| Leyland Accordion Club - 15th February 2006
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Our February Concert
Our February Concert started with Colin Ensor playing a nice version of Pavements of Paris. Colin continued his session with Island Of Dreams, River Stay Away From My Door, Getting Sentimental Over You and The Maigret Theme. Ann Parker was our next player, starting with The Black Mask Waltz, Ann continued with Waltz Continentale, The Harry Lime Theme, Over The Waves and finally finishing with Beautiful Days. It was now Bill Agnew's turn to play. I missed most of the titles he played in his medley but I did manage to note that he played In The Mood, Forty Shades Of Green, Yellow Bird, Wooden Heart, Blueberry Hill, Blue Tango, Colonel Bogey, My Happiness, Down Town and Strutters Ball. After the first break of the evening, we started the second sesion with Basil Berry who played Girl From Iponema, Laura, Cavatina and the Cole Porter tune So In Love. Next to take to the stage was David Rigby playing Spinning Wheel, Daisy Bell and Whispering Hope. Fritz was next onto the stage, playing Beer Barrel Polka, Snow Waltz and Spanish Eyes. Harry Davies followed Fritz, playing Spanish Eyes, He'll Have To Go and Fernando. After Harry there was just time for myself to play my Cruising Down The River medley before leaving the stage to Bill Agnew to finish the night playing such tunes as Frankie and Johnny. Once again we had enjoyed a great local players night.
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Marine Hall Festival
The Blackpool and Wyre Accordion Festival is to be held on Saturday the 16th of April 2006 at The Marine Hall, Fleetwood. This is a day of competitions with sections throughout the day, and awards being given out around the early evening time. Entry forms for the competition must be recieved by Tuesday the 4th of April. To obtain an entry form, or to ask for further details of the festival, telephone Gina on 01253 778 764.
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Our Website
Our internet website has had 90,347 visitors as at 6th of March 2006. That's 717 visitors to the main page of our website since last month. The figure would have been higher but it's only 3 weeks since I wrote the last newsletter and therefore its 717 visitors over one 3 week period.
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This Wednesday
This Wednesday should be a good entertaining night as we see the return of Steve Roxton as our guest artist. Wednesday is only two days away from St. Patricks day so I expect there will be a good few Irish numbers played amongst the classical, French, accordion standards and other types of music Steve will be playing on the night. Why not bring some of your friends out for a good night of entertainment. We will have the usual raffle, coffee, tea, alcohol from the bar, good company, a few local players to warm the night up and then some excellent entertainment from Steve Roxton. Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start, I suggest you turn up early if you want to ensure a good seat. I look forward to seeing you there.
David Batty
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Orla PK400 Piano Accordion Keyboard
Orla have released the PK400 with Authentic Orchestral Voices and Organ Sounds, All instruments have 292 sampled sounds in each of the orchestral sections. These include the standard 128 General Midi voices + ORLA XM sound library voices. Each manual has real time Flutebars for creating your own original organ sounds with Flute or Tibia voicing. Both Tremolo and Vibrato effects are available on the Flutes. 40 unique accordion samples can be found within the Orchestra sections. A variety of features such as Reverb, 3D Sound Enhancer, Octave shift and Sustain can be used to enhance the sounds. Built In Registrations and Automatic Set Ups. In order to allow you to sit down and play straight away using professional sounding registrations, each of the 90 onboard rhythm styles has an Automatic Set Up. These convenient registrations set up the whole instrument instantly, using sounds appropriate to the musical style selected. The instruments allow the player to adjust these registrations to suit personal taste. The 16 Overall Presets also come preset with settings to get you started, once again covering a wide range of musical styles, including Organ Sounds, Orchestral, Jazz and Big Band. Advanced Rhythm Orchestrations Each one of the instruments has an extensive rhythm section featuring 90 different rhythm styles. These cover a broad range - from traditional dance rhythms such as Waltz, Foxtrot and Quickstep to modern contemporary beats and great Latin rhythms. Each style has 3 Variations, fully orchestrated Intros and Endings and Fill In patterns. Built in Performance Recorder with Disk Drive The built-in disk drive can be used to load and save musical data including registrations, rhythm styles and songs. Specifications are 120 basses - 44 piano keys, Polyphony 84 Notes, Upper Flutes, 9 Drawbar Flutes, 4 Organ Presets + 4 User Presets, Attack, Sustain, Motion Effect Slow/Fast, Percussion: 5 1/3', 4', 2 2/3', 3 Click type, Overdrive, Vibrato, Lower Flutes 5 Drawbar Flutes, 4 Organ Presets + 4 User Presets, Sustain. Upper Orchestra 218 Sounds + 22 User Sounds, 292 Internal sounds, Portamento, Poly/Mono, Octave, User, Volume, Special 