3 Questions

with Doug Montgomery

Let’s extend a hearty congratulations to piano man Doug Montgomery, who recently celebrated 33 years as the resident ivory tickler at Vanessie, the downtown restaurant/wine bar. The man has music degrees from Northwestern University and a little school you may have heard of called Julliard, so in case you weren’t sure whether he’s a big deal, he is. Congrats, Doug, and here’s to 33 more.

Wow. 33 years. How do you feel?
Pretty good. That room is like a laboratory, y'know? It's not Carnegie Hall, so if I want to do a new piece or try something new, I can do that. It's been a wonderful place to sharpen my knife, my skills. I go on the road a lot, like, 20 performances a year at private parties and concert halls, and because of that and Vanessie, it always switches up, things never become routine. There are always new things to try and new people to meet and play for.

Will you be doing anything special to celebrate?
Our first night was on Dec. 7, 1982, and that just came and went. We had a nice meal, we toasted with prosecco, and it was nice, but maybe we'll really blow it out for 35. When you play to your heart, you'll attract people with a similar vibe. You can't get everybody, but you can try to get people with that same vibe, and I think we've done that.

Are you still excited to get in there and play?
Every single night when I go in, I still give it 110 percent. I've always felt like it was a switch you just flip and I'll think, 'Wow, I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have a room like this.' The piano bar has had a kind of bad connotation as the room with the smoky ceiling, where the sad drunk with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth sits behind the piano. When we started, I figured I could just change the connotation; I figured I'd reinvent what the piano bar was. So if I want to play Schopenhauer, I'll play Schopenhauer ... if I want to play ragtime, I'm going to play ragtime.

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