Bellevue's piano man still dazzling crowds young and old | Live music creates unique atmosphere in Daniel's Broiler-Bellevue lounge

The lounge inside Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue is brimming with stars.

In less than 24 hours, the Seattle Seahawks will open the NFL preseason against the Tennessee Titans and the visiting contingent has found its way to the Eastside.

But it isn’t one of several former players sporting golf-ball sized diamonds or even a Heisman Trophy winner in Eddie George that has the attention of the eclectic mix of young business professionals and sage veterans of the Bellevue nightlife.

It’s piano man Jim Washburn.

From 8 p.m. until closing time on Tuesday through Saturday nights, Washburn uniquely blends modern nightlife and the long forgotten ambiance of live musical accompaniment in eateries.With his diverse blend of memorized melodies by Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, or whatever else the crowd wants to hear, and a charismatic grin that brings even the most reserved singer from his or her shell to belt out a tune, Washburn is far more than the entertainment.

He is the draw.

“People that come to the lounge want just a little more of something happening,” Washburn said. “There’s a whole cadre of people that sing with me.”

As a child growing up in Yakima, Washburn’s musical inclination began at age eight with piano lessons from a teacher who appreciated the classics, but also had an ear for contemporary music that would stand the test of time, like The Beatles. After singing in the school choir and playing in garage bands with friends as a youngster, Washburn landed his first paid gig at a restaurant in town that was a favorite haunt of WWII era patrons.

“People thought it was so cute there was this young guy playing their songs,” Washburn said. “But I had to literally go outside on my breaks.”

At the time he was cutting his teeth on the entertainment scene, the prime job for a piano player in the area was at a large hotel with an open atrium near the main hub of town. When the position opened, Washburn had a chance to make sustainable money and find out if entertainment was the career he truly wanted.

The original plan was to again enroll at Central Washington University when school resumed in the fall, but with the money rolling in and his passion for music more fulfilled than ever, Washburn soon realized his path would not wind back through a classroom any time soon.

“It just kind of snowballed,” he said. “I was playing five nights per week, making almost as much as my dad.”

With the possibilities as an entertainer seemingly exhausted in his hometown, Washburn headed for Western Washington, landing in Bellevue in 1984 at a since-closed Italian restaurant called Bravo. A short time later, the foundation of a relationship that is now nearly three decades in the making was formed.

Less than a year after beginning at Bravo, Washburn moved to C.I. Shenanigans, a popular spot on Lake Bellevue where he played for the next four years while building the now-familiar cantor that defines his performances.

When local industry magnates Bill and John Schwartz decided to open a new restaurant near the top of downtown Bellevue’s Bank of America building in 1989, the piano man was still squarely in the framework of the American dining experience. But complications with the first hire left the position at Daniel’s Broiler vacant after only a few months. Luckily for Washburn, that wouldn’t last long.

“The other guy didn’t like the acoustics and wanted to be in Seattle,” Washburn said. “He basically shoehorned me in to audition for John Schwartz.”

After hearing Washburn play, Schwartz was persuaded enough to give him six weeks in the new restaurant.

25 years later, Washburn is the beating heart of the lounge inside Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue and the distinguishing factor in an increasingly crowded downtown scene. Lindsey Schwartz, a nephew of John who has worked with Washburn since he was hired, said his uncle’s vision of bringing fine dining to the Eastside and Bellevue has always been tied to their piano man.

“He’s a great musician, a great piano player and a great singer,” Schwartz said. “Jim has an ability to make that connection with the people where everybody in the room feels like Jim is playing specifically for them.”

But the most impressive part of Washburn’s act isn’t the piano tones that provide the track for an evening on the town, or his ability to cater to audiences young and old. It’s the fact he does it all from memory.

While the piano at Daniel’s is often crowded by drinks and appetizers from spectators, what never sits in front of Washburn is sheet music. Other than the occasional forgotten lyrics, which he now calls up on a smart phone, Washburn plays exclusively by ear.

“If I played a song wrong, you would know,” he offered as a point of reference for memorizing music. “They are all in our minds.”

With nearly three decades at Daniel’s and 45 years in the industry, Washburn said he sometimes hears the call of warm weather and coastal winds calling. But for the near future, he can’t see himself anywhere but behind the piano that has made him an Eastside icon and helped Daniel’s garner an ambiance found nowhere else on this side of Lake Washington.

“If I were looking out at four or five 70 year old people, I would know they couldn’t keep paying me,” Washburn said. “But young people are still coming and requesting things I know. I don’t want to be irrelevant and as a corporation they want to stay current.”

Jim Washburn can be found behind the piano in the lounge at Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue (21st floor, Bank of America Building, 10500 N.E. 8th St.) every Tuesday through Saturday night from 8 p.m. to closing time.