Leyland Accordion Club, Leyland, Lancashire, England.

If you came to this page via a search engine then you have just found one page of our archive of 160+ monthly newsletters which may contain the information you are looking for. You can also click HERE to go to the main site which contains a wealth of text files, audio streams, video, musical information, items for sale, notice board and contact information for the UK accordion scene

For Accordion CD's DVD's Music Books and other items for sale visit our shop at
www.accordionshop.com

 

Leyland Accordion Club - 15th January 2003

 

Our January Concert

Our January meeting started with that old favourite Colin Ensor playing We Just Couldn't Say Goodnight. Now while some of you are trying to decide where there should have been a comma in there, I will quickly move on. Colins' performance continued with The Sweetheart Of All My Dreams, finally finishing with The Maigret Theme which he picked up from listening to George Hicks. Our next player was John Higham who sang three pieces, Lucky Jim, Under The Bridges Of Bury and Tit Willow. John finished with the instrumental No Regrets. Our last player before the guest artist was Elaine who played Fields Of Athenry, Irish Eyes and Maggie. Our guest artist was next to take to the stage, Johnny Coleclough, who last played for us a year ago, started his first spot with Rhapsody In Blue and Summertime. His next set of tunes was Fascinating Rhythm, Embracable You and Lady Be Good. After a little chat the music continued with Carousel Waltz and Ecstacy Tango. Teddy Bears Picnic was followed by the contrasting piece I'm Confessin'. A very nice version of My Florence led Johnny in to playing La Cumpasita, Waves Of The Danube and Blue Danube. The next piece Roses Of The South was followed by Skaters Waltz, El Redicaro, Cavatina and Limehouse Blues. Johnny then announced the titles of the last few pieces of his first session. While we got the coffee and tea ready Johnny finished with a singalong set of tunes which had everybody joining in, these were The Sound Of Music, 16 Going On 17, Edelweiss, Doh A Deer and Climb Every Mountain. During the break we had quite a lot of chat going on and people meeting others, buying and selling, swapping stories, catching up on the latest news and generally being very sociable. After the break we started our second half with Bill Agnew playing a selection of tunes which included many I had not heard him play before. I think he has been secretly practicing, either that or he had been holding back on letting us hear his vast repertoire. I followed Bill with my vast range of something forgettable, I didn't write anything down after I played so I can't tell you what it was. I am on the list of players, so I did contribute something to the night. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I can write that it was a brilliant piece or pieces that I performed! To top this performance, I invited Elaine on to the stage, we then played Plaisir D'Amour before inviting Johnny Coleclough back to the stage for his second half. Johnny started with a couple of Jazz pieces, Take the 'A' Train and That's Aplenty. These were followed by Arriverdici Roma and Now Or Never. That well known Mike Ellis piece That's Amore led nicely to Oh Oh Anatonio. After a story or two, Johnny played the fast and furious Sabre Dance before slowing down with Out Of Nowhere. Johnny's next piece was the well known Tico Tico which, although well known, I don't often hear being played at the club, maybe it's a piece that not many of our players have learnt to play? The next couple of pieces were unfamiliar to me, How High The Moon and Mir Bes't Do Schoen. The next two pieces That's A Plenty and Moonglow were a return to tunes I knew and the start of many well known pieces such as Blaze Away, Those Were The Days, Lilli Marlene, The Happy Wanderer, Beer Barrel Polka, Falling Leaves, Tea For Two, Peg O' My Heart, Sweet Georgia Brown, Show Me The Way To Go Home, We'll Meet Again and Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone. It was almost 11pm now and just time for a few tunes to finish. Autumn Leaves, I Love Paris and Ce'Si Bon led up to the final medley consisting of a selection of Scottish Tunes. Before he had to return home, Johnny had a number of people chatting to him about his playing and telling him how much they had enjoyed the night. I enjoyed the entertainment and I look forward to asking Johnny back as a future guest artist at Leyland Accordion Club.

David Batty


Our Website

Our internet website has had 56310 visitors as at the 16th of February 2003, that’s 785 visitors since last month.

 

Inside An Organ

The television program 21st Century Bach starts on BBC 4 on Sunday 2nd March 2003 at 19:00 to 19:10. Although it's only a ten minute programme I thought you might be interested in it's camera technique. Organist John Whiteley will play Bach's Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV541, at St Wenzel's Church in Naumberg, Germany. Unusual filming techniques include miniature cameras inside the instrument, although I have not seen this yet, I thought that it should make it an interesting ten minutes of film.

 

Accordion Manufacturers Merge

The world has become accustomed to mergers, especially during the latter half of the last century. However, in the accordion manufacturing industry, the reverse has been true for many years. Now, in a unique move, two high profile companies within this industry: (Sem and Menghini) have joined forces to form a new manufacturing company - SUONI srl. The new company was operational from January 2nd 2003. The President of the new company is Giansandro Breccia. The merger is a natural result of previous manufacturing collaborations between the two companies as they had many complementary facets in terms of production and products. It was therefore apparent that many benefits could result from combining the two production units. The fusion will therefore bring most of the production processes under one roof, which will be at the existing Menghini premises. Personnel from both companies will be retained. The original SEM factory is to be sold. The products manufactured by SUONI will be marketed exclusively by MENGHINI using the following brand names: Scandalli, Sem and Paolo Soprani. Each brand will have its own separate identity and there will be little, if any, overlap of products.

