Since Candy Noll bought the Union Bay Cafe from Kathy Brown, a lot of improvements have been made. I would like to thank her, as well as Jesse and Sara for having me out there. You won't find a better deal on better fish and chips anywhere on the canal that I know of. Next time you get a chance, give this place a try. Jesse is an accomplished musician himself, working on his second CD, and he arranges the entertainment (though Candy has the final say).
Today I played a special Sunday lunch performance that was originally going to be outside, but everyone was inside when I started, and thunderstorms had been in the weather report so I set up on the stage and Jesse did the sound. My program of unaccompanied cello solos included the following songs:
I've Got You Under My Skin (Cole Porter 1936)
Can You Feel The Love Tonight (From The Lion King) (Elton John 1994)
Unwell (Rob Thomas 2002)
Underneath It All (David A. Stewart and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, 2001)
When I'm Sixty-Four (The Beatles)
Take My Breath Away (Love theme from "Top Gun") (Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock 1986)
Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay (Steve Cropper & Otis Redding 1968)
The Lady In Red (Chris DeBurgh 1986)
Fly Me to The Moon (In Other Words) (Bart Howard 1954)
I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan, Seamus Egan & Dave Merenda 1995)
Lullaby (Shawn Mullins 1998)
From A Distance (Julie Gold 1986)
Forrest Gump - Main Title (Feather Theme) (Alan Silvestri 1994)
Fields Of Gold (Sting 1993)
Colors of the Wind (from Walt Disney's Pocohontas) (Alan Menken 1995)
Penny Lane (the Beatles) (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1967)
Landslide (Stevie Nicks 1975)
The Game Of Love (Rick Nowels & Gregg Alexander 2002)
Love Is Here To Stay (George & Ira Gershwin 1938)
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree (Irwin Levine & L. Russell Brown 1972)
I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire (Ink Spots: Benjamin, Seiler, Marcus, Durham 1941)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel 1978)
You're The Inspiration (Peter Cetera & David Foster 1984)
A Day In The Life (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1967)
Till There Was You (From "The Music Man") (Meredith Willson 1950)
What A Wonderful World (george David Weiss & Bob Thiele 1967)
Don't Know Why (Jesse Harris 2002)
You'll Be In My Heart (From Walt Disney's Tarzan) (Phil Collins 1999)
Across the Universe (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1968)
Spanish Eyes (Bert Kaempfert 1965)
In My Life (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1966)
Time In A Bottle (Jim Croce 1971)
Always On My Mind (Wayne Thompson, Mark James & Johnny Christopher 1971)
Too Darn Hot (Cole Porter 1949)
Star Dust (Hoagy Carmichael & Mitchell Parish 1928)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1968)
The Look Of Love (Burt Bacharach & Hal David 1967)
If I Fell (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1964)
I Love Paris (Cole Porter)
Georgia On My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell 1930)
It Might As Well Be Spring (From State Fair) (Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II 1945)
Take The 'A' Train (Billy Strayhorn 1941)
All My Loving (John Lennon & Paul McCartney 1963)
Save The Best For Last (Phil Galdston, Jon Lind & Wendy Waldman 1989)
Puttin' On The Ritz (Irving Berlin 1928)
I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song (Jim Croce 1973)
Though it was a short performance, I didn't take any breaks so I got a lot of songs in. Also, remember that most Beatles songs are only a couple minutes long. The audience was not huge, but the cafe was pretty full at the peak of the lunch hour. They were appreciative (applause is a dead giveaway of that) and unusually quiet for a restaurant and lounge at lunchtime -- I think a lot of people were really listening to me play.
Lately I've been noticing people out of the corner of my eye tapping their feet as I play, or hearing people gently singing with some of the familiar melodies; I can feel the very moments when I have an audience in the palm of my hand. I can't really explain it, because I have been playing for a long time, but I really live for those little moments. At times in the past, they made me nervous because I would over-think what I was playing or lose my place in the music, but that happens only rarely now. Today had a lot of great little moments, and I feel like I kept my cool through nearly all of them. I've probably mentioned it before, but playing at restaurants is great for me, because I feel like I am adding something special to people's experience. Here they are, actually getting out of the house and meeting other people, and I get to be part of their reward for doing that.
