Keith Emerson makes appearance at NAMM 2009
July 19th, 2009
Keith Emerson made an appearance the Korg Booth at the Winter NAMM 2009 along with Marc Bonilla and Travis Davis. Demoing a Korg M3-88 they played a wee medley of tunes including Tarkus, Nutrocker and From the Beginning. Keith busked some great piano parts on From the Beginning giving some new life to an already great song.
Despite the ailment in his right hand he still plays with such mastery. He has such a distinctive style and command of his instrument that few people would know he has major issues with his right hand. Respect!
Arrrgghh, No way,
I was at Winter NAMM 2009.
I had no idea Keith was there, or I’d have been front and center.
My favorite keyboard player of all time.
I flew from FL to CO to meet him when a concert pianist friend of mine was performing Keith’s Piano Concerto (Jeffrey Biegel), but Keith never showed.
Thanks for the video.
Frank B.
PianoWorld
This is both sad and joyous to watch. To me, Keith Emerson is still a creative inspiration. He helped pioneer the kinda music I love as well as show to the world that popular rock music can be as high brow as classical music and bridge the gap between genres (actually, I believe that music has no genres or boundaries: it’s all music and it’s all valid). He is without doubt a keyboard/composing genius, but what do you do when your ability fails you? You keep on playing as if every note you play could be your last. KE probably knows advancing age will exacerbate his already weakened limb and is making the most of what precious time he has left. He has long entered the time where ability declines and courage is demanded. I feel privileged to have seen him play in the flesh many years ago. All power to him.
Travis Davis, KE’s bass provider, must be bionic! He’s playing those Tarkus 16ths at the bottom octave without barring the notes (for the unitiatiated, that’s playing every note finger by finger – barring is where you put the whole length of your finger across a fret and then play all fretted notes, a much easier way). Maybe on a 6 string bass it’s a bit easier though. Great to hear a bit of fretbuzz from a pro as they usually have their basses set up actionwise to eliminate that. I think it adds to the sound, especially when you just pound those strings within an inch of their lives (which is what they deserve)!
Would have loved to have been there to see this awesome display. Thx BJ, thoroughly enjoyed this.
P.S. I love the Korg PR stand’s message: CREATE…Express, Play, Inspire. From the beginning, no great artiste sets out to inspire; their art flows from them like an unstoppable river, but I love the sentiment behind the idea that from the germ of creation within each of us can grow a mighty thing that can inspire people we don’t even know.