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Scarborough’s James Grunwell makes a welcome return this weekend with The Wonderful Sound of the Cinema Organ.  

The event takes place at the Stephen Joseph Theatre this Saturday at 7.30pm, and is just one of James’ many musical ventures.

Knowing that James has played with the Tom Townsend Blues Band before, I enquire as to how his musical career started.  He explains: “I had a wonderful music teacher at school, Sue Parker, she was inspirational; I tried a few different instruments but guitar was the one, finally, that seemed the right fit for me.  When I was about 14, I got together with a friend of mine who also played guitar and started a band.  Other things have all just come along from there.  I’ve played with a couple of bands in Scarborough,  Frequency and The Juxtaposed as well as with the Tom Townsend Blues Band.  I’ve played Vivaz many a time, and we nearly managed to work in a slot to play there after the SJT gig, but sadly couldn’t quite get enough of us together to make it work – this time!

Moving on to James’ current outfits, I learn that his three Leeds-based bands are all quite different.  “All the bands essentially came about through joining up with other Leeds College of Music attendees.  There is a small bit of crossover – the singer, cellist and myself from The Wonderful Sound of the Cinema Organ (TWSOTCO) are also in Me and My Friends, but that’s the only link.  Me and My Friends are about lots of reggae and African beats, whilst Kabuki is disco and soul. Then TWSOTCO is a blend of lots of things – but with a strong jazz influence.”

I enquire as to how the whole concept of playing music to archive footage had come about – much like early cinema would have had live music, except here, the music is foregrounded with a fascinating visual backdrop. James explains, “We’d just been experimenting around playing music against the 1940 Charlie Chaplin film, ‘The Great Dictator’; we’d found some amazing free online archives, and software that really helps you to integrate the film. Our jazz sounds works well with the vintage visuals.  There will be a bit of everything, really, a mix of types of material – some excerpts from more recognisable old films, or news footage.”  

What about being back home, and performing again on the Round stage? “Both being home and being in the Round is great, plus we get to play with some of their brilliant kit, like their Steinway piano!  It should be a lovely gig.  We find that our performance suits a theatre environment slightly better than a pub, partly because you can lose the subtleties of the cello and violin when there’s a lot of background noise, so here you’ll get the full spectrum of sound; it’s a nice theatre, and great when people come along to actively listen.  We have two sets of about 45 minutes each, and can showcase some of the ‘calmer’ side of what we do.  We are influenced by so many styles, classic jazz, contemporary music, electronic dance… despite the name, we’re certainly not bringing a ‘typical’ cinema organ sound – think of it as live music with a stimulating backdrop.”

The Wonderful Sound of the Cinema Organ at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.  Saturday 16th November, 7.30pm. Tickets £12.50, £10 students – for SJT website, click here.

To see some examples of the band’s work: http://www.youtube.com/user/cinemaorganvideos

Find them on Facebook and their own website.