| Leyland Accordion Club - 15th November 2006
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Our November Concert
Our November concert started with Basil Berry playing Tenderly, Girl From Ipanema, I Only Have Eyes For You, Small Hotel and I'm In The Mood For Love. Colin Ensor followed this with Forget me Not Lane, Getting Sentimental Over You, The Maigret Theme and Try A Little Tenderness. It was now time for our guest artist Rosemary Wright to play. Rosemary, who was making her debut at Leyland Accordion Club started by playing Largo Al Factotum from The Barber Of Seville by Rossini, this was played on her Hohner Gola accordion. Rosemarys programme continued with Tango-Etude No 3 by Piazzolla. Her next piece, Meditation from Thais, was followed by Festa Rusticana and Ballade Pour Adeline. The entertainment continued with Spanish Gypsy Dance and Take Five. Rosemary then swapped to her Brandoni accordion to play The Maigret Theme by Ron Grainer. The music continued on her Brandoni with The 6.20 Two Step by Jimmy Shand, MacFarlane O' The Sprotts, Highland Whisky and Staten Island. To finish her first session, Rosemary played Comet Valse, Mazurka Italiana and Accordeon Samba. After the break we continued the entertainment with Alan Gelling playing Carousel Waltz, Dark Island and The Carnival Is Over. Ann Parker was our next artist playing Bel Viso and Beautiful Days. After my rendition of Blackpool Belle it was time for Rosemary to return to the stage. She started her second session with Dancing Fingers, Bourrasque and Tarantella Napoletana. After Au Sommet Du Cervin the music continued with Swinging Safari and The Jacqueline Waltz. The Flying Scotsman was followed by Sing Sing Sing and Divertimento For Accordion and Gabriel's Oboe. It was almost time to finish the evening now, so Rosemary finished with two pieces - Accordion Theme by Guzzini and Czardas by Monti. As usual it had been a great evening, there had been quite a few classical pieces played that we had not heard at Leyland before, and we all had a great time. Rosemary was selling her CD's and souvenir photos of herself at the end of the evening as the crowds slowly dispersed. Rosemary went back to Leicestershire the following morning, having made the long journey up here earlier in the day to play for us. David Batty
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Accordion For Sale
Guerrini Accordion - Classic model, 96 Bass, Full musette, 4 voice, 37 treble keys, double cassotto, hand made reeds, full decoration in black, pearlised keys, 9 treble couplers, 3 bass couplers, quality sound, complete with fully lined hard case, beautiful instrument. £2200.
For further details Email becki.parker@btinternet.com or telephone 01772 864887 and ask for Ann Parker
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How Music Works - Howard Goodall
On the 21st of December, the satellite tv channel More4 will be broadcasting two programs by Howard Goodall called How Music Works. There were four of these programmes in the series covering melody, harmony, bass and chords. The programmes start at 9pm.
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Alan Venn Weekend
Alan Venn has sent me details of his 2007 accordion and keyboard events at Blackpool. This is to be held from Monday 18th of June to Thursday 21st June 2007 at its usual venue of The Mount Hotel, North Shore, Blackpool. Alan is also running an event at The Annan Hotel, Llandudno from 19th to 23rd March and also 1st to 5th October 2007.Give Alan a ring on 01204 840279 for further details of any of these events.
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This Wednesday
This Wednesday is our Christmas Party. As usual we are having a Jacob's Join. This is where we all bring along a few sandwiches, cakes, sausage rolls, pork pies etc. and we put it all together into a big feast. We always have a great night in December, while the food is being put out, we have structure to the evening, then once the food is ready we have an open stage where we experience unusual pairings of players and less confident players making their debut, because everyone is talking and eating so few people are taking notice of who is playing. This is ideal for folks trying something new or taking to the stage for the first time. If you are nervous about playing on stage then this month is an ideal time to have a go because most people will be chatting and tucking in to the food, so bring your accordion along and have a go. The doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. During the first half hour or so we will be layout out the food, getting plates ready etc while the entertainment continues on stage, then the lights go up and the stage is open to players to make their own way there when the see a gap in the playing. Make sure you get there early for a good seat. I look forward to seeing you there.
David Batty
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Our Website - 9 years - 100,000 visitors
Our Internet website has had 100534 visitors as at 15th of December 2006. That's 1229 visitors to the main page of our website since last month. We reached the 100,000 visitor milestone on 30th of November 2006, after exactly 9 years of the site being on the Internet. The accordion club website was online when most people had not heard of the Internet, and relatively few people were using it. Those of us who were on it in 1997 were 'Geeks' according to some! This reminded me of when I first got a mobile phone in around 1991. I got comments from people like "who do you think you are!", and "Why would anyone want to make phone calls in the street"! I just wish I could remember who these people were so I could see what they have to say now. I have tended to be an early adopter of good interesting technology. Last year I got stick for having a bluetooth earpiece in my ear for my mobile phone, my response was that soon most people will be using them, but this time I have made a note of the person who made the comment so I can pull them up in future when they buy one themselves. Our online radio station is doing well, this has been broadcasting since 27th of March 2001 which is almost 6 years (how time flies). We have had 1890 listener hours in the past 30 days, the average listening time is around 20 minutes which means that someone has visited and started listening to the station 5670 times in 30 days (I don't think it's the same person!). I now have more room on the server which broadcasts the music so I am in the process of vastly increasing the list of music played by the station, this should bring in even more listeners. I run the radio station from a server in America and I pay monthly for a licence to broadcast from the USA. To comply with broadcasting laws I have to stick to certain rules about how many tracks from one artist can be broadcast in 24 hours and other similar rules. The software ensures that my broadcast is 'compliant'. This, along with the monthly fee, ensure it's all legal and above board. You can track the number of visitors to our website yourself by watching the counter at the top of the main page on each visit you make, or for the radio station just hover your mouse to the right of where it says TLH (Total Listener Hours). I do have a new project up my sleeve at the moment which I will announce in early 2007, this will raise our profile even more on the web, and will make sure that more accordionists worldwide will have heard of Leyland Accordion Club.
