Special Report: The Haas Piano

Posted: Feb 26, 2014 9:57 PM BRT, Updated: Feb 27, 2014 2:34 AM BRT
By Kevin Essebaggers, Anchor
Traverse City's Jeff Haas loves jazz, really he lives jazz.

Music marks everything in his life.

And now it's not just the music, but the instrument he plays it on, that means everything.

"I was sort of an awkward kid. I didn't have a lot of friends, I wasn't sociably comfortable. So I found haven on the piano bench. And it has served me well all my life," says Jeff Haas.

A musical life that began with the strict guidance of a famously musical father, Karl Haas, a German Holocaust survivor and immigrant with a passion to share.

"My mom and dad were so grateful to be alive and to be in America and to be contributors to their community.

"At a young age I watched my dad develop the cultural scene in Detroit. My mom and dad started the Chamber Music Society of Detroit back in 1944 at the DIA. My dad's radio show started in 1959 in Detroit. And he brought in musicians and international cultural personalities into Detroit on a regular basis," explains Jeff.
Northern Michigan's News Leader

Inducted into the radio hall of fame, millions know Karl Haas from his decades on the radio. He was one of the strongest voices on the great voice of the Great Lakes, WJR, with his daily classical music program "Adventures In Good Music" and it's unmistakable opening

"You know, one of the comments I get about my dad pretty regularly is people say they have never met him but he's been a friend for most of their life.

"He was a very focused man. He told me once that if he spent his entire life studying classical music he wouldn't get to everything he wanted to learn. You certainly can't fault a guy for having that kind of focus and dedication."

Dedication that lead to a national radio show in the 1970's. And as important as his father and his music was to WJR listeners, the Baldwin Concert Grand Piano Karl Haas played for many years sat languishing in a storage room in Detroit almost forgotten forever.

"It is a remarkable story, it is a story I couldn't have made up myself.  Jim Evola, when he was down at WJR promoting this 100th Anniversary Concert we were performing at the DIA, got a tour of the facility and spotted this piano in a storage room piled high with boxes on it and looking pretty rough… asked the folks at WJR what that piano was all about, and they said well that was Karl Haas' piano, he used it during his run here at WJR from 59 to 74. Jim said what are you going to do with that piano? And they said well we're looking for a home for it, it's in pretty rough shape. So he went back to his store and came up with a plan," says Jeff.
Read more: http://www.9and10news.com/story/24834401/special-report Northern Michigan's News Leader