Perhaps
apocryphal, it is told that the late Reginald Dixon, Blackpool’s legendary
organist, prayed for rain because he knew that would ensure a capacity
packed ballroom. Whilst John & Jackie Romero would never dream of such
wishful thinking, it most certainly would have helped swell the morning
and afternoon concert attendee’s at their Cumberland Hotel, Eastbourne,
Weekend organ festival from 21st 24th September. The
weather could only be described as gorgeous and so the morning, afternoon
concert and seminars did suffer a little from reduced numbers, but you’d
be hard pressed to find any other fault with this landmark event. I’d
heard a lot about the events from the late, and sadly missed Margaret
Falkner of OrganFax fame, and so I had no hesitation about accepting an
invitation to present a special concert Tribute to Mark Shakespeare
featuring Anthony Lomas: more of which later.
The Cumberland Hotel, which I’m informed has Listed
Building status, is one of many grandiose buildings on the promenade, and
although to be fair some internal parts of it are a little tired looking,
an ongoing and very expensive refurbishment programme is taking place.
Unquestionably the lower ballroom, which serves throughout as the concert
hall, is an ideal and comfortable area for the majority of the concerts to
be staged. Adjacent bar, comfortable seating, a battery of lights and
stunningly sharp big screen TV ensures that Festivalgoers have ideal
viewing conditions. Eastbourne Music Festivals have lots of little
personal touches that are missing from similar events……. even those that I
have co-produced! As you enter the Hotel, Colin & Sheila Ford, part of
Team Romero, make you welcome by handing you a Festival Pack which
contains everything from gratis copies of Keyboard magazines to bars of
Thornton’s chocolate. Check-in is swift and efficient and by 3.00 pm there
is a welcome free cup of tea awaiting everyone in the well-appointed
Lounge/bar area.
With no time to waste it’s down to the Ballroom to find
the inimitable Mike Hall at one of the big Orla instruments, presenting
the first of the 45-minute concerts. With his delivery, ranging from zany
to serious, Mike demonstrated one of the latest models in the range to
great acclaim, presenting as it does a foretaste of what else was on offer
during the next three days. All meals are assisted Self Service/Waitress
style and I have to say that the quality of the food throughout the
weekend was of a very high standard. As just one example, the traditional
Sunday Roast Beef was cooked to perfection, and would have put many a
Restaurant to shame. My Wife, who prefers fish dishes, could not fault
any, whereas the night previous at a Five Star Hotel where we stayed
en-route, the haddock was so ‘‘high’’ it near lifted off the plate! In
addition to John Romero, whose forte is the accordion, there were seven
organists lined up to provide a diverse and eclectic programme. Talking
with many of the Festivalgoers, it would be fair to say that most had
never heard of two of the organists, yet both have been part of the organ
world for a great many years. In my BBC Manchester broadcasting days, the
neighbouring Station had Eric Lord presenting the Blackburn weekly organ
programme, and dear Eric was forever playing the music of
Dave Smith, and
rightly so. Dave was at that time associated with Lowrey organs and it
wasn’t until about a year ago, when he appeared at my local organ Club,
that I had ever seen him in concert. He later moved his allegiance to
Roland and it was on just such an instrument that he entertained us. His
rather laid back, often-hesitant style of introductions, belied the
powerhouse performances that ensued, and at least one fellow organist that
weekend remarked to me that he considered them to be some of the most
involved and technically brilliant performances that he had seen for a
long time. Some attendee’s did not appreciate the artistry, but then that
often happens at such events. What’s the old adage "You can please
some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time,
but you can’t please all of the people all of the time" Personally I
enjoyed it all of the time!
