So how much fun is it playing piano duets? I've always loved duets and loved sharing them with my piano students and some of my composer friends, but Justin Levitt and David Glass take piano duets to a whole new level! Justin is the manager of the Steinway store in Walnut Creek, CA as well as an award-winning composer, and David Glass is a longtime piano teacher in the Bay Area and as well as a celebrated composer. Both are incredibly gifted and versatile pianists who met in 2009 and have been improvising duets ever since - from the streets of Walnut Creek to Bay Area concert halls; they even performed a concert in my living room in Florence, OR several years ago to a wildly enthusiastic audience!

Fortunately, friends recorded many of David and Justin's impromptu performances with phones and camcorders. During the Covid lockdown, David found himself reviewing these videos and he and Justin decided to create an album. In the meantime, they discovered a website that sells stock footage of images and videos and edited some of those into their own videos to often hilarious effect. Soon, "Bootleg - The Album" became "Bootleg - The Movie."

Quoting David: “creating Bootleg - The Movie during a pandemic was a catharsis for us. We didn’t make it for commercial reasons. It was a passion project. It helped us get through some difficult times and we’re both very proud of it. We’re hoping it puts a smile on everyone’s face.” I can't imagine that it won't! Quoting Justin: “I often referred to improvising with David like running downhill backwards, while blindfolded. I love how we would simply start playing and creating a world together in real time, inspiring one another from note to note. Looking back, I still can’t believe all of it was improv.” All of the videos are seamless, fun to watch, and often jaw-dropping. And yes, it's hard to believe it is all improvised!

Bootleg - The Movie will have its world premiere on October 1, 2022 at the Lafayette (CA) Library at 8:00 PM PDT. Also on that date, the movie will become available world-wide at Bootleg - The Movie. That site is live now and includes trailers, a timeline, a gallery and more! Treat yourself to some great music and be thoroughly entertained at the same time! These guys are amazing! VERY highly recommended!