Piano bar standouts?

[elycelynne]

Both RuthC and I, while discussing the subject on another thread, were of the opinion that, instead of relying on memory, there should be a written list of piano bar performers who were highly recommended by those who've seen/heard them. Based on what I've been able to gather from previous mentions in this forum as well as another recommendation from the aforementioned piano bar queen;), here's what I've got so far:

 

Jimmy Maddox

Mark Farris

Randall Powell

Darryl Spadacchini

Glenn-Michael

 

Since Perry Grant seems to be permanently ensconced on Celebrity's Constellation these days, he's probably out of the running. And Michael Sara, who I saw on the Eurodam, wasn't really my cup of tea.

 

So who else would you strongly recommend -- as in someone who can really "work the room", has vast musical knowledge in many genres, interacts with the passengers really well, etc.? In other words, all the makings of a great piano bar entertainer?

[RuthC]

I enjoyed Diane West on the Amsterdam last summer. She did a nice job holding the room in the Piano Lounge, which I think can be difficult on that style. She has a good repertoire, and did a lot of back & forth with the folks in the seats. She was a lot more than background music; she entertained.

And she wasn't loud, either!

[taxmantoo]

Add David Anthony to the list. Check out his website http://www.davidanthonymusic.com/fr_home.cfm. Great player and singer. He is actually the musical arranger/conductor for The Impressions.

 

We were on the Oosterdam in April with Randall Powell and were quite disappointed in his performance after hearing good things. He may have been great a while back with his glamourous costumes and extravagant shows. He has abandonned those. Without them, he becomes an ordinary singer and a very ordinary piano player delivering a very ordinary performance. Showed up twice on formal nights with a t-shirt telling us his tux was at the cleaners ??? :rolleyes: On the last night of the cruise, he had a trivia game around 9:30 pm and wrapped up immediately after. :eek: Never heard of a piano bar closing at 11 pm on the last night of the cruise.

[rburk]

Stryker -was on the Amsterdam in December - Mexican Riviera and he was amazing. :)

 

Randall Powell in February on Oosterdam was to be avoided. All he did was talk. We went from superb to avoid.

 

Les Launer on the Rotterdam to Alaska in 2010 was excellent.

 

Wish someone would also rate the so called dance bands although what I heard from HAL is that they just piece together a group and call them a band now. The Station Band (which I think was really a band) was on the Amsterdam and they too were terrific.

 

The Neptunes (a pieced together group) played on the Oosterdam and they were strictly jazz (this is not dance music). After we complained they did a little better but the pianist made sarcastic remarks regarding the complaint several times.

 

Entertainment is part of the cruise experience for us, we like to dance and we love the piano bars, not much into the loud broadway shows, so we look for the smaller venues. Money is being cut back on this obviously.

 

Wish there was a way to find out who the entertainment is before hand. I feel there is better entertainment on the longer cruises, we had very good entertainment on the 10 day Amsterdam cruise.

[RuthC]

Stryker -was on the Amsterdam in December - Mexican Riviera and he was amazing. :)

Absolutely, totally agree. I shared 32 days with him on the Rotterdam a couple of years ago. Can't say enough good things about him.

Even when we went into Code Red for eight days, and he was on Lido detail too early the next morning, he was still happy and pleasant. Great attitude.

[Softball20]

We were on the Zuiderdam in the Med a couple years ago and we loved Tony Payne! He was terrific! We spent many nights in that piano bar, as did many of our fellow cruisers! I'm really hoping that maybe he's still around and might show up on our Noordam cruise this October......

[Oceanwench]

Randall Powell in February on Oosterdam was to be avoided. All he did was talk. We went from superb to avoid.

 

We also were disappointed with Randall Powell the last time we saw him. :(

On a previous cruise we had enjoyed him and were happy when we were going to encounter him again. He does an awesome Broadway sing-along that really packed the bar.

 

But we found that he was heavy on the chit-chat with the people around the piano and not as much fun, when we last saw him on the Westerdam.

 

In my book, no one can match Jimmy Maddox.

He is talented and personable. He knows so much about the music industry. He can play all sorts of music.

And best of all, he does not have a HUGE ego! He is very gracious with all requests.

 

My daughter's BF had made a request of Randall on our last cruise, and Randall ridiculed him. After that, my daughter and her BF stopped going to the piano bar and spent their time/money elsewhere.

[English_in_Spain]

We had Jim Fischer on our TA on the Noordam last year. He was really good. I don't know if he is a regular on HAL ships - if not, he should be.

