I think of myself as being extremely fortunate to have Bernie Katzman and his family as friends, and Bernie, in particular, as my pianist. Bernie, now an adult, was a prodigy. By the time he was 4 1/2 years old he was playing Haydn. He went on to study at Juilliard and has a masters in improvisation.

Bernie is a musical genius. He has an amazing talent for improvisations. He is capable of taking a simple melody and improvising in any style...from Classical to Rag... from Jazz to Blues .... from country to modern. His fingers dance on the keyboard. His youtubes are totally fantastic. I especially enjoy this one:

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Bernie is a professional entertainer. He has the most wonderful rapport with his audience. He is capable of playing most songs on request.

 

What I see and hear is amazing. I am so privileged and honored that he plays, sings and records my music. The improvisations that he instantaneously does are beyond belief.

I have written songs for all age groups. Many are for children, and so the melodies are very simple. Bernie has turned them into improvisational masterpieces. For example, I wrote a song for early childhood about winter. Bernie did improvisations in the style of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin

Here is the Mozart improvisation.

It is important to note that Bernie has about 5 seconds preparation.
To hear the other winter improvisations, click here!

Click here for Beethoven

Click here for Bach

Click here for Chopin

I love Rag, and Bernie does rag improvisations which rival Scott Joplin. Here is one!

I wrote a simple melody about a monkey in the zoo. Just listen to his rag improvisation...

To hear more of Bernie's improvisations click here.

Bernie is an inspiration to everyone...even to adorable Shari!

(well, she isn't capable of Haydn, but she does love music!!!)