No one can say that Jeff Gaynor isn’t a team player. On any given night of the week, he’s either backing up wunderkind Samantha Farrell in her band, the Love Society, or trading songs with Tom Bianchi and Hugh McGowan, among others, in the all-star mash-up Baker Thomas Band. Oh sure, the spotlight occasionally washes over Gaynor as he drops a honky-tonk piano solo here or throws in a vocal harmony there, but when he plays a solo show, it becomes clear why everybody wants this guy in their band.
Piano-key necktie swinging, Jeff Gaynor played eleven songs at the Lizard Lounge on Thursday night, ranging from the bouncy, anecdotal "Teddy Came In" to the soulful, gospel-tinged "Keep It Off" with some ragtime, blues, and boogie mixed in between. There is something unmistakably macabre about Gaynor; invariably, you find yourself musing, oh gee, I didn’t know Tim Burton wrote music. Eyes wild and hands perfectly arched, yet frantic, Gaynor commands the room with a Beetlejuice-like mystique that permeates even his more streamlined pieces (like the Meatloafy "Toothpick Foundation.") Tart-tongued and laced with observational humor, songs like "How’s That Workin’ Out For Ya?" and "Runner Band Boob Job" display Gaynor’s great aptitude for Ben Folds-style sarcasm, expertly straddling a razor-thin line between good-natured ribbing and embittered last-laughing. Gaynor is clever and spunky with lyrics that will appeal to people who were picked on in high school, people who take a principled stance against words like "bro," and people who mumble funny comments under their breath during a play instead of buying into the melodrama unfolding on stage. Bass-heavy and theatrical (Liberace’s rapidly undulating wrists come to mind), Gaynor’s arrangements sound so fleshed-out that it’s almost hard to believe he’s playing alone. His charming, oddball brew is steeped heavily in the eighties, with influences ranging from Billy Joel to Journey; in fact, his latest piece, "Wan’drin’," sounds like a distant cousin of "Faithfully" with melancholy piano and an emotive chorus ("Where do you go when you go wandering?").
Most left Jeff Gaynor’s show at the Lizard Lounge realizing that he is one hell of a piano player. While it’s impossible not to ooh and aah at Gaynor’s intricate jazz riffs and thunderous left-hand power, his versatility as a songwriter is truly the thing to admire here. It’s no wonder Jeff Gaynor is so comfortable juggling his time between bands that play vastly different styles of music–sticking to only one genre would just bore him.