Laurence Knight, Pianist for All Occasions A highly talented, entertaining pianist and keyboardist.

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Description Price
Solo piano for upto three 45min sets£125

About / Biography

****ALSO AVAILABLE FOR OUTDOOR FUNCTIONS - WITH PORTABLE DIGITAL PIANO

If you`re looking for a pianist for your wedding, party or other function, I am the perfect choice. With 30 years` experience as a professional musician, many of them playing as solo pianist for cruise lines, I can call upon an extensive repertoire of material. Romantic ballads, songs from the shows, great film themes including James Bond....licensed to tinkle!..., iconic tracks from legends such as the Beatles, Elton John, Michael Buble, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Take That, ABBA, the Rat Pack, Billy Joel...all are at my fingertips - have a look at my set list. Special requests are no problem at all. Or maybe you prefer popular piano classics - again, not a problem, whether it be a beautiful Chopin Nocturne, the restful, soothing Moonlight Sonata, the haunting `Gymnopedie` from Satie, or Debussy`s Clair de Lune. Music to create the perfect ambience for a function, without being obtrusive.

Appearance is key, and I play appropriately attired in either suit and tie or formal tuxedo with bow tie.

I can also play for wedding ceremonies, including entrance music and hymns. How about a tailored arrangement of a special piece of music, timed perfectly for the walk to the altar? Favourite pieces can be accomodated - just advise of your requirements. As I also play church organ, a special package can be arranged to play both at the church service and the ceremony afterwards.

If you are holding a party, maybe a more up-tempo programme is required. I can enhance my playing with backing tracks and vocals to get people dancing and singing along.

It`s very easy to book. I am totally self-contained, and can provide lighting and compact PA system if needed - plus my own digital piano (Roland Stage Piano RD700SX) if the venue has no piano of its own. Pricing is dependant on the distance from Northampton; a base rate of £125 for a local booking, with an additional charge for travelling of 45p per mile from Northampton. Just drop me a message for a precise quote.

Available for:
*Background dinner or cocktail music, instrumental or with vocals, to accompany your evening or special occasion
*More up-tempo music, with vocals and backing tracks

*Wedding ceremony music including hymns and entrance/exit music

ALSO AVAILABLE AS
*Reading keyboards player with Korg keyboard and Roland Stage Piano; Musical Director for shows/pantomimes; and as organist (church or electronic).

Also available as first-class reading musician for bands, shows and tours, and I also work as Musical Director for pantomime. Since becoming a 'pro' pianist in 1990, I have worked with a plethora of well known acts including Jimmy Cricket, Bradley Walsh, Maureen Nolan, Kenny Baker (R2D2 in Star Wars), Jon Inman (Are You Being Served?), Bernie Clifton, Keith Harris and Orville, Bert Weedon, Hinge and Bracket and the Batchelors. Because I can read music on sight, learning bespoke pieces for your special occasion is easily and quickly accomplished.

Very little space is needed at your venue should I be providing my own digital piano with amplification, supplied at no extra cost. If needed, a PA system can be provided and stage lighting.

Playing the piano is my absolute passion, and this shines through in my performances.

Reviews (13)

There are currently 13 user ratings for Laurence Knight, Pianist for All Occasions

AVERAGE RATING

9.69 / 101

Location

Based in Northampton, Northamptonshire

Will travel up to 200 miles
green circle = areas covered (up to 200 miles)
pink circle = free travel (up to 50 miles)
Please note that the circles shown on the map are calculated "as the crow flies". By road distances may vary, so please get in touch for an accurate quote.

THEMED MEDLEYS:

ELTON JOHN (Candle in the Wind, Song for Guy, Can You Fell the Love Tonight, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Your Song, I Guess That`s Why They Call it the Blues, Don`t Let the Sun Go Down on Me)

TAKE THAT (Relight My Fire, Could it be Magic, Shine, Million Love Songs, Rule the World, The Greatest Day).

