Concert review 24th June 2019 Kevin Grunill
Kevin arrived with what some were heard to have described as; an elderly Technics FN3. The instrument setup on the stage had no trailing wires or additional speakers. Despite its perceived age the instrument appeared neat and traditional. Once Kevin was playing it was obvious it could fill the hall with sound. The FN3 was coupled to his PC and he used the Hauptwerk Paramount 450 Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ to give Blackpool sounds. We heard a good evening of musical variety interspersed with not a little humour. Kevin’s style of play is distinctly his own and all music is concluded to a slowing crescendo, a little unusual for a romantic melody. An enjoyable evening concluded with an encore comprising an appreciated medley from Les Miserables.
Amongst music played by Kevin;
Make em laugh, That’s entertainment, Make the world a little younger, the city of my dreams, red rose café, Misty, I’m in the mood for love, The pie in the face polka (Mancini), the wind beneath my feet (Bet Midler), The lady is a tramp, Dancing cheek to cheek, A medley of music from stage and screen, Somewhere over the rainbow, Doe Ray Me (Sound of music), Phantom of the opera,
After the interval
March of the high school cadets, Neil Sedaker – The hungry years, An ‘American collection’, Mac the knife, A big Band medley, Harry Warren’s – This Heart of mine, in both celebration and commemoration of ‘D’ Day, Aces high, Anchors away, The great little army – Marches. Further medleys in the Blackpool style and that of the theatre organ. The evening concluded with a selection of waltzes but of course Kevin returned for his encore of Les Miserables.
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, concert, kevin grunill, Live music, steve morl
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!
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, concert, Live music, Mathew Bason, mountnessing, steve morl
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.
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert – The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, concert, Live music, Paul Carman, steve morl
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.
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert – The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, concert, Live music, mountnessing, Steve Allison
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.
Posted in News Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Brentwood Organ Keyboard club, Chiho, Chiho Sunamoto, Chiho Sunamoto died, Chiho Sunamoto dies, concert, mountnessing, Sunamoto
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.
Posted in Concert Review Tagged with: A concert - The Organist Entertains, bokc.BOKC, brentwood, brentwood organ, Live music, Mike Hall, mountnessing
