It's MUCH better, IMO, to be behind a good front talent than fronting on keyboards these days...
A great singer, a horn player, even a guitarist
The trouble with fronting on keyboard now is that, unless you limit yourself to exclusively keyboard sounds (piano, organ, maybe some analog synth), there is SUCH a disconnect with the audience... They are watching a keyboard player, but hearing a sax, or watching a keyboard player, but hearing a string section, whatever. There just isn't that direct connection between the visual and the sound.
When I play the trombone, I get MUCH better audience connection, because they see me playing what they are hearing! The better you emulate real instruments, actually, the worse it kind of gets... at least a BAD sax solo would never be attributed to a real sax (or at least the guys I work with
)!
But when you are backing, the sky's the limit. It's all in service of the front person, and what you do is far more appropriate, IMO... Strings, horns, drums, bass, whatever. As long as your hands are busy (BOTH hands!
) the audience can at least see it is YOU playing the meat of what they hear, and they are still focussed on the front act, it's a thing of joy
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