The Piano Show is a weekly one-hour radio show of great piano music, from any time and in any style. I originally produced it for a radio station in Monte Carlo that covered Monaco, southeastern France and parts of northwestern coastal Italy.
I created the show from concept, programming, hosting and production. By playing different styles of music but that are all on piano, I draw connections between popular, jazz and classical music, for a radio audience that is used to hearing a broad spectrum of music mostly in and around pop and rock. I choose the music to give the audience something familiar, then something not familiar but still pleasant.
This show deliberately mixes “jazz” and “classical” music because don’t think of those as very different at all. Music is music and all those category names are useless. Music theory is the same for all these supposedly different “kinds” of music. Music simply reflects the style of the time and people playing it.
The show is no longer in production since the station is no longer on the air. Here is a sample edition of The Piano Show:
Segment 1: Scarlatti and Monk
We play some music of Domenico Scarlatti and Thelonious Monk, and invite a comparison of their spirit and personal approach to the piano, even as their music sounds completely different, coming from 200 years apart.
Segment 2: Piano music on the quiet side
In this segment we relax with a selection of piano music on the quiet side, from different places and times. We hear Ramsey Lewis, Ahmad Jamal, and Duke Ellington, then Mozart played by Lars Vogt, Alberto Ginastera played by Gloria Cheng and a Harold Arlen song played by Oscar Peterson.