Happy New Year to all!

It looks like we are sold out at Gracie's tonight, but the musical celebration will continue into the weekend.  I will be at the Portland City Grill a little later this week (6 pm to 9 pm) to ring in the New Year.  Also check my calendar for Wednesdays in January and February at the PCG.

I hope 2015 is a great year for all of us.  Happy New Year!

Hear the Angels Sing video

Hear the Angels Sing by Gus Pappelis and sung by Portland's Holy Family Catholic Church Choir on Sunday, December 21st.  The octavo is published by Oregon Catholic Press (edition 11991).

Last of the Christmas concerts

Two concert nights left. Tonight at 5pm my Christ the King choir sings at our home parish, and then later at approx. 6:30, I will join the Holy Family choirs as they sing their concert theme song (and my composition) Hear the Angels Sing. Tomorrow, my choir will sing at the Grotto's Festival of Lights at 7pm

Holiday Favorites tonight

This close to Christmas, it is hard to resist playing all the seasonal favorites.  The music starts at 5pm at the Portland City Grill Yamaha Grand.  Come on up for Portland's finest happy hour and songs to complement our city's festive holiday spirit.

Friday is Gershwin Night at the Portland City Grill

This Friday, September 26, marks the birthday of George Gershwin.  To celebrate, I will be featuring his songs at the Portland City Grill Yamaha grand.  Bring some friends and your list of favorite songs and join the fun.  The music starts around 5 p.m.

MelloMacs Go Gershwin

It's September, and the delightfully talented and musical MelloMacs are back! This mixed choir of Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club meets weekly to put together musical entertainments that are shared all over the Portland community. This season the group will feature a brand new show filled with Gershwin favorites. It's hard to go wrong with Gershwin; these are some of the best-loved songs of the American songbook.

Later this month, on Sept. 26th, we will all celebrate George Gershwin's birthday. A bright light of the Jazz Age and the golden days of Broadway in the Twenties, Gershwin's use of the Jazz idiom infused the American spirit into his compositions.  So many of his songs have become beloved standards in the American songbook; they are rediscovered and enjoyed by each generation of artists and audiences.  His larger works like Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and An American in Paris are a tribute to his orchestral abilities and innovations.  His biggest masterpiece may be his folk opera, Porgy and Bess.  So much great music from this American original.  I look forward to the MelloMacs and their new musical tribute to this American legend.  And I will enjoy playing many of his songs at the Portland City Grill, as I celebrate one of my greatest musical inspirations, George Gershwin.

Touch Me in the Morning by Michael Masser

This day in 1973, singer icon Diana Ross hit the top of the charts with the song "Touch Me in the Morning," one of her longest charting recordings (her second solo #1 after her time with The Supremes).  I was in college at the time, and I remember how powerfully her song captured the American audience.  Ross had also just received great reviews for her acting debut in Lady Sings the Blues.  That new song, "Touch Me in the Morning," was also a launching vehicle for a new young composer, Michael Masser, who later contributed on many other great songs including "The Greatest Love of All" (Whitney Houston), "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "Saving All My Love for You," "Tonight I Celebrate My Love" (Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson), "If Ever Your in My Arms Again," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," and many more.  So many great songs that resonated through our lives!  My one little individual side note: a few years later, I performed for Michael Masser.  In fact, he hired my dance orchestra to supply musical entertainment for his son's wedding reception.  I remember how The Gus Pappelis Orchestra performed admirably that day, but I also remember how much in awe I was of this composer, Masser, who had written so many of the songs we loved playing for our guests. Yes, Diana Ross sang it beautifully, but Michael Masser put the notes together for her to sing.  I'll have to add those titles to my Portland City Grill playlist this Friday.

Pi Day Update:

I am very happy to report that our St. James Pi Day Celebration 2014 was a wonderful success.  Our fifth graders had a blast, and everyone came through the festivities smiling. It only took me a day and a half to recover, which isn't too bad.  By the way, our math field day received excellent news coverage with many interviews on our local radio stations, Portland's K103 fm and our local KLYC am 1260 (they even sent the YamVan for the occasion).  Our McMinnville News-Register also covered the story with student interviews and pictures. I want to thank Fr. Kelly Vandehey, our principal Jeananne Bloudek, and all our St.  James School staff for their support. Also, here is a shout out to Linfield College for sending over one of their math majors as a guest emissary.  Pi Day 2014 was a big project, but it was worth the effort.  There are now 184 students and assorted teachers and parents who have experienced how much fun math can be.

How I found the Portland City Grill and how they found me!

March 14th St. James Annual Pi Day Celebration Update - So far we have received confirmations for 175 5th-graders and 16 teachers and chaperones.  I will have a final total Tuesday or Wednesday for our huge math field day event. It's going to be a blast.

My plans are still to be at the Portland City Grill Friday, March 14th.  It is Pi Day (3.14), and Albert Einstein's birthday. But not only is it my birthday, it is also my anniversary of the opening of Portland City Grill.

The Portland City Grill opened to the public on March 19, 2002, but this was after a "soft opening" to friends and guests the week before. That's when I first came in contact with this new Portland hot spot. It really began with a surprise call that had received from the PCG office. They had been told by a business friend that I had played piano professionally in Los Angeles, and that they should consider giving me an audition.  I had heard of the new restaurant/bar (it was wildly anticipated by the city), but I had never been to the place, even when it was Atwaters in the old days. It was now under new ownership and was scheduled to open soon.

I went up to meet the managers, and I was invited to have an audition - more precisely I was asked if I would like to play ( it was one of their soft opening nights, the week of my birthday).  As I looked around, my first impression was that it was a gorgeous night club: elegant, classy, with a spectacular  view of the Portland city lights 30 floors below, and with a wonderful Yamaha grand piano surrounded by tables.  I admit that I assumed they were expecting to hear the usual society background stylings of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, etc., which actually is an era of music dear to my heart. But that evening, just before I started toward the piano to begin my "audition set," one of the managers stopped me and explained, "Now remember, we don't want any of that old music here. We want fun music, rock and roll, 60's - 70's - 80's, everything young and upbeat."  With a grin on my face, I sat down in the middle of a huge, enthusiastic crowd and let the music begin.

It was just like being in college again. The place was literally packed with thoroughly enraptured guests. The energy was high with lots of laughter and singing. It was like a continuous party; the hours just zipped by. At the end of my audition, the managers said they were pleased and gave me a choice of playing nights.  I picked 8 pm on Friday, thinking it was my one free weekend evening (working around my choir schedule).  They said that was great, and asked what other night I could play. I picked 5 pm on  Wednesday (again working around choir practice and school).  And then they asked for another!  So I went with Saturday with an 8 pm start (enough time to accommodate my 5:30 Mass).  I went up for an audition thinking that I might be able to play there once or twice a month, and I ended up playing there practically every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evening for over ten years.  I was chosen as one of several fine pianists who eventually filled out the week's house musicians. Three of our original group still entertain there weekly.

So it has been 12 years this week. I still smile on my way to play there, and I usually smile all the way home.

Happy Anniversary, Portland City Grill.  See you Friday.