Strawberry Wine & Citron Tarts Chris McPhee Available on CD Special! $5 with the purchase of any regularly priced CD! Quantity:   Or : CD $17 Quantity:   UK Customers Only (PPD): CD 12 GBP Quantity:

Live at Karrinyup Community Centre, Australia

1 Sabre Dance
2. Country Gardens
3. Memory Lane/Bird Songs at Eventide
4. Mexican Hat
5. Fly Me to the Moon
6. In the Wee Small Hours
7. Nevertheless
8. Nessun Dorma
9. Czardas
10. My Old Flame
11. My Dreams are Getting Better all the Time
12. Biggest Aspidistra in the World
13. Sonny Boy
14. At the Cod Fish Ball
15. We’ll Gather Lilacs
16. I’ll See You in my Dreams
17. Overture to the Barber of Seville
18. Tea for Two

Strawberry Wine and Citron Tarts. Sounds delightfully decadent! Certainly if you have a passion for some of life’s little indulgences which you find simply irresistible, this title may be conjuring up all kinds of tantalizing images in your mind.

Well, just before you get all set to rush out and buy a month’s supply of strawberry wine and citron tarts, firmly place those images under control, turn on your CD player, pull up a comfortable chair, turn the lights down low and allow your senses to be enveloped by the sounds of the Mighty WurliTzer in the capable hands of Chris McPhee. Then savour the essence of the concert experience. With this, his sixth recording, Chris seeks to entice you, without even leaving your house, to join him in the spirit of fun and spontaneity of a live concert performance, creatively fusing a diversity of music into a well-crafted unified presentation.

There is a certain zest and freshness about a live performance that is often lost in recording sessions where numbers may be played dozens of times before that perfect take is made. There is no chance for a second take in a concert! Imperfections happen. Pipe organs can be temperamental beasts too, providing sometimes unexpected challenges for the organist to overcome. It’s all part of the live experience...and when you get an audience that is all set to have a good time, that whole experience becomes all that much more enjoyable. Listen to the lady spontaneously join in singing the chorus of one of the tunes. Feel all the eyes turn towards the person who drops something on the floor at that crucial moment of silence. Join in the sheer pleasure of a congregation of people having a thoroughly good time.

This concert took place in Perth, Western Australia on 3rd October, 2004. The organ is a three-manual, 21-rank WurliTzer installed in the Karrinyup Community Centre, which is owned by the City of Stirling. I first heard this instrument when it was in the Perth Metro Theatre back in 1971. Then, it had two manuals and twelve ranks of pipes. Ray Clements and John Fuhrmann purchased the Metro organ in 1972 and, over the years, expanded the instrument to its present size. In its new home, it enjoys regular local use and forms part of an international concert circuit for organists visiting Australia and New Zealand. The organ is rather special to Chris, since it was the first interstate organ he ever performed on, when he was just fifteen years of age. One of the most colourful and loveable stalwarts of the Theatre Organ Society in the West back then was Mal Mclnnes, who quickly became an avid supporter and friend of Chris. As Chris developed his talents, and was engaged to return for further performances, it was he who planted the seed
that Chris should someday record the organ. Well, the years passed, and it wasn’t until the morning after the 3rd October concert that the idea finally germinated. The concert had been recorded for archival purposes, and was never really intended to be released. But, over breakfast with John Fuhrmann, discussions on how everything seemed to come together so well during the concert led Chris to look seriously at releasing the recording, despite a few imperfections. Had he still been alive, Mal would have been thrilled. The end result is a captivating feast of music splendidly played by Chris in concert at the Karrinyup WurliTzer.

Chris continues to evolve a playing style distinctively his own. This concert programme is composed of many pieces that have become very popular with audiences. That clean, precise touch of his is very much evident in every number on this disc. Chris also takes inspiration from various notable theatre organists past and present. During this concert, you’ll hear Percy Grainger’s “Country Gardens”, inspired by the late, great George Wright’s arrangement of another piece, “Tip Toe Through the Tulips”. It stems from the involvement Chris had with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Grainger Festival in October 2003. A particular favourite with Chris, “Fly Me to the Moon”, is based upon the original arrangement by jazz organist, Harry Stoneham, And, American organist Bill Vlasak provided the inspiration for “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time”. Nostalgic memories will be a evoked for many theatre organ lovers when the strains of “Memory Lane”, forever associated with Knight Barnett’s radio broadcasts during the 5Os and 6Os from the Adelaide Regent Theatre, are used to introduce an evocative setting of “Bird Songs at Eventide”, played by Chris from Knight Barnett’s own personal copy of the sheet music. Most of what you’ll hear on this disc, however, are all Chris’ own arrangements. The final number in this programme, for example, “Tea for Two” was prepared specially to be played as an organ solo leading into a season of the film of the same name in a private theatre in South Australia. There are four tracks that have been featured on previous albums, but here they are heard in a concert setting on a different theatre organ. So here, then, in the comfort of your own home, is the chance to experience the pleasure of a live concert performance by Chris McPhee. His obvious affection for music and consummate musicianship turns listening to this broad and diverse assortment of musical selections into a memorable event.

Oh...and what do the strawberry wine and citron tarts have to do with all this? Well, it just happens that these simply irresistible delights are traditionally proffered to each and every artist who comes to perform at Karrinyup! Makes the mouth water!

John Thiele