SOMETHING WILD BLOOMS ON A DESERT PIANO
When one thinks of small desert towns, images come to mind like dive bars, a little grill stop for burgers, and maybe a trinket shop for passersby. What certainly doesn’t come to mind right off is an outstanding cabaret act in the lobby of a lovely hotel with a great restaurant. So outstanding, in fact, that, having only stumbled across it, I offer a recommendation for the locale, yes, but especially pianist Joey Ross.
Borrego Springs is about 65 miles due south of Palm Springs. For those who’ve never been there, this is not your Wile E. Coyote desert town. The town with a mere 4000 residents, boasts several galleries, a performing arts center, great food, and frequent cultural events, like an annual Art Walk. In the outskirts of the northeast end of town, you’ll find a comfy hotel venue known as The Palms at Indian Head with its highly-recommended Coyote Steakhouse. It was after dining at this excellent restaurant, where long-time waiter Ramon made us feel so welcome, that we discovered the real jewel of the desert: Joey Ross. We had only intended to pass through the lobby, but felt compelled to stop, sit, and then spend hours just mesmerized.
Saying that Joey is a piano bar singer would be like saying that Liberace was a pianist; accurate but grossly understated. Joey is a concert-level musician who plays numerous instruments — we just happen to be hearing him on piano. Most piano bar singers sing fairly constantly, whereas Joey focuses more on letting the piano be the star, and then suddenly bursting out with a verse or a chorus when it moves him to do so.
Much of the pleasure in Joey’s presentation is his delightful refusal to commit to any single genre as he moves, sometimes mid-song, from one style into another. Joey does mini-sets that last ten to twenty minutes, blending one piece into another so effortlessly that the listener might question if they were just hearing a bridge rather than a new piece. Surely — as he segued from Billy Joel to Rachmaninoff — that piece in the middle wasn’t the last two lines of “Happy Birthday to You”, was it? It was. Attendees were delighted trying to place the little gems connecting the dots between classics. Moving from Karen Carpenter to a ragtime number, there was something in between that I could not place; it also clearly challenged the fan across the piano from me who, during the next number, blurted out, “Got it! The Love Boat theme!”, yielding a small smile from Joey, who never missed a beat. Such is the nature of his work.
Watching Joey in action is part of the intrigue; at times it almost appears that Joey himself is a vehicle being used by a power behind him, manipulating him rather than him being in control. Perhaps his commitment and focus to making music is part of why the singing takes a back seat. Joey has a nice voice and quite a tenor range, but it’s really his magnificence at the keys that gets people passing through to pause and join. Joey won’t mind if you try to sing along, but be prepared: he could play the entire Beatles song that you know, or right in the middle, it might turn into “Great Balls of Fire” or a brilliant Rhapsody in Blue.
Joey comes from a very musical background. His grandfather, Franklin Jackson Ross, was Al Jolson’s drummer. In the 1970s, Joey’s parents formed a family musical act called “The Ross Family Singers”, featuring the two of them plus seven of their eight children, with Joey on oboe. After moving to Borrego in his mid-20s, Joey discovered several others who had wanted out of the city rat-race and formed the classical Kokopelli Piano Quartet with Julliard graduate Joan Reiter on piano, San Diego Symphony’s Eddie Pierno on viola, Robbie Evans on violin, and Joey himself on cello.
Admission is free; you needn’t dine at Coyote Steakhouse to enjoy Joey’s performance, though you might want to buy a glass of wine or cocktail at its bar to bring over by the piano and, of course, it’s customary to contribute a little something to the jar on the piano for all his efforts to entertain you, which he certainly will. Some nights, the lobby is packed and other times you could have Joey all to yourselves.
I realize that it’s unlikely that anyone will drive to Borrego Springs based on this review, but as the town is becoming an up-and-coming getaway spot, especially when the spring bloom hits, it’d be a shame if anyone going there missed the small jaunt over to The Palms to watch Joey make gold out of ivories.
So, how do you get to Borrego Springs? As far as Joey’s concerned, “Practice, practice, practice!”
photos by the author
Pianist Joey Ross
The Palms at Indian Head, 2220 Hoberg Rd in Borrego Springs, CA
plays Wed-Sun 6-9pm; open run
admission free; no tickets required
for more info, call 760.767.7788 or visit The Palms at Indian Head