ABBA (The Winner Takes it All, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Money Money Money, Waterloo, Mamma Mia, Fernando, Thank You for the Music)

ABBA MEDLEY 2 (SOS, Voulez-Vous, Chiquitita, Does Your Mother Know, Lay all your Love on Me, I Have a Dream, Take a Chance on Me)

RAT PACK (Ain`t that a Kick in the Head, Straighten Up and Fly Right, Have You Met Miss Jones, Beyond the Sea, Mr Bojangles, Embraceable You)

STING (Fields of Gold, Every Step You Take)

MODERN MUSICALS (You Can`t Stop the beat, This Is Me, A Million Dreams)

SHOWTUNES (Memory, Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door, I Won`t Send Roses, Love Changes Everything, I Know Him So Well, Music of the Night)

MORE SHOWTUNES! (Starlight Express, Wishing You Were Here Again, Phantom of the Opera, Don`t Cry for Me Argentina, This is the Moment)

ADELE (Someone Like You, Make You Feel my Love, Rolling in the Deep, Skyfall)

ED SHEERAN (Thinking Out Loud, Perfect)

BEATLES (Let it Be, Lady Madonna, Imagine, With a Little Help from My Friends, Norwiegan Wood, Something, Till There was You, Michelle, Yesterday, Hey Jude, When I`m Sixty-four....and many others; I have a sheet music album of 200 Beatles songs).

DISNEY (Beauty and the Beast, Let it Go, Kiss the Girl, Undder the Sea, You`ve Got a Friend in Me, King of the Swingers, Everybody wants to be a Cat, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, When You Wish Upon a Star).

NAT `KING` COLE (Stardust, Mona Lisa, When I Fall in Love, L-o-v-e, Paper Moon, Unforgettable)

FRANK SINATRA (Fly Me to the Moon, Come Fly with Me, Blue Moon, Strangers in the Night, Something Stupid, Laura, That`s Life, My Way, One for my Baby and One More for the Road)

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL (Bridge over troubled Waters, Mrs Robinson, Bright Eyes, The Boxer, The Sound of Silence, Cecilia)

MATT MONROE ( Impossible Dream, Born Free, Walk Away, Portrait of my Love)

JAZZ STANDARDS (a large number that includes Georgia, Ain`t Misbehavin`, Autumn Leaves, Summertime, Misty, Anything Goes, Someone to Watch Over Me, I Got Rythm, Fascinating Rythm, As Time Goes By)

BURT BACHARACH (I`ll never Fall in Love Again, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, This Guy`s in Love with You, Walk on By, Alfie, Always something There to Remind Me, When you Get Caught Between ther Moon and New York City)

CARPENTERS (Close to You, Goodbye to Love, Yesterday Once More, Superstar, Rainy Days and Mondays, We`ve Only Just begun)

Individual songs...not an exhaustive list!

Angels

You Raise Me Up

Unchained Melody

Alleluliah

A Thousand Dreams

Andrew Lloyd Webber Tribute

Les Miserables Medley

Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, Elite Syncopations, The Easy Winners (Scott Joplin), Black and White Rag (rec. Winifred Atwell)

Stevie Wonder Medley

Honky Tonk Train Blues

West Side Story and Rogers/Hammerstein selections

Classical pieces by Chopin (including Nocturne Eb, Raindrop Prelude, Waltz C#m, So Deep is the Night, Fantasie-Impromptu)

Classical pieces by Beethoven (inc Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Sonata Pathetique)

Religious pieces inc Paschabel Canon, Jesu Joy of Man`s Desiring, Ave Maria)

Clair de Lune , Debussy

Your Song

Ain`t Misbehavin`

Kissing You (Romeo & Juliet)

Wide selection of Christmas music

All of Me (Standard)

Have I Told You Lately that I Love You

Everything (Michael Buble)

Morning Has Broken

For a Thousand Years

Mad World (Jennifer Ann version of Tears for Fears original)

All of Me (Johnny Legend)

You Build Me Up

How Can I Live Without You

Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Make You Feel My Love

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

More Than a Woman to Me, Piano Man (Billy Joel)

