I watched in utter amazement as a keyboard player for Harry Belefonte performed at the Meyerhoff Theater in Baltimore using four keyboards, two of which were stacked directly in front of him. He sat on what almost looked like a drum throne with roller-balls on each of the four legs, and spun around between the two keyboards in front of him, and one on each side of him at a 45-degree angle to those in front.

Liberace performed sitting sideways to a grand piano, but if he would not have positioned himself in that manner, no one in the audience would have seen him at all. Same was true with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder when playing piano. But when I saw Stevie Wonder behind a keyboard on American Idol, he was behind it. Without the aid of overhead cameras and big-screen displays around the stage, no one in the audience would have seen his hands on the keyboard keys.

I've personally seen some of the forum members perform, DNJ, Uncle Dave, Eddie Shoemaker, Don Mason, Hank, and many, many others. They all sat directly behind the keyboard and the only audience members that could actually see their hands were those sitting at stage level and directly off to one side. And when they were on a stage more than 3-feet above floor level, no one could see anything other than the back and bottom of the keyboard. Look Ma - no hands!

Gary