Concert review 21st May 2018 – Michael Wooldridge
Artiste’s instrument – Customised 3 tier bespoke Rolland Atelier with a Paramount Virtual pipe organ provided via his laptop.
Although not a large audience to greet Michael he did provide an evening of solid musical entertainment enjoyed by most. Amongst the music we heard were:- Get Happy, the wind beneath my wings, A medley of Wurlitzer theatre organ music, a medley of the UK’s ‘successful’ Eurovision wins. (We had just had the 2018 event on TV) followed by yet more medleys from Gershwin, Latin America, Jazz.
After the interval we returned to 76 Trombones, and more well filled medleys from Flanagan and Allen, a classical collection, Abba (to which many sang along too) a collection of Tommy Steele hits, concluding with a medley of Glen Miller Big band sounds. In all the music we listened to was an accomplished performance it could though have been better appreciated by a larger audience to help create atmosphere.
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, bokc.BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, Michael Wooldridge, mountnessing
Concert Review 26th March 2018 – Dirkjan Ranzijn
Dirk, as he suggested we call him, arrived… He had just made the journey from Holland to perform for us. His character like the instrument he brought with him was much larger than life. We had an evening of great entertainment with a wacky sense of humour made all the more amusing because of the constant distorted translation from Dutch to English.
Dirk brought the audience into his performance and encouraged participation. We were rocking in our seats and some even found themselves jumping out of them at times or waving arms in the air to make the letters YMCA. The music we heard was a very accomplished performance and with the requested encore ran slightly overtime. Many rose to their feet at the end of the performance.
Amongst the music we listened to were; Beautiful noise, Lugarno (A piece composed by Dirk whilst in Switzerland) Bizet Carmen, Standing by, Valerie, Spirit of Norway, Willie Nelsons, “On the road again”. A medley from Grease, A rock and roll selection, because we believe, A Latin American selection, the Snow Waltz, Tequila sunrise, that will be the day, YMCA, Tulips from Amsterdam. Bless Em All, Unforgettable, and A medley from Les Miserables.
The encore was itself a medley of many other pieces.
Dirk’s instrument was a Bohm Sinfonia 480
Posted in Newsletters Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, A concert – The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, Brentwood organ and keyboard, Dirkjan Ranzijn, Live music, mountnessing, Ranzijn
Concert Review 25th September 2017 – Alex Payler
25th September and summer was over, the evenings drawing in and maybe that was why the turnout for our concert by Alex Payler was so disappointingly low. We even delayed the start of the evening hoping for a few more attendees.
Alex provided a captivating performance of live music with varied genres. He performed on his very capable Yamaha. There surely ought to have been content to please all. The evening opened with a lively rendition of Palladio soon contrasted by the minuet from the L’arlesienne suite by Bizet. As the evening progressed we heard music from film, stage, TV and the classics. Perhaps the style of his music should described as orchestral rather than Hammond, how the listener appreciated what they listened to would depend on their preference of style but the performance itself was absorbing, rounded and accomplished. At the end of the evening Alex was applauded and an encore requested for which he played Brazil by Ary Barroso
Alex’s instrument was the YAMAHA Electone Stagea ELS-02C. As well as being the first pro-player to import this very special instrument into the UK, he is now one of the leading exponents of this particular model in the world.
Alex’s concert content
PART 1 [Approx. Running Time—1:00Hr]
PART 2 [Approx. Running Time—1:00Hr]
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, Alex Payler, BOKC, bokc.BOKC, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, mountnessing
27th February 2017, Another cold evening for a concert but we were treated to a comprehensive evening of great musical variety at the hands of John Cooper, hands which he was rubbing together to warm his fingers, two of the heaters in the hall were out of order. At least by the forthcoming March concert we should be moving into spring and perhaps warmer weather? John punctuated his music with a good sense of humour between pieces. As he started to play he slipped off his shoes to operate the pedals in his socks. He didn’t want to scratch the pedals… Whilst playing, John’s father maintained a projected video relevant to the music as an inset on the screened images of keyboard and pedals.
The evening opened with music in the stile of James last, the Elizabethan serenade, we heard music from Les Misérables, a variety from Disney, Hans Zimmer’s pirates of the Caribbean. Further pieces included, The Rose, Hero, Unforgettable, Bring him home, Conquest of Paradise, Palladio, and a very soulful rendition of ‘Morning in Cornwall’. Eventually the concert reached the end of the evening and John returned to play ‘Time to say goodbye’ as his encore.
The instrument John brought with him was a Yamaha Stagea ELS-02C. Apparently these are very rare in the UK perhaps only two models including John’s. It seems one can be purchased here for £25,000 or as John did, journey to Japan and bring your own back for about £6,000 or was it £8000? Well out of interest I checked and today you can buy one direct in Japan for 1,036,800 Japanese Yen or in good old GBP £7,862.96p
John’s Yamaha Stagea ELS-02C
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, concert, john cooper
