| Leyland Accordion Club - 17th January 2007
|
|
Our January Concert
Our January concert started with Colin Ensor playing The Mist Covered Mountains, Going Home and I'm Sure Of Everything But You. Basil Berry then played Masquerade, A Man And A Woman, April In Paris, Long Ago And Far Away and All The Things You Are. It was now time for our guest artist, Johnny Coleclough, to begin his first session. Johnny started with Sound Of Music, Dance All Night and Stranger In Paradise. His session continued with Tell Me I'm Forgiven, Hear My Song Violetta, Shadow Of Your Smile, Smile, Spanish Gypsy Dance, The Maigret Theme, Don't Blame Me and Satin Doll. After a little talking, he continued with Those Were The Days, Lili Marlene, Falling In Love Again and Wooden Heart. It was almost time for the first break, so Johnny finished his first half with Dark Island, Exodus, Sweet Sue, If You Knew Susie, Five Foot Two and Limehouse Blues. After the break, Ann Parker played Beautiful Days. Then Aileen Buchanan made her debut at Leyland playing Roxborough Castle, Soldiers Joy, Sharpshooters March and a set of Scottish Reels. Bernard Belshaw then took to the stage playing Under The Bridges Of Paris, Malaguene, El Cumbanchero and Moulin Rouge. Tom Bennett played Tristesse, and I played one tune before leaving the stage to Johnny Coleclough. Johnny started his second half with Begin The Beguin, So In Love and I love Paris. After a few jokes, we continued with Helene, Song Of The Rose, Ecstasy Tango, Man And A Woman and Mussettas Waltz. Out Of Nowhere led to Summertime, Fascinating Rhythm, Embraceable You and Under Paris Skies. After the One Note Samba, Johnny sang and played Uncle Joe's Mintballs. To end the evening, we finished with Falling Leaves, Ces't Bon, Louise, Brazil, Mambo Mambo and finally Tico Tico. At the end of the evening, Johnny was answering questions from individuals who had gone to the stage to find out about his electronic accordion which he had been using. There were no reeds in what used to be an acoustic instrument; Johnny had this customised by Peter Whiteley, and now he regularly uses this lightweight instrument instead of an acoustic accordion. Our next concert is a local players' night featuring all our own favourite players. So, if you are a player, don't forget to bring your accordion, because you might be someone's favourite player and you can't disappoint your fans........
David Batty
|
Guest Artists
I have approached one guest artist with a view to them playing at Leyland in the very near future but I am open to ideas as to who you might want to see playing at Leyland in 2007. I normally pick a cross section of various styles and types of artist and then I make sure they are booked in an order that ensures we have variety in our concerts. I am open to suggestions as to who to book for our forthcoming guest nights, if you have any preferences then please write the name/s on a piece of paper and hand it in at the door for me to consider when booking future guest artists.
|
Preston Guild Hall Buskers
Preston Guild Hall are currently holding auditions ever few weeks for people interested in being on a list of Official Buskers for inside Preston Guild Hall Shopping Arcade. If you are interested then contact The Guild Hall and ask for the dates of the next auditions. They originally had one audition date but they announced that they needed a greater variety of acts.
|
Llandudno Event
Alan Venn is holding an organ keyboard and accordion event at the Annan Hotel in Llandudno from the 19th to the 23rd of March 2007. The accordion part of this event features the playing and tuition of Harry Hussey. Further details of this event can be obtained from Alan Venn on 01204 840279.
|
This Wednesday
This Wednesday, we look forward to another of our local players' concerts. These are concerts featuring a wide variety of styles and content from our own stars. The night will feature performances of around 10 minutes or around 3 pieces from our own players, along with the usual raffle, coffee, good humour and nice company. If you spot someone at the club you haven't spoken to before, then please say 'hello' to them - tell them David told you to. There are a lot of nice people at Leyland Accordion Club and it would be a shame if you didn't meet one or two more. The doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. Please tell your friends about our concerts, and maybe bring one or two of them along? I look forward to seeing you there. Players, don't forget to bring your accordions.
David Batty
|
Back in 1999
Recently, I was browsing the Internet and was surprised to find that, in early 1999, the Leyland Accordion Club website was 'Site Of The Week' on another large website. I was amazed that it had taken me 7 years to learn this.
