What happens when you combine an awesome impromptu act, a public piano and some boogie-woogie? Well, you get Henri’s boogie, of course.
For those who don’t know, Henri John Pierre Herbert is a pretty great pianist.
The famous pianist has already hit over 50 million total views on YouTube and has become quite an internet sensation.
Because of his fast-growing popularity, he tours all over the world. Herbert is the piano man of his generation and always plays boogie-woogie for his audiences.
After becoming one of the most sought boogie-woogie piano players in the world, Henri was officially endorsed by Roland Pianos and Blackstar Amplification.
The piano phenomenon currently resides in Austin, Texas. Every Tuesday, he performs at C-Boy’s Heart And Soul on South Congress.
You can check his official webpage for more information on his latest works and the upcoming gigs.
What we love the most about this artist is how effortlessly he blends in the crowd, which makes the video ten times more unsuspecting and exciting.
This is one of those performances you could watch all day long.
When Henri decided to dazzle the crowd at London St. Pancras railway station, he approached the public piano that had “Play Me, I’m Yours” written on it.
Herbert took the message quite seriously, and what comes after is pure musical brilliance. His sound resembles the early Jerry Lee Lewis a bit. His performance shows off some insane skills and some extremely fast fingers—that’s Henri Herbert’s show in short.
If you liked the video, there is an HD quality version also available, but this is the originally uploaded one that got 27 million YouTube views.
The video was uploaded in 2013, and it hasn’t lost its relevance.
For those who don’t know, boogie-woogie is the only piano-specific style that had emerged from blues music.
It all began in Chicago during the 1920s, where this musical form developed into the sound which today we recognize as boogie-woogie.
Then in the ’40s and ’50s, it became an essential element of early rock and roll. Jimmy Yancey, Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson represent the genre.
We must say that Herbert achieved the sound, which shows that he’s done his homework when it comes to all the boogie-woogie music.
Pay attention to his left hand—now, that’s boogie-woogie! The man released his spirit through this performance. He completely gave in, and the results are outstanding.
After some reading, we found out that a lot of people thought the video was dubbed—that’s how good he is!
You must have some magical fingers for people to think your playing is somehow fake and impossible. When Henri touched that piano, it began to speak!
Though he’s gaining popularity online, it would be great to hear him perform at a concert or in a studio.
We noticed that the audience wasn’t very appreciative of the talent right in front of him.
The proper reaction would be to dance, move or smile at least!
You’ll see a lot of people holding papers with the name of the person they’re waiting for, and they show no emotion towards the incredible performance that’s going on. To that, we just have to say that we wish we could have been there!
Check out the full performance in the link below:
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