Alegria Duo

Martin Cox is a highly versatile pianist/singer who is as comfortable playing soft jazz in a piano bar or cocktail lounge as he is belting out soul, rock’n’roll or Latin dance songs (sung in fluent Spanish and Portuguese) with full backings on his keyboard. He has years of experience playing in restaurants, hotels, weddings, corporate functions and festivals here and in Spain and can read the audience like the palm of his hand.

His enormous repertoire covers music from the 1920’s to now, encompassing jazz, pop, rock’n’roll, Spanish, Latin, soul, Motown, folk, classical, French, Italian and various other world music styles as well as his own songs and improvisations. He is also always happy to add new songs to his repertoire if your favourite song is missing.

Ballroom dance afficianados will especially love his ability to play popular Latin dance styles such as salsa, cha cha, merengue, samba, tango, rhumba as well as jive, waltz and hip-hop.

Martin plays piano or provides his own state-of-the-art keyboard which, as well as sounding like a piano, he uses to create quality backings in real time. This gives him amazing versatility and spontaneity as songs can be lengthened for example if the dance floor is buzzing.

Wedding Receptions and Ceremonies

With his enormous repertoire and the huge variety of styles he covers, Martin is perfect for a wedding of mixed ages and also mixed nationalities. He can provide soft background music (jazz, classical, pop ballads) for pre-dinner drinks and dinner sets and then wind up the dance floor with an array of popular dance songs from the 50’s to today with a healthy dose of popular Latin dance songs. As well as the Spanish and Latin American songs he can also throw in some French, Italian, Russian, German, Jamaican numbers (and plenty of Irish, Scottish, English and Australian folk songs) and is more than happy to learn a song or two for your wedding if you have any special requests.

With his experience with children and seniors (see below) he is ideally suited for a wedding of mixed ages.

Martin can also play the organ for weddings or can even take his keyboard to the beach or forest (if there’s a power supply within 50 metres) and play a realistic sounding church organ, harp or any other instrument you could desire for civil weddings or any other celebration you may have in mind. (see Wedding Ceremony Music)

Live Karaoke Shows

If someone feels a song coming on and wants to join in Martin has years of experience doing sing-a-longs and what he terms “Live Karaoke” shows which can be either a full show or just a part of his normal show. He provides various microphones so singers can get up in a group – often an easier and more fun way of getting over the nerves. With the keyboard he can also change key and tempo at the touch of a button. The lyrics are in a book on a music stand. This can be loads of fun at a wedding for example and Martin is expert at making sure it’s done in a tasteful way, people are enjoying it and it doesn’t go on too long

Children’s and Seniors’ Entertainment

He has worked extensively with children (see Children’s Shows) as a primary school music teacher and doing kids’ karaoke shows as well as seniors, doing seniors’ sing-a-longs (see Seniors’ Shows).

MC services

Martin has a great deal of experience as an MC – well his name is Martin Cox! – so he’s more than happy to MC your wedding, party or function.