Stan Wiest - Music You Will Love - Music to Drive By

A terrific pianist ... truly great songs, very well played." Peter Duchin STAN WIEST began his lifetime career as a six year old carving his name into the wood of the upright piano his family had as a protest to having to practice piano. This attitude abruptly changes when at twelve he fell in love with his new piano teacher. She inspired him to practice long hours and encouraged his musicianship by taking him to classical concerts. Out of this puppy love a career was born. Stan graduated from Hofstra University on full piano scholarship with a brilliant classical piano concert for his musical graduation requirement playing Scarlatti, Schumann, Debussy and Franz Liszt. As a performer in the late 60's Stan played all the major hotel and supper clubs in Manhattan. He also appeared as a supper club pianist on the soap opera "Another World Bay City" and "Another World Somerset" on NBC television. In the same era he was performing on stage Off-Broadway and in several movies. After that period his performances moved to the country clubs and yacht clubs of Long Island and the tri-state area. What then began as simple recommending of a few musicians when Stan was already booked for parties exploded into a full time agency - A.WIEST ENTERTAINMENT GROUP which is extant to this day.Stan is President and CEO of this agency but has never stopped performing as orchestra leader and also as solo pianist. '...this album is a culmination of all the years of maturing as a soloist and orchestra leader enhanced by the many years of classical training. ' Stan Wiest On November 30, 2012, Stan recorded at Orpheus Studios in Manhattan for 8 hours. He was offered two ways to record: One result would be a CD recording that sounded like it was done in the studio. The second way, which was more difficult, would sound as if the piano was in the car or room with you when you played the CD. Stan chose this method, resulting in a dramatically increased presence in the sound of the piano, it sounds like you are right next to the piano when you play the CD. This method of recording allowed no overdubs, each track had to be recorded straight through from beginning to end. The resulting sound, on a fantastic Yamaha Grand Piano, is an elegant journey through Stan's piano arrangements and interpretations. When listening to this CD one can hear all the echoes of years of training. The finesse and grandeur of a truly classical training blaze forth in glorious details in finger dexterity. The journey that culminated in Fort Salonga resident Stan Wiest's first-ever commercially produced solo piano album began decades ago as a broke recent college graduate, when he knocked on the door of a Great Neck home and asked a family he had never met for permission to play their piano. A young Mr. Wiest had just heard that the hand-made grand piano originally owned by famed 1930s and 40s American pianist Eddy Duchin was to be auctioned off by the owners of a wealthy Great Neck estate. Mr. Wiest knew he could never afford to win the auction, as he had barely enough money to scrape by at that stage in his life. "I was just barely making it from week to week," he recalled. But his passion for piano and his love for Eddy Duchin inspired him to try to convince the owners of the piano to grant him a few moments to play it before they auctioned it off. He showed up at the Great Neck home unannounced and rang the doorbell. "I said, 'I hear you have Eddy Duchin's piano and it's going to be auctioned off on Wednesday. Could I just have five minutes to play it?' And they kind of looked at me like, Are you out of your mind? And I guess they felt sorry for me," Mr. Wiest recalled. The family granted his wish, but five minutes turned into three hours. From 9 a.m. to noon that morning, the family was captivated as they listened to Mr. Wiest play classical and jazz music on Eddy Duchin's original grand piano. Since they never asked Mr. Wiest to stop, he kept on playing. When the family invited him to have lunch, Mr. Wiest accepted on the condition that he could play the piano in the afternoon. When the family invited him to stay for dinner, he accepted on the condition that he could play that evening. When Mr. Wiest finally stopped playing the piano at 11 p.m., he thanked the family and told them it had been the greatest day of his life. When the family asked him how much he had available to pay for the piano, Mr. Wiest told them the most he could raise on short notice was $450. Upon hearing that number, the homeowner left the room and Mr. Wiest feared he had insulted the family. "Ten minutes later they came back and they said, 'Would you bring $450 tomorrow and take the piano?' I almost passed out," Mr. Wiest recalled. "I said, 'I can't do that this piano is priceless,' and they said, 'Show up tomorrow with the money and a moving van and the piano is yours.' I was beyond astounded. I guess it was because they probably wanted somebody who really would love the piano and knows it for what it is, being a phenomenal instrument. I guess it was more important for them that the right person had the piano." Decades later, Mr. Wiest still has Eddy Duchin's original 1910 Steinway model B grand piano in his home, which he estimates is valued now at more than $100,000. He is president of A. Stan Wiest Music based out of his Fort Salonga home, which provides music and entertainment at parties, weddings and events on Long Island and the tri-state area with his personal orchestra called the Stan Wiest Orchestra. In November, 2012, a man belonging to an exclusive north shore country club where Mr. Wiest has performed over many years approached him to ask if he would perform 24 of his wife's favorite songs from the Great American Songbook, composed primarily in the 1920s and '30s, at a surprise birthday party for her. Mr. Wiest obliged and following that surprise birthday performance, the client was so impressed that he offered to pay for Mr. Wiest to record an album of his wife's favorite songs. Fully funded by the client, who has wished to remain anonymous, Mr. Wiest spent eight straight hours performing the 17-song elegant piano album at the prestigious Orpheus Studios in Manhattan. He chose a method of recording which results in a greater quality but is far more labor-intensive, since it involved playing the songs straight through with no opportunity of fixing mistakes with overdubbing. The songs were originally written for full orchestra, but Mr. Wiest prepared and arranged them to be recorded as piano versions. In March, Mr. Wiest's anonymous client contacted him about selling the album commercially, and he assured Mr. Wiest once again that he would pay for all the necessary expenses. "I said, 'Why are you doing this for me?' and he said, 'It's time for you to be recognized and we can have fun doing this.' I was in a total state of shock. I just couldn't believe this," Mr. Wiest recalled. The album was regarded as a tremendous success, and the accomplished pianist Peter Duchin, the son of Eddy Duchin, sent a letter for Mr. Wiest's client praising the album. "I wanted to thank you for the wonderful CD you sent me. Not only is he a terrific pianist, but his choice of material is absolutely first rate - some truly great songs - very well played. Again, much thanks," read that letter from Peter Duchin. Mr. Wiest spent 16 hours over two days filming a one and a half minute long promotional video with a production company in his home on Eddy Duchin's grand piano, featuring interview clips. The production company also took more than 350 still photos of Mr. Wiest and worked with him on the album design. Next, Mr. Wiest set about on the task of copyrighting and uploading his songs online, as well as registering the songs for royalties, which took him more than eight hours to complete due to a lengthy, complex online process. He also spent hours interviewing several actresses and selecting one among them to provide an introductory and e