Club Night - 1st December 2020

The Club's final event of the year. What a wonderful evening of music and fun to finish off 2020. We had a good size audience to experience one of New Zealand's foremost pianists/composers - no less than Carl Doy! What a wonderful musician and very engaging too. The audience hung on every note as Carl went through a musical jouney of music and genres from around the World. We were so honoured that Carl would take the time to come along and play for us. 

As this was our Christmas Club Night, we kept up the tradition of a Christmas Hampers Raffle. We had 9 hampers choc full of delicious food and beverage and all beautifully prepared by our Secretary, Delyse Whorwood.

Again, our Secretary, Delyse Whorwood, was our acting Catering Manager and put on a very nice spread of seasonal mince pies and lots of varieties of biscuits to augment the tea/coffee. Diane Lyons did a great job helping Delyse serve the refreshments. Thanks to the members who helped with cleaning-up the kitchen so we could re-start the second set of the evening in a timely manner.

Our very special guest artist, Carl Doy playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

The arrivals music was kindly provided by John Holster who did a great job for us.  Next up Ian Jackson played for us on the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 with his inimitable style - very nice - thank you Ian. To finish the first set, Denise Gunson played the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809. Denise always plays beautifully with her jazz standards but this evening was especially magnificent playing - maybe having Carl Doy (Denise's musical hero) sitting at the back of the room spurred her on! Well done Denise, I am sure Carl enjoyed your music as did your fellow Club members.

A big thank you to Warren Levick, Delyse Whorwood for helping to set the room up for the evening. We started at 3.15 pm and finished about 6 pm. It was especially challenging this month as most of the chairs were unavailable due to being dismantled for refurbishment. We had to bring some 50 odd chairs from downstairs to ensure sufficient room for the room capacity of 85 persons. Kay and Russell Boyes together with Dale Everiss manned the entry desk to keep the audience flowing through smoothly and issuing raffle tickets as well.

I guess in the 44 year history of the Club, this evening had to be at the top of the list for musical entertainment and everybody in attendance I am sure left feeling they had experienced something very special.

The Committee wishes all our members and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and  Healthy New Year.

                                                                           The Videos: 

Our Very Special Guest Artist, Carl Doy, playing the Club's Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

                   

                                                       

                                      The Photos:

Ian Jackson playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Denise Gunson playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Our very special guest artist, Carl Doy playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Some of our members enjoying the wonderful music of Carl Dow on the Club's Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Club Year End Party on 28th November 2020

 Wow, what a wonderful Year End Party for the Club. We held the Party this year at the Birkenhead RSA where we had a private room and bar service. The room was beautifully set-up for us by the caterers and enhanced by Russell, Kay and Diane Lyons. We had 48 members and guests for the occasion and a good time was had by one and all. The smorgasbord dinner was superb as well - delicious food and lots of it!

Between 4pm and 6pm the music was provided by Diane Lyons on her newly acquired and brand new Korg Pa700 arranger keyboard and Gordon Sutherland alternated with Diane using his Korg Pa4X. After dinner, the band took over in the form of Kevin and Jan Johnston on guitar and keyboard and our MC and vocals were provided by Len Hancy. They certainly got our feet tapping and the dance floor was well used also!

All in all, a lovely way to let our hair down as we come towards the end of 2020 with all the Covid trauma during the year.

A big thank you to Kay for organising the Event for us and to Russell also for manning the entry desk.

The Photos:

Our Band for the after dinner entertainment. L:R Kevin (guitar) and Jan Johnston (keyboard) and Len Hancy (MC and vocals). They really hit the right chord with the music they played - right up our alley.Our Band for the after dinner entertainment. L:R Kevin (guitar) and Jan Johnston (keyboard) and Len Hancy (MC and vocals). They really hit the right chord with the music they played - right up our alley.

Coffee Day at Fairview Lifestyle Village

 Coffee Day was held at the lovely Fairview Lifestyle Village in Albany. What a great facility and a fantastic new PA System for us to plug our keyboards into. Len Hancy hosted the meeting. Len is both a member of the Club and resides at Fairview.

The music started at 10 am and reached a climax when Taka Iida gave us a mini-concert on his Yamaha Stagea keyboard.

A big thank you to Kay Boyes for organizing the event for us as our Events Manager. Also, thanks to Russ Boyes for assisting Kay on the Entry Desk.

The Photos:

Club Night 3rd November 2020

 Our guest artists this month were Conundrum who came down from Warkworth/Wellsford area to play for us this evening. What a great band with a nice selection of folk type music. Conundrum arrived about 4.45 pm and started the set-up and sound test for a start at 7.15 pm. Conundrum have played for us 3 times previously and our members thoroughly enjoy listening to their very unique style of folk music. The band consists of:

* Cathy Busbridge on violin
* Linda Hobbs on bass guitar and flutes
* Jeff Hobbs on acoustic guitar
* Julia Withers on keyboard and percussion
* Peter Thomas on mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar

We look forward to them coming back and playing for us again next year!

After the raffle and refreshments break, Warren Levick entertained us on our new Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 and followed by Gordon Sutherland on his Korg Pa4X. Claudette Wheeler was due to play for us on the Clavinova but was unable to attend due to illness. Get well soon Claudette.

A big thanks to Delyse Whorwood for helping with the setup and to Russ and Kay Boyes on the arrival desk. Karen and Delyse did a great job with the refreshments as did the volunteers to do the dishes.

All in all, a thoroughly great night of music.

The Videos:

Our November 2020 Club  Night Guest Artists, Conundrum. L:R: Cathy Busbridge on violin; Linda Hobbs on bass guitar/flute; Jeff Hobbs on acoustic guitar/harmonica; Julia Withers on percussion/keys; and Peter Thomas on mandolin/banjo.

After clicking the red triangle at the centre of the video,  then click on the link to YouTube

at the bottom right of the above video to watch on YouTube at full screen size.

Warren Levick playing the Club's Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 

on Club Night

After clicking the red triangle at the centre of the video,  then click on the link to YouTube at the bottom right of the above video to watch on YouTube at full screen size.

Gordon Sutherland playing his Korg Pa4X arranger keyboard 

on Club Night

After clicking the red triangle at the centre of the video,  then click on the link to YouTube at the bottom right of the above video to watch on YouTube at full screen size.

       The Photos:

L:R: Cathy Busbridge, Linda Hobbs, Jeff Hobbs, Julia Withers, and Peter Thomas

Warren Levick playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Gordon Sutherland playing his Korg Pa4X