Leyland Accordion Club, Leyland, Lancashire, England.

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Leyland Accordion Club - 16th July 2003

 

Our July Concert

Our July concert started with Colin Ensor playing Yesterday’s Dreams, Lara’s Theme, More Than You Know, Sweetheart Of
My Dreams and Charmaigne. Our next player to take to the stage, Dugald McCallum, played the strangely titled Cowshed Ballet followed by March Of The Miners. It was now time for our guest artist Harry Hussey to take to the stage. Harry started his first half with Blueberry Hill. His performance, which was a mixture of acoustic and MIDI sections, continued with Begin The Beguine, That Lovely Weekend and Perfidia. As is normal with one of Harrys concerts, the tunes he played were those shouted out by the audience. He asked for requests and proceeded to play them two or three at a time before asking for more. After getting the hang of shouting out requests, the audience gave Harry plenty to work with. The first half continued with Jealousy, Somewhere My Love (from Dr. Zivago), Under The Bridges Of Paris, La Rue Pigalle, Misty, Sweet ‘n’ Lovely, Lover Come Back To Me, Tangerine, Tea For Two and Retour de Hirondelles. After the break Eddie Iddon played La Comdarsa, Estrellita and Stardust, the last of those pieces was an arrangement made by Harry a few years ago. Eddie had taken a few years to perfect this piece, the amazing thing is that he managed to play it at all. Harry played this piece on his midi accordion, the resulting midi file was then printed out from Harrys computer to make the sheet music, Eddie had therefore to follow and play all the improvisations that are a trademark of Harry's playing. Well done Eddie for such a feat. I was our final local player of the night and, as usual when we are running short of time, I played just one tune before giving up the stage for the welcome return of Harry. The second half of the night continued along the same format as the first. Requests which were played included A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie, All Of Me, Glen Miller Medley, Moonlight Serenade, String Of Pearls, The Nearness Of You, Oh Wouldn’t It Be Lovely, The Street Where You Live, Moonglow, September Song, Moon River, Isle Of Capri, A Gracie Fields Medley including Sally and Sing As We Go. Further requests included Fascinating Rhythm, Unforgettable, Mona Lisa, South Of The Border, On Top Of The World, Wave and Elmer’s Tune. We had almost come to the end of the night and time for an almost final medley of Something Stupid and The Flintstones TV Theme. Harry decided that we had some time left for a Gershwin medley of Summertime, Aint Necessarily So, Bess You Is My Woman Now and just a few bars of Rhapsody in Blue. It had been another great night of entertainment and one we hope to repeat when we bring Harry to the club in the near future.

David Batty


The Fylde Folk Festival

The Fylde Folk Festival is to be held at Fleetwood from the 29th to the 31st of August 2003. Further details of the festival can be obtained from the organiser Alan Bell on 01253 872317. You can visit the festival website at www.fylde-folk-festival.com.

 

Our Website

Our internet website has had 60235 visitors as at the 17th of August 2003, that’s 727 visitors since last month. We have had a few new visitors to the club recently after they read about us on our website, so it is doing some good for us. Against the list of our forthcoming dates I have put a small description of what they should expect on that night, this seems to have worked well because people almost know what to expect before they visit us. Turning up for the first time is not so daunting if you know what to expect before you walk through the door of any event.

 

This Wednesday

This Wednesday we have another of our local players concerts. This is just the same as our concert nights where we have a guest artist - except we don't have a guest artist! We have two breaks during the night on our local players nights, one at 9pm and another at 10pm. These are ideal for people to meet each other, catch up on the latest gossip or talk to someone new. The bits in between these bonding sessions are filled with a concert featuring local performers who have practiced hard to bring new pieces to the club. If you don't normally visit us on a local players concert then why not give it a try. I am sure that you will enjoy the variety of performers we fit in to the three hours from 8pm to 11pm. If you can play an accordion then please make sure you bring it along and give us a tune, the best part of the night is often seeing closet players on stage adding to the night's entertainment. Come along and support your local players on Wednesday and join us for a good night out. If you are there then we can't talk about you! David Batty

 

Local Events

I thought you might want to know about a few musical events that are happening in the area over the next month or two. St. Catherine's Hospice's third annual jazz festival starts next month. The first evening will feature acclaimed singer Jacqui Dankworth. The other days will host a range of acts for all tastes. The Guild Hall foyer is the venue from September 19 to 21. For information call the Hospice Appeals office on 01772 324540 or the Guild Hall box office on 01772 258858. A concert will take place on Friday, August 1 at St George's Parish Church (off Lune Street), Preston, featuring Catlin Morgan on violin, who recently completed her training at Royal Northern College of Music, and Russell Lomas on piano, head of accompaniment at Chetham's School of Music. The Swingshift Big Band are playing at Farington Lodge, Stanifield Lane, Leyland, on Sunday July 27. Doors open at 8pm, and the concert starts at 8.30pm. Entrance is £3. Guest vocalist Frank Lawson will be entertaining the crowds, along with conductor Phil Shotton. A night with the soul and motown sounds of Kenny Lynn is being held on Saturday, August 9, at the Salwick Club, Lea Lane, Preston.Tickets are £2.50 on the door, from 8pm. The Harris Music Club has revealed its programme of events for the coming year, taking place at the Minster on Church Street, Preston. First up is a concert by pianist Tim Horton featuring sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven, on September 24, from 1pm. Tickets cost from £1 to £5 on the door. Call Jackie Izatt on 01772 744714 for more information. This year's Feast of Jazz festival promises to be even more spectacular than the last, with big name artists signed up for the October event. Among the names is clarinet legend Acker Bilk.

