Every well-known pianist has their own instantly recognisable style.

Turn on the radio and just a few notes would tell you it was Russ Conway, Joe "Piano" Henderson, Semprini or whoever happened to be tinkling the ivories at that moment.

Few, however, know the name of Ray Turner, yet his sound is more easy to spot than any other.

Looking for a different sound for his piano, Ray began experimenting in the late Forties with electronic gadgetry, then in its infancy, and discovered many off-beat sounds could be created by passing the piano's sound through a series of valves, amplifiers, echo chambers and much twiddling of knobs.

Having found the sound he was looking for, he decided to do something unusual with it.

Remembering his far-off days as a young boy struggling to find the right notes during many frustrating piano lessons, the idea of a magic piano came to his mind - an instrument that would play all the right notes would have made his lessons a joy.

A fairytale was woven. The piano's player was to be called Sparky, very apt for an electronic piano, Ray thought.

Sparky dreaded his lessons until one amazing day when his piano suddenly started to speak, telling the little fellow not to worry as he (the piano) would put all the notes into their right order.

Sparky's teacher was amazed at his newfound brilliance and set about arranging a world concert tour for the newly discovered child-prodigy.

Carnegie Hall beckoned as Sparky's mother shook him gently to wake him from his slumbers.

It had, of course, all been just a dream.

They say we are all children at heart and Sparky's Magic Piano proved this to be so true, as young and old alike fell under the spell of Ray Turner's delightful 1950 record.

-Michael Parker, Brighton