Public Transport Bus Travelers Find Themselves Swept Away By The People’s Piano At The Plaza

Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera and now, the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza.

Coming to you live from the second-floor rotunda: brave beginners, accomplished veterans and an occasional one-armed man.

In an eclectic, often impressive display of talent, STA presents: the people’s piano.

“This summer, it’s just gone crazy,” says Plaza coordinator Judy Young. “We have two to four people a day who play anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. There are some real surprises. Some kids you see hanging around, and you’d never expect that they play that well.”

Musicians schedule noontime performances in the rotunda. But the people’s piano draws business people on breaks, kids in dog collars and the occasional pure talent who draws people up the escalator to line the walls.

Beethoven’s Fifth between the Greenacres No. 9 and the Crosstown No. 15?

Not exactly.

“I’m going to start with ‘The Entertainer,’ followed by ‘New York, New York’ and a version of ‘This Little Light of Mine’ that’s quite different,” Jeff Dixon announces to an audience of four on a recent afternoon.

Applause roars. Actually, it’s the waterfall that just sounds like applause.

Dixon nonetheless presses on. The Cheney High School senior catches the No. 24 daily to play the people’s piano. His appearances have earned him up to $15 a day in tips and gigs at weddings and funerals.

“I undercut the competition completely pricewise,” he confides. Last Monday, he performed solo at The Met theater in downtown Spokane. Tuesday, he was back at the Plaza.

“It’s a blast,” says Dixon, 17. “A lot of people come through here.”

Seventeen children from the Valley Learning Center day care surrounded him one day last week. “We needed a place to eat lunch,” their teacher explains. But a few bars into a jazzy “This Little Light of Mine,” they were dancing. An hour later, Dixon was joined by singer Tom Styles, who sang gospel with his back to the room but still drew a crowd.

Architect Ron Tan gave STA the idea after seeing a popular public piano in Seattle. He envisioned a grand piano. STA chose a $3,243 upright with a finish that appears to repel pop-can rings. It looks like a piano anyone can tackle.

But it appeals even to the finest sensibilities.

Walking through the Plaza last weekend, KPBX music director Verne Windham was delighted to hear a “sweet” ‘70s pop song being played “somewhat haltingly but with affection.” He had spent the last six months researching and buying a grand piano for KPBX worth 10 times the STA model. But he appreciated the sound immediately.

“It was such a nice sense of someone sitting there taking care of themselves and anyone who walked through,” Windham said.

Another listener told STA’s Young: “That is the most incredible sound. I got so involved, I just missed my bus.”

Ah yes, the buses.

Dixon’s stirring “How Great Thou Art” was interrupted by the announcement, “The East Trent bus will be five to seven minutes late because of the train. … The East Trent bus will be five to seven …”

Muzak always seems to be playing in the background. And the staff recently has had to close the piano at 6 p.m. because kids were pounding away after the Bus Shop had closed and there wasn’t anybody around to supervise. Security guards also tend to step in quickly when dancers get too physical or when a performer does not move on.

Young says there really is only one rule:

“You have to play well enough to be able to entertain people.”

The businesses sharing the Plaza wish for less of the song “The Entertainer” and, please, no “Chopsticks,” but otherwise they seem to enjoy the parade.

Evelyn Maxfield rests her feet on a chair one afternoon, clearly enjoying the show. She says she always listens to the piano during the 10 minutes between leaving work in the Seafirst Building and catching the North Wall No. 4.

It also draws Elgie Booten (Greenacres No. 9).

“He’s an excellent pianist,” says the 50-year-old leather crafter, shaking Dixon’s hand. The two riders visit, sharing a fond memory of the driver on the No. 22 32nd Avenue feeder.

Then Booten’s bus comes. And she and the rest of Dixon’s audience depart.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos