Leyland Accordion Club, Leyland, Lancashire, England.

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Leyland Accordion Club - 18th December 2002

 

Our December Concert

Our December night was very well attended. We had mountains of food to eat, great entertainment and a great atmosphere. The night started with Colin Ensor playing Mexicalli Rose, Pal Of My Cradle Days, Don't Tell A Soul, I Won't Forget You and Auburn Waltz. Our next player Phil Sanderson normally hides his talents from us by forgetting to bring his accordion. After his stunning performance in December, I don't think he will be reminded to bring it in future. Phil played And I Love You So, Love Is The Sweetest Thing, The Way Old Friends Do and The Girl That I Marry. Our next player was Chick Stephen who started with Edelweiss and Under The Bridges Of Paris and Lara's Theme. The second half of his performance consisted of In Munchen Steht Eine Hofbrauhaus, You're In My Heart and My Darling Augustine. We had a new duet pair to take us up to the first break, Bill Agnew and Tom Bennett played Happy Birthday for Harold Bleasdale who tried to hide at the back of the club. With Harold still muttering about revenge, the pair continued with Tom on the accordion and Bill on the mouth organ, playing Happy Wanderer, Irish Eyes, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeir, Those Endearing Young Charms and I Belong To Glasgow. During the first break of the night we tucked into the huge feast which took up all thetables at the rear of the club. We were struggling to fit everything on the tables and had to bring more tables in to take the strain. After the break we continued with myself and Tom Bennett strolling around the dance floor playing La Vie En Rose, Under The Bridges Of Paris and Plaisir D'amour. We were followed by John McCormick who played a selection of tunes. Our next player was Bill Agnew who played solo before being joined on stage by Bob Seed on drums. Mildred Moran had the difficult job of following this duo, andplayed The Millers Daughter, Chorus Of The Hebrew Slaves, Silent Night and a Strauss waltz selection. After the second break in which we polished off moreof the food, we had the raffle. Our next player David Rigby, is another who hides his accordion on concert nights. We were treated in December however when he played Whispering Hope, The Spinning Wheel, Loveliest Night Of The Year and Highland Cathedral. After that great performance I think he will have to bring his accordion more often. Shirley Seed then did a great job by joining with Bill Agnew to play a selection of tunes. It's nice to see so many people playing with others this way, it expands them musically and it gives us another view of their talents. Alan Gelling then took to the stage, he started with Londonderry Air, Roses From The Tyroll, Brahms Lullaby and Fur Elise. For his final piece he enlisted the help of a member of the audience who passed around pieces of paper with the words to Snow Waltz which many of us sang as he played. It was nice of Alan to provide us with the song sheet so we could sing to what is normally known as an instrumental piece. It was almost 11pm now and just time for one more player of the night. Albert Draper played Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, and Mary's Boy Child before continuing with Joy To The World, Jingle Bells, O'Sole Mio, Tesoro Med Waltz and Whistling Rufus. It had been a great night of entertainment, lots of new partnerships had been formed and we had a lot of joviality. The remaining food and the slices of cake were snapped up at the end, leaving just the empty plates to wash or dispose of. It was nice to see such a good turnout for a cold windy winters night, those who attended were certainly kept entertained and we all went home well fed. Roll on next Christmas, I can't wait for it......

David Batty


Events And Things

If anyone is looking for a playing partner, someone to share an accordion holiday with or others with a similar interest for possible excursions etc. then send details to the club for publishing in the newsletter. This goes for people selling items which may be of interest to others at the club. Most people would prefer to deal with someone they know or meet. I am sure that there must be people who want to travel to an accordion festival or concert but would prefer someone to travel with or to share petrol costs. This has been a feature of our trips to Accordion Centre Birmingham recently.

 

Our Internet Website

Our internet website has had 55525 visitors as at the 13th of January 2003, that’s 686 visitors since last month. This is a very low visitor number for the website which normally has around 1000 visitors per month but I'm not concerned by the low number. I run many websites and they have all had the same low numbers for December and January because of Christmas, New Year and all that holiday television viewing. I was surprised to find that since a few months ago when I last checked, our radio station has trebled it's listening figures, we are now getting 600 to 850 listening hours per month. When people connect to the Internet, they might be online for ten minutes or a hour. While they are online, they are listening to our station. All the time spent listening to our station is added together for all the listeners, this figure is our Total Listening Hours. The 850 hours per month mentioned above is the equivalent of 1700 people each listening for half an hour per month. I am quite pleased with these figures which prove that the radio station is a successful venture. We are getting worldwide acclaim for our website, and now for our radio station. With more and more people learning how to use the internet daily our visitor numbers are set to continue rising.

 

Blackpool Festival 2003

Time is getting short for those of you who want to attend The International Accordion Festival at Blackpool. This is being held from the 20th to the 24th of February at Pontins. The festival features Nikolia Ryskov, Janusc Zukowski, Steve Roxton, Harry Hussey, Callum McKinnon and many more. You can telephone 0870 604 5606 to book your place or obtain more details of the festival.

