Recent concerts

We have welcomed a wide variety of concert artists over the years. Here are details of a few of them to give you a flavour of what you will hear at Cardiff live Music Club

We're always assured of a night to remember when the bubbly Jean Martyn plays. And now she's a mega-star from her appearance on Britain's Got Talent!

On a recent visit, not only was her programme entertaining and her presentation warm - she did it all in Long John Silver mode. With her left leg in plaster, she left us gasping as she played her usual lively pedal parts with her right leg! We all waved her off wishing her a speedy recovery.

Tony Stace. Tony entertained us with two hours of musical mastery on his faithful Yamaha HX1, interspersed with his usual humorous comments and stories about the cake shop that he and Louise run in Caterick Village. There was a difference this time, though. Tony has added a Midi Module which is programmed with sampled sounds of ALL the pipes of the Blackpool Wurlitzer and I doubt whether anybody could tell the difference between Tony's HX1 and the real thing! A really magical evening.

We tapped our feet to the infectious rhythm of Nicholas Martin. His instrument looked glorious in a new coat of white paint (or Tippex, so he claimed) and he played a wide range of popular pieces which sent everyone home with a spring in their step to match the spring in the air that night.

Having enjoyed him 18 months previously, our audience were excited by the return of Pete Shaw. Pete arrived with a Ketron/Tyros set-up with MIDI pedals and an impressive lighting rig. He chose unusual and polished repertoire, with quite a few pieces featuring his smooth singing-voice. Another super evening.

Richard Bower told us to expect great things of Sarah Foley, who Richard has taught. The audience was not disappointed by this talented young lady and look forward to following what must be a sparkling career in the future.

We started a New Year with a familiar artist, in the shape of Richard Bower who played for us on his Tyros Twin. Although this consists of two keyboards and a set of MIDI pedals, this was an organ concert in every other sense, featuring many of Richard's richly individual arrangements from his EL90 days.

Those who braved some torrential November rain will have been amply rewarded by this concert from Michael Wooldridge. Mind you, when he came in with the diminutive Roland AT15 under one arm we wondered how big the sound would be. What a surprise! Having programmed his disks on a Roland AT80 he produced a massive and sparkling tone. A real treat of a night, including the now almost traditional spot on the grand piano.

"Oh, you missed a marvellous evening!" everyone told us. Chiho Sunamoto had been with us again, sharing her particularly charming brand of playing and singing. And as an unexpected bonus, her friend and fellow professional Jon Smith accompanied her and provided duets featuring the grand piano and his own impressive singing voice. Truly a concert to savour, was the verdict.

Was it really ten years since Brian Hazelby had visited our club? And if so, why? He treated us to a wonderful evening of organ and piano music all presented in such a relaxed and humorous way. When he sat at the piano, we were transported by his incredible technique and ability to conjure up the sounds of players of yesteryear - Errol Garner, Fats Waller, Russ Conway et al. A really absorbing evening that made you forget everything but the music.

July, and our artist for the evening was David Thomas playing the Roland AT80SL. Another red-hot evening both weather-wise and music-wise. There were moments when we wondered who was talking - the organ or David - as he combined the extraordinary hi-tech instrument with his impish sense of humour. An evening of contrasts, with something lovely for everyone.

We've waited a long time for our visit from Paul Carman. He says it was eighteen years. If it was, it was eighteen years too long.

Paul put together a programme to please everyone on the Orla GT9000, all delivered in a relaxed style with a few well-chosen jokes in between - the sort of jokes that had you smiling next day. And so did the whole occasion. The clamour of requests for his imminent return were witness to that.

It's always a welcome return when we hear Andrew Nix performing on Roland Atelier AT80SL. Andrew's playing alone would make the evening a winner, but his gentle humour was the icing on the cake. With music in every possible style, the evening flew by.

Byron Jones (the Welsh Wizard) returned to his homeland to help us celebrate St Valentine's day. The stage was dressed with pink hearts and balloons for the occasion, and Byron pulled out all the stops to add to the romantic ambience. Byron had just returned from having his Wersi Scala updated in Germany and we were the lucky ones to hear it first in its new incarnation.