IIftaeOldVirtuoso pianist Jeffrey Hollander can play anything.All you have to do is ask. by Michael Drew

Jeffrey Hollander's surprisingly arrivedat the Pfister Hotel's lobbybar,delicatehands arelargeenough to reach 10 where he playsfivenights a week.Hol-white keys,which accommodatesmost of A lander started his six-hour shift wearingthe piano repertoire,includingjazz legend one of his dozen tuxedos.As he heatedArtTatum's finger-stretching bass tenths. up - tossing off dazzling arpeggios, in-Jazz,Broadwayshowtunes,opera,instru- ventiveruns and thundering chords- thementalclassicalworks- Hollander has a jacket came off.reputationfor being ableto playanything His audiencethat night includedmem-you ask,and in any~le. bersof the Doobie Brothers,here to per-

When one pa¥ayarly inventivelistener form at theWisconsin StateFair.1hreeofrequestedsomeBeethovenand Sousa-style the agingrock'n'rollers,a spouseand theirvariationson a Mozart aria,Hollander road crewsat at two ringsidetables,relax-whippedit up on the spot.While playing ing from road-tour rigors.They'darrivedfor PresidentGeorgeW. Bush at an affair near the beginningof Hollander's5 p.m.in Milwaukee,Hollander recast"Deep in shift,orderingdrinksand hors doeuvresthe Heart ofTexas"with Baroqueinnova- that becamesupper,and neverleft.For fivetions,as if Bachhad composedit. hours,the group stayedplanted,making

On a hot evening in August, Hollander requestsfor classics,Cole Porter,George

Gershwin - all music the Doobies have

never played in three-plus decades of goldand platinum discs and fan adulation.

Pleased and challenged, Hollanderplayed more than two hours until he tookhis first break, pouring out his typical-ly delicious stew of heavy and light clas-sics, the Great American Songbook andjazz standards. He reinvented the ballad"Like Someone in Love" as a fugue, ranthrough nine key changes and tossed offsome chandelier-rattling tremolos. (A fewnights later, the tune would get a wholenew treatment.)

"What you do is so difficult," Doobiesinger-guitarist John McFee volunteered toHollander. '%1d you make it look easy."

As usual, Hollander filled the spaces be-tween melodies with anecdotes about the

composers and compositions. For instance,Dooley Wilson, who seemed to be playing"As Time Goes By" for Bergman and Bo-gart in Casablanca,was faking. Wilson wasa drummer and singer, not a pianist.

And why is so much Chopin filled withsadness? Much of his music was composedafter he was dumped by famed female au-thor George Sand, who had several lovers.

Around 10 p.m., after thanks, tips andhugs, the Doobies' group retired for thenight. Hollander was exhausted but exhil-arated. For him, the memorable eveningwasn't unusual. Over the years, he's enter-tained hundreds of celebrities.

For a quarter-century at the Pfister,he has been inspiring romance, amusinglonely travelers and amazing visiting pi-anists with his keyboard fireworks. Wellinto his seventh decade, Hollander radi-ates the energy, virtuosity and scholarshipof his earlier lives as a child prodigy anduniversity professor.

One day in 1946, Hollander, thenjust 7 years old, was being driven to ascholarship audition at the prestigiousEastman School of Music, part of the Uni-versity of Rochester in his hometown,Rochester, N.Y.

Listening to the car radio, he heard andinstantly fell in love with a waltz fromTchaikovsky's tbe Nutcracker.Bored withhis over-rehearsed audition material, theprecocious pianist decided to try the Tchai-kovsky piece, over parental objections.Without ever seeing the sheet music andafter hearing the waltz only once, he playedit for the audition with improvised chords.It was a feat worthy of Mozart. Hollanderbecame the youngest scholarship winner in

Photo by Jim Herrington

Artsl

Eastman history.Hollander went on to get bachelor's and

master's degrees there at Eastman, earn-ing some ofhis first paychecks by lead-ing a high school jazz band. While receiv-ing a doctorate in music at the Universityof Michigan, he began a longtime student-mentor relationship with concert pianistGyorgy Sandor, who'd studied under clas-sical composer Bela Bartok.

After a lapse of decades, Hollander re-sumed the friendship in 2001, flying toSandor's New York apartment at least oncemonthly until the virtuoso's death last year.

Earlier in his career, Hollander touredconcert halls more regularly.But that de-manding life is fiercely competitive, andHollander settled down to a career in Mil-

waukee. He has performed with the Chi-cago Symphony Orchestra here and inChicago, and he's preceded Chicago andMilwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertswith lectures, featuring his piano orchestra-tions of symphonic works.

