Virtual Christmas Cracker Concert 17th December 2021

 The Club was pleased to promote a Christmas Cracker Concert with pre-recorded videos by members of the Club using the Zoom video conferencing platform. With the Covid situation, the Club is uncomfortable with opening up for normal Club Night get togethers just yet, and so this Christmas Concert was one way to share the joy of music with fellow members and indeed the whole wide World via this Blog and YouTube generally. A big thank you to the artists who prepared the music videos especially for this Concert and a special thank you to Darren Smith of Music Works for hosting the Zoom Concert with his Company's Zoom license.

The North Shore Music and Keyboard Club wishes all its members and indeed the whole music fraternity World-wide a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. Let's hope 2022 will start to move us back to more normal times so far as our social interactions are concerned. In the meantime enjoy the videos below that were used for our Zoom Christmas Cracker Concert.

The Videos:

Paul McIsaac playing his Kurzweil SP5-8 and his Korg Pa3X keyboards. Paul also uses Keyscape software from is computer to generate the sounds on his Kurzweil. Paul's own YouTube channel is:

http://youtube.com/user/paulflooringfirst/ 

Rod playing his Korg Pa4X 76 keyboard with Nelleke on vocals

Warren Levick playing his Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Rob and Barbara Powell. Rob is playing his Yamaha Clavinova CVP-709GP whilst Barbara is playing her Yamaha Tyros 5

Virtual Club Afternoon 26th November 2021

 With Covid-19 lock down restrictions, the Club held another virtual Club meeting using the Zoom video conferencing platform. Members were invited to submit videos for inclusion in the Club Afternoon. The virtual Club Afternoon was most successful with many of our members and guests linking into the session and enjoying an hour of great music. To retain the occasion, I submit below the Four Sets of the Musical Afternoon that have been recorded to date. The Club hopes that you enjoy - wherever you may be in the World.

Set One:

Warren Levick playing his Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Set Two:

Rob and Barbara Powell playing their Yamaha Clavinova CVP-709GP and Yamaha Tyros 5 respectively

Set Three:

Paul McIsaac playing his Kurzweil SP5-8 and his Korg Pa3X. Paul also uses Keyscape software from his computer to generate the sounds on his Kurzweil. Paul's own YouTube channel is:
   http://youtube.com/user/paulflooringfirst/ 

Set Four:

Guest Ben Fernandez playing his Dexibell Vivo S3 Pro.

Ben's online web site is: http://www.benfernandez.net/ 

 

Virtual Club Afternoon - 16th November 2021

With Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the Club decided to hold a virtual Club meeting using the Zoom video conferencing platform. Members were invited to submit videos for inclusion in the Club Afternoon. The virtual Club Afternoon was most successful with many of our members linking into the session and enjoying just under two hours or great music. To retain the occasion, I submit below the Four Sets that made-up the Musical Afternoon and the Club hopes that you enjoy - wherever you may be in the World.

 Set One:

Set Two:

Set Three:

Set Three was a mini concert given by our member, Paul McIsaac. If you enjoy then you may wish to visit his YouTube channel at: https://youtube.com/user/paulflooringfirst 

 Set Four:

Club Night on 3rd August 2021

 A great night of music on our Club Night. In the first half we were entertained by Peter Longbottom on his Korg Pa600. Peter played the arrival music and a mini-concert for us with a walk down memory lane. Graeme Fuller played the Clavinova for us with his bouncy stride style play. To finish the first half, Graeme Webber played the Clavinova CVP-809 with Warren Levick assisting with the button pushes as Graeme is not too familiar with the Clavinova at this stage and he wanted to use accompaniment styles and vocals over the top. Lots of fun Graeme and well done to our artists in the first half.
After the raffle and a refreshments break, we were entertained by Taka Iida who brought along his Stagea portable two manual keyboard and pedalboard. Taka gave us an amazing Concert with jazz standards that we all love but his orchestrations and professionalism were out of this World - well done and thank you so much Taka.

The Videos:

Taka Iida, our Guest Artist, giving the Club a Concert using his Stagea keyboard

Graeme Webber playing the Club's Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

The Photos:

Graeme Fuller playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Peter Longbottom playing his Korg Pa600

Graeme Webber playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809

Graeme Webber playing and Warren Levick assisting with the button pushes as Grame is not yet familiar with the style play capabilities of the instrument

Taka Iida playing his Stagea two manual keyboard/pedalboard

Taka Iida playing his Stagea two manual keyboard/pedalboard

Coffee Day at Fairview Lifestyle Village

 What a magnificent setting to hold our Coffee Day. The main lounge at Fairview Lifestyle Village was a wonderful location for us to get together and share our music with the residents. We had eleven artists perform for us using a mixture of the grand piano, arranger keyboards and vocals with backing tracks.