 

Stockport Accordion Club

The next meeting of Stockport Accordion Club is on Tuesday, the 23rd of September 2003. You may know that this was supposed to be a Gordon Glen concert. Gordon has since cancelled but the night is still going ahead as a 'Presidents Night' which is like our own local players nights. The two Stockport bands will be playing along with local players doing their own thing. The venue is their usual place of The St. John Ambulance HQ, Edgeley Road, Cheadle Heath, Stockport. The night starts at 8pm and continues until about 11pm.

Bridlington Festival Deadline

It's getting close to the Bridlington Accordion Festival now, if you would like to attend this event then don't forget to ring Loretta Rolston on 01501 820910 for a booking form. You can also visit www.accordiontimesandnews.co.uk to download a booking form from there. Mention Leyland Accordion Club when you book, then you will be in the same hotel as the rest of us.

 

Bank Hall

I have mentioned Bank Hall a few times over the past year, and, this month you got to see it on TV. Although the hall did not win on the Restoration TV programme they are still holding open days on the last Sunday of each summer month to raise funds to restore the hall. Further details can be found on www.bankhall.org.uk or by ringing Geoff Coxhead on 01772 456352.

 

The Liverpool Irish Festival


The Liverpool Irish Festival takes place this year from Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25 October 2003 at The Picket, 24 Hardman Street, Liverpool L1 9AX. Details of the festival can be obtained by telephoning 0151 722 2377, or the venue on 0151 708 5318. If you use the Internet you can email picket@merseymail.com for further details of this event.

 

Chester Club Trip


The Chester Accordion Club are having a local players concert on Tuesday the 26th of August. In a recent newsletter I mentioned us organising a trip to Chester sometime soon, this seems the ideal time to pay them a visit. If you would like to visit the Chester club with us this month then either meet us there at The Castrol Club, Chester Road, Whitby, Ellesmere Port or give Elaine your name at the door on Wednesday so that we can compile a list of people who want to car share. The night starts at 7.30pm and the admission is £2.50.

 

Whitby Folk Week


The annual Whitby Folk Week is taking place in Whitby, North Yorkshire this week. The event runs from August 16th to 22nd. Accordionist Karen Tweed will perform solo at the event. In addition she will entertain with Roger Wilson plus students from the Degree Course in Folk and Traditional Music at Newcastle University. Their program will include “Delia” (Wilson) and “Moonbeam Passage” (by Karen Tweed). Karen will also tutor a “slow tunes session” and 2 workshops for intermediate accordionists.
The main emphasis of the festival is the traditional dance, music and song of the British Isles and Ireland which is presented in over 20 indoor venues as well as on the streets and open spaces around the town. Over 600 different events are scheduled including dance displays, processions, street entertainment, formal and informal concerts, workshops, lectures, audio/video presentations, sessions, barn dances, interviews, storytelling, children’s entertainment and special events. Other accordion performers include Dave Townsend and John Kirkpatrick. For further details email: wfw@box44selby.freeserve.co.uk.

Whitby Folk Week


The post office is often given a bad name when it comes to delivery of letters but I can almost guarantee that when I post this newsletter on Monday, it will arrive on peoples doorsteps on Tuesday Morning. I was however surprised to recieve a letter on Tuesday the 5th of August which had been posted on Sunday the 3rd of August in Birkenhead. This was a fast delivery but the surprising thing is that it was posted Second Class with the address typed as "Please Find Leyland Accordion Club, Lancashire", under which someone at the post office had written "Try 39 Wray Crescent"!

Our Annual Picnic Concert

Our annual Picnic/Concert was at it's usual venue of Hollins Farm, Hollins Lane, Leyland on Sunday the 13th of July. As promised in the last newsletter it was a scorching hot day. The event started after 12 noon and continued throughout the day with no break in the entertainment until about 8pm although some of us left at 11pm. There were a few people in caravans, one family in a tent and lots of people arriving in their cars for the day out. As usual, there was no format to the day, I left people to organise themselves on the stage, I just went round and dropped a few hints to those who had not played yet but it was a very informal affair. A good time was had by all and we got our share of sunburn even though there was plenty of people offering shade in their caravan awnings, umbrellas or gazebos. It was nice to have a day out in the sun enjoying a picnic and plenty of good company. Roll on next year..............

 

 

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