But what most of us missed in that routine was that the piano was never played the same way, episode to episode. For over three decades, Rogers did the same routine with the same song (895 episodes in total) and every single time the piano playing was unique.
Rogers had enlisted world renowned jazz pianist Johnny Costa to serve as musical director of the show, and Costa performed the song live in studio while Rogers sang to it. Costa was an improvisational genius, and while Rogers wrote the music and lyrics for the songs on the show, including the theme song, he told Costa to arrange and add his own touches to each song. And that’s just what he did.
Costa worked alongside Rogers for 25 years, with his piano and jazz trio providing live musical accompaniment throughout each show. If you recall occasional musical interjections while Mr. Rogers was talking, that was Costa’s doing (until he passed away in 1996 and Michael Moricz took over his role), and most of it was improvised.
The connection between Rogers and Costa was almost magical.
“Music is rock bottom for Johnny and me, and we communicate on an intuitive substratum that would not be possible if we didn’t have a feel for music,” Rogers said. “It’s true that there are no cues. We have a rundown, of course, for the program, and he knows my teleprompter copy. But when I’m working with a craft or something, invariably he’ll come in and underline an important issue.”