We had a very nice luncheon too from the kitchen which had an amazing selection of a la carte lunches etc.

All in all a wonderful day.

The Photos:

Club Night 6th July 2021

 For Club Night this month, we were entertained  by some of our talented members. Unusual for our Club, 3 of the 5 entertainers used vocals which was a pleasant change. We started the evening with a tribute to Peter Jackson who passed away a few months ago. We played a video of Peter playing his Yamaha PSR-S950 in June 20215 at our Club. Peter sang some of the songs as well and also added some jokes that had us in 'stitches'.

To start the live entertainment, Warren Levick played the Clavinova CVP-809 and using styles with rhythms - very nice to hear this marvellous instrument can articulate superb sounds from a wide variety of musical instruments. Next up, Len Hancy used orchestration backing tracks to sing old music hall songs for us - lovely.

After a refreshing coffee and biscuits break, we were entertained by Peter Littlejohn who brought his Korg Pa1X all the way from Waihi to be with us this evening. Peter sang as well as played some modern idiom popular songs.

To finish the evening, Rod and Nelleke Moffat entertained us - Rod on his Korg Pa4X (76) and Nelleke sang some of her favourite songs for us with Rod accompanying. Great stuff!

All in all, a really nice evening with a wide variety of genres of music and a good selection of musical instruments to articulate from.

The Videos:

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

Peter Littlejohn playing his Korg Pa1X arranger keyboard on Club Night

The Photos:

Coffee Day at Northbridge Village

 A very enjoyable Coffee Day spent at Northbridge Village, Akoranga Drive, Northcote, Auckland. Wet and cold outside but warm and cozy inside. The Village has a lovely Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609 for the pianists to use and it was certainly popular with our piano players. Gordon Sutherland and Yvonne Moller brought along their Korg Keyboards to add variety and orchestration to the musical content. As always, the food from the kitchen was excellent as was the atmosphere from the residents and our members who attended. It was nice to see Paul Brennan and Desiree Barrows bring along our long-time member Errol Storey. Errol recently suffered a severe stroke but still enjoys music. In fact he even managed a few simple tunes just using his left hand on the Clavinova!

The Photos:

Kay Boyes playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Claudette Wheeler playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Beverley Henderson playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Denise Gunson playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Yvonne Moller playing her Korg Pa3X

Ian Jackson playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Mary Elvin playing the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609

Club Night 1st June 2021

 What a great night! A wide selection of instruments and genres presented for our pleasure. Roy Steen played both the arrival music and a mini-performance. Roy brought along his Korg Pa300 to play. Linus Treefoot treated us to three original songs including a visual PowerPoint display for one hilarious song. Linus brought along his Korg Havian 30 ensemble piano to play. Denise Gunson finished the first half for us on our Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 with her inimitable smooth style and great arrangements.

On the 16th June 2021, this will mark Roy Steen's 89th Birthday and Karen and Roy's 60th Wedding Anniversary. Wonderful achievement and hearty congratulations to both! Roy certainly has not lost his touch on the keys playing almost flawlessly with a lovely selection of songs.

After the raffle and a great refreshments break, our guest artists "Reflections" played for us. Reflections is a duo consisting of Paul McIsaac on keys and Lloyd Thumbadoo on vocals. Paul brought along his own PA system and his Korg Pa3X arranger keyboard together with his Kurzweil PC5-8 workstation. What great music - light jazz orientated as well as some Latin American music. Paul sure works his keyboards hard - never seen two keyboards worked so intensively but the effort was worth it with the great sound!

The Videos:

Reflections playing at the Club on 1st June 2021. Reflections are made-up of Paul McIsaac on keys and Lloyd Thumbadoo on vocals

Roy Steen playing his Korg Pa300 arranger keyboard on Club Night

Linus Treefoot playing and singing using his Korg Havian digital ensemble piano

The Photos:

Roy Steen played both the arrival music and gave a mini-performance on his Korg Pa300. Roy will celebrate his 89th birthday on the 16th June 2021 and also his 60 Wedding Anniversary to Karen. Hearty congratulations to both of you on both counts! By the way, great touch on the keys as well!

