David Thomas
Tanya Lee and
Colin Wyat

December 3^rd 2004

Having last played for us in August 2002, a visit by David Thomas was long overdue! It was with great pleasure that we welcomed him, Tanya Lee and Colin Wyat to play and sing at our Christmas Show.

David plays the Atelier AT80S organ and opened his program with A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening showing off the lovely piano, flute & organ sounds, before carrying on with the seasonal Sleighride by LeRoy Anderson.

A very pretty tune followed, not known to many I daresay, The Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills. Set against a blue backdrop Frosty The Snowman who tried not to melt with all those warm brass band sounds.

Once again extremely popular, a hit for Sarah Vaughan & Billy Eckstein Passing Strangers sung beautifully by both Tanya & Colin, who incidentally, are both members of local Operatic Dramatic Societies.

James Galway had huge success with Tambourine; once again with Christmas in mind we had a beautiful rendition of The First Nowell, with the violin, harpsichord & the piano playing, a choir singing and bells in the background, Magic.

A solo appearance for Tanya with The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face & Make Your Own Kind Of Music which was a hit for the Mammas & Pappas. An orange coloured background set the scene for Pachabels Canon In D, before we heard Primero, a Latin number.

Colin then sang Bring Him Home from the musical Les Miserables, with the icicle lights flashing at the back of the stage. A complete contrast with Apache and J.S. Bach's & Gounod's Ave Maria rolled into one. To take us up to the teabreak The Black & White Rag.

Fully refreshed by the traditional Basildon Christmas Fare of a Sausage Roll, Mince Pie & a Mini Swiss Roll followed by the raffle, it was time to work off the calories with a lively rendition of the Radetsky March.

Tanya then sang A Perfect Year by Dina Carol, lovely opening lyrics Bring In The Old, Bring In The New! Then it was time to Face The Music And Dance before David carried on with the Christmas Song and Silent Night, set to a more modern style to what we are normally used to.

The next piece of music was originally recorded by Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald, sung beautifully by Tanya & Colin Silver Bells. David then played us a medley of seasonal tunes, set to Rock'n'Roll style, before slowing things down with Meditation by Thais. Jingle Bells & Ding Dong Merrily On High followed, before we heard Raise Me Up by Russell Watson and the ever popular Winter Wonderland.

The very young Aled Jones made Walking In The Air from The Snowman a household hit, a tune popular to this day. Colin then gave us a lovely rendition of Let It Snow before David played us What Child Is This played to a setting of Greensleeves.

The Basildon Team sincerely hope that you will Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Well, they say that time flies when you are enjoying yourselves, which our good sized audience certainly did.

To finish off an evening of superb entertainment, David playing to a very high standard and hearing the beautiful voices of both Tanya & Colin, the concert was brought to a close with Music (Is My First Love), played by David who accompanied his friends who sang this tune. With Keith being unable to be with us, it was David's task to dig deep into his sack and produce three Christmas hats. Duly worn by himself and Tanya & Colin, to finish off with the encore in style. What other tune but the one we all associate with this time of year and most of us hoping it won't happen: I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas.

We do try and put on something different each December, we were rewarded with a spectacular concert/show.

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.