Michael Feinstein considers him a mentor. Leona Helmsley threatened to break his fingers if he didn’t play in her hotel. Liberace owes his big break to him. And at 100 years old, he still plays every week at the Park Lane Hotel. Dana talks with Irving Fields, legendary musician, pianist and composer about how to find gigs in the 1930s, discovering Latin music, and the “Freebird” of piano bar requests.
Music in This Episode:
Some of These Days – Sophie Tucker
Miami Beach Rhumba – Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
Johnson Rag – Liberace
Bei Mir Bist du Schoen – Irving Fields Trio
Makin’ Whoopie – Ella Fitzgerald
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever – The Peddlers