Linus Treefoot played three original songs for us including one using pictorials with PowerPoint. Linus brought along his Korg Havian 30.  Well done Linus!

Denise Gunson played our Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 entertaining us with her magical touch.

Our guest artists for the evening: Lloyd Thumbadoo (vocals) and Paul McIsaac playing his Korg Pa3X and Kurzweil PC5-8. The duo go under the name of Reflections. Great light jazz thoroughly enjoyed by one and all. Paul sure knows how to work his keyboards hard - amazing!

Coffee Day at Greenwich Gardens Metlifecare Village 18th May 2021

 What a wonderful day we had at Greenwich Gardens Metlifecare Village of Unsworth Heights, North Shore, Auckland. This was our first visit to this new and very resplendent Village. The residents were enthusiastic to listen to the music and our members enjoyed the lush surroundings of the lounge/dining room. The Village have a very nice Boston grand piano. These pianos are made by The Steinway Company and the piano was a pleasure to play. Gordon Sutherland, our President, brought along his Korg Pa4X arranger keyboard to add some orchestral music to the piano players. Gordon also played the Village's Korg Havian 30 which the residents appreciated and enjoyed also. The cuisine was first rate also and our thanks to Carol and Barbara from the Village's Social Committee as well as Kay Boyes are Events Manager for organizing for us.

The Village seemed keen for us to return again next year and given the excellent visitor parking, I am sure we shall enjoy our next visit also.

The Photos:

Claude Moffat playing the Boston grand piano (made by the Steinway Company)

Denise Gunson playing the Boston grand piano (made by the Steinway Company)

Ron Clingin playing the Village's Korg Havian 30 ensemble digital piano, with Noeline Clingin watching on

Roy Steen playing the Boston grand piano (made by the Steinway Company)

Beverley Henderson playing the Boston grand piano (made by the Steinway Company)

Kay Boyes playing the Boston grand piano (made by the Steinway Company)

Club Night 4th May 2021

 A splendid evening of musical enjoyment. In the first set we were entertained by Yvonne Moller on her Korg Pa3X arranger/keyboard. Next, Claudette Wheeler played the Clavinova in classical piano style. To finish the first set, Rob Powell played some lovely jazz standards from the 1920 - 1950's with composers such as: Harry Warren; Cole Porter;  Gerschwin; and Richard Rogers among others. Rob is an expert on the Yamaha Clavinova and arranger keyboards and so he was able to demonstrate the lovely rhythms and orchestrations of our new Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809.

After the raffle and a refreshments break, we were entertained firstly by a 13 year old card magician called Jacob Rawbone who is a neighbour of our guest artist. Some astounding sleight of hand was shown by Jacob - well done!

The guest artist for the evening was Darren Smith. Darren works for Music Works and was instrumental in facilitating our purchase of our state of the art Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 late last year as he is the Retail General Manager for Music Works as well as an accomplished professional jazz pianist. A wonderful concert of varied light jazz music of the kind our members really enjoy.

All in all, a very satisfying evening of music spanning various genres and styles of play.

The Videos:

Our guest artist, Darren Smith, playing the Club's Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 on Club Night 

Jacob Rawbone, 13 years of age, a budding card magician, demonstrating sleight of hand!

The Photos:

Yvonne Moller played her Korg Pa3X arranger/keyboard

Claudette Wheeler gave us a mini-concert on the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809 playing classical piano music.

Rob Powell played the arrival music and gave a mini-concert on the Yanaha Clavinova CVP-809

Our guest artist for the evening was, Darren Smith the Retail General Manager for Music Works and a professional musician specializing in light jazz genre

Our guest artist for the evening was, Darren Smith the Retail General Manager for Music Works and a professional musician specializing in light jazz genre

Coffee Day 20th April 2021

 What a great Coffee Day at Parklane Village, Sunnynook. The Village has a lovely lounge area for us to play and relax in and we entertained the residents using their very nice Schimmel grand piano and a Korg Pa3X plus a Korg Pa4X arranger/keyboards. The kitchen did a great job with a wonderful variety of lunches both off the shelf and a la carte and at very reasonable prices. Some of our members were unavailable to attend due to sickness and some for being out of town. Nevertheless, the music never stopped from 10.15am to 3.00pm.

The Photos:

Mary Elvin playing the Schimmel grand piano

Kay Boyes playing the Schimmel grand piano

Graeme Fuller playing the Schimmel grand piano

George Watt playing the Schimmel grand piano

Yvonne Moller playing her Korg Pa3X