Blogocentric Formulations

Andre's Instrument

(417 words)

"Invalid Item"  | March Musical Monkey Madness Day #1

Prompt ▼

1.) What instrument does Andre play, why, and with who has he performed?

My very first visit to the Banana Bar was also the first time I experienced Andre's brilliant musical stylings. As a talent scout for a number of popular late-night shows, my job is to find new acts to perform live on the shows. I've been doing this job a long time, and I had grown tired of yet another singer/songwriter strumming their guitar, or keying their keyboard. I had been longing for something new.

Imagine my surprise when a pint-sized primate by the name of Andre took the stage with a portative organ  !

I hadn't seen one of those since my time at Julie Ard

My parents couldn't afford to send me to The Julliard School in New York, so I attended an unaffiliated music conservatory in Reno, Nevada. The school didn't have a lot of funding, so the available instruments weren't what you would call the "best," per se.

[sic], and my jaw hit the floor while I marveled at the dulcet tones that this soulful simian was able to produce. I knew immediately that I had to book him on one of my shows. Probably not any of the actually popular ones, but definitely something of the "Late Late Late Late Night" variety, the kinds that battle with informercials for the attention of insomniacs at two in the morning.

That first introduction was a long time ago, though. Years before Andre bought the Banana Bar. Back when he was just a musical monkey with a dream trying to make a name for himself. Andre and I got to know each other over the years as he worked his way up from Late Late Late Late shows to the Late Late Late shows to the Late Late shows to the "big league" Late shows. I learned that his first love was the actual (non-portative) organ, but those prove very difficult to transport on road tours and gigs around town, so he opted for a more transportable version.

I learned that he's played with a number of other recognized performers in the "portative" space, including Umberto (master of the miniature upright bass), Bartholomew Bartovsky (the world's premiere player of the baby contrabass balalaika), and Hamish Hazelton (celebrated virtuoso of the dwarf hydrophone). He's also rather proud of that one time he ended up doing an unintentional duet of "Endless Love" with Sting while they were both standing in line at Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles.