Jonathan is a gifted self-taught pianist who doesn’t like to
showcase his talent. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when, for Mother’s
Day, he gave me a Billy Joel song list with the promise to play every song on
the list.
But, there were rules.
1- I could request a song only once.
2- It was for my ears only; in other words, I couldn’t make
a request when we had dinner guests. (Darn it. Jono knows me all too well.)
3- No photographs. No videos. (Again, darn it.)
Well, he didn’t say I couldn’t write about it.
There are 21 songs on that list and he can play every single
one from memory. If I request New York
State of Mind he’ll stop whatever he’s doing to come sit down and play.
About half of the songs are checked off. I starred the
song The Ballad of Billy the Kid because it is Jono’s favorite
song to play. It’s a show-stopper in that it’s fast and the
music calls for use of the entire keyboard. When Jonathan played it for me I
was like … Whoa. Who is this kid?
He leaves for Atlanta in a little over a week, and I’m pacing my
requests so I get a personal mini concert every day.
Just Billy Joel, Jonathan, and me.
1 comment:
I adore Billy Joel and am so bummed that Jonathan wouldn't allow for video! Maybe he'd be okay with just recording the sound? Your argument could be that this would make the gift that keeps giving as you'd be able to hear it whenever you wanted.
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