I have a friend in England who keeps up with my various musical activites and has known me the better part of my career. Last year she suddenly remarked,quite out of the blue, "John, you are having a wonderful Extra Career". At an age when most pianists have bowed out, died out, flamed out, I seem to be still growing and loving the piano as much as ever. It is wonderful to look back over a career that has brought me so much satisfaction and opportunity. Sometimes I feel it has happened to someone else, as I wonder how I managed to fit so much into over seven decades of performing. I guess it is not fashionable to tell one's age in this image consumed world, but I just celebrated 76 years on earth and am very proud of it.
The rewards are great: you get to speak your mind more freely, give more free time to your creative world, and draw upon your vast experiences. I hope to use this space to keep my fans up to date on my musical adventures, and also to comment directly on my upcoming appearances, and when they are over, add a comment about what I thought went on.
I always remember playing in Brazil during an arduous tour of 14 cities in 1975. I can't remember the city, but a couple came backstage before the concert and asked "How do you think you will do?" They came back at intermission and asked, "How do you thing you are doing?", and yes, you guessed it, they came back at the end and asked "How do you think you did!" I guess this covered the waterfront, as we say!
No comments:
Post a Comment