The
other ‘‘new name’’ was Anthony Lomas (left), who in actual fact has been
playing the organ for 20 years or more. That I know for a fact because I
had the pleasure of introducing him at some of the very first organ
Festivals staged by the Pontin’s Holiday Group. But like so many very
talented organists, he quickly sussed out that there was not enough money
to be made in the ‘‘game’’ to provide a standard of living for his wife
and family, and so it took a very special reason to persuade him to
transport his magnificent Bohm organ from his home Town of Dronfield. What
was the reason? At another Festival I had produced a combined computerised
and live entertainment tribute to the late Mark Shakespeare who passed
away some 10 years ago. My feeling was that it could be improved if we
could get an artist who actually played (a) the same make of instrument as
Mark and (b) in style that would be hard to distinguish. Anthony Lomas at
the Bohm filled both those important criteria’s. Not only that, his other
performances during the weekend had many Club Secretaries and Members
asking why he was no longer ‘‘on the circuit’’. His opening selection of
James Bond Film Themes was so breathtaking in it’s execution that it had
to be seen to be actually believed. I don’t think any one present during
the weekend ever enjoyed such stunning performances from someone who 90%
of the audience had never even heard of before! The ebullient
Chris Powell
gave, as ever; high-octane fuel educed performances, and for me the hairs
stood up on the back of my neck when he did his Blackpool Tower orientated
medleys. I’ve lost count of the number of electronic organists who
‘‘profess’’ to play a tribute medley in the style of Reginald Dixon. Other
than Chris Powell, there is not one single electronic organ star in the UK
who is capable of giving a 100% accurate interpretation of the Blackpool
Tower WurliTzer sound, not to mention Reg’s precise and individualistic
style of playing. He has ‘‘tweaked’’ his Roland organ to not only sound
like the Tower WurliTzer, but additionally it has all the instantly
recognisable ‘‘trade mark’’ sounds of echo, the ‘‘phantom piano’’ and
right down to the corny crash cymbal.
One
of the rare Yamaha Stagea instruments in the Country, is owned and played
by Chris Stanbury, and if ever there was an un-assuming organist on the
circuit I have yet to meet him. Two words sum up each and every one of his
items. Note perfect. With additional shows by Mike Hall on a number of
Orla models, Colin Ford on his Tyros keyboard, and John Romero on the
accordion, it was left to Tony Stace on one of his tried and tested Yamaha
HX organs to combine his inimitable cheeky style of introductions with a
range of tunes that brought nothing but complete enjoyment to everyone in
the audience. All the trademarks were there, from the famous ‘‘flying’’
left leg, to intense facial expressions and the pounding finger attacks of
the keyboard. Every organist has a presentation style of some sort or
another, but Tony Stace is in a class on of his own. The only thing I
would have programmed in to each concert, and I know I’m not alone, is an
opportunity for Festivalgoers to have a photo-call at the end of each
artist’s contribution. The Weekend was full of musical highlights, not the
least of which was the final evenings ‘‘jam session’’ with Dave, Anthony,
Colin, Tony and the two Chris’s. What could easily have been a cacophonous
noise turned out to be something both amusing and professionally executed.
As indicated earlier, it’s the personal touches that add to these
Festivals and although no afternoon tea dance sessions were scheduled this
time, free afternoon tea, cakes and sticky buns are provided each day at
4.00pm. The concert sessions are in 45 minute segments, with 15 minute
breaks in between, allowing for re-positioning of instruments and CCTV
camera, whilst Festivalgoers could re-charge their glasses from an
adjacent well stocked bar.
Most of us, including yours truly, found their beds
most welcoming by the time it got to 11.45, but for any night-owls, Colin
Ford & John Romero provided some entertaining late night sessions. Gone
are the days when organ manufacturers and retailers were queuing up for
space at Festivals, and to get this all-important support is not the
easiest of tasks. However, the aforementioned team of Mike Hall and Paul
Carmen (the latter who I would have enjoyed hearing playing a concert
spot) gave daily demonstrations on their Orla range of organs, including
the fabulous new single keyboard organ [GT 9000DLX2] that really packed
some audio punch from an impressive array of tone colours. Also on hand
with a range of Wersi organs and other associated keyboards, sheet music
and books, was Alan Ellis of Harmony Music. Indications were that both
these Exhibitors did fulfil orders and sales. Although my Wife attended
all the Seminars, I took the opportunity to walk down the prom and take
advantage of the beautiful weather to indulge in my hobby of photography.
The famous Eastbourne ‘‘carpet gardens’’ were a joy to look at, and the
Pier itself had so much of the original cast iron work to grab my
attention. The panoramic vista from the Pier towards Beachy Head made you
appreciate just how many architecturally grand Hotels remain. There’s even
a very popular Bandstand directly opposite the Cumberland Hotel, which is
in regular use……as Chris Powell found out when he tried to compete with
the cannon and fireworks finale to the 1812 Overture one evening! For
those that wanted to see the famous landmark, there was even time for a
boat trip around Beachy Head, and back in time for tea! Two blocks to the
rear of the promenade is the pedestrianised area, complete with an Arndale
Centre, many top name retail outlets, and Charity Shops for just about
every fund raising organisation. I took the opportunity to search through
hundreds of LP records for any elusive organ recordings, but I never came
across even one by Reginald Dixon or Klaus Wunderlich! On the whole
Eastbourne has a lot going for it in more ways than one. In summing up
this, the 21st Festival staged by EMF, I would less than honest
if I didn’t say it more than lived up to my expectations.