He's also had a long tenure as a professorat UW-Milwaukee, where this writer au-dited his recital/lecture course on Ameri-

can Popular Song. Mter I questioned, in aMilwaukee Journal Sentinel story, how hecould playa tribute to Hoagy Carmichaelwithout including the song "Skylark,"heopened his next class with an eight-min-ute concerto version of that tune. After the

last cascading note, he turned on the pia-no bench, stared me down and asked dryly;"Will that do?"

University music departments typical-ly value classical music. Hollander has paidthose dues, but also cares deeply aboutclassic pop and jazz, perceived by academ-ics as far less worthy. "He's close to a ge-nius, but was underappreciated at UWM,"says singer Willliam Duvall, Hollander'sformer music department colleague andactor Robert Duvall's brother.

And so Hollander has done most of his

work at the Pfister, where he's played for25 years (as of this December), along witha concert series at the Milwaukee Art Mu-

seum, also approaching its silver anniver-sary.His museum dates run from Septem-ber to July, and nowadays he performs atits Windhover Hall, surely one of the mostscenic concert settings anywhere.

Doc Severinsen, now retired as the Mil-waukee Symphony Orchestra's princi-pal pops conductor, regularly stayed at thePfister, where he first met Hollander. Late

one night, Severinsen asked if Hollander

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could play "Embraceable You"in the key ofF.When Hollander replied that he could,and in any other key,Severinsen hired himon the spot to replace Doc's combo - de-layed elsewhere - in a benefit concert thenext morning. Without a rehearsal, the twovirtuosi played about 20 tunes.

Hollander helped Severinsen programseveral MSO concerts and has performedwith the MSO under Severinsen's baton.

At the Pfister over the years, Severinsenhas spent countless hours sharing swing-era memories and "Tonight Show" storieswith Hollander. "He'd sit next to the piano,puffing on his cigar,until well past mid-night," Hollander recalls.

One evening, Hollander serenaded PaulMcCartney and his now-estranged wife,Heather, with Beatles tunes and what theycalled "our song," "The Very Thought ofYou."When McCartney walked to thekeyboard to thank Hollander, the pianistrecalls, the Beatle's bodyguards grew visiblytense, eyeing Jeff closely.

Other Hollander fans at the Pfister have

included Broadway/Las Vegas baritone

Robert Goulet, who of-ten joins Hollander to singalong when he's here ontour. Author Maya Ange-lou, who invited Jeff to vis-it her southern residencefor a home-cooked meal.The cast of the TV series

"Happy Days,"which en-couraged actor Pat Moritato dance around the lobbywith Hollander's tip jar andsolicit contributions. MSO

conductor Andreas Delfs,Ringo Starr, actors Bruce Dern, RobertDuvall and many more.

Walking through the Pfister lobby witha concierge, R~bin Williams stopped deadupon first hearing Hollander. "Who isthat?"he wondered. Informed, he settled infor a long listening session and dropped ahefty tip.

Hollander has perfect pitch - he can

identifY all five tones in a five-note chord -and he can play most ofhis vast repertoirein any key,adapting it in myriad ways for

the delight of Pfister patrons.Whenever he walks into the lobby, Sen.

Herb Kohl gets serenaded with a favoritewaltz. To mark the arrival of many Pfisterregulars, Hollander plays signature tunes,such as ''Alice Blue Gown" for various Al-

ices.And when Hollander spots a famil-iar married customer being sociable withsomeone other than his spouse, he mayslip in a few bars of "Your Cheatin' Heart."

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Arts}

Even the lobby appearance of a collie thatplayed Lassie didn't stump the expert.Promptly; Hollander delivered the "Lassie"TV series theme.

For classical fans, Hollander combines

favorite melodies from an opera or sym-phony into a unique orchestration. ForAmerican Songbook buffs, he'll dredge upforgotten songs from movies and Broad-way musicals. Of course, there are the inev-itable requests for "Happy Birthday;" which

he freshens with many variations.Sometimes, it yields substantial tips, as

much as $100 from the well-heeled.

His record gratuity came from a manwho asked for the overture to Wagner's 1heFlying Dutchman, which the pianist recre-ated on the spot, incorporating solos fromseveral instruments. A few nights later, theman asked for the overture to Wagner'sTannhauser, and Hollander came throughagain with an extended version.

When the guest checked out after amonth's stay;Hollander was stunned bythe gift he left behind: two first-class planetickets to Germany's Bayreuth Festival,two second-row seats for the four-operaWagner Ring Cycle there, and 10 nights ofhotel rooms in both Bayreuth and Munichfor Hollander. The benefactor, it turnedout, was a major sponsor of the festival.

