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Thread: David Crohan - pianist

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    David Crohan - pianist

    I wanted to share something with the forum. David Crohan is an accomplished pianist who was blind at birth. He's now 75 years old and plays nightly at an upscale restaurant in Palm Beach called, Cafe L'europe. As everyone knows most restaurants can't operate right now. With the help of a friend, David started a YouTube channel called, "At Home with David Crohan". It started just two weeks ago.

    At Home with David Crohan:

    The link above is for one of his earlier 1-hour concerts from two weeks ago where he shares a bit of his personal background. David played in the Boston area for many years and owned a restaurant on Martha's Vineyard called 'David's Island House' where he played piano nightly for nearly twenty years. He has two master's degrees and a performance diploma from NEC (New England Conservatory of Music). He moved to south Florida in 2003 as an indirect result of 9/11/2001. Evidently the restaurant where he played at the time was pretty close to Logan International Airport where planes looked and sounded like they were going to land in the restaurant. Sorry to say that business dried up. Anyway for the past ten years or so David has performed two concerts per year with the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches. Both were usually sold out.

    Here's a link to a video of David playing, at Cafe L'europe in 2018.

    The Way We Were - Somewhere My Love:
    ...
    Last edited by RickF; 05-05-2020 at 10:32 PM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
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    Those are nice, Rick. Thanks for sharing. I play a little piano and chuckled when I saw the piano tuner's "tuning lever" stuck to one of the piano's tuning pins. Good view around the 40 sec mark. I wonder if he forgot it or just wants to get a quick start for the next tuning! ("The Way We Were" - "Somewhere My Love" video)
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  3. #3
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    Yeah I noticed the piano hammer too. Not sure how he finds the right peg to turn being blind. Probably vibrations? I got to know David pretty well. After rehearsals a few of us always go out to get a bite to eat and have a 'beverage' (I never eat before concert or rehearsal as I breathe better on an empty stomach). I've taken him home a few times after rehearsals. We did 'Rhapsody in Blue' a few years ago. What a blast!!

    Just found a short video of David and Billy Joel playing a duet in the restaurant a few years ago. It's not great quality (cell phone) but I heard that Mr. Joel said “He’s a freak!”... in a nice way I'm sure.

    Billy Joel tickles ivories with David:
    ...
    If the link doesn't work google, "Billy Joel tickles ivories with David Crohan".
    Last edited by RickF; 05-06-2020 at 09:05 AM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    That was nice, too.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Here's a nice recording of Erroll Garner's "Misty" with David Crohan on piano, David Hinds on clarinet (VP or our band), drum set is Stu Joseph and bass is Bruce Feeland. Always loved this melody. Erroll Garner wrote this in 1954 as an instrumental then a few years later Johnny Burke added the lyrics. It became as standard sung by Johnny Mathis.

    Misty - Erroll Garner
    ...
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

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