed]} Popular clubs like Pete's dueling pianos, Shout House dueling pianos, Ernie Biggs Rock & Roll Dueling Piano Bar, Rum Runners, Jellyrolls and Sing Sing perform high-energy interactive sing-along shows with occasional "band sets" where the piano players swap instruments (primarily bass and drums). Other venues including Howl at the Moon Piano Bar and the The Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar feature full performance shows often with "showtime" singing and dancing by their wait staff as well as numbers showcasing such instruments as guitar, saxophone, and violin.^{[4] [5]}

• "open mic": individual patrons sing (on microphone) to the accompaniment of the professional musician; in some ways, this type of piano bar is like karaoke, except that the music is live and dynamic, and there are usually no lyrics available (although some piano bar players do supply some lyrics); like karaoke, the songs performed may cover a wide, eclectic range ("show tunes", "standards" from the 1920s forward, jazz, country, R&B, rock'n'roll, blues, folk, soul, disco, hip-hop, etc.); the patron singers are usually called to the microphone in a rotating order; often, each singer is allowed 2 or 3 songs each time he/she is called to perform.

• "combination": some piano bars include the characteristics of two or more of the above, either on different nights or combined on the same night. For instance, at a "sing along" piano bar, a patron or wait person might sing a solo from time to time.

Notes

References

• Article describing a sing-along piano bar
• Description of the history of piano bars in New York City
• Description of a typical piano bar
• Shout House "dueling pianos" piano bar website
• Ernie Biggs "Rock and Roll dueling pianos" piano bar website
• Sing Sing-Denver and Pittsburgh
• The Big Bang Official Website