Here is the review by internationally known accordion entertainer Lionel Reekie:-
With the ever-increasing popularity of the accordion, bridging all culture and age gaps, it is wonderful to see accordion associations and clubs in all corners of the world. The Leyland Accordion Club site provides a comprehensive insight into the clubs' activities. This club appears to provide real support, not only for its members, but also tries hard to promote the accordion. Included on the site is a very recent broadcast the club members made on BBC television's "North West Tonight" (unfortunately, I don't have the correct plug-in to view this). Not only can you access information about the club, but their newsletters are all included on-line, and of course there are details of the guest artists at up-coming meetings. Different members have sound files of their playing available to be downloaded, (10 different performers) and also there is 50 minutes of a 3 hour club concert also accessible. This site makes full use of the Internet to really create a virtual clubroom, right down to photos of the clubrooms.The club's support of its members includes the recording (and marketing) of a cassette - 90 minutes of accordion solos. There are also plans to release a second volume very soon. Wouldn't it be great if all clubs provided this for the amateur accordionists in their areas.Throughout the site, there are plenty of links to send comments via e-mail and, for a local accordion club, it appears that there is reasonable interest in the site. Over 10400 visitors are counted for the last 8 months. For those wanting to take the next step to get involved with the club, physical addressees, contact names, phones and fax numbers are all included to facilitate easy contact.
With a wealth of information, the Leyland Accordion Club could possibly be setting the standard for other clubs to follow, especially as the popularity of the accordion relies on the continued grassroots support of "hobby" accordionists.
|
New Accordion Club in Wales?
George Garside has posted a message on our website about the possibility of starting a new accordion club:-
Ian Ware & myself are looking at the possibility of forming a new club to be based at Menai Bridge, Anglesey, & thus providing easy access from most of North Wales and Anglesey both by car & public transport. Probably to be known as Anglesey & North Wales Squeezebox Club, and therefore catering for the whole of the free reed family, including piano accordions, continentals, British Chromatics, Melodions and Concertinas, the initial aim will be to gather regularly on an informal basis to play together and to get to know other players that you didn't know existed! Players of all styles, including both folk and classical, will be most welcome as will players of all ages and abilities. It does not matter at all whether you read music or play by ear, or whether you have only played in the privacy of your own home! There will be no expectation of solo performance and Primadonnas will be positively discouraged! It is not planned to create a formal club but to aim simply for a regular venue in which box players can gather. What happens will depend on who and how many people turn up and what way they would like things to develop (or just carry on as an informal gathering) At this stage it would be helpful if anyone interested would contact (without any committment) georgegarside@talktalk.net or phone 01248 852508 so that we can get some idea of possible interest in the idea.
|
Blackpool Accordion Festival
Heather Smith wrote recently "As well as the Caister Event I am in negotiations to present a brand new accordion festival in Blackpool, which will be an exciting and entirely new project". I don't have any more information on this proposed event, but I thought I would let you know about her announcement.
|
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 February concert, 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, then it will say 2007. The postage is due to go up shortly so having a small fee for membership helps to stop the newsletter mailing list getting unmanageable. If you have any accordion items for sale then please make sure you let me have a copy of your advert for the newsletter, for no cost your advert will be seen all over the country.
|
Caister Accordion Festival
The Caister Accordion Festival is to be held from the 1st to the 5th of November 2007 at Caister On Sea, Norfolk. Telephone Heather Smith on 01482 805387 for further details.
|
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. 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
|
Eastbourne Accordion Festival 2007
The next Eastbourne Festival is to be held from the 12th to the 15th of October 2007. The October festival is booking up fast so, if you plan to go, then you might be advised to book soon. Mauro Carra, George Syrett, Julie Best and Oleg Sharov have so far been booked to play in October. 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. Photographs from previous festivals and further details of forthcoming Eastbourne festivals can be obtained by visiting our www.accordionfestival.com website. Click on the link to the Eastbourne Accordion Festival website or to any of the other festivals mentioned on there.
|
Steve Roxton
Steve Roxton has just finished a tour of England and Northern Ireland with various bookings in both countries. His tour is coming to a close this weekend at Eastbourne Accordion Festival. He has planned to have a slight rest before he returns to Jersey at the end of March. Anyone interested in booking Steve on the mainland prior to his return to Jersey should visit www.steveroxton.co.uk for contact details.
|
Our Website
Our Internet website has had 102442 visitors as at 14th of February 2006. That's 1033 visitors to the main page of our website since last month. I have a new Internet based project on the go but I still can't give out details until it's up and running. This is in addition to the one mentioned at a previous club night.
Further details will follow soon, so as they say watch this space.
|
