Creative Keyboard Club June 2016 Meeting

Marlene Forrest was the MC for the occasion and the arrival music was played by Diane Lyons on keyboard.
Our Program ...
We were delighted to have the pupils of Cheryl Tong join us once again. They played a selection of short pieces:
'New York, New York' (a very popular number this month) was played by Travis Holmes on keyboard accompanied by Cheryl Tong
'Great Balls of Fire' by Allan Xu on keyboard
'Willows' by Alicia Barr on piano
'Theme from Inspector Gadget' by Mirabelle Holmes on keyboard accompanied by Cheryl Tong
'Chiapanecas' by Carol Biddy on piano
'5 Finger Challenge' by Barack Lu on piano accompanied by Cheryl Tong
'This Land is Your Land' a dad-&-daughter duet by Naz and Clarrise Luis
'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again' by Corinne Luis on keyboard
'Just Struttin' Along' by Alan Tang on Piano.
Great to see all the youngsters (and dad) enjoying themselves.

Our program continued with our youngest playing member Hanna Tani on piano with 'Turkish March' and 'Minute Waltz'. No music Hanna, wonderful to see and expertly played.
Diane Lyons was back with 'Moulin Rouge' and 'New York, New York' on keyboard
Rob Powell on clavinova with 'Hold My Hand' and 'Different Worlds'
Great stuff everyone!

Our guest artist was Dave Hallam from Kerikeri who we all know as past committee member and club mentor. Dave started off on Tyros with 'Beyond The Sea', 'Do You Know the Way to San Jose', and 'Night and Day' (no music too Dave). He moved on to clavinova and songs included 'Nancy With the Laughing Eyes', 'Love is Here to Stay', 'Just the Way You Are', '1 Note Samba', 'I Dreamed a Dream', 'Blue Moon' and another perennial 'As Time Goes By' (great singing everyone!). Back on tyros with you guessed it 'New York, New York', Quando, Quando, Quando', and Len then joined him with the spoons for 'Sweet Georgia Brown'. Many Thanks to our guest who we always enjoy and great to see you again Dave. Looking forward to your next visit.

More photos in the Photo Gallery

Creative Keyboard Club May 2016 Meeting

Marlene Forrest was the MC for the occasion and the arrival music was played by Roy Steen.
Our Program ...
Pianist Yuko Tani played 'Yesterday Once More' and 'Morning in Corna' (a Japanese song) on clavinova
Colin Crann on keyboard with 'Fly Me To The Moon' and 'Anema E Core'
Barbara McNab on clavinova with 'Crazy' and 'Unchained Melody'
Roy Steen entertained again with 'Madrid Madrid Madrid'
Carol Littlejohn on clavinova with 'Somewhere Out There' and 'Ma He's Making Eyes at Me' on clavinova ended our first half.
Our guests artists were Denise Gunson (clavinova) accompanied by husband Brian (guitar). Unfortunately I was unable to attend on this occasion but Thank You All for what I am sure was another wonderful club day.

Creative Keyboard Club April 2016 Meeting

Marlene Forrest was the MC for the occasion and the arrival music was played by Audrey Henden on clavinova. This was also our AGM in which Jessyka Stuart and Barbara Bailey were welcomed onto the committee (Ian Jackson, Shirley Smale and Dave Hallam have stood down), door fees and subs remaining the same.
Our program ...
Barbara Powell on keyboard with 'There Goes My Heart'
Marlene Forest on clavinova with 'Perfidia'
Rob Powell on keyboard with 'You Are My Everything'

Our guest artist was Carole Littlejohn with the Creative Club Quartet (Barbara and Rob Powell, Marlene Forrest). Carole's songs included 'Bye Bye Blackbird', 'Red Red Robin', 'Hello Again', 'Girl From Ipaenema', 'This Is My Song', 'Tico Tico', ';Old Piano Ross Blues', 'Near You', 'I Have a Dream', 'Mamma Mia', 'Penny Arcade', and ended with 'Now Is The Hour'. The Creative Quartet (assisted by Carole) entertained with 'Besame Mucho', 'Charmaine' and a medley ('Downtown Strutters Ball', Five Foot 2', Sweet Georgia Brown').
Many thanks to all our wonderful players.

Creative Keyboard Club March 2016 Meeting

Marlene Forrest was the MC for the occasion and the arrival music was played by Denise Gunson on clavinova. This was our clubs 25th Anniversary celebration. "Many Happy Returns Creative" with 276 meetings to date! Thankyou to the Farley's for the beautiful anniversary cake.
Our program ...
Pam Rea on keyboard with "No Business Like Show Business" and "One Of Those Things"
Hana Tani (our youngest member and already an accomplished pianist) on clavinova with "Sonata in D Major" and "Flight of The Bumble Bee"
Barbara McNabb on clavinova with "On My Own" and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly"
Peter Torckler on keyboard with a varied selection from Latin American to classical including Mendelssohn's "Spring Song", "Wave", "Kiss me A Lot". Peter (our club founder) also gave us some interesting background on the foundation of the club.
Many thanks to all those in the first half. A great start to our afternoon.

