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Leyland Accordion Club - 16th October 2002
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Our October ConcertOur October concert started with myself and Phil Sanderson being warmup artists (this title was partly inspired by the heating which was broken that night) leading up to our 8pm start. Once we had whipped the crowd in to a frenzy of excitement we opened the night with Bill Agnew playing probably more notes in the first 30 seconds than both myself and Phil had played together. Bill played (amongst others) I Hear Music, South Of The Border, Una Paloma Blanca, Baby Face, Among My Souvenirs and On Green Dolphin Street. Elaine was next to play, performing Fields Of Athenry, Highland Cathedral, Maggie, Bunch Of Thyme and Mull Of Kintyre. Chick Stephen then gave us excellent renditions of Circle Of The Ocean, Highest Apple, Lovely Stornaway, Dark Island, South Georgia Wailing Song and Flower Of Scotland. To lead us in to the break Jay and Jeff Ward played The Charleston, Under A Blanket Of Blue, Goodnight Vienna and Bella Note. The coffee went down well because of the problems with the heating. After the break Ann Parker played Bluebell Polka, The Harry Lime Theme, Under Paris Skies and Sonata In G. Albert Draper then played Old Comrades, Beautiful Dreamer, Bonnie Eloise, My Wild Irish Rose, Carnival Of Venice, I'm Sitting On Top Top Of The World, Babyface, Watch Them Shufflin Along, Carolina In The Morning and Whistling Rufus. Leading us to the second break of the night was Colin Ensor. Colin's first piece was Burgundy Street, If You Were The Only Girl In The World, Sweet Rosie O'Grady, Oh You Beautiful Doll and Who Were You With Last Night. After the second break and the raffle, Alan Gelling played the first unusual title of the night, Tanz An Der Moskwa, this was followed by Carousel Waltz, Autumn Leaves and finally The Theme From The Moulin Rouge. Our next player John McCormack played two nice pieces, Neopolitan Nights and La Cumparsita before myself and Colin took to the stage, Colin on accordion and myself on clarinet. Colin left the stage; I then played one tune while the buskers made their way to the dance floor. I had told them beforehand to set up while I played because we were running short of time, when I finished my one piece the assembled crowd were on the floor and ready to play. We finished with the buskers playing a selection of medleys for just over 20 minutes leading us nicely to 11pm. It had been a cold night with the heating broken but we had enjoyed some gerat music. Thanks must go to all the players who did such a great job of entertaining us so well.David Batty |
Bellows Buttons And Keys ClubThe next meeting of The Bellows Buttons And Keys Club is on Tuesday, the 3rd of December 2002, at The Royal British Legion, opposite the bus terminal at Cleveleys. This is an 8pm start until 11pm. Players, if you are thinking of visiting then don’t forget your accordions! Telephone 01253 822046 for details. |
Club MembershipThe next newsletter will be the last of the year, then it will be 2003! Membership of the club is to remain at the same price as previous years at £5. This figure just covers newsletter stamps and envelopes for the forthcoming year. To spread the administrative procedures out I would be grateful if you could pay your membership between now and the January concert night. Your newsletter has the year membership is paid up for on the label on the envelope, you will see this change to '2003' the month after your payment is received. |
Blackpool Accordion FestivalThe next Blackpool Accordion Festival is taking place from Wednesday the 19th to Monday the 24th of February 2003. Tom Duncan said he was retiring from organising festivals last year but this year he has decided to organise a festival to celebrate 10 years since his first one. I only know details of one of the guest artists booked so far, I will let you know when I have more details. |
Our Internet WebsiteOur internet website has had 54036 visitors as at the 18th of November 2002, that’s 1061 visitors since last month. The noticeboard is now being used by more and more people to buy and sell accordion as well as to find information about theaccordion scene. |
Give Me An AJust a note to let you know that on Thursday the 21st of
November on Radio 4 (sky channel 854) Adam Hart Davies examines the aracane
practice of tuning musical instruments. Asking is there a correct way
to tune a musical instrument, and does it really matter! The programme
starts at 11.30am and runs for 30 minutes. |
Two Missing NightsOn the 29th of January and on the 29th of October 2003, we won't have our 'extra' practice night of the month. These are both the 5th Wednesday of the month when we normally have our extra practice night, but due to the Priory Club taking a booking on both these nights from a rock band, the club won't be available for us to use. The normal practice night will go ahead one week later though. I have marked both of these dates with a line through them to remind you to take them out of your diary. I will delete them from the list next month. The list of dates in this newsletter is correct and has been confirmed with The Priory Club.
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Wyre Accordion ClubThe next meeting of the Wyre Accordion Club will be on Wednesday, the 27th of November 2002, at Cleveleys. Telephone 01253 852648 for further details or directions. The club normally starts at 8pm and finishes at around 10.30pm. |
Bridlington Accordion FestivalThe Bridlington Accordion Festival is being held from the 16th to the 19th of October 2003. The cost of the festival plus hotel with dinner bed and breakfast is £144 per person. Other pricing options are available for those who want to organise their own hotel or who want just bed and breakfast. I will let you know further details of the players booked etc. when I have them but in the meantime you can put the date in your diary. Loretta Rolston who runs the show has requested that people let her know early if they are interested in attending so that she can put them in their requested hotels. It is easier to remove people from the list than it is to add people later and give them their chosen hotel. Loretta has reserved some places at St Aubyns hotel for people who mention Leyland Accordion Club when they book. Telephone 01501 820910 for booking forms or further details. |
CD In Honour Of Pietro DieroFollowing its twentieth anniversary (celebrated last year),
the International Accordion Museum of Castelfidardo (director Beniamino
Bugiolacchi) has released a series of CDs dedicated to the “fathers
of the accordion” in order to bring to light the historical recordings
that have shaped the development of the instrument.
