Leyland Accordion Club - 9th September 1998
Our 9th of September meeting opened with Rebecca Postlewhite playing her last club night before she left to start university, Rebecca enthralled us with amongst other tunes April Showers, Rebecca will be back in December for our Christmas meeting but in the meantime she said she will be keeping an eye on everyone via our website on the Internet. Linda Grant was next with a few Irish Tunes and the story of the Claddagh Ring she was wearing. Tom Bennett followed her playing The Barren Rocks of Aden and Stairway to the Stars, Tom arrived at the club waving his finger at me because his daughter had told him that on newsletter number 11 the person sat in the spangly shirt on the left of the photograph was Tom Bennett, but he did not recognise himself because I had transplanted a full head of hair on him from his friend Andrew who was sat next to him, sorry Tom but I could not resist it I had to get the light balance right in the photograph by altering something! It was time for our Guest Artist Tom Alexander to start his first half.
Tom Alexander
Opening with Happy Hours Tom went on to play M.S.R. Margarets Waltz, Monti's Czardas, Whistling Rufus, Hills of Lorne, and as a special request for Agnes Mclaren he played Oil Rigger. The rest of the first half was taken up with March Hare, Highland Cathedral, Under the Double Eagle and American Savoy Medley. This took us up to the break and the usual orgy of masses of bodies all rushing round chatting, playing, giving & receiving advice and generally being very sociable, people seem to get on so well at the club that I am considering checking one evening that people go home in the car they arrived in! The raffle next is well placed to get everyone back in their seats before the second half. This started with George Hicks and Jean Southern playing a selection of their tunes including Burrasque and Oslo Waltz. I had planned to play Oslo Waltz with Walter Perrie, I was not going to be put off by George and Jean playing it first so myself and Walter played Plasir D'Amour and Oslo Waltz, we had not practiced this duet but we did finish at the same time, now that's being professional! It was time for Tom Alexander to play his second half, opening with Rumbango Tom continued with Shetland Reels, Le Manege, High Level, Dollanes Melody and a tune called Pistonette this was my favourite tune of the evening, all those triplets and the tune going on as well, I was on the edge of my seat for that one, the next tune was the one I heard Tom playing when I decided we must have him, he was playing 'Flying Scotsman' at the accordion festival while his brother went off stage for a while I decided then to try and book him for Leyland. Tom continued with Dark Island, Bluebell Polka, Jacqualine Waltz, Para Handy Medley, Cuckoo Waltz, Jigs and Reels before finishing with a Lauder Medley. Tom Alexander went down well and sold out of CD's and Cassettes. He was also selling his 'Celebration' brochure which was a brochure documenting 40 years of the Alexander Brothers as professional entertainers. We did enjoy the evenings entertainment and I am looking forward to Toms return to Leyland on 14th July 1999. After the club Tom was telling me that he really enjoyed playing that evening, he said that you could see the smiles and the enjoyment on peoples faces as he played and that really made the evening for him, he said we have a very attentive audience and he is looking forward to his return. It has been five weeks since our last meeting so you should all have had plenty of time to practice, for myself I am currently looking at being able to play two new pieces a month from memory, If I have music in front of me then I do not know the piece properly yet. I do not like playing the same pieces every month so I am practicing hard at the moment. I look forward to meeting you all this Wednesday Don't forget to bring your accordion. David Batty
Music makes your head bigger!
In the April issue of Nature magazine, Researchers at the University of Munster in Germany reported that music lessons in childhood actually enlarge the brain. An area used to analyse the pitch of a musical note is 25% larger in musicians than people who have never played an instrument. The findings suggest the area is enlarged through practice and experience. The earlier the musicians were when they started musical training, the bigger this area of the brain appears to be.
