The Music of a Stranger: Pierre-Yves Plat at the Sunset in Paris

Talking to Strangers (About Music)

Discovering a fabulous musician you've never heard of at a club, alone in a foreign city is...well, it is an amazing, life-affirming highly connected experience, one I wholeheartedly recommend. Rolling through recordings on my phone, searching for a podcast for Day 4 of my 30-day lead-up to 50, I happened upon a performance I'd recorded at the Sunset Sunside Jazz Club in Paris back in May of 2017. I'd gone on vacation with my mom and sisters, but no one else felt like going out, so I headed out myself to the Sunset, which a friend had recommended. Sitting down in a Paris jazz club was, I have to admit, a pretty exciting thing in and of itself for a girl from Tucson, Arizona for whom Paris had long seemed a pipe dream. At the time I didn't even catch the name of the young man at the piano, but when he started playing, the sounds emanating out from under his fingers were totally arresting, so much so that I laughed out loud with delight (if you listen closely, you can hear it). His energy and humor and personality...wow. The experience of listening to a musician live, far too rare these pandemic days, is a kind of a communication that may even (dare I say) surpass talking. I know...my podcast is about TALKING to strangers, but over the last decade-plus, my many hours spent listening to musicians in clubs and bars and in the park, within sight, sometimes within touching distance, have been profoundly connected hours. This night in Paris is a stellar example. I left our rented apartment with no clue who I would meet, what affect they would have on me, and I returned hours later feeling completely inspired and energized. Music is a perfect way to "talk" to strangers, to connect, to seek out and try to understand what might be happening with another human being underneath the surface. Musical performances are public displays, certainly, but the connection we can have with musicians from a single random evening in their midst...profound. Thank you to Pierre-Yves Plat for talking in the way you do, with your fingers on keys, your whole being poured into offering up a beautiful musical message.