NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

e lobby or, more likely, entranced by the cafeteri
a piano.
Then came that chance encounter.
In the spring of 2010, a freelance photographer na
med Brendan Bannon arrived to discuss an art proje
ct with nursing home administrators — and Mr. Dunl
op greeted him at the door. Mr. Bannon is balding,
so Mr. Dunlop assumed for some reason that he was
a doctor. “Hey doc!” he shouted. “Take my tempera
ture.”
A bond quickly developed, and before long Mr. Dunl
op invited his new friend to hear him play what he
referred to as “that thing they call a piano.” Mr
. Bannon, who knows his Mingus from his Monk, coul
d not believe the distinctive, vital music emanati
ng from a tapped-out piano missing a few keys.
“He was a beautiful player,” Mr. Bannon says. “He
was making it work even though it was out of tune.
”
Now for the cheesecake.
Sensing Mr. Dunlop’s growing frustration with the
damaged piano, two nursing managers, Pete Amodeo a
nd Sue Cercone, came up with an idea: a bake sale.
He made several Italian cheesecakes, she baked so
me cookies and other staff members helped out to r
aise more than $100 — enough to pay for a visit by
Vinny Tagliarino, a blind piano tuner.
The tuner healed the piano. “And that moved me,” M
r. Dunlop says, which means his white towel got a
good workout that day. “The notes by themselves —
they were sharp.”
The crisp sounds now rising from the cafeteria’s c
orner, that haunting take on “The Man I Love,” wer
e so distinctive that Mr. Bannon sent cellphone re