Leyland Accordion Club - 10th May 2000
Editors Comment
Thirty two issues of this newsletter later I still enjoy our concerts as much as I did when I started the club. If you have any ideas for improvement then please let me know, if nothing has improved each month then I feel restless. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and I will see you Wednesday. David Batty
Our May Concert
We opened our May clubnight with the sounds of Basil Berry and his amazing accordion. Basil is well known as a master of fancy chords and thought provoking chord changes. Basil started the night with A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and continued with Elmers Tune, S'wunderful before finishing with Dancing In The Dark. Alan Gelling then took to the floor with Lovely Stornoway, These Are My Mountains and The Northern Lights Of Aberdeen. After lending her my accordion, Mildred Moran played Crystal Chandeliers and Gypsy Woman. It was now time for me to play, I started with Whispering Hope and then, in order to give our guest artist time to set up his equipment, I played Can't Help Falling In Love, Triste Sourire and Sailors Hornpipe. As I stood up, I announced our guest artist Tony Marchelle.
Tony Marchell
Tony started his first guest spot with Telstar, followed
by playing and singing the Cliff Richard song Travelling Light. Tony then
explained a little bit about his equipment. He had a minidisk player on
top of his electronic accordion from which he selected prerecorded tracks
of music to which he played along to. Once he had explained his equipment,
he continued with Cavatina from the Deer Hunter film before playing a
Scottish medley consisting of Scotland The Brave, Cock Of The North, Bonnie
Wee Lass and returning to Scotland The Brave. Then it was back to the
50's with What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For, Country Roads
and Stranger On The Shore. For Beatles fans Tony then played Can't Buy
Me Love followed by the Barry Manilow piece Song Sung Blue. It was now
time for Tony to finish his first spot with some Elvis songs - Blue Suede
Shoes and Hound Dog. After the break we again started with Basil Berry
playing The Nearness Of You, September In The Rain and In The Mood. Alan
Gelling then played a tune he remembered from his lessons, it was Let
Me Be Your Sweetheart and he told us that it is the only tune he can remember
without music. I then played the first half of Air On A G String (because
I have not mastered the second half yet) while Tony climbed into his gear
again. When I had finished, I announced the return of Tony Marchell for
his second spot of the night. This started with the jolly tune Catch Me
If You Can followed by Exodus and Singing the Blues. It was now time for
a couple of French pieces - Under The Bridges Of Paris and The Can Can.
We all then joined in singing Side By Side, Lily Of Laguna, Carolina In
The Morning and Red Red Robin. Another medley followed which consisted
of Beer Barrel Polka, Don't Dilly Dally, Deep In The Heart Of Texas and
The Happy Wanderer. The next medley started with Bless 'Em All and continued
with Tulips From Amsterdam, Cuckoo Waltz, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
and The Old Bull And Bush. It's A Beautiful Noise was then followed by
Wipeout by the Surfaris. For Country And Western Fans Tony then played
Hill Billy Rock which was the song recently released by the Emmerdale
group. It was now time for our last medley of the night. This started
with It's a Long Way To Tipperary followed by Pack Up Your Troubles, Run
Rabbit Run, If You're Irish, Macnamaras Band, Molly Malone and finally
finishing at 11pm with Irish Washerwoman. Tony had done a great job of
entertaining us with his singing and playing and it was now time to leave
before the 11.20pm deadline when the Highfield Manager would be looking
at raising his room hire rate. I went away with plenty of ideas for new
pieces to think about learning to play. I was already looking forward
to this months meeting when, if last months local players night was anything
to go by, we are in for a treat from all our local players armed with
their own wide variety of tunes and music. I will see you there. David
Batty
July Accordion Course
The University of Stirling are holding an "Accordion Course" in Stirling, Scotland from July 2nd to 7th. The course covers piano and button accordion techniques with tutors Ivor Britton, Colin Dewar and Ian Muir. The course will also focus on traditional Scottish music styles, modern Scottish compositions, technical problems (phrasing, fingering, bellows control, scales) and development of right and left hand technique. Special attention will be given to the study of dance tempos, arrangements of March, Strathspey and, and music software accompaniment for Scottish traditional music. For further details email: m.f.stirling@stir.ac.uk
Accordion Swap Wanted
One of our newsletter readers is looking to find someone who is interested in exchanging accordions. He has a Hohnervox 120 bass which he describes as "In lovely condition, the electronics and tuning are in fine fettle". He would like to exchange it for a Scottish sounding musette. Steve lives in South Wales and will travel to do the deal, so if anyone wants an electronic accordion, his phone number is 02920 312496 and his email address is accordion88@hotmail.com
Only Joking
A man plays a New Years Eve gig and afterward the club owner says "Great job, can you play again next year?" The accordionist replies, "Sure, can I leave my instrument here until then?"
The Highfield
At our last practice night I told everbody that I had booked another venue for our club at The Cobblers after finding the new management could not do enough to help us. The next day I received a phone call from them to advise me that, althought they did want us there, the brewery could not guarantee that they would own The Cobblers in 12 months time and so could not put dates in their diary for 2001. I therefore decided to stay at our present venue for the moment. So if you were at the practice night please disregard what I said about moving.
