A Brush With Greatness

Friday, November 9th, I had a duo gig with vocalist Joy Divine in downtown Saint Paul at The St Paul Hotel. It is a very nice hotel, near The Ordway Theater and other attractions. I arrived early and was setting up as several people with instruments walked past me headed to play a concert. Some of them acknowledged me, and others did not. One who did, looked vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t sure enough to think much of it. Joy and I started our set and although things were going fine, I glanced up and noticed we had lost 90% of our audience. Obviously, there was something big going on somewhere that everyone rushed off to.

Between the people that stayed, some friends and family of Joy’s and my brother and his wife, there was still a nice crowd to play for. Songs flowed nicely and we were received well. We played for a couple hours, and were enjoying ourselves.

At this point in the evening the lounge filled up again as the people that had left earlier, returned. We were warmed up by this point and the extra crowd was helping us “give that little bit extra”. I looked up from my “trance” (people who know me, know I can get pretty lost in the music…) and I noticed the musician who had walked by earlier. He beamed at me and waved slightly. He was obviously enjoying the music. I smiled back and nodded as he carried his instrument past me and got on the elevator.

Tonight I played at the St Paul Hotel again, and found out why there was such a big crowd the night before. “Hey, Didn’t you know Yo-Yo Ma was playing at the Ordway last night”.

So there you have it…One of the world’s greatest cello players still gets a smile on his face when he hears and sees someone playing their heart’s out. I am proud to say that Joy and I brought a smile to his face.
Thank You Yo-Yo Ma, someday I hope to hear you play in person. I know I’ll be smiling…