A Martin Harris Christmas concert

[Tom NL]

Here in Holland we have a few music stores that put a lot effort in promoting the Tyros series and recently the Genos. One of them is Oostendorp and this store outshines them all by organising lots of events, including a yearly Yamaha concert around Christmas, that has become somewhat of a tradition. This concert is usually done by Peter Baartmans and Michel Voncken, a few times joined by the very talented female singer and musician Susan Alberts.

This year however, it was a bit different. Michel Voncken seems not to be working for Yamaha anymore, although noting was officialy mentioned on this, and Peter did the first european demo of the Genos on November 4th. Here is the Youtube video of that demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QS_1AfHptw

Without a doubt seeing Peter again in December for the Christmas concert would be very, very nice! But this time Oostendorp had invited Martin Harris over for an evening-filling concert, which I visited last night. For an audience of over 400 people Martin surpassed himself in what was probably the best demo I have ever attended! Since I didn't see any cameras I don't expect this concert will be on Youtube, so to give you an impression I will do my best give you a report of the evening. I am very much aware that my knowledge of the English language has its limitations, so please forgive me for that ;-).

Martin opened with an electronic dance number, which was very impressive. The atmosphere in the room was great from the start and after the opening song, Martin really took the time to build up the concert. Starting small with only acoustic pianos, later adding minimal combo-like accompaniments. He also did some spontaneous unplanned demonstrations of the upright piano and some great blues rock using the C7 aucoustic piano. This was all very tastefully done and the audience reacted enthusiastically to this from the start. Later in the first half of the concert, Martin switched over to songs using the aucoustic and electric guitars in a small band setting. He explained that the styles were stripped down from the complexity they had before, with the intention to provide more room for your own arrangement and the option of adding more accompaniment by using the multipads with all their newly added content. He showed us quite a few examples of this from small bands to big rock and country, all very nicely done. Martin really connected to the audience and his enthousiasm for the music and the instrument came across very well. After the guitars he changed to wind instruments, specifically highlighting the new SA2 flugelhorn, on which he commented that it is one of his new favourite sounds. After some more nice orchestral pieces it was time for the break.

After the break Martin immediately brought the energy back into the room playing a lot of eighties songs. All very nicely done and I could see that they were very much appreciated by the audience. He explained that those 80's well known electronic drum machines where sampled into the Genos and showed us some examples on how they make the eighies music sounding so authentic. Then he switched over to the accordions, taking us on a journey over the world by playing the French musette, Italian and German accordion music. He also explained how the revo drums work and where they are recorded. If I remember correctly they where all sampled in Europe, mostly Germany and England. The 60's drumkit was sampled in Liechtenstein of all places, just because they found an authentic kit in just the right setting there. This resembles what I have heared about the sampling of all the choir voices in Tyros 4, for which the Yamaha team had traveled to a lot of countries to record the best vocals. I remember they recorded the boys choir in Estonia. These examples emphasize the (obsessive) attention to detail Yamaha puts into the development of their products. And no, I am not a Yamaha fanboy ;-). In fact I haved played Korg keyboards for the last 8 years.

Martin also played some very nice jazz tunes on the C7 piano and the drawbar organ, highlighting the brush and stick jazz revo drumkits. After that he played a few songs with the euro organs and the theatre organ. He also played an Abba medley, mostly using the euro organs, just to explain how versatile these sounds can be. The concerts finale was a medley of very nice orchestral Christmas songs, on which Martin jokingly remarked that you can use almost any style on a Christmas song when you add a multipad with sleighbells to it: "that makes instant Christmas". After a standing ovation, he got back on the stage for an encore. I believe he called that "some fiddle faddle", but boy this was some encore! A beautifully done orchestral tune with dynamics from very intimate playing to a very impressive full blown orchestra. The best I ever heared on any keyboard.

The whole concert lasted about half an hour more than was programmed and as you have probably understood it was a great event. The amplification was spot on and really brought out the best of the Genos sound. Martin did a concert in Holland once before on the Tyros 4 Anniversary Edition in 2012. Last night he said goodbye to the audience mentioning that he hoped this time he will be back sooner for another concert. I hope that I have been able to give you a good impression of the evening, especially since most of you could not be there and there was no filming.

I wish you all happy holidays!

Tom

[alans]

Hi Tom

Many thanks for the detailed review of the Christmas concert,it sounds as though it was very good,and your description of it was very good,nothing wrong with your english,in fact better than many natural english speakers 😁

A pity there was no recording,it would have been good to see on youtube.

Best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and New Year

Alan

[Tom NL]

"Many thanks for the detailed review of the Christmas concert,it sounds as though it was very good,and your description of it was very good,nothing wrong with your english,in fact better than many natural english speakers 😁"

Thanks Alan, much appreciated!

[stephenm52]

Tom,


Great review and I agree there is nothing wrong with your English, as Alan wrote it's better than many whose native language is English 

[J. Larry]

Wonder why we never see any commercial CDs by Martin Harris or Peter Baartmans?  Could they not promote Yamaha products in that manner, as well?  I could imagine copies sold on-line, as well as boutique gift shops, Cracker Barrels, and such places visited by arranger-age folks.

[willem7397]

Thanks Tom for your well written review of the concert. I attended it as well and can only agree that it was the best Genos has to offer.

[Tom NL]

Thanks Tom for your well written review of the concert. I attended it as well and can only agree that it was the best Genos has to offer.

Hi Willem,

Thank you. I wonder how many Dutch PSR Tutorial members were also there. Perhaps Maartenb, Jeff Hollande, Wim NL and Bachus as well ;-). It would have been nice to have a little meetup there and meet fellow members in person. Maybe next time!

Happy holidays!

[Tom NL]

Wonder why we never see any commercial CDs by Martin Harris or Peter Baartmans?  Could they not promote Yamaha products in that manner, as well?  I could imagine copies sold on-line, as well as boutique gift shops, Cracker Barrels, and such places visited by arranger-age folks.

In fact Peter did a few commercial albums on Yamaha and Kurzweil instruments in the past. His last album however was released about 10 years ago though.

Regards,

Tom

[Wim NL]

I was there also.
It was great.
The 2nd half was superb.

My name at the Dutch forum is Tyro.

[maartenb]

Peter did the first european demo of the Genos on November 4th. Here is the Youtube video of that demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QS_1AfHptw

For people who can't speak dutch (the majority here, I guess ) you can see Peter's and Sander's demo without any talking, just the music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8eohL8jGhY


Thanks Tom, for an excellent report! I was there, on the front row. I even wore a badge with "Maarten" on it.  Would be great to meet each other next time!

Before the excellent demo by Martin, I had the opportunity to briefly talk with him. I asked him about recording/filming him. He has no problem with that, except you can't put the recording on YouTube. The reason is: He played well known songs during this demo and that gives problems with copyright and stuff. That's why he always plays music he composed himself on his demo's on YouTube.

I was deeply impressed with Martin's musicality, playing technique and musical knowledge. I left a bit overwhelmed.

If you ever have an opportunity to see Martin perform, grab that chance!!


Maarten

[EileenL]

Yes Martin is a great guy and a wonderful player. Makes everything look so easy.