 

He played all types of music and had the knack of judging what the people wanted. Very talented man and good fun. We bought 2 of his CDs at the end of the cruise.

 

Please HAL, can we have more of Jim.

[silverado44]

And the best piano bar player......John Valby.

[JJ33328]

I have to agree that Jimmy Maddox is the gold standard of piano bar entertainers. I just got back from the Noordam DEC 2-12 '11 cruise and Michael Sara was playing the piano bar to packed crowds every night. We enjoyed his music and he interacted with the crowd very well, he even let a few passengers do some songs. A passengers rendition of "King of the Road" in French was awesome and another passenger did a parody of "I left my heart in San Francisco" with different comedic and mildly risque lyrics. He did a 50's night, a Rat Pack tribute night, Billy Joel night as well as a Roy Orbison and Elvis tribute nights. He did a name that tune night and though he's not big on requests because his synthesized accompaniment equipment makes it difficult to do random songs, he did manage to squeeze a few in here and there. He also made a point to learn the names of the regular customers and by the end of the cruise he was greeting everybody by name. He'll be on the Noordam until March '12 then off to the Nieuw Amsterdam in April '12 for the Mediterranean season.

 

If you see him on a cruise make sure you tell him J.J. sent you!

[PathfinderEss]

I think piano bar entertainment is up to individual taste. I had heard of Randall for a few years, how good he was etc. etc. and then I finally got to see him on the Oosterdam last year. Not impressed at all. Like others, he talked to much and his ego is unbelievable. To me he is just a so-so entertainer. Like others, I like Perry Grant but he is on Celebrity so if I want to see him I have to change cruise lines. One of my all time favorites was JP Nadeau.

[jjones]

I second the nomination for JP Nadeau - great personality, terrific repertoire.

[lvz2cruz]

We enjoyed Jam the Piano Man on Veendam in June. We were by far the youngest there each night, but we still had fun even when we didn't know most of the songs at his Name that Tune games. You could tell he loved his job and made the night enjoyable for everyone.

We were disappointed he had been replaced with a more introverted guy in September who was great at the keyboard but not at interacting with passengers.

[innlady1]

Mark Farris was on our Maasdam cruise in late January '11. I can only hope that he's on again this January but I doubt it...he does some of the more upscale cruise lines too.

Anyone know who is on the Maasdam these days?

[innlady1]

Out of curiosity, I checked Mark Farris' website: He's on the Crystal Symphony until January 4...and then again from February 20 on. Maybe he'll sign a short contract for the Maasdam...lol! We can only hope....

[mamaofami]

I heard Joel Mason in the piano bar every night on my Maasadam New England cruise. He was good, but didn't hold a candle to Mark Farris who I heard last winter on Maasdam. He was fabulous and interacted with everyone in a genuine way. Agree with Inn lady, I wish he would be back there this January.

[George C]

We liked Jam the Piano Man last week on Zuiderdam and we did like Randall on Wetserdam last year.

[Caribbean Chris]

Stryker is very talented and packed the (former layout) piano bar in the current Rotterdam...heard him interviewed by the Cruise Director back in 2009. He has a compelling life story and shared his time as a homeless person living on the street.

 

Also enjoyed Barry From Boston Obama our last HAL transatlantic in April. Always a full house when we met up with friends in his piano bar after dinner. He came to our Cruise Critic party too.

[SwissMyst]

Buddy recently kept people happy on the Maasdam (12/11) with his strong voice, great keyboard skills and engaging repertoire of old favorites - only complaint, the new MIX does not have a good lay-out and the lights from the shop area are intrusive - he could have filled up a larger area on many nights.

[innlady1]

Buddy recently kept people happy on the Maasdam (12/11) with his strong voice, great keyboard skills and engaging repertoire of old favorites - only complaint, the new MIX does not have a good lay-out and the lights from the shop area are intrusive - he could have filled up a larger area on many nights.

 

I know we'll miss the "old" Piano Bar but nothing we can do about that. Do you think Buddy will still be on board mid January? I

ve read back on the boards and even RuthC gives a "thumbs up" to Buddy...that's good enough for me!

 

You must have had a wonderful cruise, SwissMyst...what a fabulous itinerary!

[peug]

DH and I vote for Don Yuswenko AKA Dr. Boogie. We have booked our next cruise based on knowing from facebook that he is the piano man on that cruise.

 

Our last cruise Darryl (I don't know his last name) was the piano man and seemed very popular but was not our style.