CD (Theatre Organ)
Charlie Balogh - Maestro!
September 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
This is the first CD we have stocked from top American theatre organist Charlie Balogh, this was due to getting several requests from our customers at the same time as receiving an email from Mr. Balogh about his latest release. The said Mr. Balogh is one of the leading American theatre organists and was named 'Organist of the Year' by the American Theatre Organ Society back in 2000. He has performed on most theatre organs in the USA, Australia and here in the UK. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
VARIOUS - Organ Spectacular (Triple CD)
August 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
This release is a bit of a whopper as it's a triple CD set and the second organ release from a company called 'Yesteryear', who specialise in nostalgic recordings. Their first organ release (that I am aware of anyway) was a Reginald Dixon triple CD released in 2009. Dates of the recordings aren't mentioned, but they seem to mainly date from the 1930s-1950s (with the odd exception such as the single Klaus Wunderlich track which is much later). As with a lot of these compilations there doesn't seem to have been much research into what tracks have been released on CD before, so many aren't new to the digital domain. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
Phil Kelsall - Waltzing In The Clouds
August 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
Now from a sampled theatre organ, to the real thing in a real venue, the Blackpool Tower to be precise. This is Phil Kelsall's follow up to last years "Welcome To My World" CD which was released to celebrate seventy-five years of the Blackpool Wurlitzer.
Phil was first appointed to the Tower Circus band in 1975, before becoming principal resident organist when Ernest Broadbent retired in 1977. He received his M.B.E. for services to music last year, so he therefor knows his market very well and always aims to please with his usual relaxed playing and good tune list. This release is also for all you dancers out there as it's another strict-tempo one. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
Phil was first appointed to the Tower Circus band in 1975, before becoming principal resident organist when Ernest Broadbent retired in 1977. He received his M.B.E. for services to music last year, so he therefor knows his market very well and always aims to please with his usual relaxed playing and good tune list. This release is also for all you dancers out there as it's another strict-tempo one. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
Michael Wooldridge - Virtualoso
August 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
From thirty-year old technology we move to the Twenty-first Century and the new release from Michael Wooldridge, which is his first CD for two years and his first theatre organ one since 2003. Now, I don't know if I should describe this as electronic or theatre, in fact I didn't know what section to list it on the website either, so I used my old motto, "If in doubt, list it in both".
The keyboards 'played' are a Roland Atelier AT-15 and Yamaha PSR-S900, but these aren't ever heard on the CD as they're just silent master keyboards linked to the computer and it's samples. The Atelier controls the pedals, accompaniment and great manuals and the Yamaha controls the solo manual. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
The keyboards 'played' are a Roland Atelier AT-15 and Yamaha PSR-S900, but these aren't ever heard on the CD as they're just silent master keyboards linked to the computer and it's samples. The Atelier controls the pedals, accompaniment and great manuals and the Yamaha controls the solo manual. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
George Blackmore, Bobby Pagan, Trevor Willetts and Console Compendium CDs
July 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
Here are four new CDs from Audicord founder (and later Amberlee Records owner) Ken Mellor. He has released some budget organ titles, mainly recorded in the 1960s. They have been released under his "Old Century Sounds" label which has an eclectic mix of titles in its catalogue, including steam and diesel locomotives, fairground organs, spoken word and bird song. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
John Bowdler - For You
April 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
This is the first electronic organ release from John Bowdler since "Happiness" three years ago and I should also say that it's his first Blackpool Tower release for five years as this one seems to be an attempt at merging the two organ sounds (and a very good attempt it is too). While the main organ is his standard Technics GA3, it's used in conjunction with a Roland Fantom XR module with the "Theatre Organ in a Box" "Tower+" Sample Software. This means that over half the CD features an incredible reproduction of the Blackpool Tower Wurlitzer. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
John Mann - Marches, Waltzes and Musicals
March 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
If you go by the CD booklet, then this recording seems to be one that John Mann has wanted to make for the past fifty-five years (or the past few decades at least). This hasn't been possible for a while as the 'Christie' organ fell silent during its restoration, but it's now back and this is the first CD release since its 'facelift' (in fact, the first recordings since Douglas Reeve in the 1980's). READ THE FULL REVIEW...
Tom Hazleton - Showtime!
March 2011 Review (Available from ORGANS.co.uk)
This new CD contains previously unreleased recordings on four theatre organs; the ex-Foort five-manual Möller (now in Pasadena, California), The Stoneham Town Hall Wurlitzer, The Avenue Wurlitzer (San Francisco) and The Redwood City Cap'n's Galley Wurlitzer. The dates of the recordings are difficult to trace but seem to span a thirty year period from around 1966 to 1996. READ THE FULL REVIEW...
