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 |
|
|
| Leyland Accordion Club - 17th November 2004
|
Our November ConcertOur November meeting started with Basil Berry playing the Cole Porter tune So In Love. This was followed by Colin Ensor playing a small selection of tunes. It was now time for our guest artist Romano Viazzani to take to the stage. We booked Romano to play at the club after he was the demonstrator for the Roland V-Accordion at the start of the Roland demo tour earlier in the year. Romano started with the accordion standard Bel Viso by Frosini followed by Pietro's Return by Pietro Diero. It was time for some classical pieces by Astor Piazzola - these related pieces were Milonga Del Angel, La Muerte Del Angel and finally La Resureccion Del Angel. The next piece was a Gigi Stok piece Cuore Vagabondo which was followed by Baba Bossa written by Romano himself. After playing Mazurka Variata by Migliavacca and The Paris Match by Paul Weller, there was just time for one piece - Indifference, before it was time for the break. After the break we had a couple of pieces from Marion, Ann Parker and Tom Bennett before I took to the stage and invited my dad Steve Roxton to join me for a duet. I announced beforehand that we played part of this duet in different keys so we were going to see what happened when we got to that bit, but I did not realise that we played it at vastly different speeds. After a six or seven minute long medley of tunes, which went down quite well according to the feedback I received, it was time for the return of our guest artist Romano to take to the stage for his second half. The first half had been all performed on Romanos acoustic accordion, but his second half started with Romano playing the Roland V-Accordion. His first selection of tunes was a medley of French pieces, these were L'Italiano A Parigi by Gigi Stok, Under Paris Skies by Ulmer and Domino by Louis Ferrari. There were two more pieces on the Roland FR7 accordion before Romano returned to his acoustic model. These two pieces were Party Chambers by Paul Weller and Take 5 by Dave Brubeck. After swapping accordions, Romano continued with Prelude & Fugue in C Minor by J. S. Bach and a tango medley consisting of Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardell and Adios Muchachos by Sanders. After Brioso by Gigi Stok, it was time for another tango in the form of Tango Pour Claud by Richard Galliano. Romano thanked the audience for having him and announced his last two pieces at 10.35pm. This left quite a few people in the audience wondering whether we were going to finish early for the first time ever, but this is Leyland Accordion Club so they should have known that I would not let that happen. Romano's second to last piece was Moto Perpetuo by N Paganini, this is a bit like the grown up, big brother of The Flight Of The Bumblebee. Romano's final piece was Carnival Of Venice by Paganini - Stok. After taking his applause, Romano stayed on the stage while I announced that Steve Roxton and Harry Hussey were going to join Romano on the stage for what would turn out to be 25 minutes of medleys and various tunes chosen by the three players themselves. You will notice in the photograph that they had a fourth member, our mascot Wilie Coyote who had been on the stage with Romano all night. This last 25 minute session was only planned at the break when I asked Harry and Steve if they would take to the stage for the finale with Romano. They kindly agreed to play for us in what was a superb session to end the night. Harry didn't have an accordion with me so he needed to borrow a straight tuned accordion. During the break he tried my accordion and he later played that until the concert finally finished at just after 11.10pm. We had enjoyed a great concert with some fantastic playing from Romano, Steve Roxton, Harry Hussey and from the local players who played before each half. Thanks go to Romano for a great night, we look forward to seeing him again in future. David Batty |
Club MembershipMany thanks to those of you who have already paid your membership, the rest of you still have December and January meetings to update your membership for 2005. The annual membership of £5, which is unchanged from previous years despite the forthcoming postage increases, gives you cheaper admission on concert nights and it also ensures you get this newsletter delivered each month. |
This WednesdayThis Wednesday Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. Make sure that you turn up early for a good seat. As announced last month and earlier in this newsletter, it's our Jacobs Join night. This is where we all bring along a little something to add together into one great big feast. We always have a great night at Christmas because we don't have that David Batty telling us all to be quiet and respect the players on stage. The lights are up for most of the night and you are free to talk and eat while the players decide their own running order. This allows you to meet people you don't normally talk to on other concert nights. We normally see a few improptu duets on December concert nights so don't miss out. I look forward to seeing you all there for our last meeting of 2004. David Batty
|
New Accordion Shop And ClubAlthough not in our area, it is interesting to know that a new accordion shop has opened in Paisley, Scotland. The shop, called Squeezebox Scotland, has been opened by a pair of accordion teachers and musical directors. Secondly, in Poole, Dorset a new accordion club has opened its doors. The Poole Accordion Club meets every Friday night for two hours. The St. Albans Accordion Club are currently advertising for new members, their adverts state that “New members male and female are very welcome”! |
BBC Radio Scotland On the WebIn a recent newsletter I told you about the programme The Reel Blend on BBC Radio Scotland. The show features news and recordings from around the Scottish accordion clubs. I told you that you can listen on SKY TV, channel 866 at the appropriate time but I forgot to mention that you can also listen to the programme any time you want on the Internet. Visit the website below and click on ‘Listen again’ to listen to the show at any time you want. www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/
|
Basil's Accordion For SaleBasil Berry is selling his 48 Bass red Parrot 2 voice accordion. This is being sold with a hard case for £150. Basil is selling his accordion because he has been over to Yorkshire to buy a new one. Telephone Basil on 01253 733503 or see him at the club on Wednesday.
