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I tuned for him a couple of times, and did not tune for him once.
The first time was Father's Day, and I wanted to have dinner with my family, but I had to be there in case he wanted the piano tuned. I got to the venue, Grace Cathedral, and Cecil was practicing. He practiced incessantly! So I waited, and waited. Finally, it was time for services to begin, so he had to stop. His road manager dared to ask him whether he needed the piano tuned. He said he did not, so I went home. (It did need tuning, however. Not all artists are picky.)
The next time was a large piece with an orchestra. The piano, a CFIII, was brought in early so he could practice. I thought his practicing would break some strings. But somehow, it lasted through his practicing. Day of the show, he wants two more pianos. No can do, but there is another piano at the venue (not Grace), so I tune that, and there are two other pianists to play that one. The concertmaster was an old customer, whom I had known for a long time. They had music notated somehow, and I asked my friend how he figured out what was wanted. He said that you just got used to it after a while.
Two sets. We were sort of amused by the first set. There were some broken strings on the CFIII, which sort of irritated me. I just pulled them off. It would be too difficult to replace them at the time. No one would notice that they were not there.
Another friend of mine who was in the audience said that a Cecil Taylor concert was an event. Some of the audience got it; others, it seems not.
The last concert was supposed to be a solo concert, and as before, I was to get there early to tune for his practice. But he decided instead to nap in his hotel room. But his bassist showed up, and he began to practice. While I was tuning. From about five feet away. At one point I had to remind him that I was tuning. He recognized that, moved another five feet away, and continued practicing! Oh, well.
During the concert I just decided to absorb the event. I sat back and let the sound wash over me. Vaguely, I could recognize that there was a great, arching structure to his playing.
He was playing from notes. I was curious about what they looked like, so I went out ostensibly to check on the piano to see what the notes looked like, but he had taken them to his dressing room. I will never know.
I tuned for him a couple of times, and did not tune for him once.
The first time was Father's Day, and I wanted to have dinner with my family, but I had to be there in case he wanted the piano tuned. I got to the venue, Grace Cathedral, and Cecil was practicing. He practiced incessantly! So I waited, and waited. Finally, it was time for services to begin, so he had to stop. His road manager dared to ask him whether he needed the piano tuned. He said he did not, so I went home. (It did need tuning, however. Not all artists are picky.)
The next time was a large piece with an orchestra. The piano, a CFIII, was brought in early so he could practice. I thought his practicing would break some strings. But somehow, it lasted through his practicing. Day of the show, he wants two more pianos. No can do, but there is another piano at the venue (not Grace), so I tune that, and there are two other pianists to play that one. The concertmaster was an old customer, whom I had known for a long time. They had music notated somehow, and I asked my friend how he figured out what was wanted. He said that you just got used to it after a while.
Two sets. We were sort of amused by the first set. There were some broken strings on the CFIII, which sort of irritated me. I just pulled them off. It would be too difficult to replace them at the time. No one would notice that they were not there.
Another friend of mine who was in the audience said that a Cecil Taylor concert was an event. Some of the audience got it; others, it seems not.
The last concert was supposed to be a solo concert, and as before, I was to get there early to tune for his practice. But he decided instead to nap in his hotel room. But his bassist showed up, and he began to practice. While I was tuning. From about five feet away. At one point I had to remind him that I was tuning. He recognized that, moved another five feet away, and continued practicing! Oh, well.
During the concert I just decided to absorb the event. I sat back and let the sound wash over me. Vaguely, I could recognize that there was a great, arching structure to his playing.
He was playing from notes. I was curious about what they looked like, so I went out ostensibly to check on the piano to see what the notes looked like, but he had taken them to his dressing room. I will never know.
I tuned for him a couple of times, and did not tune for him once.
The first time was Father's Day, and I wanted to have dinner with my family, but I had to be there in case he wanted the piano tuned. I got to the venue, Grace Cathedral, and Cecil was practicing. He practiced incessantly! So I waited, and waited. Finally, it was time for services to begin, so he had to stop. His road manager dared to ask him whether he needed the piano tuned. He said he did not, so I went home. (It did need tuning, however. Not all artists are picky.)
The next time was a large piece with an orchestra. The piano, a CFIII, was brought in early so he could practice. I thought his practicing would break some strings. But somehow, it lasted through his practicing. Day of the show, he wants two more pianos. No can do, but there is another piano at the venue (not Grace), so I tune that, and there are two other pianists to play that one. The concertmaster was an old customer, whom I had known for a long time. They had music notated somehow, and I asked my friend how he figured out what was wanted. He said that you just got used to it after a while.
Two sets. We were sort of amused by the first set. There were some broken strings on the CFIII, which sort of irritated me. I just pulled them off. It would be too difficult to replace them at the time. No one would notice that they were not there.
Another friend of mine who was in the audience said that a Cecil Taylor concert was an event. Some of the audience got it; others, it seems not.
The last concert was supposed to be a solo concert, and as before, I was to get there early to tune for his practice. But he decided instead to nap in his hotel room. But his bassist showed up, and he began to practice. While I was tuning. From about five feet away. At one point I had to remind him that I was tuning. He recognized that, moved another five feet away, and continued practicing! Oh, well.
During the concert I just decided to absorb the event. I sat back and let the sound wash over me. Vaguely, I could recognize that there was a great, arching structure to his playing.
He was playing from notes. I was curious about what they looked like, so I went out ostensibly to check on the piano to see what the notes looked like, but he had taken them to his dressing room. I will never know.
OMG I apologize for the unintentionally insulting slight and quite inelegant phrasing.
I meant (really) *new stories*, freshly posted here, and not the (undoubtedly) many many many cool stories and acedotes that have been posted here by hundreds of people over many many years.
*pulls paper bag over head and walks into a wall as punishment*
![[Linked Image]](https://c.tenor.com/vSyELBrLGEwAAAAM/crowd-applause.gif)