Musician Kane Steves (also a club member from age 8 and former pupil of Peter Torckler) was our guest artiste. Kane brought along the latest Korg PA4X keyboard (Italian assembled) to demonstrate. This retails for $7,500 and Kane assures us there is a club discount (however only the one for sale at the moment so be in quick!). The Harmonize button (vocals) was put to good use with "Crying Time" and other tunes included a Swing medley "Fly Me To The Moon" and "All Of Me" (with vocals), "Who's Sorry Now" (Dixieland style), "More" (demonstrating the amazing Steinway Grand Piano), "Lost Without You", "In The Mood " (Quickstep). There was a country selection "Green, Green Grass of Home", "On The Road Again" and ending with "Turkey in the Straw". Amazing guitar sound with "Cavatina" and Kane finished up on clavinova with "Piano Man". A great example of what a former club member can do! Many thanks Kane.

More pics in the Photo Gallery

Creative Keyboard Club February 2016 Meeting

This was our first meeting for the year. Marlene Forrest was the MC for the ocassion and the arrival music was played by Peter Jackson on keyboard.
Our Program ...
Marlene Forrest was first up with "Viya Con Dious" and "Tango Albeniz" on her keyboard
George Markwick on his Korg PA800 with "And I Love You So" and "You Are My Sunshine"
Noni Walker played "Tea For Two" and "Song For Guy"
Peter Jackson was back with "St Louis Blues" and "Dance In The Old Fashioned Way"
Colin Crann on keyboard with "Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me" and "On Green Dolphin Street"
Rob Powell finished the first half with "Blue Skirt Waltz" and "Slipping Around"
Many thanks to these club members who return time and time again to entertain us. Any new players are very welcome.

Our quest artiste was jazz musician Murray Hancox - keyboard, clavinova and vocals. Songs included "Unchain My Heart", "I'm Walking", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Misty", "Harbour Lights" and included many requests "Eleaner Rigby", "Blue Moon", "Summertime", "Fly Me To The Moon". Much enjoyed by all Murray and we do look forward to your visits.
(The writer was unable to attend this month and no pics available)

Creative Keyboard Club December 2015 Meeting

MC for the occasion was Marlene Forrest and the Christmas arrival music was played on clavinova by Denise Gunson. The Farley's once again made a beautiful job of the cake.
Program ...
Mary Barrett was first up on her Korg keyboard with a short excerpt from the 'Warsaw Concerto', 'Body and Soul', 'This Masquerade' (a medley with a Christmas ending) and 'Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart'
The Creative Quartet of 3 keyboards and piano consisting of Marlene Forrest, Barbara Powell, Barbara McNab and Rob Powell, played 'C'est Magnifique', 'Chicago', It's Now or Never' and 'C'est Si Bon'. This was their debut performance
Denise Gunson on clavinova ended the first half with 'The Way You Look Tonight', 'La Vien Rose', 'Chen Son De More', 'Bye Bye Blackbird' (lounge style) and 'At Twilight Time'
After a sumptous afternoon tea the Hamper's were drawn and we settled back to enjoy the 'Jackson 5'.

Our guests: Chris Larking on clavinova, Ian Jackson on drums, Richard and Michael on Lead Guitars and Tony on Bass Guitar. Lots of Jazz, Rock 'n Roll and Country music, some with vocals and all with a good toe tapping beat ... there was dancing in the isles and singing to add to the party atmosphere. Tunes included 'Autumn Leaves', 'Moondance', 'Last Night', 'Livin' Doll', 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore', 'Ring of Fire', 'Move It', 'Bird Dog', 'I'm Going to Knock on Your Door', 'Just walk On By', 'Me and Bobby McGee'. They sure showed us their professionalism and everyone had a ball! Thank You All for a wonderful afternoon.

More photo's in the Photo Gallery

Creative Keyboard Club November 2015 Meeting

Creative Keyboard Club November 2015 Meeting

Barbara McNab was the MC for the occasion and the arrival music was played on clavinova by Audrey Henden.
Program ...
Laurie Condor on his Roland keyboard with 'Save The Last Dance For Me' and 'I Saw Her Standing There'
Sylvia Joseph on her keyboard with 'Whispering Hope' and 'Il Silenzio' (The Silence), very appropriate for this Remembrance Sunday
John Beale on his  keyboard with 'This Can't Be Love' and 'Somebody Did Somebody Wrong Song'
Allan Powell on his keyboard with 'Beer Barrel Polka' and 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' (with vocals)
Peter Jackson on his keyboard with 'What I Did For Love' and 'Grown Up Christmas List' (both with vocals)
Sandi Crawford (debut) on her keyboard with 'Dark Haired Marie' and a toe tapping Irish Medley
David Winslade (debut) on his Tyros 4 with 'I Dreamed a Dream' and 'Pretty Woman' (with vocals)
A very talented bunch and with vocals to boot. Thank you all, it was a great start to the afternoon.

Our guest this week was piano accordionist Lionel Reekie. Lionel started with 'Under Paris Skies' and 'Ain't Misbehavin' (with vocals). We were treated to some history and explanation on the internal workings of the modern accordion. Lionel's tunes included 'Orange Blossoms', 'Quando, Quando, Quando', 'Hush-a-bye Now', 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and 'Buona Sera Signorina'. A good mixture with some wonderful vocals thrown in. Thank you Lionel, it's always a pleasure to hear you perform and we look forward to your return next year.

More photos of the occasion are in our Photo Gallery