“I decided that whatever they might think of me I was probably the finest pianist they'd ever hear, so I was going to present myself as such... I put on my best long chiffon gown, fixed my make-up and hair just like I always did and went to work… Each song, which isn't the right way to describe what I was playing, lasted anywhere between thirty and ninety minutes. I just sat down, closed my eyes and drifted away on the music. On my first night, one song I played lasted for three hours without a break. The guys in the bar were used to pianists playing no more than half a dozen tunes in each set and usually repeating the same set over and over. When I played they never heard the same song twice in a night, and when I was really flying they didn't hear the same song once. I used no sheet music because it was all in my head. Between sets I sat on my own at the bar, drinking milk in my long chiffon gown. Nobody said a word to me all night."