Irish Trip
I am thinking of arranging a trip to Ireland next year to coincide with a five day music festival held at the town of Ballina in the county of Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland. I am looking at a trip via the ferry which would give us a chance for a bit of busking on the way over. I thought of organising a minibus but decided that people taking their own cars in a convoy would be a better option. Individuals would be free to explore and see some sights as would be able to decide how long they want to spend over there. I will probably spend two weeks there but the festival is only five nights. The festival consists of five nights of live music in the streets with a Victorian themed day on the Saturday where the whole town is blocked off with straw bales and the streets are covered in straw between the stalls, street traders, musicians and street plays that are going on. I have just returned from Ireland, after the last club night I hopped on a ferry and had an excellent time. I am returning to Ireland later in the year when I will get further details of next years festival. I bought a drum called a Bodhran (which is pronounced 'bough-ran') which I am now learning to play. The drum, which is 18 inches across is made of goatskin and is played with a double ended stick. It is amazingly difficult to master but it is an enjoyable challenge. The live music scene in Ireland is a great experience and one I am sure you would enjoy. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive further details of the dates and costs involved then let me know. The festival which is on in August is called the Fleadh Cheoil, and it promises non-stop traditional entertainment, which includes céilithe, concerts, sessions, street entertainment, and much more. Over 4,000 musicians normally take part in competitions for all traditional instruments. More than 10,000 musicians participate in the Fleadh Cheoil, while the overall attendance at the event is expected to be in excess of 150,000 people. When not competing the musicians spill on to the streets to perform. From these figures you can see that with 10,000 musicians there is plenty to see and do.
Our Internet Website
Our internet website has had 25809 visitors as at 12th June 2000, that's 1095 visitors since last month. We have done well to get so many visitors recently because I have been so busy I have not had time to update it for two months. We always get a rush of visitors after I add another newsletter. Our January and February newsletters will be added to the site this month and will attract more visitors as a result. I was asked by Rob Beecroft of Accordion Centre Birmingham if I could design a website for his shop. Rob was impressed by our website and by the number of visitors we get each month. His website will feature new accordions but will also detail the second hand accordions in his shop. This means that you will be able to see what he has in stock without travelling to Birmingham, you will be able to browse through the stock in his shop at home or in your local library. Rob, who recently supplied three of our club members with new accordions, invites any of our club members to drop in for a coffee if they are in the Birmingham area. His phone number is 0121 753 3709, mention Leyland Accordion Club. On our website this month people have been using our search facility with amongst other the following words: Listen, Plaisir D'Amour, Hohner, Technics, Accordion.ttf, Excelsior, Score, Irish, Scandalli, Doreen Marshall, The Dancing Dustman, Leyland, Music Bellows, Sounds, Free Music, Accordian Prices, Learn, Serenellini, Scarborough, Alberto Lizzi, German Made, Sale, Hohner Double Ray Deluxe, Frank Marocco, Links, Scandalli Accordian, Buying Accordion, Macnamaras Band, Migliavacca, Chat Forum, Antique Accordions, Fleetwood, Lumic International Video, Used accordion, Sheet Music. You can see from this list that apart from those who simply look around the site there is a wide variety of topics people are looking to find when they visit a website.
Irish Accordion Champion
Full marks if you spotted in last month's newsletter that I added a new name to the list of guest artists. Our November concert night is one not to be missed when we welcome Irish accordion champion Fintan Stanley to the club. Due to the high costs associated in bringing this world class player to the club I will have to increase the admission charge in November by £1. This is a rare chance for English people to see Fintan and one that should not be missed.
A Date For Your Diary
The Bellows Button and Keys club has their next meeting on the 4th of July at Royal British Legion, Next to the Bus Terminal, Cleveleys from 8pm to 11pm. Telephone Gina on 01253 822046 for further details or directions to the club.
Musical Research
Research According to the London Times (13.3.00) if your ring finger is unusually long then you are likely to have above average musical ability. Apparently, Dr. Manning at Liverpool University found the correlation by measuring orchestral players. He found out that if you divide the length of finger two (index finger) by the length of finger four (ring finger) and if the ratio is lower than 0.8 you are likely to have unusually high musical ability. You measure from the crease nearest the palm to the tip in each case. According to his research group, the effect is not related to high dexterity - it's just that the same hormonal or genetic effects that make the brain good at music also happen to make finger four longer than normal. I will stop typing now while you all go and measure your hands to see if you are in the gifted category.
Charlie Chesters Accordionist
I was asked if I could find out the name of Charlie Chester's Accordionist. As I don't even remember the programme I was no help. I tried a search on the Internet to find the answer and, although I found lots of interesting information about Charlie Chester and the Music Hall scene, I could not find the answer to this question. If you know the answer then let me know at the club and I will pass the answer on.
Accordion For Sale
Ladies model 80 bass accordion for sale £140, also 96 bass ladies model marinucci for sale £500 ono. Telephone james Ormerod on 0161 980 1542. If you have any accordion items for sale then please bring them along to the club, that's what it's there for. The club is the ideal opportunity for buyers and sellers to get together, accordions can be demonstrated and tested. No need to ask, simply turn up and place your items for sale on the tables near to the door with a price on them .
