Al Rando is still playing ! Haven' t seen him in years . Last time he gave up the big setup and was using a Yamaha doing lots of piano/ strings kind of things. We went to Brennan's for my birthday to see him as we did for a lot of years
Wow I' m happy to know he's still doing it , one of the all time greats.
And Hugie what can you say I can still picture him at the Shore Point with his 4 EV Pa Cabinets , ( monster setup for the time) Hammond B2000, and a drum machine pounding a steady bass beat so his drummer " Kanas City Al" could play along . People with "Hugies Organ Riders" T shirts singing along. Good times for a OMB

Yep... Al Rando still sounding amazing!! And Frankie Fingers is still at the Crab Claw Inn!!!

I read this thread two times, thought about it today while scrubbing down the boat and cleaning up the cabin from last week's trip and something immediately came to mind.

First and foremost, people want to be entertained - period! They really don't give a damned if it's live, DJ, KJ, or OMB with a guitar or keyboard - they just want to be entertained, and they want to hear the music they enjoy. The younger crowd tends to want ear bleed volumes, and rarely dance. The older, more conservative crowds want volume levels that are a bit more comfortable so they can dance. Then, there is a group that wants, for some strange reason, to sit at a table with a glass of booze and talk. The older ones tend to talk to each other, while the youngsters sit there and text.

Will arranger keyboards soon become a thing of the past? I seriously doubt it. But every six months of so Donny brings up this same, old subject in an attempt to stir the waters, often quite successfully. And, as noted by others, the same old crew chimes in with pretty much the same statements.

A couple weeks ago, I stopped by The Union Hotel near Port Deposit, Maryland, a popular spot for the bikers on the weekends. Nearly every Sunday, 500 plus bikers arrive to show off their sporty choppers, custom bikes, three wheelers, etc... The restaurant only has about a dozen tables, each of which seat 4, and the bikers rarely go into the restaurant. On Saturday nights, they usually have a local band, many of which are talented. Take a look at the band list.

Now, the one thing that every band seems to have in common is incredibly high volumes - EAR BLEED! They tend to do the same thing that nearly every DJ or KJ I heard does. When the crowd fails to respond, instead of trying to determine why, just crank up the volume. Sound familiar. This mentality, IMO, is insane, but what the Hell do I know?

While sitting at the bar and listening to one of the bands a few weeks ago, someone came up to me and asked if I was the guy that used to play at the American Legion in Perryville and Havre de Grace, to which I responded, yes. "Wow, I thought I recognized you. How come you're not playing here - everyone would love you." I explained that first and foremost, I don't play for $150 a night, which is what the pay scale averages at this location. I also told him that I recently retired and was spending my free time sailing out of Perryville. He said if I ever decided to reconsider and come out of retirement, I could have a job at this location every Friday night if I wanted.

Gary

Just spent the last couple of nights in Las Vegas. Believe me arranger keyboards are still a force with acts here where a keyboard player and a singer present a presence in casinos. Arranger keyboards are still popular in Vegas and aren't going anywhere. The act I heard tonight was a female singer and a keyboard player singer with a PSR-3000 and they put on a great show.

Nigel great news from sin city...there still is hope I guess.
Gary your so right this topic keeps people talking about arrangers good or bad, enjoy your retirement.Just pass the torch, set sail, and remember the good times, nothing wrong with that.

Do you remember which casino(s) you saw an arranger act in? I recently did the strip and downtown and didn't see any.
Eddie

Until recently, there were more than a dozen club entertainers in the Baltimore Metropolitan area who exclusively used arranger keyboards as their sole instrument. Some were members of this forum and included myself, Ray Bastianelli, Joe Ayala, Jimmy (jimsax) McKinney, Dennis Fox, Johnny Walker, Jerry and Elsa Burns, Gary Alesandro, Helmut Licht, Larry Scott, Bob Lee, Norm & Carlos, and a few more than I can no longer recall their names. Most of them worked in Baltimore's Little Italy, the Inner Harbor, and clubs in the surrounding counties for decades, relying on their keyboards and vocals. The vast majority never used midi files and did everything using onboard and third party style files. Nearly every one of them switched to the NH circuit, but still continued to play weekends in the restaurants and clubs, mainly for the money. As many of you are well aware, the NH circuit is far more lucrative than the club circuit in this part of the world.

Some of the above listed entertainers have passed away in recent years, and I miss them dearly. I believe I'm the only one that has managed to retire, which is something I'm proud of. So, at least in this part of the country, arranger keyboard entertainers are still in the game and going strong.

Gary

I'm only observing the lack of them on stages in a big area around here... Excluding Nursing Homes..

There are still a few in use around here, but I believe I'm about the only one who does a single with one. DickieT does a trio a couple of times a month. One guy has been at one of the casinos for years, and is playing an ancient Technics I think. He is pretty good. He uses a synth with it for lead sounds, and maybe a piano module. I think he must have an uncle or something running things there.
One of the Mexican restaurants has several locations and quite often has arranger players up from Mexico. They don't use their real names. Every one of them I've seen has been very good. They don't stay in one place very long. Too much exposure isn't good for illegals. Problem is they work very cheap.

When Carol and I were in Mexico, we saw several arranger players who were great singers as well.

Gary