Chris Stanbury and his Yamaha Stagea
Chris Stanbury
April 1st 2006
It was a great pleasure to welcome back Chris and parents Lyn & Colin. At the recent Lyme Bay Festival he was the first artist to receive a standing ovation, so we knew we were in for a treat.
Chris has progressed from the Yamaha EL900 to the 'Stagea', especially imported from Hongkong.
His program opened with two lively marches by John Philip Sousa: the Washington Post (1889) & The Stars & Stripes Forever (1897), before continuing with a lovely ballad - If. Andrea Bocelli's recording of Time To Say Goodbye has been a huge hit; Chris set this to the Bolero rhythm with some very rich orchestral sounds.
He carried on with a very lively Rock'n'Roll medley, enhanced by revolving shapes in the background.
Meditation from the opera Thais by Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet followed, for which Chris used the solo violin enhanced by the harp in his left hand. Showing off the drawrar sounds on the Stagea, Amor had us tapping our feet in samba time.
The TV series and the lovely score of As Time Goes By have both been a huge success; Chris using trumpet and strings sounds for this, aptly set to a red background by Keith. Chris has a great love of jazz and Big Band Music as he showed us with a medley of Glenn Miller songs, i.e. Moonlight Serenade - Little Brown Jug & In The Mood.
The jazz legend Jimmy Smith was a great exponent of the Hammond Organ, hence a great rendition of The Crazy Island Swing. The audience had enjoyed a great first half, which concluded with a stupendous rendition of Rhapsody in Blue, composed in 1924 by George Gershwin.
Another march, Out of the Blue In Blue by Hubert Bach was used at one time used as the main theme for BBC sports reports and opened the 2nd half of our concert, before Chris played us On A Clear You Can See Forever, played as a Bossa Nova. Food Glorious Food - Where Is Love? - Consider Yourself - I'd Do Anything - Pick A Pocket Or Two & As Long As He Needs Me are all much loved tunes from Lionel Bart's musical Oliver.
With spring at last in the offing, we heard the theme music, entitled Panic!!!! from the BBC Gardening series "Groundforce". Chris sat through the whole series of DVD's to score the music. He's now an experienced musician and gardener!
Brian Fay's At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal next got a look in. The Bohemian Rhapsody by the popgroup Queen was performed at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, giving chris the idea of playing an orchestral version.
Time to calm down with a gentle rumba Amapola and the Carpenter's I Need To Be In Love. The Ted Heath Big Band is a household name with Chris playing us three numbers from their December 2000 farewell concert at the Royal Festival Hall: Listen To My Music - the 1956 Top Ten Hit Hot Toddy and last but not least East Of The Sun.
Basildon tradition demands an encore, and although we had no flags there was plenty of audience participation for Land Of Hope & Glory or to give it its full title Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in D Major.
Thank you for a fantastic concert Chris. Only 25, he has already obtained his Batchelor of Music degree, gaining Honours, also has his Masters degree and gained his Fellowship Diploma (FLCM) in June 2001. He has a nice stage presence and is at home with any style of music, all played with great expression.
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.