BBC Music Live
You may have wondered why I had not organised something for the recent BBC Music Live event. I was approached about two months ago by a local showbusiness Agent who asked if the club was taking part in the BBC Music Live event which happened recently. When I told her that I had not heard of it, she said the Leyland event was supposed to be a four day event but the organiser at South Ribble Borough Council had complained about a lack of response from the local music community and only had one or two performers for the event. Most people she spoke to had not heard of this event and so as you would expect the response was very poor. When I rang the council to see if we could help out by supplying some players for the concerts I was told that the event had been cut down to a one night event because of lack of response, this meant that they had enough musicians to fill this one night. Because of lack of local publicity for this event we missed out on having a four day music festival and had to settle for a one night concert instead. I have written to the BBC asking for us to be kept informed of any planned events in the future.
Accordionist Wanted
At our last meeting we were asked if we could find a player for Leyland Morris Men. They tell me that the music the person would have to play is much simpler than many of the tunes they have heard us play at the club. If you would like to get out and around with your playing and want to give this a try then telephone Len Davies on 01772 434458 for a chat.
Picnic/Concert
I am currently in discussions with Harold Bleasdale to decide a suitable date for a repeat of last year's accordion picnic/concert which was such a success. We set up a small covered stage to protect the players from any rain and broadcast the concert on FM radio to all the cars parked in the field. This system was a great success, Dugald Mcallum said it was the best sound system he had ever heard an accordion put through. I will be using the same system again this year. Last years concert started at 2pm and only ended at 8pm, we had six hours of excellent entertainment, lots of fresh air and sandwiches. Further details will be in next months newsletter once we have decided when the good weather will be here. We are looking at Sundays at the end of July or the beginning of August.
Satellite TV Music
Those of you who have Sky Digital TV installed or are thinking about getting it may be interested to know that on channel 927 you can listen to BBC Radio Scotland. Those of us south of Scotland who could not receive it before can now listen to Take The Floor with Robbie Shepherd each Saturday at 6.30pm. This programme features regular accordion music from Scottish bands and solo performers. If you like Irish music then you can also find the Tara station on Channel 178, this is an Irish TV channel that features many great music programmes concentrating on real music and musicians. You may also find Radio Ulster on channel 929 is interesting, with many live broadcasts of concerts and Music from Northern Ireland.
Leyland Festival
Festival Despite the torrential rain, the Weaver Valley Accordion Band did an excellent job of entertaining at the recent Leyland Festival. The day was the same day the heavens opened and the country suffered widespread flooding. We were all huddled in a very large tent which had been constructed as a bandstand. I did say to you in the last newsletter that this was a very big event, this was demonstrated when one of the cars carrying two of the band members arrived about an hour before the band were due to play and the two occupants failed to find the bandstand or the other members of the band who had been practising in the bandstand for an hour before the start. These two people drove back to Cheshire and never even saw the band or the bandstand. We had an excellent selection of tunes from the band who played well despite the cold, we were sheltered from the rain which was falling harder than anyone who normally attends the festival can remember. The band that played after the Weaver Band only played for 35 minutes of their hour spot before they gave up because of the rain. The festival organisers had arranged for a four wheel drive vehicle to spend the afternoon pulling stranded motorists to freedom from the muddy car park. Despite the rain those who made it to the bandstand enjoyed some great music and I have to thank the Weaver Valley Accordion Band for a job well done.
Sheet Music Sale This Wednesday
On Wednesday we have a trader in attendance at the club in the form of Jean Billington who trades as Bygone Tunes. Jean, who specialises in out of print sheet music will be running a stall before the club starts, at the two breaks and at the end of the night. Jean, who was due to be at our April meeting but was unable to attend for personal reasons, will be at the club selling out of print accordion solos and general sheet music. This is an ideal opportunity to grab some bargains and may also be your opportunity to sell her some music. Jean said she also looks to buy sheet music and will quote a price for music offered to her.
Accordion FestivalI recently attended the accordion festival and competition organised by Gina Branelli at The Marine Hall Fleetwood. The daytime was filled with competitions and the evening featured a great accordion show on the main stage. I was asked by Gina if I would play a 15 minute spot at this show, I immediately accepted and decided to worry about it later, when the time came I decided it was just like a big accordion club and I did not have any nerves at all. My playing was an improvement on what you hear at the club because I did not have lots of chairs and tables to move before I played like I do at the club. Other artists on at the show included amongst others Belinda Treble, The Colchester Accordion Showband, Ken Hartley (who had a very entertaining and funny act), Gina and Norman Branelli, Andrew Figg and Nina Suscenco. Before the show started and during the break the audience were entertained by Jay and Jeff Ward who did a good job playing their accordion and keyboard duets in the foyer just outside the door to the main hall. The show went well and finished just after midnight. I am looking to next years festival and competition which promises to be bigger and better with what Gina has planned for next year. I hope we can persuade more club members to enter next year. |
David Batty on stage in the Saturday night concert at The Marine Hall, Fleetwood |
