A lot of the textures in the arrangement are impossibly thick, and at big climaxes timpani strokes are poor substitutes for piano chords or octaves.
Byard occasionally substituted on piano in Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1974 when the leader was unwell.
Projecting an off-kilter blend of zaniness and pathos that suggests the unpredictable mood swings of a Renée Zellweger character, Ms. Brussell, accompanied on piano (Mark Nadler substituted for her regular musicians last Friday), is a quick-change artist who injects an element of surprise into everything she sings.
Led by the former Thelonious Monk drummer Riley and featuring the ingenious arrangements of the trumpeter Don Sickler, this tribute band with a twist substitutes guitar for the expected piano.
RMI pianos could also substitute for harpsichords, as could the Clavinet.
The first two pieces, performed with rich tone by the orchestra's violinist Yulia Ziskel and pianist Pedja Muzijevic (both recent Juilliard graduates), had the visceral intensity of the violin concerto, with the piano as an orchestra substitute.
Just last April, Louis Lortie substituted for Martha Argerich in Schumann's Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, then raced across Central Park to play a solo recital at the Metropolitan Museum.
So when can we expect a pianist to perform using a blank surface as a substitute for the 88 keys of a piano?
Though the Vox Continental organ was his primary instrument (his keyboard bass substituted for a bass guitar), he also used the piano, the harpsichord, and the tack piano to help give the band its distinctive sound.
The band -- Edsel Gomez on piano, Craig Handy on saxophones and flute, Christian McBride (substituting for Ira Coleman) on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums -- was no mere backup.
