Sundays are for Piano

On Friday evening, I had the great joy of playing an intimate solo piano/vocals recital in Paris.

I’ve played hundreds of live sets in my life (mainly as a member of Slim and The Beast), but Friday marked the first time since I was a teenager that I’ve sang or played piano as a solo artist to a captive audience.

In Paris, it’s exceedingly rare to find public musical spaces that allow for the natural intimacy of a solo show, and while I’ve played numerous Sofar Sounds gigs that approximate the intimacy of a living room, those gigs were always with a band.

Playing by one’s lonesome is a fundamentally different experience, and I have my twin brother, the singer/songwriter Aaron Lopez-Barrantes, to thank for helping me understand how to play from a space of raw vulnerability.

killer night

And what a joy it was

to be able to choose how to play each tune in real-time—when to speed up, slow down, improvise, change the melody, and turn a misplayed note or chord into an opportunity (thanks, jazz).

Friday night felt like the beginning of a new chapter in my musical life. It was a welcome and necessary reminder of the difference between performing songs as an entertainer and playing and singing as a solo artist.

After many years of playing to crowds of singing and dancing and chatting people, it was an honor to play in a room fit for a pin-drop, the cellar of my favorite bar in Paris, Au Chat Noir, a community space that hosts live music, comedy nights, and spoken word poetry (Au Chat Noir was the first place I ever read fiction out loud in public; it’s also, lo and behold, where I met my wife).

Thanks to all who showed up for such a human, intimate soirée, and thanks to my paying subscribers for pushing me to keep creating.

Below, if not, Paris patrons will find the show’s program, complete with lyrics if you’d like to read along to the 20-minute recording (note: the recording includes 5 of the seven tunes on the program because technical difficulties there’s virtue in leaving the audience wanting more).

Au Chat Noir Recital, November 15, 2024

1. Les Roches Noirs

2. Slowly

3. Monika

4. Time

5. Waltz in Ab

6. Annabelle

7. You