9/7/2010 [About Yamaha]
Yamaha AvantGrand artist and ‘Weekend Wogan’ MD Elio Pace popped into Yamaha Head Office this week and treated management to an impromptu performance of his composition, ‘What a Day’ -- signature tune to Radio Two’s flagship live ‘Weekend Wogan’ show, backed by the big band sound of a Yamaha CVP 509 Clavinova.
For Elio who has been playing Yamaha digital pianos all his professional life, the visit provided an opportunity to discuss Yamaha models past and present and get a glimpse of the future as he checked out the full range of Yamaha’s latest and soon to be launched digital pianos and keyboards.
Elio chose Yamaha’s extraordinary new N3 AvantGrand 'Hybrid' piano to take centre stage with him on ‘Weekend Wogan’ that is in the 16th week of a 36 show run and has so far been screened to more than 5 million BBC Digital Red Button viewers. Elio was chosen to be Musical Director for the series after his Xmas single ‘What A Day’ was adopted by legendary broadcaster Terry Wogan for his former breakfast show. Now Elio performs 3 weekly solo spots and has so far accompanied guest artists including Craig David, Beverly Knight, Katie Melua, Rick Astley, Glenn Campbell, Mika, Mica Paris, Albert Lee and Yamaha Avant Grand artist Paul Carrack, who tours using an N2 Upright model, using the N3 AvantGrand.
Elio told us, “I had read the fantastic reviews about the AvantGrand piano and went along to Chappell’s music store to see it for myself. The moment I saw it, the design took my breath away and even though the store was closing and I had literally two minutes to try it, I knew instantly from the feel and touch that this was something special and that I just had to have one of these incredible new pianos for the new show. When it arrived for the rehearsals not only did it look stunning on stage, but the wonderful deep, rich sound was simply amazing and completely blew me away. The unbelievable touch response was indistinguishable from that of an acoustic grand piano. For some reason, I always like to test a new piano by playing the lowest ‘E’ with the little finger of my left-hand before any other note. I find that somehow that note speaks to me about the quality of the instrument. And when I did exactly that with the AvantGrand, it took my breath away as it felt as if I was playing the most gorgeous real acoustic grand piano with the sensation of the key resonating to the string vibration. The whole playing experience is out of this world. No wonder I was surrounded by my musicians, sound engineers and even the show’s producer, who all wanted to have a go. I made them wait a good while!”
Elio is the latest artist to embrace Yamaha’s AvantGrand hybrid pianos that are becoming increasingly admired and played by some of the world’s most respected and acclaimed classical, jazz and contemporary piano artists including Artur Pizarro, one of the world's most highly renowned concert pianists, jazz legend, composer and bandleader Julian Joseph and Paul Carrack, one of the UK's most popular musicians, all of whom have endorsed the musicality and versatility of the elegantly sculpted AvantGrand models, the N2 (upright) and N3 (grand).
Launched last year to huge enthusiasm from media, piano professionals, musicians and the European Piano Teachers Association, these unique new hybrid instruments have opened a new chapter in piano development and design and marked a new era in the history of the traditional pianoforte.
The hybrid nature of the piano is a result of combining a traditional concert grand piano keyboard action -- complete with hammers -- with some of the world's most advanced sampling technology, developed specially for the AvantGrand.
Artists are keen to point out that, in their professional opinion, the AvantGrand is the first non-acoustic instrument to create a physical and emotional relationship with the player, offering a true acoustic piano experience. The newly developed tactile Response System transmits 'string' vibrations through the keyboard action to the player's hands. To a serious and accomplished pianist, feeling these vibrations is integral to the playing process.
In addition to the keyboard action, the AvantGrand offers highly detailed and accurate sound made possible by Yamaha's proprietary and highly advanced sampling capability. This is matched by the superb four-channel, three-way spatial acoustic speaker system, complimented by two sound board resonators that exactly duplicate the non-directional sound dispersion felt and heard by concert pianists.
Over the past 20 years Elio Pace has toured the world performing in his own right and also as musical director and performer for artists such as Martha Reeves, Huey Lewis, Suzi Quatro, Kiki Dee, Ronan Keating and Shakin Stevens to name but a few. As well as running his own successful band for over 17 years, Elio spent 3 years playing in guitar legend Albert Lee's band as well as producing Albert’s 2008 studio album 'Like This' which received rave reviews and included one of Elio's own compositions.
Now with a major record deal under his belt, Elio is preparing to release his new album 'A Seat At My Table' featuring 12 of his original songs + 2 bonus tracks including ‘What a Day’ and special guest appearances by Albert Lee and Elvis Presley's bass player, Jerry Scheff.
www.avant-grand.com
www.eliopace.com www.myspace.com/eliopace