Lady in Red

The Wind beneath My Wings

Let It Be (Frozen)

The Rose

Cavatina

Piano Man (Billy Joel)

Jazz Standards: I Got Rhythm, As Time Goes By, Summertime,

Autumn Leaves, Someone to Watch Over Me, Every Time We Say Goodbye, Top Hat and Tails

Sinatra tribute, inc That`s Life, You Make Me Feel so Young, New York New York, Blue Moon, Come Fly with Me, My Way

The Way We Were

Memory

I Know Him So Well

San Fransisco

Misty

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

OLD FASHIONED SINGALONG (Don`t Dilly Dally, Daisy, If You Were the Only Girl in the World, Lilly of Laguna, Waiting at the Church, Danny Boy, I`m Forever Blowing Bubbles, Bull and Bush, Long Way to Tipperary, Pack Up Your Troubles, Hello Hello, Who`s Your Lady Friend, Knees Up Mother Brown, On Mother Kelly`s Doorstep)

PATRIOTIC MEDLEY (Rule Brittania, Land of hope and glory, Scotland the Brave, We`ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillside, Cockles and Mussels, There`ll Always be an England)

TRIBUTES: Billy Joel (The Longest Time, Honesty, Root Beer Rag, My Life, Piano Man, Just the Way You Are, Always a Woman to Me)

DAVID BOWIE (Starman, Life on Mars, Space Oddity)

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (The Hills are Alive, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, Lonely Goatherd, Do Re Mi, My Favorite Things, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Something Good, Climb Every Mountain)

ELVIS PRESLEY (Always on y Mind, Suspicious Minds, The Wonder of You, Can`t Help Falling in Love with You, Teddy Bear, Hound Dog, All Shook Up, American Trilogy)

STEVIE WONDER (Lately, For Once in My Life, My Cherie Amour, Isn`t She Lovely, I Just Called to say I Love You, Sir Duke, You are the Sunshine of my Life)

JEROME KERN (All the Things you Are, Bill, Smoke Gets in your Eyes, It`s Only Make Believe, The Way You Look Tonight, Ole Man River, A Fine Romance)

IVOR NOVELLO (We`ll Gather Lilacs, I Can Give You the Starlight, My Dearest Dear, Waltz of my Heart)

SILVER SCREEN TRIBUTE (Everything I do, I Do it for You, Up Where We Belong, Dream of Olwen, Exodus, Lara`s Theme from Dr Zhivago)

JAMES BOND (James Bond Theme, Nobody Does it Better, Thunderball, Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, Skyfall)

GREAT OPERA SONGS (Nessun Dorma, Be My Love, Mio Babbino Cara, O Sole Mio, Time to Say Goodbye)

BARRY MANILOW (I Can`t Smile Without You, Mandy, Could It Be Magic, I Write the Songs, Copacabana)

WEST SIDE STORY (Maria, America, I Feel Pretty, Tonight, Somewhere)

MUSIC OF ROGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN (The Sound of Music, I Have Dreamed, Some Enchanted Evening, Something Good, Oh What a beautiful Morning, Bali Hai!, Climb Ev`ry Mountain)

MY FAIR LADY SELECTION: I Could Have danced All Night, Wouldn`t it be Loverly, On the street Where You Live, The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plain, Get Me to the Church On Time

CHRISTMAS SELECTION TO HELP YOUR PARTY GO WITH A SWING:

Mary`s Boy child

O Holy Night

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Last Christmas (George Michael)

Here it is, Merry Christmas

Winter Wonderland

Merry Christmas Everyone

Let it Snow, lewt it Snow, let it Snow

Streets of London

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

All I Want for Christmas is You

Children Roasting by an Open Fire

Jingle Bells

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Walking in the Snow

Frosty the snowman

In Dulce Jubilo

Sleigh Ride

CAROLS:

Silent Night

O Little Town of bethlehem

Good King Wenceslas

Hark the Herald

O Come All Ye faithful

In the Bleak Mid-Winter

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

MY FAIR LADY SELECTION: I Could Have danced All Night, Wouldn`t it be Loverly, On the street Where You Live, The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plain, Get Me to the Church On Time

VOCAL REPERTOIRE: Over 60 songs ranging from Rock and Roll, the Drifters, Elton John, Billy Joel, Michael Buble, Robbie Williams` swing album, to Abba, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton...full set list available on request.

