 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Alan Holway was born in 1938 in Acocks Green (a suburb of Birmingham, U.K.) in the West Midlands. At the age of 8, Alan's parents took him to see the film "A Song to Remember - the life of Fredrick Chopin", as he was very musical. Alan was very inspired by the film and could see himself as a future Chopin! One year later he took up piano lessons and started to made good progress. Young Alan, as well as being able to memorise all his piano pieces, also had a flair for improvising. Unfortunately, Alan soon became bored of practising and gave up learning after two years. Between the ages of 11 and 17, Alan never even touched the keyboard. One day, he bought a record by a pianist, who was once rated as the most popular piano player in England and was still very well-liked at the time, although by then of a respectable age! This piano player was Charlie Kunz, who was born in the United States but made his life in England. Alan was fascinated by Charlie Kunz's style of playing and then very much regretted having given up learning music. He started to try to pick out on the piano some of the tunes Charlie Kunz performed on his records. Around that period, Alan split up with his girlfriend at the time, which meant that he had more free time on his hands, and so, at the age of 17, he decided to take up the piano again, starting from scratch. Alan bought an album of Charlie Kunz's medleys and, as well as playing classical music, he taught himself to play in syncopation - what is known as 'stride playing' today. Alan passed all his music exams and became his music teacher's star pupil! Alan played in public as often as he could and ended up winning two first prizes in playing competitions organised by a holiday camp, where he was staying! Initially, Alan would play in pubs to gain experience, later finding work in restaurants, clubs and hotels as he became more proficient. Alan also played the piano for a pantomime, for which he was ultimately asked to write the entire musical score! To crown Alan's achievements as a musician, he also established his own dance band in 1968, and wrote all of the band's stage arrangements. As already mentioned, Charlie Kunz's playing had a significant impact on Alan and became his life-long inspiration. The more discerned ear can also hear the influence of other pianists, such as Fats Waller and Russ Conway, in Alan's playing technique. Stella Silver April 2004 Track List: 1. Holiday Stroll 2. M'lord 3. Unchained Melody 4. Near You 5. Little Italy 6. Blue Moon 7. I'll Never Fall in Love Again 8. Ain't Misbehavin' 9. Caberet Medley 10. Laughter in the Rain 11. Lets Face the Music and Dance 12. Lisa 13. The Entertainer 14. Maple Leaf Rag 15. My Way 16. Something Stupid 17. Strangers in the Night 18. Fly Me to the Moon 19. New York, New York 20. The Good Old Bad Old Days Other Genres:
|