Bruce Hornsby

As a keyboard player I have been mesmerized by Mr. Hornsby since the release of his 1987 hit "The Way It Is." His signature piano riffs and melodic song-crafting have influenced my musical thinking for about two decades now. So I was anticipating his second Birmingham appearance, though I was not quite sure a "solo" performance was going to fully sate my musical hunger for this artist. That uncertainty disappeared in about 10 seconds, as the first notes rang out from the 9 foot (?) Steinway placed center-stage. What followed was two hours-plus of what I would describe as "musical Nirvana," peppered with the effusions of a beautiful personality. He played his hits, of course, but in the evolved forms characteristic of most true artists. The released version of any popular song by such musical geniuses is only a "snapshot in time"--their considerable creative impulses disallow these song-gems to stagnate in their codified form (compare, for example, Sting and Van Morrison).
And oh my word--at his technical skill and breadth of musical knowledge! When he fused Bach's "Goldberg Variations" into "The Way It Is," I thought I was going to come out of my seat. As I see it, this man is a rare example of someone who has spent his life focused on his considerable gifts, more interested in musical purity than potential revenue.
Finally---though it's unlikely that he'll ever see my comments---I would like to first apologize to him that the event was not quite sold out; and second, to say a million "thank you's" for more than 20 years of phenomenal song-writing, singing, signature keyboarding, and social consciousness. The world is a much better place with you in it.
As I remarked to my companion as we exited the hall into the tonally random noise of the street--"Now there's something you're not likely to see again."