James Sargeant
James Sargeant
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James Sargeant
February 7th 2009
Our very own Peter Harbott eased us into the evening on his Tyros2 entertaining us with some delightful music whilst the audience strolled in, and how many of you turned out on this very cold February evening. Thanks.
The curtains on the stage had been pulled in to give a cosy surround for James on stage with his Tyros 3. James is a long standing friend of our great club, opening his concert with a gentle ballad using the oboe & strings for As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard and from there straight into a Latin Henri Mancini number It Had Better Be Tonight.
Next a piece Penned by Johnny Mercer and a world hit for Frank Sinatra All The Way, showing off the gorgeous Breathy Sax on the T3 before going into some Shearing sounds.
With February the month for all things lovey dovey, we had plenty of love songs included in James' program. He delighted us with one of my favourites Try A Little Tenderness and Love Is The Sweetest Thing.
Remember the Bee Gees and How Deep Is Your Love? This was closely followed by Where Is The Love and the Beatles hit Here, There & Everywhere all accompanied by a myriad of shapes courtesy of Keith and his lights.
James is well known for his love of swing and jazz, we don't hear this 1983 Count Basie recording too often - Shiny Stockings - oh la la. Nice gentle piano sounds and some strings set the scene for You Don't Bring Me Flowers Any More, before a slow rumba rhythm accompanied Besame Mucho showing off the great guitar sounds on the Tyros 3 before concluding with A Man Without Love (and according to James, a richer one!)
Some big brass and organ sounds followed for Rockhouse before finishing off the first half with another Count Basie arrangement of Nelson Riddles composition sung by Frank - Come Fly With Me.
The clarinet and Acker Bilk made for a beautiful rendition of Stranger On The Shore before James launched into a medley of Carpenters songs. If you are a fan, then go and get yourself the new CD entitled "As Time Goes On" with some not previously recorded material.
The stage set in romantic pink/lilac colours; you could have heard a pin drop when James played Someone To Watch Over Us & A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square using Hammond Sounds. By the way, for those of you not familiar with the new Tyros 3, it sports proper drawbars where the previous models had digital ones.
As each Tyros keyboard has come along, James has changed the arrangement for Invitations, a lively samba.
It was Ann's birthday on the 8th, James cheekily played a few bars of Will You Still Love Me When I'm 64? That's before she's had the big 60! Well, they say time flies when you are enjoying yourself. James is a joy to listen to, yes, he was instrumental in designing the T3 and knows it inside out, but he is a fabulous musician in his own right. His enthusiasm what he does shines through every tune he plays. And so - to the last tune of the concert Caravan with more organ sounds.
The audience demanded their traditional encore, James duly obliged with Sweet Georgia Brown. We look forward to a return visit. Thanks to Keith who had some clever lighting effects up his sleeve, the team and all of you who braved the weather.
Catharina
The new top of the range Yamaha Tyros 3 keyboard.
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.