 

E-Business Seminar

On the 4th of March I am organising a one day event at which I will be bringing Microsoft, British Telecom, Hewlett Packard, Cisco and Intel to Chorley to demonstrate their latest technologies related to computers and the Internet. This is aimed at people or organisations who want to run websites, learn about taking credit card payments, wireless networking, Windows XP, Broadband, handheld computers, attracting visitors, saving money and a lot more of interest to any business, school, college, or other organisation. Full details of the event, including a list of everything that will be covered on the day can be found at www.sectorsoftware.co.uk on the 'e-business seminar' link. I would apreciate it if you could pass details of this event to anyone you know who could benefit from getting more customers or selling products via the Internet. The day is going to be aimed at non technical people who just want to know what all the new technology is about, how much it costs, what it can do, how it can bring in new customers, how it can help get publicity for an organisation and lots more. If you take a look at the above website you will find that I have only slightly touched on the number of items covered, a full list would fill this newsletter. Anyone who mentions Leyland Accordion Club when booking is entitled to a £10 discount on the £40 attendance fee which includes lunch. Telephone David on 01772 454328 or visit the website for more details.

 

Pre-Booking For Bridlington 2003

Loretta Rolston has provisionally booked The Shelbourne Hotel as the 'Leyland' hotel at The Bridlington Accordion Festival. This hotel has been chosen simply because it is closer to the SPA than the previous hotel - also, it has recently been refurbished. The cost for the festival this year is £145 all inclusive. Insurance is £7.50 (optional) single occupancy supplement is £5. For those that have decided that they are definitely going to the festival, please send deposit cheque made payable to LORETTA ROLSTON. The deposit required is £25 per person, plus £7.50 if you also require the insurance.
As this hotel is in demand, Loretta would like to know numbers as soon as possible. You can telephone Loretta on 01501 820910 or email her at Bridlington@accordiontimesandnews.co.uk.


Wyre Accordion Club

The next meeting of the Wyre Accordion Club will be on Wednesday, the 26th of February 2003, at Cleveleys. Telephone 01253 852648 for further details or directions. The club normally starts at 8pm and finishes at around 10.30pm.

 

None In A Bar

You may not be aware, but a bill was put into Parliament which could end live music in this country, initially there were many scare stories about what could happen under the proposed rules. Details of the proposed new rules can be found on the Internet at the following address:-

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldbills/001/2003001.htm

The problem musicians had with this proposed legislation was the fact that it seemed to stop anyone from playing a musical instrument, Singing , performing or dancing without a licence!
Many musicians immediately became aware of the seriousness of the proposed rules in their present form and started campaigning to get the rules changed before they became law. A petition to address the problems with the proposed legislation was started on the Internet, I signed it on the day it started, I was about the 38th person to sign it. About two months later it has almost 80,000 signatures of people who are demanding a rewrite of the rules before the legislation becomes law, with the number rising rapidly on a daily basis. You can find the petition on the Internet at:-

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/2inabar/petition.html

The petition is a properly organised affair, you can't type in a number of names to get the numbers higher, your name is stored along with your address, postcode and email address, this means only one vote per person, per address and per email address. When you sign the petition, an email is sent to you, you have to then reply to that email to confirm that the email address is a legitimate address. Any signatures on the petition which are not confirmed by email can't be counted.
We have been told by our MP's that 'sense will prevail' and live music and dance won't be barred from public places, but until the changes are made and this becomes law we can't sit and wait in hope. We need to spread the word and ensure that peoples feelings are felt. After you look at the publication, please let others know about the publication and the petition, sign it yourself, and if you have contact with your local MP then please let them know that you want to ensure that licences are not needed for live or spontaneous entertainment. In it's original form, the wording of the bill would have outlawed people putting on concerts in church halls, community centres and any other public place without a licence. To take it to it's original letter of the law could have made it illegal to sing happy birthday to someone! Happily we are hearing the right noises that the ruling will not outlaw these things and hopefully from the complaints and the petitions, we will see some sense before the final bill becomes Law.

 

BBC4 Celtic Connections


Celtic Connections is on BBC 4 on Monday 24th February 2003 at midnight to 1am. Verity Sharp and Mary Ann Kennedy present musical highlights from this year's Celtic Connections Festival. Featured artists include Eddi Reader and the RSNO with new arrangements of the songs of Robert Burns, Irish supergroup Lunasa, the Anglo-Scandinavian mix of Swap, songwriter Eleanor McEvoy and Breton pianist Didier Squiban.

 

Bellows Buttons And Keys Club


The next meeting of The Bellows Buttons And Keys Club is on Tuesday, the 4th of March 2003, at The Royal British Legion, opposite the bus terminal at Cleveleys. The club starts at 8pm and continues until 11pm. Telephone 01253 822046 for details.

 

Ideas For The Club

If you have any suggestions for new guest artists, type of events you would like to take part in or see organised, newsletter items etc. then please let me know. I try to run the club so that it suits everybody and favours nobody. I always hope that my efforts suit the majority of club members but I am always open to suggestions that may improve the club for you. I try to vary the guest artist so that I don't just book what I like. I think I get the mix right but if not then please let me have suggestions for improvements or material for the newsletters.

 

This Wednesday

On Wednesday we have another variety night featuring a host of our own players. Those of you who normally attend only the guest artist nights are missing out on some great fun and entertainment on the months in between. We may have one of our recent guest artists in attendance this month but due to his work committments he said he will try and get up to visit us. Players don't forget your accordions, if you are feeling nervous then I will put you on in the first half hour. Spread the word, invite your friends. I will see you there.

 

 

Return to Leyland Accordion Club main page

 

Learn the skill of Touch Typing with Touch Typist.