84-year-old's lifelong passion is playing piano
Piano Lesson
'I can't quit because I'm going to play until I learn,' Greko said with a chuckle. 'I'll be composing until I'm decomposing. I'm still vertical.'
Watching Greko play piano is almost as enjoyable as listening. He flashes a broad smile and his eyes light up whenever he sits in front of the keys to play classical, jazz or rock tunes. From Beethoven to the Beatles, name it and Greko is comfortable with it.
An observer can tell that, other than his wife of nearly 59 years, playing piano is Greko's greatest love.
'He plays every day,' Charlotte Greko said. 'It keeps him going and makes him happy.'
Despite arthritis that has ravaged his hands, Greko ' who turned 84 Wednesday ' keeps playing.
He's glad he didn't listen to his father and stay in the family plumbing business in Moline, Ill. His mother liked music and thought he should try it. She turned him over to her Aunt Jessie, a piano teacher.
Greko said he'd visit his great aunt every other Saturday. He remembers her as a taskmaster who didn't tolerate nonsense, even from a relative.
'I'd do things like put in or leave out a note when playing a song,' Greko said. 'She'd get angry and say 'That wasn't right, Keithy,' and whack me across the fingers with a yardstick.'
After studying piano for two years at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., it was off to World War II for Greko. He wanted to fly bombers, but bad eyesight grounded him.
The Grekos relocated to California in 1947. Two years later, Greko was strolling down the celebrated Walk of Fame in Hollywood when he ran into an old friend who told him that Frank Sinatra was playing in the area and his cousin, a pianist, was ill.
'I walked into the Hollywood Palladium and (Sinatra) said 'What are you doing here?' ' Greko said. 'I'm shaking and explain what I'd heard. He said 'I don't need a piano player, but let me hear what you can do.' I got through the introduction of 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and he said 'What are you doing tonight, kid?' I had that gig for five nights.'
The next gig for Greko, who recently recorded his 10th album, will be at 7:30 p.m. July 12 at Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N. Scottsdale Road. Admission to see the Keith Greko Trio and Keli Fleck Quintet is $12.50, $7 for senior citizens.
Greko, who moved to Scottsdale in 1958, has toured Europe. He was music director of the Phoenix Playboy Club for nine years and taught piano at some local high schools and later at Arizona State University.
'I'm trying to prove to myself that I can still perform,' Greko said. 'I'll do it until I go into the dirt.'
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