Technical Info

What are your basic technical requirements?

Apart from enough space to perform in, all I need is a power point and somewhere to get changed.


Do you provide sound and lighting equipment?

I can also provide a mic, PA and some lighting, and background music prior to the performance if required.


What information do you require about a venue?

All l need regarding the venue is the address, postcode and arrival time.


Can you provide a Spotify/DJ service before and between your sets?

I'm happy to provide background music prior to my performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best gig you've ever done and the best venue you've ever played at?

I will never forget playing in the orchestra on Cunard Queen Elizabeth accompanying some incredible acts.


Which artists have you been most influenced by, who is your favourite artist and what is the greatest song of all time?

Piano icons l revere include Billy Joel, Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Scott Joplin, Winifred Atwell, Jools Holland and an outstanding classical pianist called Maria King.


What's your previous experience and how did you start gigging?

My first gigs were in Working Men's Clubs accompanying cabaret shows. This is where I came to work with Bradley Walsh, Colin Crompton from the Wheeltappers and Shunters TV show, and many local Midlands acts. I went on to run bands at Butlins, Pontins and Haven before going to sea with cruise ships work as solo pianist.


What's your favourite type of event to play at?

Without doubt, weddings are a joyous occasion and my favourite type of event.


How much do you charge?

This depends on distance and playing times but for an event within 15 miles of Northampton, two 45 minutes sets, £160.

Performance Info

What are your typical setup and performance times?

Can play as required - two or three sets of 45min is the norm. Set-up time usually 30-40 mins.


Are you happy to perform outside?

I am always happy to play outdoors as long as l am protected from the rain!


Do the clients have a say in what you play or is it a set repertoire list only?

I am always keen to liaise with clients regarding repertoire. Not only can l use my experience to guide the client regarding set lists, but also agree on special requests. My experience means that I'll probably know songs that are asked for, but if not I'm happy to download arrangements and learn songs from scratch.


How do previous clients most commonly describe your performances?

I am frequently complimented on my playing, my friendly, can-do attitude and the flair for creating the perfect ambience for an event.

Recent Clients

Laurence Knight, Pianist for All Occasions has performed for these clients:

Warner Hotels

P & O, resident pianist/vocalist

Park Resorts

Paul Holman Associates

Barcello Hotels

Duggie Chapman Productions

UK Productions

Carnival UK (Cunard Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria)

Fred Olsen (Bolette, Borealis, Balmoral)

P&O Cruises (Ventura, Azura, Arcadia, Aurora, Iona)

Ashby Big Band (various engagements)

Resident pianist on Brittany Ferries (Pont Aven)

Venues

Laurence Knight, Pianist for All Occasions has performed at these venues:

Queens Room, Cunard cruise ships

Barcelo Hotels

Warners Hotels (Nidd Hall, Thoresby Hall, Cricket St Thomas, Gunton Hall)

Leicester Guildhall

Availability Guide

= Available
= Unavailable

More Info

Events types:

Wedding

Birthday Party

Private Event

Corporate Event

Hotel / Restaurant Event

Funeral / Memorial

Wedding Proposal

Cruise

Charity Event

Theatre Show

Christmas Party

New Year's Eve

Genres:

Classical

Film / TV

Musical Theatre

Medieval / Early Music

1920s Music

1930s Music

1940s Music

1950s Music

1960s Music

1970s Music

1980s Music

1990s Music

2000s+ Music

Jazz

Blues

Dixieland / Ragtime

Swing

Christmas

Church Music

Easy Listening

Background Music

Country

Pop

Covers

Motown

Soul

Tribute

Classic Rock

Rock 'n' Roll

Features:

PAT tested

Lighting system included

Instrumental

PA / sound system included

Uses backing tracks

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