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SBS One begins its screening...

 

SBS One begins its screening of the popular Australian TV chef's sunny new travel cookery show, featuring some gently heartfelt music from Momo. MAY 2011.

A TV programme about touring the Greek Peloponnese in search of fine food, wine and friendly cameraderie should be a fairly warm-hearted affair, you might imagine. And Lyndey Milan's new show airing on Australia's terrestrial SBS One from 26th May is certainly that. But, as dreamy and drool-inducing as Lyndey & Blair's Taste Of Greece surely is, the undeniable heart at the centre of the show runs a little deeper now, with the tragic news that Lyndey's son, co-presenter of the show, Blair, died suddenly in April of acute myeloid leukemia.

A understandable shock to a wide family of people, Blair's death has partly transformed the show into a very fitting tribute to this hugely-liked, affable young bon viveur, a rising star of Australian television.

Known widely to her Australian audiences, Lyndey has been determined to turn the family's grief into the best of memories and positivity – reflected in the sheer turn out for Blair's funeral at Easter. And Taste Of Greece could hardly be a more fitting memory of her son, it seems – something composer for the series, Timo Peach, would agree with.

"Sadly, I never met Blair, and I'd really hoped to" he says. "But it felt like I did, spending so much time with him on screen as I scored the show. The news was frankly shocking even on the other side of the world and not close to the family. But the production had really inspired me to put some heart and sunshine into the tunes and they sound somehow even sweeter to me now, as I think of Blair.

"I can think of one theme in the show in particular that he really inspired, long before the news. That bungy jump scene is a nice little moment as a memory, I think. I will toast him alone on that first night" he says. Before adding: "Except, I suppose I'd better not – it'll be 11.00am here in the UK. But, y'know. I think he'd be fine with me popping some coffee on instead."

As ever, Timo says that big thanks must go to director Ben Campbell of Rampage Studio in London for pulling him into the production. "I've written some of my favourite work for this project and it's due in big part again to direction and encouragement from Benny. He's put heart into the show again, along with all the really nice production crew at Sydney-based Naked Flame. But I also really couldn't have made such a sweet sound without Pete Whitfield of Realstrings and his beautiful violin talents once again, as well as new collaborator for Momo, Dominik Johnson – a fab plucked instrument maestro, who added some key bazouki and flamenco guitar to the arrangements. Wonderful."

Lyndey & Blair's Taste Of Greece airs at 8.00pm on SBS One in Australia, Thursday nights from May 26, and you can find out more by visiting the official website right here. A bit of which we've obviously borrowed for promotional continuity above.

In the mean time, pop straight to the Nuevo pages to here an exclusive selection of tunes by Momo:tempo written for the show.

 

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