Our Internet Website
Our Internet Website had had 5540 visitors as at 11th October 1998. That's 875 visitors since last month. I was thinking that we cannot ignore this large audience who vicariously enjoy our club nights, we should do something for them, so I came up with the idea of broadcasting our club nights on the Internet, I have calculated that I can manage to fit about an hour of our monthly meeting on the Internet alongside everything else on there, it takes an awful lot of computer and Internet memory to store this amount of music but I am confident that I can manage it. I will produce a test recording at our next meeting to determine the sound quality and storage requirements and if the figures work out like they do on my calculator I will record our November meeting to go out over the Internet. This will be a world first for accordion clubs and will please a lot of accordionists worldwide, I did ask on the Internet if anyone was interested in this and all I got were positive replies saying that they would look forward to joining in our club from afar. One person sent an email saying that they enjoy the website and that they think we have what is probably the best known accordion club in the World. This seemed to be backed up when Gina Branelli and her husband Norman from Music World returned from their USA tour, they told me that wherever they went in America, people asked if they knew Leyland Accordion Club. Gina was surprised at how popular we are, she could not go to any club or venue in America without being asked "is Leyland far from you", "have you been to Leyland Accordion Club". Gina told me that she must have been asked personally about our club at least 70 times during her tour. When people heard she was from England the response was "ah Leyland Accordion Club". I knew we were having a lot of people watching our progress via the Internet but it was very nice to hear from someone who has gone forth and experienced our popularity first hand. Broadcasting some or all of our club nights over the Internet has to be the next step because it is obvious that our club is far larger than we though and we have to cater for those who cannot visit us.
Perth Accordion Club - Australia
Perth Accordion Club in Australia had their crucial second meeting which was a success, the support is there and they are now solidly up and running, well done!
Rogue River Accordion Club - USA
I received a message from Rogue River, Oregon USA which went as follows 'We have an Accordion Club here in Rogue River Oregon, USA and meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. since these dates do not conflict, maybe some of you will be able to visit us and play with us.' If anyone would like to take them up on their offer I am sure you will be made most welcome. I have also just received a request from America and one from Australia from people asking to become members of the club, I am going to check out the price of sending the newsletter to the USA and Australia before I reply.
Accordion spotted at a fashion show
At a recent fashion show in London for designer Vivienne Westwood, Elizabeth Jagger (daughter of Mick Jagger) used the accordion as a fashion accessory as she walked up and down the runway.
Our forthcoming club nights.
We have added a few dates to the calendar since last month, Gina and Romany Rye who have just returned from their successful USA tour have just been booked to appear at Leyland Accordion Club in March, Gina will be playing the Concerto electronic accordion. Harry Hussey rang me to confirm that he will be playing as guest artist in September and Tom Alexander will be back with us on 14th July 1999.
Accordion World subscription offer.
Accordion World comes out four times a year, Issue three is now out, anyone wanting to subscribe send a cheque for £4.75 to David Keen, 86 Brookdene Avenue, Watford, Herts,WD1 4LF. David will send you the current issue and the winter issue in December, if you nominate a friend in your letter David will send them a free copy.
Gina and Romany Rye new casette released
Gina & Norman (Gina and Romany Rye), have just released a new tape for sale priced at £6.95. The 19 Tracks include Dizzy Fingers, Luci E Ombre, Romanza, Bel Fiore, I Who Have Nothing, Intermezzo, Y Volver Volver, Soire De Paris, Accordion Polka, My Way, Sometimes When We Touch and Return to Sorrento. See Gina or Norman at the club on Wednesday if you would like to buy a copy.
You would not believe it but it's true.
I am not reciting a plot from a Mr. Bean program and I am not one to tell tales on anyone but who do you know who would come to visit me at Blackpool Airport, drive the wrong way down a one way system, enter an area for security and airport staff , drive along thinking that they have found a bit of Blackpool where the road does not have many shops but it does have big numbers painted on it, decide that something is not quite right, change drivers so the other one can try and find me, spot a big hangar across the airfield and start heading for that before waiting at a red light to cross another runway while airport security races up to them in a big fire engine requiring answers from them as to how it was possible that they simply drove on to the runways. They said they were looking for David Batty !!! I would have denied knowing them if I had been asked. The runway concerned has a plane either landing or taking off every 1 to 3 minutes on a Sunday Afternoon, a flight from Jersey full of passengers had just landed about five minutes earlier at the spot they were driving along. The airport police then showed them the way back to the road and told them how to find me. These people then went the wrong way up another one way system before parking in a secure car park for oil rig workers, the car park was about to be locked for two weeks until the workers return from the rigs. I had to get them to move their car before they had to walk home. I will not name those concerned but will just say to ask Jay and Jeff Ward what they know!