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New Accordion Museum
The opening of the Alex Accordion Museum took place on December 7th, from 6pm to 8pm. Alex Carozza, a prominent accordion dealer and technician is opening New York City's only accordion museum on 48th Street in Times Square, 165 West, 48th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenue.
"Everyone wants to play accordion today and I want to show them its history. I've been collecting accordions my whole life," says Alex, "but my wife was going to kill me with all the accordions piling up in our home!" So Alex brought them to his 48th Street shop, realized he had amassed a very interesting collection, and so, the Alex Accordion Museum was born!
The display includes NYC's Acme Accordion, from 1941: black with metal pinstripes, suggestive of the Chrysler Building. There's the E. Galizi Bros. model, an angelic ivory body with a gold pearled inlay, circa 1920. Then, there are true relics such as a Soprani accordion from the first line of accordions to ever use a keyboard instead of buttons on the right hand side. There's also the third prototype for the bandoneon, hand made by bandoneon inventor Heinrich Band in the mid-1800s. But there are also 21st Century accordions like the Roland FR-7, with integrated electronics and no reeds.
Born in Italy, Alex and his brothers fled the Mussolini regime to Buenos Aires in 1933. There, he worked at the Maestro Accordion factory, hand-making and tuning reeds, working his way up to Chief Technician. After decades of efforts, Alex was finally able to immigrate to the USA and in New York, he continued his career as an accordion technician and retailer. He is now the proud owner of Alex Accordion and Guitar on 48th Street in Manhattan, Music Row.
The Alex Accordion Museum will be open to the public and free, Monday through Friday 10am to 6pm, starting Friday, December 8th.
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Eastbourne Accordion Festival 2007
The next Eastbourne Accordion Festival is to be held at its usual venue of The Albany Hotel, Eastbourne from the 16th to the 19th of February 2007. The guest artists announced so far are Steve Roxton, Gary Blair, Harry Hussey, Gennaro Fiondella and Richard Adey with stands and playing from Charlie Watkins and Trevani. The Accordion Shop will also be selling their wares throughout the weekend. Further details and a booking form can be obtained from John Romero on 01323 733700 or by writing to Carillon Studios, 2 The Retreat, Avard Crescent, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN20 8TY.
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Guest Artist Booked
I have booked Johnny Coleclough as our guest artist for our January 2007 concert. I was amazed when I realised that it will be four years since Johnny played for us, back in January 2003! The night promises to be a good friendly affair, as is normal when you get Johnny Coleclough on the stage with his music, jokes and anecdotes.
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Club Membership
Many thanks to those of you who have paid your annual £5 subscription to the club and this newsletter. The membership fee gets you this newsletter delivered to your door every month, and also grants you discount on the admission price of any, or all, of our concerts until the end of 2007. If you still have not paid, and you can't get to the January or February concerts, then you can send a cheque, made payable to Leyland Accordion Club, to the address on the back of this newsletter. I don't know if you have noticed but your address label has your membership year on it, if it says 2006 then it's due for renewal, once renewed it will say 2007.
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Folk Industry Conference
The Folk Industry Conference is a new event for anyone interested or involved in the folk industry and acoustic music scene. This event is to be held from the 9th to the 11th of March 2007 at Bosworth Hall, Market Bosworth, Warwickshire. Topics covered will includeFolk At A National Level, The Record Industry, Promoting Folk, Audience Development, Funding, Publicity And Marketing, The Media, Artists and Agents, Folk In Education and much more. Visit their website at www.folkarts-england.org, or telephone 01629 827014 for further details.
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NAO UK Championship 2007
The NAO will celebrate their National annual competition and festival in Scarborough from the 4th to the 6th of May 2007. The town is a superb location for this annual event, with good shopping facilities, beach and cliff-top walks, hotels, guest houses, cafes, restaurants and pubs by the dozen. The Spa Complex, a Victorian masterpiece, hosts the Championships with six venues under one roof.The weekend will feature competitions for all levels, including solo, duo, ensemble and orchestra, as well as trade shows with music and instruments, a Ceilidh dance (with Gary Blair and his Celidh Dance band) and performances by international guests.A full array of guest artists, accordion entertainement, trade displays, great music and great times await you at Scarborough 2007. Even if you are not interested in playing in competitions it's interesting to visit and listen to the players perform. You get to see some excellent players from around the country and to enjoy the evening concerts. For further information contact Pauline Noon, 112 Countesthorpe Road, South Wigston, Leicester, Leicestershire. LE18 4PG. Telephone 0116 241 2856 or 0116 278 4094. Email anouk@accordions.com
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