From 1976 when I started my career I just led
groups on sax and some vocals. I was always a piano "doodler" so i had a little bit of chops in the key of C. By 2000 it became harder to find work, plus as I got older I hated blowing horn all night, it would take too much out of me. I wished I had spent more time learning piano earlier in life, because I felt i was really meant to be involved throughout the music, not just the melody and some solos. I found a Korg is-30 at a closeout. With the tap tempo and dedicated transposer and some nice rhythms( i just use bass/drum) and decent sounds, I found I could work it up enough to accompany myself singing and even get away with some occasional keys-only interludes, and I began
getting solo gigs in bars/cafes, playing and
singing standards. I would invite others to sit in, but most of them would disparage use of the bass/drum rhythms and challenge me to play without them--but I was just not a trained pianist and couldn't do it well. Then in 2003 i met bongo/handpercussionist Madafo at a jam, and he was a self-taught ear player like me, and didn't object to the kb rhythms as most did, and we formed a partnership, and when i could get $ for a duo, did them with him. What i am leading up to is that what i played didn't change all that much from solo to duo, it just had bongos and/or other effects added to it..it didn't sound all that different, as adding a guitar or horn player would. But it was a world of difference in terms of the audience.
When you do a solo, unless you are one of those ultradynamic razzmatazz entertainers who inspires singalongs, etc, you are basically seen and heard as background music,
no matter what you try to play to gain more attention. You may have a small coterie of
intense fans, but likely not. As soon as we started working as a duo, people saw and heard me in a different way. I was no longer
background music; eyes and ears were upon me. People grooved to us, gathered near us.
You don't have to make a choice between having a band or playing arranger--all you have to do is add one more musician. Surely
there must be choices even in a small town of duo partners who won't barf over your kb,
always show up late, or try to screw the clubowner's wife. Two makes all the difference. btw, i still play sax, i just go
out and sit in for a set or two once or twice a week, and I love that now more than when i worked at it. And I started using an E60 early last year, and now would never ever
go back to a 6l-key. I can now accompany others because I can play lh bass and still have full use of all the rh i need.


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Miami Mo