If you really want to know, my aesthetic divides pianists Elton John and Billy Joel. John is good — very accomplished music that may include moments of meaningfulness without meaning anything beyond whatever it takes to be pop. I know his song “Tiny Dancer” is about an anorexic groupie stuck on a slow tour bus, but all I care about is the record’s string arrangement. Meanwhile, Joel seems to mean what he sings, which is often a species of banality staggering in its pretension. Without a doubt, Nashville pianist and singer-songwriter Gabe Dixon is a student of John and Joel. Dixon hits all the undeveloped sides of my personality, which means I have to work to appreciate him singing, “You’re the one thing I did right” on “The One Thing,” a track from his 2016 album Turns to Gold. Still, “The One Thing,” like the album’s “Crave” and many other Dixon tunes, is good stuff, and he’s a great pianist — less showoffy than Joel and less clunky than John. Dixon seems nice, down to earth, sincere and a bit melancholy. What could be more likable than that? 8 p.m. at City Winery, 609 Lafayette St. EDD HURT
Gabe Dixon
