Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Your Wednesday Moment of Words Fail Me

A Neil Sedaka mini-concert, from three weeks ago, in which Neil a) reveals he had Covid and (thankfully) got over it, and then (b) does terrific versions of "Calendar Girl," "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," and "Laughter in the Rain."

I must admit that I had no idea Sedaka was posting this stuff until the other day (h/t my critical colleague Brett Milano, to whom many thanks).

I should also add that if I live to be Neil's age (almost 82) I will never be able to play piano stuff as cool as he does here. I mean, jeez, that solo break on "Calendar Girl" totally kills me.

3 comments:

Sal Nunziato said...

Wow. What a way to start the day! Wonderful!

Alzo said...

It's great when it's obvious someone loves their job. In Sedaka's case, he has the satisfaction of knowing he has contributed to the book of standards. The man has a way with hooks that should be the envy of any songsmith.

Roadmaster said...

Finally got around to listening - and wow, indeed. His piano work on "Laughter" really shows what a gifted musician/composer he is - and has remained.

By my calculation, this year marks his 65th year as a recording artist. His first reputed performance - at least to my understanding - was on the chimes for this doo-wop classic (and big hit in NYC):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHCINuGmBdg