May 22nd, 2019 by Steve

Concert review 20th May 2019 Mathew Bason

Mathew’s concert immediately followed our 2019 AGM and that alone was probably enough to subdue us all. The second half of the evening with Mathew on the stage with his Weiltmeister in hand brought the evening to life. His piano accordion (Weiltmeister) playing added to his already established high level of performance on his Roland 350C Dual Keyboard (and pedals plus separate Yamaha P-105). Mathew also gave us a moving sung rendition of “Bring Him home” accompanied by his Ipad!!

Mathew is not a stranger to us and his name is synonymous with that of an accomplished entertainer, in that he did not disappoint.

Amongst Mathew’s music we heard:- Make ‘em’ laugh, in love for the first time, Perfect – Ed Sheeran,  A medley to the world of dance and Bigband, A feline collection, (as Mathew called) including the aristocats, A well sung by Mathew, rendition of; ‘Bring him home’. A selection of Viennese music, blue bell polka (On the Weiltmeister), Samba de Orfeu from Black Orpheus, Grieg – Norwegian Dance no. 2. March militaire, All of me – John Legend, A country and Weston medley, Rhinestone Cowboy, Ring of fire.

Called for an encore Mathew Played the Radetzky March – an all time favourite at the proms!

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February 28th, 2019 by Steve

Concert Review 25th February 2019 Paul Carman

 

 

Paul Carman – A concert performance that didn’t disappoint.  At the start of the evening, as visitors came through the door, conversations were about how entertaining a recent Paul Carman concert had been. It was soon apparent the performance would be well attended.

Paul proved to be most entertaining. We expect our attending artists to be accomplished musicians, and they are, but Paul also brought with him a great sense of humour worthy of any stand-up comedian. When he wasn’t playing his music or making us laugh he was singing to us. Most should agree Paul gave us good entertainment to remember.

Paul’s instrument.

Korg Pa4X, In split mode with pedalboard –

Proving that a modern keyboard can successfully replace a two manual organ.

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November 28th, 2018 by Steve

Concert Review – 26th November 2018 – Steve Allison

Sadly due to the untimely passing of Chiho Sunamoto the club was at a loss for an artiste to perform at our concert of the 26th November until Steve Allison revealed that he was available for the evening.

Steve gave us a night of music that was distinctly his own. Very much he seemed to favour ‘marches’ and if you were a lover of this style then it would have been your night. There was though variety but each segment of the evening contained music that Steve had no doubt deliberately grouped, due to perhaps, being able to maintain a tempo or backing. However the evening contained music that at some point would have appealed to all. Without him we would have been turning all away at the door. So a big thank you to Steve for entertaining us for the evening.

Some of the music we heard included.

A medley to commemorate WW1 The songs of the troops. ‘If’, A quick step medley in the style of the tower ballroom. One moment in time, A selection of ‘Spanish holiday music’ Angel in blue,. Misty, Unforgettable, Games lovers play. Barbaretta  march, (Bridge to far) A selection of waltz’s, A samba, Oh my beloved father, Theme from the battle of Britain, aces high, Every thing I do, Solitaire.

Steve was recalled to provide an encore for which he produced a medley music in an ‘Um- Pah’ style.

All in all . Our thanks to Steve who rescued the evening.

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November 13th, 2018 by Steve

Tragic news….

Tuesday 13th November

Chiho Sunamoto

Sadly we learn of the untimely passing of Chiho Sunamoto after an inspirational personal fight with a long term illness. Many amongst her audiences will have been oblivious to her poor health as despite those health issues she continued to provide first class keyboard performances along with her husband John.

Chiho would have been our artist for 26th Nov 2018 and as a club we will hold her in thought at that evening’s concert.

Our condolences and expression of sympathy go out to her husband John and all her family facing this tragedy together.

 

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August 22nd, 2018 by Steve

Concert Review 20th August 2018 – Mike Hall

 

It was the last concert of the summer for the year and we welcomed Mike Hall who opened the evening with a Jungle Book medley. We had to agree it was some years since he had played for us, a fact that he didn’t fail to point out. Mike is an advocate of the Orla range of Instruments and with him he brought two, the GT8000 and a smaller portable keyboard the KX10. During the evening he made a point of talking about these instruments and their abilities. No doubt instruments enthusiasts appreciated the detail. His music, as we would expect included variety of style and form, this of course means you cannot please all the people all of the time. Overall it was a good evening’s entertainment. We listened to the music he produced and when Mike offered to play whichever instrument, we the audience preferred, it was obvious most of us were quite surprised by what we were hearing from the smaller portable KX10, an impressive instrument, It was called for time and again. At least two members of the audience have since gone looking for one themselves.

Some of Mike’s music included.  A jungle book medley, Take a chance on love, A big Band Gershwin Medley, a ‘Pipe’ organ medley, Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree’ ‘Eye level’ from Van der  Valk, ‘Thinking about the things we used to do’, Smokey and the bandit – eastbound and down, The Candy man, The Kyle of lochalsh, Psalm 23, Dream – Johnny Mercer,  Mack & Mabel – I won’t send roses, 76 Trombones in the hit parade, A rock and role medley, The Odd couple.

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July 26th, 2018 by Steve

Concert review 23rd July 2018 Brett Wales

The long hot dry summer of 2018 continued, Brett Wales our musician for the evening was greeted on stage by an audience of 36 Members and 15 guests. Brett who travelled down from Nottingham introduced himself and with a laugh and a joke set about producing an evening of music worthy of a much larger audience. The performance was full, lively and encompassed many styles. Performers like to turn themselves out attired to impress. Brett played the first half of the concert wearing a dark shirt light jacket and with his hair swept and tied back, he immerged after the interval to whistles cheers and other applause. There was Brett in a flamboyant move suit and a crimson tie, quite a surprise.  After the performance ended Brett was of course recalled for an encore itself a medley all received to great applause. Brett’s instrument – a Wersi sonic. Some of the evening’s music -Gladiator, On a street where I live, when your smiling, How can you mend a broken heart (BG’s), Blanket on the ground, Intermezzo (Cavalier Rusticana), Day by Day, A Helios organ tribute, ABBA medley, I left my heart in San Francisco, Pirates of the Caribbean (Zimmer), the lady and the tramp. Interval This old house, River dance Ballet, ToTo Africa, Bohemian rhapsody (Queen), In a Persian Market (Albert Ketelbly), William Tell (Rossini), Fulsome Prison Blues (Johnny Cash), Sound of silence (Simon and Garfunkel), I can’t help falling in love with you, One moment in time (Whitney Houston), Equinox (Jean-Michel-Jarre) He’ll be coming round the mountain,  Encore – A medley!

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