cocktails/dinner piano background music

[pianoplunker]

Hi,
I have a couple of gigs coming up where I play solo piano as a background for dinner events. I am looking for music I can play solo, light, and  with room for improvisation. People are not going to be there to hear me perform but rather, they will be eating and talking and enjoying the nice atmosphere. My repertoire is going to be diversified among popular standards like "Misty" or the Beatles "And I love her" or Quincy Jone's  "quintessence".  But I would also like to incorporate classical music. I am looking for music which can sound improvised like "Clare De Lune" by Debussy. Other classical I am playing is "To a Wild Rose" by Edward McDowell, "Song of India" by Nikolay Korsakov as an example. I am just probing for suggestions for any other music which is light, as in the upper registers of the piano, and which may have an improvised feel to it. Do you know any classical music which would fit in with a dinner crowd ?  Or better yet , to those who have experience playing for dinner crowds, what do you play ? thanks I was just looking for ideas.

[worov]

These :

[oxy60]

Your selection sounds good just as you have stated.  Depending on the age of the crowd you might consider some rock ballads from the sixties or themes from other famous bands of that era.   

[gravecembalo]

Hi,

I can't find the lullaby score. Has an opus number? Is it part of a collection?

Thanks

[indianajo]

You need a "fake" book. These are hard to buy. I've found some unsuitable ones at the flea market for $10-$20 having a lot of "gems" like Little Green Apples and Knock three times on the Ceiling if you Love me.  Fake books were sold out of the trunks of cars at musician's union halls, bars, etc, years ago,  because they violated all copyright laws. Pros couldn't afford a whole repretoire at $1 a pop from the sheet music store, besides they couldn't carry them around on tour, too bulky.   There is a Real Fake Book, edition one of which was put together by students at the Berkshire school of music. See wikipedia on fake books.   Hal Leonard pubs has bought it, is up to edition seven, and my friends tell me there has been a lot of substitution of content to eliminate pieces they actually have to pay royalties on for ones that are public domain.  I have enough copies of There is a House in New Orleans, thank you.    I've managed to acquire some Gershwin and Irving Berlin pop song sheet music out of the benches of old organs I have bought, but have yet to find a single song by Jerome Kern or Johnnie Mercer.  That is a in a stack of old piano/organ bench music two feet high.  I did catch a couple of good old movie songs like An Affair to Remember and Stormy Weather. I bought Lennon/McCartney  and Elton John books at music stores, back when there were music stores outside of NYC (seventies), but the arrangements are usually pretty lame.   A fake book has no arranging, just the melody line and some chords below.  

[worov]

gravecembalo, I have sent you a PM.

[g_s_223]

 

[j_menz]

You clearly go to some very strange dinner parties. 

[pianoplunker]

These :

Thank You. All three have the sound I am looking for.  I appreciate you posting these. Now to see if I have the music for them. But I'll know what to look for while searching.

[pianoplunker]

Your selection sounds good just as you have stated.  Depending on the age of the crowd you might consider some rock ballads from the sixties or themes from other famous bands of that era.   

You are right on with that. 60's classics are always included .  I have several large "Greatest Hits" type of books from that time, the Beatles are always a good flair on the piano .  Cant go wrong. I also might try a jazzy rendition of a couple of Doors tunes as long as I can keep it in the atmosphere so people dont stop socializing.   

[pianoplunker]

You need a "fake" book. These are hard to buy. I've found some unsuitable ones at the flea market for $10-$20 having a lot of "gems" like Little Green Apples and Knock three times on the Ceiling if you Love me.  Fake books were sold out of the trunks of cars at musician's union halls, bars, etc, years ago,  because they violated all copyright laws. Pros couldn't afford a whole repretoire at $1 a pop from the sheet music store, besides they couldn't carry them around on tour, too bulky.   There is a Real Fake Book, edition one of which was put together by students at the Berkshire school of music. See wikipedia on fake books.   Hal Leonard pubs has bought it, is up to edition seven, and my friends tell me there has been a lot of substitution of content to eliminate pieces they actually have to pay royalties on for ones that are public domain.  I have enough copies of There is a House in New Orleans, thank you.    I've managed to acquire some Gershwin and Irving Berlin pop song sheet music out of the benches of old organs I have bought, but have yet to find a single song by Jerome Kern or Johnnie Mercer.  That is a in a stack of old piano/organ bench music two feet high.  I did catch a couple of good old movie songs like An Affair to Remember and Stormy Weather. I bought Lennon/McCartney  and Elton John books at music stores, back when there were music stores outside of NYC (seventies), but the arrangements are usually pretty lame.   A fake book has no arranging, just the melody line and some chords below.  

Yes I will be bringing my fakebook. Not my facebook, my fakebook.  Those are great for these types of events where you dont really need to impress anyone by playing note for note. Your story sounds similar to mine except I have found Johnny Mercer in a couple of Jazz Standards books I have.  As far as sheet music I have kept every bit of sheet music from my life. I even have the book from my very first piano lesson Jan 9, 1970. It was raining like crazy that day. I know what you mean about the lame arrangements.. . When I was a kid, I used to have to walk two miles to buy incorrect sheet music, but nowadays I can get my incorrect sheet music almost instantly on the internet !  Kids these days dont know how good they have it when it comes to music.

[pianoplunker]

 

ROFLMAO  - I should open the evening with it . I cant wait for someone to ask if I know the words.

[worov]

Now to see if I have the music for them. But I'll know what to look for while searching.

You ask me in PM. I will gladly help you to find them.

[oxy60]

Is the fake book loose leaf? Some friends of mine assemble pages from their fake book into a loose leaf binder in the order they would like to play the set. Others bring the whole book and flip through it between songs leaving large silent gaps...

[pianoplunker]

Is the fake book loose leaf? Some friends of mine assemble pages from their fake book into a loose leaf binder in the order they would like to play the set. Others bring the whole book and flip through it between songs leaving large silent gaps...

I do a little bit of both. In the past I have made printouts from the books and simply taped the sheets together. One of the reasons I did that was to give me the ability to have an "order", and it is very convenient to be able to set at the piano since they are just sheets of paper and not a big heavy book . So I mix those with memorized pieces, improvisations, and even the books themselves. I would get into the book if I run out of ideas but even then it is only random selection, I dont sit there and search for something when I dont  know what to search for.

[oxy60]

We should address those who are only looking and wondering what doing this might entail. I think we need to tell them that to do this one must know tons of material. The sets are around 45 minutes and we might do three or four sets. At 90 beats per minute average for 3 hours that would equal 16,200 quarter notes! If each song were 5 minutes long we would need 36 songs to fill the time (12 per set).

I've only done this a few times and have great respect for anyone who does it.