My Year Playing 717 Jazz and Pop Tunes in the Lobby of a Local Hospital Instead of Working

In 2024 I retired from the tech industry and began doing music as much as possible. I co-created a jazz combo, have taken a number of jazz classes and also got a volunteer gig playing two 90-minute sets of solo piano per week in the lobby of a local hospital. I kept track of every song I played over the course of the year at the hospital.

In summary, in 2024 I played forty-nine 90-minute sets, a total 717 songs drawn from 79 songs that I can play unaccompanied.

The top 5 songs I played the most were:

1. Night and Day
2. How High the Moon
3. Rocket Man
4. Autumn Leaves
5. On Green Dolphin Street

It was mostly uneventful since people are coming and going and not really there to see a piano show. But there were some exceptions.

I'm not supposed to take tips, and don't, though one day, while playing Elton John's Rocket Man, a woman who was clearly having a bad day (at the time I was playing the piano in the oncology lobby) stopped over and asked where the tip jar was. I told her I'm not supposed to take tips, she threw a five down on the piano, told me to buy myself a cup of coffee, thanked me for playing and went on her way. Rocket Man is fun to play and very recognizable, so I think people enjoy it. I enjoy playing it.

Another time, a woman was just hanging out, listening for about an hour. We started chatting, She was in from out of state because her kid, a young adult, was in a freak accident in the mountains where a tree fell over and landed on his head. He was airlifted here and had been going through a bunch of surgeries. She mentioned that her boy was a very talented singer. She played me a YouTube of him singing "Smooth Like Tenessee Whiskey" and she wasn't lying, he had an incredible voice. (Not sure if he still has it, sadly. He was pretty banged up. But he was discharged and they went back to their home back east). She asked me to play it, which I did. That's why that shows up the one time.

One day I played Wish You Were Here, the Pink Floyd song, from the eponymous album. (Did I use eoponymous right? Or is it titular. I always get the two confused). Anyway, there's a mezzanine above the oncology lobby. I finished and a woman up on the mezzanine is clapping. I looked and she thanked me, saying it was one of her dad's favorite songs. She'd video'd me playing it and sent it to him. Like so many Pink Floyd tunes, Wish You Were Here is a great tune that I've been playing since I was a teenager.

In the main lobby, people are coming and going and just going about their business. In oncology, for a variety of reasons, people spend a lot of time just sitting around. One time, this guy was sitting there in oncology with his wife. Another woman comes over and sits down between me and him, pulls out her phone and starts talking to someone on speaker. I start playing softer, so she can do her phone call. But the guy can no longer hear me. He asks the woman politely if she can take her phone call somewhere else, he's enjoying the music. She ignores him and keeps talking. He asks her again, she continues to ignore him. Finally he yells "would you please take your $%^& phone call somewhere else, I'm trying to hear the music!". She says, "No I'm comfortable here" and he replies "I just found out I had brain cancer and I want to listen to the music! Maybe you can be comfortable somewhere else".

She got up and left. I went over and talked to the guy for a bit. Turns out he enjoys Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. Hence those artists showing up a few times. When I've played "Sweet Caroline" at the hospital (just once or twice), nobody responded with the "bomp-bomp-bomp" part like they would at a piano bar. I'm cool with that. He was a regular customer for a while but I haven't seen him lately. Hopefully he just changed his appointment time.

More often than not I just play for 90 minutes and people go about their business. Then I have my hospital-provided lunch, which is awesome because I love cafeteria food.

It's always been a challenge to me to focus on any one thing for more than about an hour. Music is the exception. I can sit down and effortlessly crank out 90 minutes of piano music. (A great big cup of coffee helps, though, for sure). It's a total labor of love, and if nothing else a great opportunity to practice my new craft. If other people enjoy it, it's a win-win.