Richard Bower plays Tyros 3
Richard Bower
February 6th 2010
Tyros 3
People were queuing to get into the hall, and just to make sure we all stayed warm after a wonderful springlike day, Richard opened his program with a lively samba - Amorada.
A tune, originally from Norway set to Irish sounds and a little less lively You Raise Me Up. Flutes, choirs, the musette and orchestral sounds beautifully illustrated the sentiment If I Only Had Time.
The weather forecast didn't come true, it wasn't a Foggy Night In London Town, but we enjoyed some tremendous Hammond sounds instead. Somewhere out of Richard's set up of a Tyros 3, PSR 290 and pedal board came a soprano voice with Be Still My Soul, soon to be followed by flutes, trumpets and churchorgan, interspersed with harp sounds; a tune based on Finlandia by Sibelius.
We must not forget Keith who provides just the right background for every tune, blue shades set the atmosphere for History Of Love, with Richard plucking the guitar for all it was worth, mindblowing, before bringing in the panflute and those lush strings that Yamaha are famous for.
A very expressive version of That Rainy Day followed, just played "on the piano", not a rhythm beat in earshot. Lovely stuff.
Making sure that we stayed awake, he launched into a quickstep for Days Of Wine & Roses and The Lady Is A Tramp. A red/yellowy background, a lively disco rhythm brought us Dancing Queen, 30years on; ABBA's music has truly stood the test of time.
Organ and big band sounds - the late Brian Rodwell - Michael Buble - well It Had Better Be Tonight! A ballad with strings and flute, a 'singing' clarinet, brass, those lush strings again, no rhythm box in sight, Happy Days Were (indeed) Here Again!
Wales is not just famous for its choirs, but also for a brilliant musician. A red background and swirling patterns set the scene for a tribute to our very own Ian Griffin with Lonely Is A Man Without Love.
Following refreshments Elvis Presley made an appearance with The Wonder Of You.
The Japanese have trouble with our 'r's and l's so you can imagine what Long Live Love sounds like over there! Ah well, best to Let It Be.
Some more Latin music followed, before Richard played just a very small number of requests starting with a little Lancashire number, swiftly followed by Oh Dannyboy before delighting us with an excerpt from both Rodriguez' Guitar Concerto and Nessun Dorma, concluding with a complete contrast Lay Down Sally.
Recreating James Last sounds for Summerwind in the middle of the winter with a touch of Frank Sinatra kept us warm. Soft reds and a soft piano had us Somewhere Out There followed by an equally delightful version of Wind Beneath My Wings.
Those of us who have known Richard for a long time know of the influence the late Mark Shakespeare had on him; a true showman who was taken from us far too early. Blues, reds and cerise were the perfect accompaniment to Hello Mac, Say Thank You To The Knife! So, let's have a bit of Rock 'n'Roll at This Old House with The Green Door.
By this stage Ann thought she had got away with it, with what?, her birthday of course. But not so, we all sang Happy Birthday to her, hope it was a good one Ann.
Whilst in clapping mood, we got those feet moving as well with The Lord Of The Dance, as Richard did not get away with an encore either. In the words of Craig Revel-Hallwood we had had a FA-BU-LOUS evening, full marks Richard. What a super musician you are