Bob Malone - Black Belt Piano Man

There must have been a piano in the womb with Bob Malone because he was born with some of the most magical piano playing fingers on the planet. He appeared before a small crowd Thursday night at One Longfellow Square and gave a stunning show that should have been seen by an audience a hundred times larger.

His hour long set was a veritable tribute to wine, women and song, sung with a raspy voice somewhere on the gravel spectrum near Joe Cocker and Randy Newman, accompanied by his piston and hammer fingers that seemed to be forged in the dwelling place of Thor. He wore a white, billowy shirt and vest that made him look something like a troubadour from a Renaissance Fair and he shook his Vinnie Barbarino-ish hair (John Travolta in Welcome Back, Cotter), like Paul McCartney as he played.

Bob’s amazing gift was demonstrated during the many improvisational moments of the evening when he would casually launch into jaw dropping, piano smashing, awe inspiring, inimitable refrains of music, which even seemed to surprise Bob, such as when he cried out to us in mid-finger-tornado, “I just injured myself!” but kept on playing.

He admitted getting piano lessons at age nine and was able to play anything that was put in front of him. He has sold tunes to daytime television shows such as One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless, All My Children, and other television shows and movies such as Felicity, Jag, and P.S. I LoveYou, and has been the opening act for many big names such as Maria Muldaur, Boz Scaggs, The Neville Brothers, Rev. Al Green and Leon Russell. He mentioned that his parents were from Cornish and Kezar Falls, Maine, and it seemed as if a good number of his relatives were in the audience from the various hoots and claps.

He mentioned that he was using the piano and microphone that belonged to opening act, Seth Glier. After Bob’s Mohammed Ali style beating on the piano, Seth gently crept up on the stage and touched his piano lovingly, almost as if checking to see if it still had a pulse. Bob gave it the kind of work out it will probably never get from gentle Seth.

A great show, Longfellow Square, keep ‘em coming.

Check out Bob’s live performance of “One Foot on the Gas” on youtube.com, to get an idea of his talent. You can reach him at http://bobmalone.com.