|
Accordionist HonouredI know that it’s not what he is mainly known for, but Rolf Harris, who was described as a cult musician, artist and television presenter in recent newspaper articles was awarded the title of Showbusiness Personality Of The Year this week by The Variety Club Of Great Britain. You may remember that Rolf, was in the papers when his accordion caught fire on stage after being left too close to a footlight.
|
Starts of Stage and PrintThose of you who read Lancashire Life magazine should have noticed that Colin Ensor and Tom Bennett are pictured in this months edition. They are pictured wearing santa hats while playing their accordions in an article about Chorley Christmas lights. |
December Party Jacobs JoinThis month is our christmas party night, as usual this is a Jacobs Join where we all bring along a little something, like sandwiches, sausage rolls, mini pork pies, a cake or something similar and share it out in one big spread. The food is collected at the kitchen hatch and is laid out on the tables at the back of the room. The night will be a normal night until the first break, during this time the food will be laid out and everything prepared ready for the break. From the break onwards you can help yourself to food for the rest of the night, the lights will be on and I leave players to take to the stage when they see a vacant spot. If everyone looks busy with talking and eating then this is an ideal time to go and do your own ten minutes of entertainment on the stage without every eye in the room watching you. If you have been trying to pluck up courage to play solo then why not give it a go this Wednesday. This is a night where we see some new party pieces, new duets and new players taking to the stage, you can get practicing now. |
Postage ChargesIt has just been announced that the cost of a first class stamp will rise by 2p to 30p next april, second class stamps will remain at their current price of 21p. Newsletter deliveries will not be affected ! |
Our WebsiteOur internet website has had 74233 vistors as at 11th December 2004, that's 937 visitors to our main page since last month. I have just developed the film with our clubs new wraparound photograph, these images will be scanned and stiched together for a new wrap around photograph on the website. The last photograph was taken before Colin Ensor started coming to the club, and when I only knew six tunes (I now know nine which shows you that our photograph needed updating). See it appear on the website in the next two weeks. It might be handy to take a look at it in case you can't remember who you were sat with on that night! |
Harry Hussey WebsiteI have just put together a simple one page website for Harry Hussey, details of his history and a photograph of him playing the accordion at the age of 17 can be found on there along with contact details. Visit www.harryhussey.com or www.harryhussey.co.uk. |
Thelwall ViaductGood news for most people in the area, especially those visiting the club from the south, the Thelwall Viaduct will be re-opening on the 20th of December. This means that trips to the club should be far easier next year for people from Cheshire and the Chester area. |
Tom's TravelsI asked Tom Bennett to give us a writeup on two jobs I knew he was doing, here is his report....The gig I did at Worsley on the 26th of July was for the Worsley Summer Fete. I was invited to play two half hour sessions. I thought I would jump in at the deep end and go ‘Midi’ for both sessions. I worked out a full programme with drumkit backing ( no fancy sounds or effects ) and amplified reeds. I was accompanied by my son in law in his capacity as sound engineer, complete with his mixing desk, speakers and an array of wires, plugs, etc. The event was well received commencing with Under the Double Eagle, and included a musical quiz, a selection of Glen Miller tunes as well as Wartime sing-along, sixties chart songs, and a couple of Tangos thrown in for good measure. At the end of the evening, requests for a further four performances were received, one of which I was unable to accommodate because of a prior booking ( I was going on holiday). One of the requests was to play at a Garden Fete organised by the Worsley residents' committee, this was to take place on the 11Sept . Harry and Audrey had also been invited, and very kindly invited me to join them on a cruise to Worsley, arriving during the afternoon, and in plenty of time for the event. On arrival at Worsley, Harry made some enquiries as to times and places, etc. only to discover that, due to some difficulties, the event had been cancelled. Unfortunately due to a further mix up, we hadn’t been informed. However the cruise had been very pleasurable, and Harry and I did manage a spot of playing on the back of the boat and were supplied by the cabin crew (Audrey) with copious amounts of hot coffee. A further bonus to the weekend was to discover that I was to receive the fee even though I hadn’t played. I wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. It’s the first time I’ve heard of anyone being paid not to play!The up side was that they would like me to go and play for them again sometime at a date to be arranged. Sorry there is no photo, the son in law had some problem trying to download from his phone into the computer. See you on Wednesday, Regards Tom |
Return to Leyland Accordion Club main page
Learn the skill of Touch Typing with Touch Typist.