Jack Normand was a friend of mine.  I met him when I was a senior in high school and he influenced my entire music career, such as it was.  Jack was the “music man” at the Grand Hotel (when it really was a grand hotel), where he and his band performed in the dining room and lounge for upwards of 40 years.

Jack and the band were popular in New Orleans when they were contracted to play at the opening of the Grand Hotel in Point Clear in 1941.  They stayed for six weeks but missed the excitement of the “Big Easy”.  They ended up playing back and forth between the two locations for the next ten years.  Finally, Jack and his family moved to Fairhope in ’51, and the rest is history.

Sitting in the living room of his home one night, “jamming” with him and his kids (all musicians), he told me, “Dave, you can play the heck out of that accordion (I was playing an electronic accordion at the time)…. but if you want to make any money in the music business, you must play piano”.  That was good enough for me – I immediately crossed over the dark line into piano lounges and weddings and nightclubs.  No Zydeco bands for me!

Years later, when I’d go back to the hotel for a visit, Jack was always interested in what I was doing and where I was playing.  He’d even let me sit in for a number or two, which thrilled me to no end. I loved the guy.  He had a grace and dignity about him that is rare in a human being.  And the man could play a piano like nobody’s business.

Jack died in 1990, and they say his ghost still haunts the Grand Hotel.  He ended every evening with this song – “Stars Fell on Alabama” (this is my arrangement, Jack played it much better).  They say when it’s late night, and the wind is just right, and you listen very carefully – you can hear Jack playing this melody from somewhere far away….. oh, I hope so.