Howe Gelb sits in the backstage room of Porgy & Bess with a big grin. He has just finished soundcheck for his headline show at Blue Bird Festival and seems to be satisfied with how things are going. We didn’t really get through to him with our request to do a session before, but it looks like the right time to introduce the idea to him. And indeed, he likes it, but wants a piano. So we head out to find one and finally are able to even present a choice to Howe. He opts for the grand piano at Haus der Musik, at which he enscones himself for a 30-minutes session, featuring numerous songs; some with, some without lyrics. His audience includes a school class with a noisy teacher, a family with fascinated children – the girl contributes to the music with her toy harmonica – and Haus-der-Musik workers, who occasionally pass by with trolleys. Just at the end of Howe’s piano performance, though, almost nobody is around, which makes him joke about „the sound of one-hand-clapping“.

howegelb.com