James Sargeant plays Tyros 2

James Sargeant

June 2^nd 2007

The May Bank Holiday the previous weekend had been a washout. So - would people stay at home on this sunny June evening and have a barbeque? No, you turned out in large numbers to listen to this fine musician. Great. James gave us a super start with TIJUANA, very lively, lots of brass, and whistles blowing galore accompanied by revolving multi coloured shapes created by Keith.

James carried on with his arrangement of Jerry Allen's arrangement of DEED I DO, re-creating the big band and organ sounds, for which Brian Rodwell was known. James commented on the relaxed atmosphere at the club, having plenty time to set up, talk to the team and enjoy a cuppa before his concert. Perhaps appropriately we next had WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD (with Mount Everest in the sunset in the background), END OF THE WORLD and I CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU, immediately followed by Burt Bacharach's I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN!!!

Rod Stewart then made an appearance with I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, this was played as a ballad with beautiful organ sounds set to a nice blueish/greenish background. Nice. Going into a moderate swing it was time for MAKING WHOOPIE. More organ sounds with SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW before heading straight into the TROLLEY SONG & flashing colours at the back of the stage.

For the next number James did not use the built in James Last registrations, but showed off the beautiful and rich string sounds on the Tyros 2 for I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO. Stevie Wonder said I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU, told us ISN'T SHE LOVELY? and admired THE SUNSHINE OF YOUR SMILE! Some Latin sounds next with MY MARIE, AMOR & MORE before concluding the first half with Frank Ifield's I REMEMBER YOU.

Now it was time for refreshments and the raffle ready to settle down again for the 2nd part of the concert which he began slowly and quietly with Bach's AIR ON A G STRING, followed by a bit of Rock'n'Roll with SYLVIA, playing us out with a few more bars of Bach. In James' words this was: AIR ON SYLVIA'S G STRING!!!

Time to calm down with a lovely rendition of MOONRIVER and PAL OF MY CRADLE DAYS, sadly not often heard these days. Petula Clark then went DOWNTOWN, swiftly followed by GEORGIE GIRL. Then some music by the Carpenters and a very lively JAVA from Vision On, James having somewhat tweaked the organ sounds on the Tyros. Great fun!

Staying with organ sounds, WITCHCRAFT, sung by Frank Sinatra before carrying on with I WANT TO SING FOREVER. Remember Shakatak and their hit INVITATIONS?, played in the style of the 90's. Some more music by the Carpenters RAINY DAYS ON MONDAYS (yes we remember May 28th…) and GOODBYE TO LOVE.

In his early music days James used to work for North Sea Ferries and often accompanied a singer on board, bringing back memories of Whitney Houston's SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU. Time really does fly when you are enjoying yourself with James closing his concert with a very lively SWEET GEORGIA BROWN and to shouts of "more" delighted us with an encore of MY WAY.

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.