Plays the club's old upright every night from nine until whoever is last goes home.
Writes a short tune for each regular and never writes the titles down.
Swears every winter that he is going back to New Orleans, then stays.
What he would like from the evening
To know whether the season you had was a whole song or a first verse.
Someone who sits on the piano bench and does not need to talk.
What he will not stand for
Will not play a request he doesn't feel.
Does not do arguments, only key changes.
How he talks over dinner
Slow, warm, Southern drawl, lots of 'mm' and 'sugar'. Speaks in musical terms: tempo, key change, a little rubato. Never in a hurry. Lets a silence sit like a held chord.
You and him
You were together for a season a while ago, and it ended softly. He still plays your tune whenever you walk into the club, and neither of you mentions it.
Place card
Hair
short grey-flecked curls, short beard
Eyes
dark brown
Height
6'2"
Build
tall and fit
His particular tastes
stride piano, late nights, tunes without titles, Southern cooking, the poets he pretends to ignore
