I can’t let the recent passing of Isao Tomita go without a final comment from me.

I’ve got pretty much all the Tomita vinyl but the one lp I don’t have is his Ravel album. I was at an antiques fair a little while ago and found a number of his albums including a lovely double gatefold Greatest Hits compilation which has Ravel’s 'Bolero' and 'Pavane' - 3 quid, looked good, so I snapped it up.

As with all Tomita productions the invention and creativity is just stunning. Remember they are made on entirely analogue synthesisers, so it's all about creating new sounds, not having them preset for you - he could spend months on just a few bars of music to get the sounds he wanted.  The albums are all of 'audiophile' quality and it's quite amazing to hear these sounds you've never heard before being produced in such an evocative manner.

It’s much more than doing ‘covers’ of classical staples - it’s about bringing something fresh to them and interpreting them in a startling way for me. Here is the Bolero - turn it up *loud* and stay with it, because it builds, and builds and builds …

I would have adored to have seen Tomita play live but that chance has now gone - Isao Tomita farewell.