Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Kahn.
Hi Richard, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I arrived in August of 1987 after a one-year stint as a solo pianist and orchestra member on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Within just a few days, I realized that to have any chance of business in Los Angeles, I was going to have to meet a lot of people. My first foray into this experiment was to open the Los Angeles metropolitan area Yellow Pages, back when we had those things, and begin the tedious process of identifying what venues had what musicians, what days of the week, what hours of the night, what type of music it was, et cetera. I took copious notes and used the techniques that I had learned in sales many years before to figure out the information that I needed to keep track of. I wanted to know who played where, what, when, how and why, so I called into every potential performance venue with statements and questions such as this:
“My wife and I are in town for the night, and we would like to come and have dinner and drinks, and we were wondering if you had any live music? Oh, you do? Could you tell me a little bit about it?”
Writing everything down, I then proceeded to my next step, which was to put on a tuxedo, back in the day we all wore tuxedos to our piano jobs, and proceeded out to at least one different venue every night.
Every single night, I would sit in the audience in my tuxedo or at a table and have a drink. The featured pianist would, of course, recognize me as a kindred spirit, since at that time in Beverly Hills, only musicians and valets wore tuxedos, and sat down in bars and had drinks. I took copious notes. What he played, what she played, what they played, in what order, at what tempo and what style in what key. I began to gather quite a database of information about who performed what and where they were performing.
The piano player would invariably come over and meet me and shake my hand. I would explain to him that I was a relatively new pianist in town and that I was hired at California State University to teach Jazz Piano. I would offer that I was making a good living, and, since I did not seek to have a steady job playing the piano somewhere, I was no threat. They could use me as a substitute for those times when something came up or when they had another job. I followed that up with a cassette tape that had samples of me playing every style. Well, it wasn’t too long before my phone rang at home (no cell phones or pagers) on a Sunday night at about 5 o’clock and it was Dana Bronson from The Four Seasons calling in a panic, because the piano player did not show up for the job that was in the private dining room that night beginning at 7 o’clock. Dana wanted to know if I could throw on a tuxedo and race over there and play the piano for at least two hours. What he didn’t tell me was that it was for three generations of Jewish canters who sang liturgical music, as well as secular music, and a variety of unusual styles, keys, and languages. He also didn’t tell me that it was the first night on the job for the manager of that room.
When I arrived there, there was immediate chaos as three canters descended upon me like locusts on flax. They wanted to know if I could play any Jewish music, if I could play in this key, if I could play in this style, and if I understood Hebrew, questions to all of which that I answered “yes, yes, and then, yes!” We sat down and immediately broke into liturgical music, as well as secular music from my Jewish childhood. The canters and the guests were so happy that not only did they gush endlessly, they threw tip money at me, and who witnessed all of this? The room manager, who had his situation saved, because Dana Bronson had the good sense to call me to come over and do the music. For that, I will always be thankful to Dana Bronson, my good friend and colleague. And that is how I arrived in Beverly Hills as a pianist.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have three children and raised them while I was a college professor and a professional pianist and arranger. That was more than enough to potentially derail my best plans. I learned to be flexible, yet firm, and to always have clear lines of communication between band members and event planners, not to mention family members.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Everybody has told me for decades that they always know when I’m at the piano, even though they may not be in a physical position to see me. It is critical to have a unique sound, such that when somebody hears you, then they want you and not just a warm body on a piano bench.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
A thoughtful Musician will have enough money saved aside to cover the lean times, which there will be. Multiple streams of income are critical when crises, such as COVID-19 appear and decimate the entire structure of business that had existed previously. Since the beginning of COVID, there is little or no more live piano music in Beverly Hills.
Pricing:
- I sell my time at a flat rate of $150 per hour
- Equipment cartage, if any, is billed the same rate
- Recording, mixing, mastering, if any, is billed the same rate
Contact Info:
- Website: richardkahnmusic.com
