At the end of her set at the new club, Twin Cities jazz singer Rachel Holder introduced her pianist and then the piano.
After a different performance there, club owner Mary Tjosvold grabbed the microphone and asked for a round of applause for the piano.
When he performed there, the piano's owner, Steven C, acted like the spokesman for the instrument.
"This piano likes to be listened to," he said perched at the shiny black Bösendorfer last week in the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge in Fridley.
The location is a mouthful. Just like the name of the made-in-Vienna piano. It's the Lamborghini of acoustic keyboards.
"Like a great sports car that performs at ridiculous speeds, you know the Bösendorfer is going to be there," said St. Paul recording artist Steven C (aka Steve Anderson). "It does nuances very well."
At 9 feet long, the Bösey dominates the Dunsmore Room like Shaquille O'Neal standing in a studio apartment.
And the sound of the piano fills the room. It's a warm, true sound.
"It has a mellow feel but it's also meaty," says Twin Cities piano bar queen Lori Dokken. "The room is big enough and small enough so the piano's heart can fill it."
When Anderson finished his instrumental piece "Blow Blow Thy Winter Wind" last week, he explained, "The weird creamy notes are the difference from other pianos."
The Dunsmore is different, too, from other music venues in the Twin Cities.
"It's a listening room," said Tjosvold, who opened the Dunsmore in late December after launching the 1950s-style Crooners a year earlier in a former supper club.
Be gentle with thy fork against the plate. Chew quietly. And if you dare engage in conversation, Tjosvold will politely tap you on the shoulder and shush you.
"The intent is to give attention and respect to the people onstage," Tjosvold said. "Our idea is to expose the music to many people. We have such a wealth of performers in Minnesota."
At the Dunsmore, there is no cover charge but there is a minimum required in food or drink purchase, usually $15 to $25. (Starting March 30, the room will switch to a ticketing system, with purchases available at brownpapertickets.com and 800-838-3006.)
It's more Minnesota comfort food than foodie fare. Walleye, rib-eye, chicken pot pie. Just like a classic supper club.
Said Dokken: "The food is good, the prices are medium."
But the Dunsmore isn't really about the food.
Lakeside ambience
It used to be known as the Lakeside Room because it offers a view of Moore Lake.
"I love the natural ambience, with the windows overlooking the lake," said Dunsmore-goer Lisa Dahlseid of Robbinsdale. "It's a lovely room, very serene. It's a place to unplug for both the artist and the audience."
Surrounded by windows on three sides, the Dunsmore has an A-frame ceiling and very soft lighting. It seats 80 at tables and booths with tablecloths. The room is named for Larry Dunsmore, a longtime British pianist on cruise ships and five-star hotels who married Tjosvold in 2013 and died in October 2015.
At first blush, it might seem like the Dunsmore Room is trying to become the suburban answer to the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis.
"The Dakota is iconic," said Dahlseid of the larger, 30-year-old club. "This room is more intimate and offers a better experience with guaranteed sightlines. In parts of the Dakota, the viewing is obstructed."
Dahlseid suggested that music lovers shouldn't be dissuaded because of Crooners' location. "When people think Fridley, they think Fridley?!" she said. "It's a rather central location. Just right up Central Avenue from downtown Minneapolis."
Tjosvold doesn't see her club competing with the Dakota.
"We're all in it together," she said of the live music business. "There's a place for the Dakota, and there's a place for us."
Local musicians say they're excited to have another venue like the Dunsmore/Crooners.
"It's something we need," said longtime Twin Cities vocalist Debbie Duncan. "I like the other room, too, where I can play with my combo."
The other room is Crooners Lounge, a larger space for 200 people with a long oval bar in the middle. The eclectic lineup features the likes of Mary Jane Alm, Willie Walker and Patty Peterson and their bands. Again, there is no cover charge. Crooners Lounge has happy-hour entertainment on weekdays and performances from 7 to 10:30 on weeknights and until 11:30 on weekends when the Dunsmore isn't open.
The Dunsmore usually features music two or three nights a week. Most acts are local but New York trumpeter John Raymond and Los Angeles pianist Geoffrey Keezer are booked for separate engagements this spring.
Summit Av. to Fridley
In 1996, Anderson, who was making nature-sound albums for Target kiosks, bought his Bösendorfer in New York City and had it shipped to his Summit Avenue mansion in St. Paul. His model, with 92 keys (four extra bass keys), ranks behind only the Austrian company's top of the line 9-foot-6 Grand Imperial, with its 97 keys. Bösendorfer has been the choice of many esteemed pianists, including Franz Liszt, Victor Borge and Oscar Peterson as well as current pop star Tori Amos.
Last year, after moving, Anderson decided his piano needed to be shared. He had been to Crooners and called Tjosvold one Sunday last December and announced: "I think my Bösey would be happy" at the club.
Said Tjosvold: "He said he was playing a concert at the Cathedral. I think it was on a Thursday. He said they would move it [to Crooners] on Friday morning."
With only 10 days' notice of the Bösey's arrival, Crooners built a parquet platform for the piano, and the Dunsmore was open for business the week after the piano landed in Fridley.
Anderson was a bit concerned about his Bösey being situated next to windows because the rule is an acoustic piano shouldn't be near an outside wall.
"If you have the right windows, you're fine. And they do," he said. "One time I was up there and it was 10-below and it was not cold at all by the piano."
Anderson does steal away to the Dunsmore on some mornings to practice on his beloved Bösey. It's still his, just on loan to Crooners.
Last week, his Dunsmore concert marked the 20th anniversary to the day that the Bösendorfer arrived in Minnesota.
"It felt good. We have a kinship," Anderson said. "It felt more dynamic to me."
How did the piano feel about it?
"Bösey can't wait for people to listen to it," Anderson said.
Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719
