The Piano Man Sings With The Piano Student

Michael Pollock

In January, the Vanderbilt University Programming Board presented “Billy Joel: Questions and Answers and a Little Bit of Music”.

While some audience members may have thought Billy Joel to be a crabby old musician or the stereotypical singer-songwriter, he was delightfully funny, reports insidevandy.com.

Would you imagine Billy Joel would have a spot-on impersonation of Soviet leaders, Ronald Reagan, Paul McCartney or reggae artists? Probably not. While most crowds expect the artists they’re watching to just “shut up and sing,” Joel proved he could hold the audience’s attention with hilarious anecdotes and more than a few memorable one-liners.

During Q&A,  Joel took one from Michael Pollack, who recalled how he got on stage with The Piano Man.

 “I decided I was gonna go see Billy Joel right when we found out he was coming, and as a childhood idol of mine, right away I knew what I wanted to do when we went there. My roommate and I decided that we would try and find a way to get a question to be asked, and see if we could get on stage. And the day came, I put together a question, and I was raising my hand, and my friends to the right of me kept pointing to me, and finally after a few questions he picked on me and I hesitantly said how “New York State of Mind” was my favorite song, and how I had performed it with his saxophonist Richie Cannata in the past and wondered if I could go up and play it with him. 

And then he thought for a little — he took a second — and then he just said “Okay.” Which wasn’t quite convincing, but it was good enough. I walked up, we spoke about the arrangement for about 15 seconds — he just went through what he wanted me to play — and then from there, it was just … foggy. It’s hard to remember. I just started playing. I had practiced it a little bit thinking maybe I’d get the chance to go up … I kind of lost myself playing. Then afterward he said to me … he said that I was great, where are you from … and I said, “I’m a Long Islander just like you.” He was like, “Cool.” Then I walked off, and that was it … It was probably the greatest moment of my life, up to date.”