 

Club Membership

Many thanks to those of you who have paid your club membership, your newsletter has the year which membership is paid up for on the label on the envelope, you will see this change to '2003' the month after your payment is made. Those of you who have not made your payment yet can pay your £5 per person at the club in January or by post at the address on the rear of this newsletter.

 

The Wyvale Idleburgers

Last August , Bob Seed, our resident drummer at the club (on loan from Slaidburn Silver Band) asked a few of us along to play for a local charity at the WyeVale Garden Centre where Bob is all-round handyman and fixer. So Bill Agnew, Brian Carland and I joined Bob and his wife Shirley in giving the visitors a good dose of live accordion music, which was well received. On the strength of this we were asked back to play at the centre's contribution to a Christmas charity event- which we duly did last November. Starting after 12-30 we played until we heard the thudding of Santa's helicopter when we paused while he led his excited entourage to his well patronised Grotto. The Mayor of Blackpool and a local reporter stopped by to see us and we got going in earnest with a mixture of the tunes the buskers play at the club and a good selection of Christmas numbers - which went down well. A main beneficiary was Donna's Dream House, a childrens' hospice in Blackpool and as we played to appreciative visitors, local live wire M.C. John Paul kept things moving via his radio mike and kept the collection boxes rattling merrily. Bill and Brian had their amplifiers going well so we had plenty of volume and played, with a break in the middle, until some time after 3pm. An enjoyable outing in a good cause and a good fix for we addicts. Colin Ensor.

Guest Artist Booked

I have booked Julie Best as our guest artist for March. You last saw Julie when she played with Ron Hodgson at the club in January 2002. I have not booked Ron because he is having hospital treatment on his hand which prevents him playing for us at the moment. I will however rebook the duo for a future date once Ron's hand is better.

 

BBC Four Folk Night

On BBC Four last week, we enjoyed a full night of folk music featuring accordion, violin and acoustic guitar sessions, The Cambridge Folk Festival and much more. For those of you who don't know what BBC Four is, it's a television channel featuring documentaries, concerts and educational programmes. The channel is broadcast on satellite TV channel 161and on Free To Air channels. Free To Air channels are available through your normal TV aerial. They are a cut down version of Satellite TV systems. You purchase a set top box for your TV from somewhere like Comet, plug it in to your TV, you now have 30 digital TV channels free of charge. There are no subscription charges for Free To Air channels but as usual you have to have a TV licence to receive them. Keep an eye on BBC Four who have broadcast some good concerts on there recently.

 

The Club Opens At 7.30pm

I always make sure that the club is open at 7.30pm at the latest, this is to ensure that we have 30 minutes for everyone to catch up on the latest news and gossip before the first player starts. Please use this time to make new friends, talk to someone you don't normally speak to and say hello to new visitors to the club & make them welcome. One or two players have asked me to point out that it makes them very nervous when people are talking loudly while they are playing. The first player or two of the night gets the hardest job of playing while some very loud conversations are going on. Our players do a great job of entertaining us, lets not make their job any more difficult than it already is. The gaps between players and either one or two breaks during the night give us plenty of time for socialising.

 

Accordion Dictionary


Here are a few definitions I found on the Internet. More to follow next month....


Air Button
The air button operates a valve that allows the bellows to open and close without the accordion making any sound. It is usually found on the side of the bass board, or is the very top bass button.


Back Strap
This joins the two shoulder straps together, on the accordionist’s back. Some players feel it holds the accordion in place more securely, and takes pressure off the back.


Bass Strap
Usually made of leather, this goes from the top to the bottom of the accordion, on the bass side. The strap is positioned over the wrist, providing a support for the left hand while playing the bass buttons. Its main use is to enable the player to move the bellows in and out.


Bellows
The bellows are the “heart” of the accordion. They create the volume by forcing air through the reeds. Controlling the flow of air with the bellows for expression and dynamics is one thing that is unique to accordions.


Bellows Clips
The bellows clips keep the bellows closed when the accordion is not in use. They are on the top and bottom of the bellows.


Chin Couplers
These are a type of treble switches which allow the player to change the tone of the accordion. They are found on top of the accordion, above the treble keyboard. They do the same thing as any other coupler, but are very easy to use, because the player does not have to move their hand to change couplers.


Grille
The grille covers the keyboard’s treble valves and mechanisms. It is used to decorate the accordion, and usually displays the brand name and/or the logo of the manufacturer. It is common to see brightly coloured grilles with jewels and different coloured trimmings. The grille is usually “vented” to allow a louder treble sound. Occasionally, however the grille is used as a muting mechanism.

 

This Wednesday

On Wednesday we have the welcome return of Johnny Coleclough as our guest artist. Johnny was an accordionist at The Blackpool Tower Ballroom, he played with The Mantovani Orchestra and was a resident accordionist on the Bier Keller Circuit around Manchester. I know we will have a great time on Wednesday with Johnny and a number of supporting local players. As usual we will have the raffle, local players, coffee, tea and lots of good company. Bring your friends to a great night of entertainment. I will see you there.

 

 

 

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