dave hartl

Over the years I've played a lot of restaurant and private party gigs on solo piano, including a 3-month run at the Palace Hotel in Tokyo and every casino in Atlantic City, NJ in the '80's and '90's. I developed a repertoire of literally hundreds of tunes covering light classics, Broadway tunes, The Great American Songbook, jazz standards, and pop tunes. Here's a copy of my primary songlist I use to jog my memory; between this and a laptop containing over 20 fake books, I'm hard to stump.

Being successful at restaurant work requires an awareness of what people want to hear in that setting, and it's very different from a jazz or classical gig. The challenge is to play it a little safer than normal without dumbing it down, and to be willing to play tunes you may not be too enamored of. By doing a wide variety of material I can keep it interesting by giving the audience one they want and then play a few they might not be thinking of. So one Billy Joel tune can buy you two Ellingtons... Play it pretty and keep smiling and ENJOY IT!

Here's a selection of tunes recently recorded on a couple of jobs (Hotel Bethlehem on 4/29/12 and Giumarello's in Haddon Township, NJ on 9/17/11). These selections will be changed periodically, so if you have an ear for this kind of thing stop back in a month and you'll hear a different group! They come complete with drunken conversations, arhythmic martini shakers, tinkling glasses and all the other ambiant sounds of where they were recorded.

I'm Beginning to See the Light by Duke Ellington. This arrangement is based on an old chart by George Mesterhazy he left in my car.

The Song Is You, a favorite old standard I learned from Frank DeRone.

You Must Believe in Spring/ Spring Is Here, a medley for a gig on an April morning, on a piano with a highly questionable B flat.

Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder

Duke Ellington Medley including Sophisticated Lady, Prelude To a Kiss, Solitude, and I've Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good).

I Concentrate On You by Cole Porter