Thanks to a booking through Gigmasters.com, Bob Hill of Trautman Wasserman & Co.(www.trautmanwasserman.com) found me. The occasion was a poignant and memorable memorial for his mother Marcia Hill who had passed last month. The venue was the prestigious Yale Club of NYC at 50 Vanderbilt Ave.(www.yaleclubnyc.com) on Sun.,Jan.16th at 4PM. The 4th floor library was tastefully used for the gathering where over one hundred family and friends paid heartfelt tribute in words and lovely powerpoint presentations that illuminated this great woman married for 44 years to Bob Hill Sr.(a gregarious, full-of-life man who was a former Shakespearian actor). "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" from Gigi--the song that played while the couple met over 4 decades ago--played in the background over a presentation of 'all her girls' on the screen. "Try to Remember" and the Carpenters version of "I Just Fall In Love Again" tugged at us over another collection of family photos. Interspersed in the hour and 15 minute program, I played a Steinway upright and sang 3 songs--one I chose--"To Where You Are" from Josh Groban, and two John Denver songs selected by the Hill family(and the first artist MY parents introduced me to as a child)--"Annie's Song" and the tearjerker "For You"--which has become one of my new favorites. In a trip to the Yale Club the previous Thursday, I met Bob Hill there to see the venue and then we retired around the corner to an Irish bar and became fast friends. This made me feel right at home at the tribute for his mother, as I subsequently met many of his family and friends after the memorial at the 2nd floor bar at the Yale Club. Many were touched by my music--and I by their moving tribute to Marcia Hill. As the crowd dispersed by 8:30PM, I was gratified to know that it is singular events such as these that define what I do as a performer and make what I do so valuable. It is just not 'punching the clock' and getting to the next gig, but personal relationships where the music is a healing and celebratory force. I'm happy to be able to share this all with you.