Alex Payler and his Yamaha ELX1m
Alex Payler
September 6th 2008
Alex Payler
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A new talent for BKC. 27 year old Alex from Sittingbourne in Kent had been recommended to me by our very own Keith, I then went to listen to him at another club and immediately promised him a booking with us.
The concert, judging by the comments afterwards, was much enjoyed by the large audience. Not only that, instead of the EL900M we had the ELX1M, a snip at £32,000 and one of only three instruments outside Japan. And how nice to have the instrument set up at an angle on stage, allowing everybody to have a much better view of Alex.
A nice orchestral piece BACK TO THE FUTURE opened the concert before launching into the very expressive melody entitled GABRIELL'S OBOE from the film The Mission. Big Band music features large in Alex's life, he delighted us with SKYLINER with the piano and various trumpets getting a solo showing.
A red background plus a kaleidoscope of colours set the scene for the ONE NOTE SAMBA played to a Bossa rhythm. Equally a dark blue early morning "sky" signalled MORNING from the Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg. From Norway it was straight into the jungle with tweeting birds, roaring lions and all sorts of other animals bringing the CIRCLE OF LIFE from the Lion King to us, before nightfall hushed all those creatures. And from there back to the Forties with the unmistakle sounds of Glenn Miller with the ever popular MOONLIGHT SERENADE.
September brings the Prom season to an end, Alex delighted us with a uniquely British piece of music by Elgar: NIMROD. Next a dedication to all former secretaries, THE TYPEWRITER, a famous piece in which an actual typewriter is the solo "instrument", often used as a theme on radio. The Carpenters paid a visit with GOODBYE TO LOVE before Alex closed the first half with ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD.
The Dixieland rhythm created a lively backing for HELLO DOLLY & MAME following refreshments, before slowing things right down with CRY ME A RIVER played in a very laid back jazzy style. I must point out at this stage that Alex creates his own arrangement for every single piece of music he performs on stage - no mean feat!
A feast of film music followed, the theme tune from Startrek "THE NEXT GENERATION" was followed by the theme from E.T. who makes Elliott's bike fly to the forest seen against the backdrop of the moon.
Now take yourself back to the days of the Orient Express, lavish carriages lit by candles, hissing steam and whistles blowing, oh yes, THE CORONATION SCOTT was back in town. Commuter travel is not quite on the same score, is it?
No concert is complete without a march, so the TIN SOLDIERS came from Toytown. Featuring the wonderful guitar voices on the ELX1M, we listened to Alex's interpretation of Rodriguez' GUITAR CONCERTO. In case you were feeling cold, Keith "lit" a fire at the back of the stage, setting the scene for the flamenco dancer doing the FIREDANCE from the Riverdance show.
Some more Big Band music followed with Count Basie's SPLANKY. During the interval I asked Alex whether he would be playing BOLERO at all, one of my all time favorites, it was duly dedicated to me, it made my day.
There was tremendous and much deserved applause for Alex having given us a super concert, so there was no way that he was going to get away without the traditional Basildon encore, resulting in a "little" Bach finger exercise by Karl Amanual Bach SOLFEIGGIETTO.
We very much look forward to a return visit Alex.
CatharinaWhy 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.