What I liked
A USEFUL LIFE IN C MAJOR is a lot of fun. David is a fabulous musician, and a dry, wry standup guy. A classically trained concert organist, David provides a whimsical, genre-defying concert experience. Looking for jazz of the finest kind? David’s versions of Lady Madonna and Autumn Leaves will have you in jazz heaven as he improvises and strays just far enough to keep you guessing but his gentle touch never loses the theme.
David spent some time in his Texas University days as organist for the Texas Rangers and, apparently, never got his fill of Take Me Out To The Ballgame, inviting the audience to sing along! His three original improvisational pieces were, by turns, somewhat Charles Ives-ish, a sweet look back at memories of the past and a slow jazz-blues piece with amazing left hand chops.
Adding a few original compositions, some Bach, Beethoven and Debussy, David pretty much covers music from A to Z. Audience requests were solicited and his version of the Cheers theme got pretty close to classical beauty.
Ending with his Silent Movie Medley, augmented with appropriate facial expressions and his TV Theme Medley of dear forgotten favorites…Hogan’s Heroes, Green Acres, The Flintstones…will leave you laughing. Expect just about everything: jazz – country – R & B, good ol’ rock ‘n roll and it will all be dynamite
What I didn't like
I liked everything! What I didn’t like was that it ended far too soon and I would have enjoyed hearing more of David’s stories. Musicians have the best stories!
My overall impression
This concert is appropriate for all ages and, even if you’re not a classical music buff, you’ll like David’s take on Bach and Beethoven. Knowing that David’s show is not a totally set piece, going back and seeing it again would be a great idea!