The ambience of the Pfister lobby- the embodiment of old wealth - makes

a perfect setting for Hollander's particularstyle. A grandfather clock, dating from thehotel's founding in 1893, alerts guests tolast call.Behind the pianist, couches framea large fireplace and painted cherubs cavorton a painted sky ceiling.

Three figures of art history stare downat Hollander as he plays: two fashionablewomen in long gowns in a gilt-framedAndreotti oil and a Trentanove marble

bust of Guido Pfister, who inspired thehotel's founding. "When Guido likes whathe hears," Hollander observes, "he smiles."

Every cabaret performer suffers obnox-ious customers, drunks shouting up re-quests and the like,but Hollander claimsthat doesn't happen much. When it does,he says,"I just play for mysel£" He pre-fers to think of the lobby as more of a sa-lon than saloon.

"As far as I can tell," says Marcus Corp.Chairman Steve Marcus, whose familysaved and restored the Pfister, '1effhas noego, although all performers must." Mar-cus says he cherishes the hotel's relation-ship with Hollander and marvels, "He'snever negative."

Hollander loves playing piano. Evenon nights when he presides at the PfisterApollo grand from 5 p.m. to midnight, hepractices first on one of the three Steinwaygrands packed into his Pewaukee home.

His concert series at the museum is

staged amid the glass-and-white magnif-icence of the ship's bow of the Calatra-va addition. Concertgoers enjoy a sweep-ing view of Lake Michigan. Joggers, bikers,bladers and seagulls may swoop by;some-times in synch with the music.

For the popular/request part of theWindhover programs, bassist Mike Britzmoves in, adding depth and a beat withhis expert bowing and plucking. Per-haps Britz's toughest chore is not losing itwhen the pianist decides to throw him animprovised curve.

"Sometimes, I don't give Mike much

warning,"Hollander admits.Coming next to the Windhover: a pro-

gram tided "Spanish Eyes," on Oct. 16, in-cluding Gershwin's "Cuban Overture,"Albeniz's "Iberia" and more classics and re-

quests.That concert is dedicated to art-ist Martin Ramirez, featured in an MAMshow Oct. 6-Jan.13.

Nine more themed concerts follow;through July 8. At the MAM, Holland-er plays a Steinway grand that was rescuedfrom a trip to a dumpster by a former Mil-waukee piano technician. As with his ownthree Steinways and the Pfister Apollo,Hollander adores its touch and tone.

Playing the classics,Hollander sits erectin the conservatory manner. But when lostin classic pop and jazz, his posture relaxesinto a comfortable slump. Hollander mostcherishes the Great American Songbook'sgolden period, the 20th century's first hal£

"I'm not particularly interested in musicfrom the last 30 years,"he says."Those aw-ful voices, screaming at you."

Jeff's wife of nine years, Elaine Erick-son- Hollander, is "the light of my life,"he says.A DeForest, Wis., native, she hasbachelor's and master's degrees in voicefrom the University of Wisconsin- Mad-ison and has taught at Carroll College.Their wedding present to each other wasone of their Steinways.

Hollander has three children by hisfirst wife: Jill, 31, a teacher and singer inthe Milwaukee area;Jody,29, a CaliforniaEnglish teacher and poet; and Jamie, 27,like his father a University of Rochesterhigh honors graduate, now a Google stat-istician in California.

Hollander won't discuss his first mar-

riage, which lasted three decades, oth-er than to say "the divorce was unpleasantand unnecessary and not of my doing. ButI came out much the better for it."

Hollander is 68 now; but seems muchyounger. He lost 35 pounds over the lastsix months by following the Jenny Craigdiet, and there is no sign of his prodigiouspiano powers receding.

"Nothing stumps ~'says his formerUWM colleague Mary 'Pautz. She recallshim playing a concert in Florida, where acurious songbird chirped along near thepiano. Hollander paused, then began an-swering the visitor's song, trading four-barphrases with the guest in the jazz manner.

In 2005, during one of his visits to thePfister while in various capacities with theMilwaukee Admirals, Phil Whidiff asked

for a song made famous by the late Frenchboulevardier, Maurice Chevalier.

As it happens, Chevalier was already inHollander's consciousness that day becausehe had returned in the morning from hismother's funeral in Rochester. Chevalierwas her favorite entertainer.

Remarkably, Whidiff said he'd been inRochester the day before. Whidiffhadnever requested a Chevalier tune, but didso now because "my parents liked him."

Hollander was stunned.

"No one has requested Chevalier since,"Hollander recalls. ''I'm convinced it was a

message from my mother."It was eerie. But he answered the request

as always,with perfect musical timing. .

Longtime Milwaukee Journal and JournalSentinel critic andjazzfan Michael Drewhas written about music and broadcasting

for decades.