Page 14 - Aruba Today
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LOCALFriday 4 December 2015
Chicago Piano Man Steve Kouba Performing at The Sopranos!
--Chicago piano bar enter- the corner of Walton and Sports Bar and Dueling Pia- music and theater scenes. rodisiacs (70’s disco), the
tainer Steve Kouba is per- State, where he was set up nos, across from Wrigley He has appeared, writ- band took on a life of it’s
forming in Aruba through on a piano “so dilapidated Field. ten, and/or recorded with own, as did Steve’s char-
New Year’s Eve at The So- it barely passed for furni- Too big for the Lower 48 to many important Chicago acter within it, becoming
pranos Piano Bar, located ture,’ Steve recalls. ‘You contain, Kouba has taken artists including Michael true performance art and
in Arawak Gardens at J.E. had to work the sustain his act to many piano bars McDermott, Tony Rogers a permanent part of his
Irausquin 368. pedal via its plywood lever in the Caribbean. He has (The Good), and Mic One, swaggering oeuvre. Quan-
in the guts of the piano with played in St. Maarten, Bar- as well as having performed tum Leep played clubs, pri-
PALM BEACH - Steve is the your entire leg, accessed bados and is now playing with a diverse line-up of vate events and summer
type of wild-eyed creative through a hole kicked in return engagements on popular Chicago bands festivals, and headlined
archetype that this country the frame by some desper- the island of Aruba. He also including The Convulsions, Chicago’s House of Blues
used to breed in bunches. ate player before I came performs regular tours on Quantum Leep, Tripping Bil- five times, which may be
In today’s world of plastic along.” He was an ongo- Norwegian Cruise Lines as lies, Duke Street Kings and a record for an all-cover
heroes and paper tigers, ing attraction at the origi- part of a franchised Duel- many others. He also re- band.
Kouba looms large over a nal Underground Wonder ing Pianos act (Howl At the leases his own alternative With a 20 year history per-
creative body of work that Bar, where he held down Moon). Kouba performed rock singer/songwriter origi- forming behind a piano
reaches around the globe, the legendary Sunday and
blending tight modern rock Monday graveyard shifts on the maiden, transatlan- nal material at incredibly ir- and keyboard, Steve
style and sensibility with (1-4 AM) for years, perform- tic voyages of three con- regular intervals. His first solo Kouba has become one
the piano bar tradition. He ing radio rock on a grand secutive Norwegian cruise record was Consanguinu- of Chicago’s most recog-
owns the title ‘Jack Of All piano for Gold Coast noc- ship inaugurations: The ity, in 2000 and his most re- nizable entertainers. From
Trades (Master of None)’ turnals. The Wonder Bar was Epic, 2010 (Miami, Barce- cent effort was the Prodigal piano bars and intimate
and keeps it on full lock- where Kouba truly found lona), The Breakaway, 2013 Son EP, released in 2014. venues to rock stages, festi-
down, using the power of his magic and mode as a (New York City), and The Steve made his first ap- val crowds, cruise ships and
The Song, in all of its forms, player in the piano game. Getaway 2014 (Miami). All pearance on the Chicago Caribbean piano bars, he
to propel him forward in From there, he began play- three of these ships were theater scene when he navigates an ever-chang-
life. He tours. He records. ing all manner of clubs, ranked in the Top Ten of wrote the musical score ing world of creative enter-
He lives. He loves. He is The piano bars, and high-end The 14 Most Popular Cruise to Steven Dietz’s “Trust,” tainment on a journey that
Most Interesting Man at the steakhouses. Ships of ’14: by Cruise Critic. which ran at Chicago’s is taking him around the
Piano. He can still be seen at the Chicago music fans also Atheneum Theatre in 2000. planet and back again. He
Kouba has logged more Zebra Lounge - The Zebra, have seen Kouba plying his Then there’s Savory. For the is a solid performer with the
than 15 years as a piano an iconic club that holds trade in both the original uninitiated, Steve Kouba ability to make a crowd lis-
man in Chicago’s Gold the 3rd oldest liquor license is the proud owner of an ten and laugh in any ven-
Coast. His first downtown in the city, has been voted alter ego, one Savory La ue, public or private. He’s a
gig was at the old Jay’s, on Best Piano Bar in Chicago. Fontaine, a pompous, an- self-described ‘piano-man-
Steve even represented drogynous, and certainly bar-star-vagabond-fuck-
The Zebra on reality televi- delusional 80’s glam rock up-with-a -recording-habit’
sion on the truTV series Bar- star from the Chicago cov- who is continuing to speed
mageddon in 2015. In 2014, er band Quantum Leep, up and spread his word
Kouba became part owner perhaps the first and argu- with each unforgettable
of the new Zebra Lounge in ably the most loved 80’s show.
Memphis, TN, and the bar cover band in Chicago. He performs nightly, except
quickly became popular Created as an 80’s-era re- Saturdays, from 8 p.m. to 1
with lovers of brilliant live sponse to the famous Af- a.m.q
music and local service in-
dustry personnel. He’s per-
formed dueling pianos reg-
ularly over the last decade
at Sluggers World Class
