This is what being an OMB entertainer...

is all about. Abby Pianoman is a fantastic showman, even sitting behind a stacked rack of his T3 and EP, and he performs like this every day of the week at the tiny resort island of Ibiza. Not only is he an extremely talented arranger keyboard and piano player, he's also an excellent singer and a showman to boot. That's a combination of talents that would keep any entertainer in this part of the world busy every day of the week, 365 days a year, and every night as well. I'm not a REAL musician, and just a hack entertainer, but Abby is the REAL DEAL!







Gary

I'm amazed. 70 views and no comments on these incredible performances by Abby Pianoman.

I give up,

Gary

That’s probably because over here in Europe they are nothing unusual, so you will have to rely on the US to comment. (Which as the arranger market is minute in the US means it’s limited)

Bill

Don't forget that there were 16 comments on your " Blues Lover " thread.

I don’t think that he is an entertainer. He’s a true working musician and pretty good one too.

I think different people have different ideas of what is "incredible" but may be reluctant to say so in light of your overwhelming enthusiasm (no bubble-bursting allowed). I think Abacus is correct in that performances like that are "nothing unusual" in Europe and probably Asia, South America, or America, either. For instance, in your 'blues lovers' thread, I don't think too many true blues connoisseurs would consider those performances 'blues' or this guy a 'bluesman'. But then people tend to include a lot of simplified, three-chord styles in that category. To me, when you say blues, I think of people like Lucky Peterson and BB King. I'm not sure a great blues performance could be accomplished by ANYBODY on an Arranger keyboard. All the intangibles that make blues 'blues' would be compromised by the very nature of pre-programmed accompaniment.

What's acceptable in a performance depends largely on the sophistication of the audience. For the overwhelming masses (especially in America), if they can hum to it or it's even vaguely familiar, it's acceptable. Whether it's GOOD or not requires a more knowledgeable and discerning audience. For me, with this guy, the word 'journeyman' comes to mind. I've heard a ton of guys equal to or better, playing the same kind of gigs, just not with an arranger keyboard. I think Mirza is right, he's a 'true working musician' who obviously knows his craft (and his audience) but I would certainly stop short of calling him 'incredible' or 'amazing'. But that's just MY opinion, YMMV.

chas

PS: Hey, you asked for comments.

I agree Chas good honest post..Most people there are all hopped up on Pina Coladas & Mojitos and just want to have a good time on their vacation in Ibiza or wherever the destination is,....when they hear music of any kind in any way they have a good time regardless of who or how it's being performed!! These guys are all over the islands and a few on every cruise ship also. How do I know ?....I was one of them many years ago & played many a cruise also in the Caribbean,...it's ALL Good!

Yes, I asked for comments, Chas, and we all have our own opinions of what constitutes a great entertainer. Like many here, I have traveled all over the world during my youth, seeing hundreds upon hundreds of entertainers in other nations, most of which were very talented. Until a relatively recent trip to Cozumel, I did not see an OMB entertainer with an arranger keyboard. The guy in Cozumel was pretty good, but not nearly to the level of Abby.

In the 1950s, when I was in the Mediterranean area, most of the OMB entertainers I saw were piano players, guitar players, mandolin players and accordion players. Some were pretty darned good, sang well and interacted with the crowds. Most were mediocre at best, though.

I have a friend who was an OMB entertainer in Shanghai. He's very, very good, but was a fairly rare commodity in that part of the world. He eventually hired four very talented, drop dead gorgeous lady musicians to go on stage with him and is now booked 7 days a week. He travels throughout the far east and southeast Asia, he plays an arranger keyboard, while the ladies play every instrument the can carry.

When I was in the UK, there were very few OMB entertainers, most played piano, and while some were very good, they were not coming out of the woodwork. The same was true in South Africa and South Australia - very few OMB entertainers of any kind.

When I was in Saint Johns, Newfoundland I didn't see a single OMB entertainer - not one. Now, I was on there for six weeks, but the guys I worked with there setting up a NASA tracking station insisted on going out and doing the town every night. Several duos, trios and combos, but not an OMB entertainer in the entire town that I saw.

In reality, OMB entertainers using arranger keyboards are a very rare commodity, at least from my experience. There seems to be more of them on the east coast than anywhere else in this nation, while the other major concentrations appear to be in the UK.

That said, we have some really good musicians on this forum, of which I am not one of their number. I'm just a hack entertainer that made a good living in the OMB entertainment business. We have a few good entertainers, some of which I have had the privilege to see performing in person. Only a few were at the same level of Abby Pianoman. IMHO, he is indeed a rare commodity in this field of endeavor.

Gary

Gary, ... the only time frame you mention when talking about your worldwide travels is in the '50's when you were in the Mediterranean area ... I would assume that your other travels were somewhere in a 15 - 20 year time frame from then ...
I would first differentiate between a OMB and a soloist ... I consider a OMB a person who is trying to emulate a duo, trio, or full band by means of a drum machine, AKB, backing tracks on a laptop, whatever, whereas a soloist is a person who plays an instrument and perhaps sings ...
I feel the OMB entertainers - as I describe them - is a fairly new 'phenomenon' brought about by the influx of DJs and the reduction, for a variety of reasons, in the number of venues offering live music ... If I were 'traveling the world' 40 or 50 years ago I would not have expected to see OMBs as I don't think they existed as they do today ...
However, since 2005, Lydia and had the good fortune of traveling to Italy twice, and have taken a European cruise and a few cruises to Bermuda ...
I can tell you that during our Italy travels we saw a number of OMBs - primarily KB players using styles or backing tracks and guitar and piano players using backing tracks, mostly off a laptop ... most of them were quite capable artists - of course there were a couple that were not ...
On the cruise ships there were a few KB players in small combos who also used their KB with styles or backing tracks when playing solo gigs during the day ...
If we think about it, how many AKBs were there 35 to 40 years ago and how many were being used as OMB entertainment?

So I think if you were to travel to those same locations today you just MIGHT be surprised at how many OMBs you would see ...

The times, they have a'changed ...

I guess you're right, Tony, times have changed quite a bit since I was there in the 50s, and early 60s. And, I'm sure there are some great OMB entertainers there now, but even when I was in the Florida Keys just two years ago, there were only two other KB players other than myself in the entire length of the keys. All the others were solo entertainers with guitars and banjos. Some played to backing tracks, while others used drum machines, but on Marathon Key, I was the only OMB guy with an arranger keyboard, and this had been the case for years I was told by the managers of the locations where I performed. I was amazed.

BTW: Be sure to write this date on your calendar that I agreed with you on a subject.

Gary

Wicky Reidlinga playing the song "Sweet home Chicago" from the Blues Brothers @ Palm Party House on July 2016. (I'm sorry for all the mistakes in the lyrics) I'm using the Korg PA4x Musikant keyboard and a Korg SV-1 88 piano.