Ryan Edwards has a chat to the audiance
Ryan Edwards
April 2nd 2005
Ryan Edwards Concert Pictures
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Ryan certainly looks at his program content for his concerts, starting the evening with the 'Light Cavalry Overture' by Soupe before a complete change of style with 'Nice Work If You Can Get It' set to a Dixieland Rhythm.
'Canto Geclatero' (hope the spelling is correct!) is not a new brand of icecream, but a piece of music sung by Andrea Bocelli when composed for a Football Championship! Recreating the Brass band sounds from Derbyshire, we had a funpiece by the name of 'Alpine Echoes'.
Organist George Fleury is a composer in his own right; 'CoComber' was a nifty finger exercise giving Keith the chance to enhance this rendition with some rhythmically created background shapes. The purely instrumental 'Jellico Ball' from the musical "Cats" was used for a dance routine and also incorporated some of the familiar music from this musical.
Taking us back to the days of Glenn Miller we heard two much loved tunes, namely 'At Last' & 'I Know Why'. Another well known composer is, of course, David Foster who wrote the music for the film "St. Elmo's Fire" and from this we heard the 'Love Theme'.
It is an absolute joy to watch Ryan's fingerwork; the 'Maple Leaf Rag' certainly falls into that category. This was played on both manuals of the organ, no rhythm, no pedals. Quite outstanding. The name Mike Bat might not mean anything to you, but the piece the "Wombles of Wimbledon" most certainly will. The score 'Contridenza' was especially composed for Vanessa May, a fabulous violinist.
Another lively number opened the second half, again set to a Dixieland rhythm; we had 'I Wanna Be Like You' from "Junglebook". The Carpenters music has certainly stood the test of time, featuring a beautiful Guitar solo we heard "Goodbye To Love". Another piece of music which does not often see the light of day, taking us back to the days of George Blackmore: 'Festival Day', followed by a lively rendition of 'Portsmouth'. Fans perhaps know 'Tattoo' from Mike Oldfield's album "Tubular Bells Two".
For the first time throughout the evening, Ryan actually produced a score (telling us he was not too happy about doing so) for his rendition of Johann Strauss' -'Die Fledermaus'. Somewhat slowing things down with a rumba & showing off the beautiful piano & flute voices for 'Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered' and the Harmonica for 'My Funny Valentine'. He followed this with Jimmy Dorsey's version of 'Skyliner'.
Fans of Ryan always hope that he will finish his concert with some very well known "Dance Music" for which you need to be very fit in the leg department! Watching the dancers from this show is just as exhausting as watching Ryan fingers on the keyboard! What am I talking about but "Gypsy" plus the theme from the fabulous danceshow 'The Lord Of The Dance'. This show has enjoyed huge success, and wondering what to do for an encore, part of the theme was simply repeated. Ryan followed the example.
We had a superb evening of highly entertaining music, which included some familiar pieces as well as some which we don't get to hear very often if at all.
Why not come along to a Basildon Keyboard Club Concert, you will be made very welcome, have a great evenings entertainment, a complimentary cup of tea or coffee with biscuits and of course experience the delights of live music played on top of the range electronic organs & keyboards by the best players.