When Mr. Rogers had his neighborhood in full swing Johnny Costa played Freds melodies with his exceptional jazz styling. His piano playing was known well in the Pittsburgh area. He played the intro to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood a thousand different ways, yet keeping the melody clear for listeners and for Fred to sing. I heard him do background music for a fashion show and he had a song for every comment the announcer made (imagine the nmber of songs he could come up with for the color blue?). I bumped into this rendition by Johnny Costa for the tune From No No Nanettte, Tea For Two. How many variations and styles can you hear? In one part the chords become thick and the texture muddy and then I realized that he is doing an impression of Ravels La Valse. The guy was really underappreciated. He had all the chops of and Oscar Peterson or Art Tatum and there have been comparisons made between them. I think he tries to hit every note on the piano at least once in his solos. Thats an old line, from whichever musician friend I dont remember now. Anyhow take a listen to Johnny Costas version of Tea For Two ....... https://youtube/watch?v=eLhDPVOH0p4https://youtube/watch?v=eLhDPVOH0p4
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 02:36:45 +0000
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