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Brian CarlandIt’s all my dad’s fault. He was a gifted and
very talented harmonica player. He was also very frustrated. He loved
all things accordion and dabbled himself, but could never quite master
it as he would have liked to. Before the army service in the Second World
War, he formed (and played in) the Somic Rope and Twine Works Harmonica
and Accordion Band. The band enjoyed considerable success, and dad was
a happy man but, of course, the war put an end to all that. The end of
the war saw dad back home from Belsen and enjoying his love of accordion
and harmonica. I remember well sitting up with him many times late at
night tuning in to foreign stations, listening to continental bands. He
bought a second hand 72 bass Paolo Soprani chromatic accordion and persuaded
a very reluctant me to have a go. I could not imagine how I would ever
handle this lump of wood, plastic and buttons he had dumped on me. I was
a very ungrateful and reluctant starter. Dad insisted I played on the
left hand until I became quite adept at that. Only then did he introduce
me to the wonders of scales, sharps and flats and all things needed to
sound tuneful. Gradually, I began to enjoy it and became determined to
play better and better. Dad hauled me round pubs, got me bookings in clubs,
concerts and parties, and eventually I ended up playing in the Syd Philips
Dance Band which was quite popular in the North West at that time. The
drummer was Dennis Calvert, cousin of the great Eddie Calvert of Oh My
Papa fame. It was he, Dennis that is, who got me into the band. Then I
discovered girls (I was fifteen at the time) and my performance began
to suffer – on the accordion that is, not on the girls. However,
I carried on with the band - it was a great way to meet all these girls
– until I decided to join the army to learn to kill people and meet
an even greater variety of girls. It didn’t occur to me at the time
that people would be trying to kill me too. Do you know that the most
frightening two words in the English language are “Fix Bayonets”.
When you hear these words you know you are in deep sh—. During my
army career, I played accordion in some of the most weird and wonderful
locations and circumstances – from the deserts of North Africa to
the jungles of Malays; in Malta, Cyprus, Kenya and Germany, in dugout
trenches, tents, campfires, etc; in Sergeants’ Mess, Officers’
Mess, Sterling Castle, St. James’s Palace and Sandhurst Military
Academy. I was in the Scots Guards – God knows why, I blame the
Recruiting Sergeant. Throughout all postings and secondments, an accordion
was almost always to hand and, invariably, a group or band of sorts was
formed. Some situations demanded improvisation like tea chests, broom
handles and twine to create the big bass sound. Dust bin lids, washboards,
spoons, pots and pans and all sorts of glassware was used. Somehow, we
always managed to produce good music and we were nearly always in high
demand. Almost two thirds of the way through my army service now and stationed
in Munster, Germany. I had acquired a beautiful 120 bass Scandali tremelo
tuned accordion in white mother of pearl with a pitch that was out of
this world. I paid about £350 for it, which in those days was a
lot of money, and I loved it. We had a good band going, playing most weekends
in Sergeants’ Mess and Officers’ Mess as well as private gigs.
Then it happened, my beloved accordion was stolen. It was my own fault,
I had left it unattended in the basements of the Sergeants’ Mess
which we used as practice rooms. It was never found. All civilians working
on the base were stopped and questioned, cars were searched, etc. to no
avail. I wanted them all lined up and shot. I was gutted and lost all
interest in accordion. Many years later, and long past my army days, I
was at an auction in Leyland. Amongst all the household goods and bric
a brac was an accordion – a Chinese accordion. It was cheap and
I bought it. It didn’t have any straps so I tied some string round
it and began to play. It was rubbish, but it played and I started to find
my fingers again. I hadn’t touched an accordion for nearly 30 years.
After a family conference, it was decided that we would launch a Window
Blind business, and I opened a shop in Cleveleys on the Fylde. Through
business there, I met Tom Duncan (who runs the Wyre Accordion Club) and
fitted blinds to his house. I joined the club straight away. The Profile
Accordion Magazine put me in touch with David Batty. You know the rest.
I thoroughly enjoy the club meetings, the banter and the laughs and the
playing. In particular, I love to listen to all the different playing
techniques and styles. It’s great that people like David promote
the accordion in so many diverse ways. Long may it continue.
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This WednesdayWe have a great night lined up on Wednesday at The Priory Club when we have the welcome return of Paul Chamberlain. I have received many requests to bring Paul back after he last played for us in June 2001. Paul, who plays both piano and button accordion has recently been playing in Russia and has just returned from playing at an accordion festival and competition in Castelfidardo in Italy. Those of you who saw Paul when he was last at the club will know what a good night we have in store this Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you there.David Batty
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