There are nights when a performer walks to the piano and gives a good show, and then there are nights like this one. On Friday October 2 at the Triad Theatre in New York City, Randy Edelman did not simply perform. He stepped up his game in a way that left the room breathless, and what came back to him from the audience was sheer joy and happiness, the kind you can feel moving from table to table.
He opened with “Everything Is Possible,” and it could not have been more timely. In a moment when people are hungry for something hopeful, the song landed as a statement of intent for the entire evening. From the first few bars, the room belonged to him.
Then came the favorites, one after another, each greeted like an old friend. “Weekend in New England” was as tender and aching as ever. “The Woman on Your Arm” carried all of its quiet heartbreak. “Concrete and Clay” brought the bounce and the smiles, and “Uptown Uptempo Woman” had the audience right there with him. And there were so many more, song after song that this crowd knew, loved and had clearly been waiting to hear.
What struck me most was the voice. It was clear as a bell. Every lyric was delivered with warmth and precision, every note placed exactly where it belonged. Alone at the piano, with no band and nothing to hide behind, Edelman sounded like a man completely at home in his own songs.
The film score medley was phenomenal. This is the music that has lived inside all of us for decades, written by the composer whose work on The Last of the Mohicans earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and hearing it pour out of a single piano in a room that intimate is an experience all its own. The audience thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and you could feel the hush fall as each theme emerged.
The Triad is the perfect setting for an artist like this. You are close enough to watch his hands, close enough to catch every expression, and close enough to feel the affection passing between the stage and the seats. That affection was the story of the night. People were not just applauding; they were beaming.
I have seen Randy Edelman many times, and I say this from the heart: tonight he was simply, oh my God, incredible. He gave everything he had, and the audience gave it right back.
With his new album Green Park out now on Cherry Red Records and his “American Original” solo piano performance at Carnegie Hall set for December 19, Edelman is heading into the end of the year on a remarkable high. If the Triad was any indication, those lucky enough to be in the room that night are in for something unforgettable.
Photo Credits: Billy Hess
