In an amazing performance I watched at Madison last weekend, Dave Swaim entertained a group of three retirees, me and Dorothy for an hour with phenomenal "humorized" piano playing of standards. Dave's recordings and youtubes, on the other hand, are sober originals sold on his website in a new age style. You have to SEE him to understand what I'm talking about in terms of his entertaining engaging humorous popular piano in front of an audience . Close your eyes and listen to the following 5 minute sampler while imagining the guy on the left-- making funny faces while he sings... and you'll get a sense of Dave's terrific expertise in front of a crowd-- again-- in this case, 3 residents and me and Dorothy.
5 Minute Demo Mix – Dave Swaim
The residents didn't seem to appreciate what Dave is! It's astonishing- Dave's piano playing and expert vocal interpretations are FIRST CLASS and his persona is polished and professional. His piano arrangements demonstrate excellent playing knowledge with all kinds of "built in musical humor"-- and surprises with glissandos, octaves, rhythmic sense and ... to boot... all memorized. What a show! Dave threw me a copy of his latest original CD-- instrumental new age type of piano music-- saying "first one's on me, the rest you buy". More commentary on that coming up. I can't find his piano humor online anywhere. I wish now I'd brought my video camera.