14 Sounds + 14 User Sounds, 292 Internal Sounds, Chorus, Sustain, Octave, User, Volume. Lower Orchestra 22 Sounds + 22 User Sounds, 292 Internal Sounds, Chorus, Sustain, Octave, User, Volume BASS 8 sounds + 8 User Sounds, 292 Internal Sounds Sustain, Octave, User, Volume Rhythm Section 90 Styles with 3 Variations (5 parts arrangements), 16 User Styles, MFC/OFC, Auto Bass, Auto Chord, Memory, Split, Intro/Ending, Fade, Fill 1/2, Auto Start, Start/Stop, Drum Volume, Acc. 1, 2, 3 Volumes S.M.F. Disk Record, Play/Stop, Record, Pause, Melody On/Off, Scroll Up/Down, Rew./FF, Volume Auto Set-Up 90 Style Settings Overall Presets 16 User Programs Programmable Styles 16 Programmable Styles Effects Reverb: 12 Types - Chorus: 8 Types - Enhancer: 5 types Controls Master Volume, Lower Volume On/Off, OMC, Set Button Tuning Transpose, Pitch Dynamic On/Off, 5 selectable Curves Wheels Pitch, Modulation Midi 32 Midi Channels, Control Change On/Off, Program Change On/Off, Local Control On/Off, Int./Ext. Clock, Midi In (2)/Out/Thru Pedal Master Volume and Programmable Pedals Sockets L/R Outputs, L/R Inputs Headphone Headphone Socket Power 2 x 15 Watts Size (WxDxH) 115cm x 42cm x 19cm Weight PK400 - 31 Kg. It's nice to see the accordion mixed with a keyboard like this, there is also a button accordion version out.
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New Eastbourne Accordion Festival
As I write this, I am on the phone with John Romero checking that I can announce that The fourth Eastbourne Accordion Festival is going to be held from the 13th to 16th of October 2006. The news that the festival is going ahead was only confirmed today just as I was going to print with the newsletter. Artists already confirmed are David Lukins, Alan Young and John Romero. The Accordion Shop has already confirmed that it will be exhibiting, and more traders and artists are to be announced soon. This new October festival turns the regular February Eastbourne Accordion Festival into a bi-annual event. Details of the event, which costs £189 per person, can be obtained by ringing 01323 733700, ask for Jackie or John. By the time you read this, photographs of the last accordion festival at Eastbourne should be on the website www.carillonstudios.co.uk. The following text is taken from a review of last month's festival written by Ron Bennett. The 2006 Eastbourne Accordion Festival took place at the Cumberland Hotel from February 17th to 20th. A happy atmosphere prevailed throughout this well supported, sell out event. The event was a credit to the hard work and preparation by John and Jackie Romero. Their expertise in organising organ and keyboard festivals was apparent throughout this magical weekend dedicated to the accordion. Little touches from John and Jackie made the difference here. For instance, a personalised welcome pack for everyone on arrival, including a detailed programme of events, a free chocolate bar and a magazine. Also included, were complimentary afternoon tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes served daily in the comfort of the ballroom at 4pm with musical accompaniment provided by George Bennett (keyboard) and Harry Hussey (accordion). 10 hours of seminars & tuition were slotted into the weekend (covering all standards from beginners, advanced to jazz), and, in the evenings, over 12 hours of concerts were included in the ballroom. Gary Blair's ceilidh was enjoyed by all on the Saturday night as the chairs were quickly pushed aside to accommodate the many dancers and to test the sprung dance floor. Artistes included: Charlie Watkins, Gary Blair, Gennaro Fiondella, Harry Hussey, John Leslie, Lisa-Lee Leslie, Romeo Aichino, John Romero and Trevani.
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Phil Cunningham
Top accordionist, Phil Cunningham, will be playing with his regular partner, Aly Bain, on the 17th of March at The Roses Theatre, Edgehill College of Further Education, St Helen’s Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire. Phil is a master of high speed jigs and reels on the piano accordion and normally plays with Aly who accompanies him on the fiddle. I am sure that this will be a good event worth going to see.
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Blackpool Accordion Festival
The Blackpool Accordion Festival takes place from April 28th to May 1st at the Norbreck Castle Hotel. The guest artistes include Jean-Louis Noton (France), Ivar Dagenborg, Geir Aage and Ottar Johansen (Norway), Rosemary Wright (England) and Ian Cruikshanks (Scotland). Activities include a trade show, an auction, orchestras, workshops, concerts and dancing. For further information, telephone Tom Duncan on 01253 852648. There are around 50 days to go to the start of this festival if you are planning to do some playing practice or starting to save up the money to go.
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Stolen Accordion
A Piermaria electronic piano accordion has been stolen from Robert Beecroft, proprietor of the Birmingham Accordion Centre, England. The accordion is black, musette tuned, has 6 treble couplers, and has 5 bass couplers. The instrument, made about 1986, has some damage. It was stolen on February 10th by a group of Romanians who came into the shop, and is one of several similar incidents in the UK in recent times. |
