Tomas Kaco – Song of Grace

A very popular social question in gatherings and party circles is “What was your favorite concert?” Everyone has a favorite. Most often it’s the big venues, the big names. And why not, they are spectacular. But that is not true for me.

You are probably thinking about your favorite right now. Good. You never know when someone is going to ask you. It’s best to have it on the ready.

Sure, I have seen more than my share of fantastic shows with my wife Carrie. We have seen Paul McCartney, we have seen Ringo Starr and his All-Star band twice. We’ve seen Tony Bennett on his 85th birthday. We’ve seen rocking bands like Van Halen, bands from the 80’s and 90’s like The Cure and Aztec Camera. We saw the amazing Neil Young, Carol King with James Taylor, fantastic! We even saw Peter Gabriel, which was a personal favorite for me. But there is one moment in the theater audience that outshines all of these.

Most likely you won’t know his name and that’s okay. But let me tell you why this has a place in my heart. There was a man in our village, Arlington Heights, who was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia. He arrived in the United States as a young child with his parents. His father made a very good living in the legal business and George inherited the family business when he was of age. He met and married Beth who incidentally was childhood friends with Hillary Clinton. They raised a family and kept the legal business in Arlington Heights strong and prospering. In 2016 when Hillary was running for president, George toured the country with her in hopes of getting an ambassadorship to Czechoslovakia. This would have been his life achievement I believe. But none of that happened as we all know by now.

His home is filled like a museum, ceilings 30 feet high, with famous artwork from his motherland. He loved to walk us through his huge seventh floor double condominium and show the art and his library of famous literature. I played his piano several times over the years. It is 150 years old and so large that He had to hire a crane to lift it up the seven flights and into his living room. This is George. He loves his life and gives to everyone often. But his most favorite charitable pastime is to visit his country and seek out young musical talent and bring them to the United States in hopes of jump-starting their careers. Like I said, we lived in Arlington Heights and guess what? We have an amazing theater right in town. Shows on their way to Chicago and then Broadway run right through our little village.

Often George would announce a new found talent and invite all his friends out for the performance, sometimes paying for everyone. Carrie and I never missed an opportunity to see these performances. Most people he brought in were simply musical prodigies and geniuses. Enter Tomas Kaco…

The theater is a cozy village theater with 350 seats, not a bad one in the house. Carrie and I have seen countless Broadway-bound productions there. We lived in the condo building across the street on the fifth floor. For fun, we would leave the theater at intermission and run across the street to use our own bathroom and have a glass of wine on the balcony. When the smokers started stamping out their used cigarettes and headed back in, we would leave and come back to the theater. It was a sensational way to enjoy theater and an evening out.

Enter Tomas Kaco…

When I plan to attend a piano recital I am often asked where I would prefer to sit. I have two answers. It’s nice to be able to see the hands of a prodigy doing the work that I have always admired. However, sometimes, I just want to see their face. The expressions that appear on their face tells a lifetime of emotion that matches the beautiful music they are producing. For Tomas, I suggested watching his face.

From the beginning I was blown away with his technical abilities. I suspected the concert might have some improvisation in it, little did I know, it would almost all be improv. My mind fought to stay up with his interpretations of music. He seemed to be able to get better and better as he played. His mind simply willed it and his fingers would produce. I was captivated, hanging on to each brief note only to find another. It was ecstasy.

He paused for a moment to let the audience catch their breath and applaud away.

The next and final song was “Song of Grace.” He began.

Again, I fought to keep up with him. This song was truly beautiful with interpretations exploding from every corner. Mid song I found a deep slow moving theme developing. It was almost non-existent except for the beat that grew in power by each moment. Before I knew it he was in the center of the piano keys riding the music like a California surfer. I couldn’t tell if he was going left or right, forward or backwards. I held my breath.

I felt like I was staring at Beethoven.

Then with a sudden surprise he went both ways. His right hand found a whole new set of melody ideas while his left hand raced to the bottom octave and found new forms of rhythm. I couldn’t believe my ears. He intensified his performance by playing faster and louder. A long crescendo that had started a bit earlier was finally coming to fruition. He leaned to his right watching what his hands were doing. He raised both of them at the same time quite high in the air, long enough to cause him to pause and consider if he had, in fact, finished the piece. I was in the front row and gasped, “YES!!! YES!!!!!”.

He looked up and at me, and I looked back at him. The theater was completely quiet. It was a moment in time frozen. I will never forget it.

I can’t think of a better definition of music then that.

To listen to him click here.

#tomaskaco

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