Just completed the last of a series of all-day/night rehearsals with Glen Burtnik and Friends for the “Jersey Summer Beatles Bash III” this Saturday at The State Theatre in New Brunswick.  Finally got to hear what it’s going to sound like playing the Beatles’ Abbey Road album with the band plus the string- and brass sections.  Inspiring!  Every musician on this gig has really done their homework, exploring all the nuances and subtleties throughout the album.  I mentioned before that I get the rare opportunity to play a rock show with a concert grand piano and majestic Hammond B-3 organ.  Well, there are also few spots on Abbey Road (specifically “Octopus’s Garden” and “You Never Give Me Your Money”) where Sir Paul played an upright “tack” piano (aka honky tonk piano).  Inspired by the thoroughness of my fellow musicians, and also by an interview I recently did with Imogen Heap for Keyboard Magazine (more on this next week), I went on a little quest to find samples of this fabled piano.  Sure enough, I found the website of UK producer Steve Levine, who offered sample recordings of EVERY NOTE of the very piano which still lives at Abbey Road studios.  SCORE!  I loaded the sounds into my Nord Electro 3 (oh yes, we geek out here at tombrislin.com), and I can’t stop playing it!  Maybe I’ll post some audio samples next week.  Now if only I had a Moog Modular system…