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 - 19th January 2005

 

Our January Concert

Our January concert started with Derek Corlett playing a musette walt followed by a very nice piece, I'll Walk With God. Derek's next piece was Sonata In A Major by Mozart, he said that he had shortened it and was just playing the good bits. To finish Derek played Chopin's Minute Waltz. Our next player, Ann Parker, played Frog Chorus and The Harry Lime Theme. Colin Ensor was next on the stage with two pieces, Beautiful Days and Hear My Song - Violetta. It was now time for our guest artist Robert Burton to start his first session of the night. Robert started with a medley consisting of Macnamara's Band followed by Cock Of The North, Irish Washer Woman and back to Macnamara's Band. Robert continued with Tulips From Amsterdam while the audience sang along from the supplied song sheet which had the words to 35 of the 50+ pieces that were to come. Windmill In Old Amsterdam, Wonderful Copenhagen and Que Sera Sera followed in quick succession. Everyone was getting into the hang of singing as we continued with The Happy Wanderer, Roll Out The Barrell, Deep In The Heart Of Texas, Little Brown Jug, Knees Up Mother Brown then back to Roll Out The Barrell. Things slowed down with Oh Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Molly Malone. Things speeded up and the audience were clapping and singing along to Those Were The Days. After a selection of Italian songs sung by Robert in Italian, we continued on our songsheet with Lilli Marlene. After an unnamed instrumental piece, Robert then played Tico Tico requested by Phylis. After Wooden Heart, Drink Drink and Oom Pah Pah from Oliver, Robert ended his first spot with Granada. After the break, Colin played one piece before asking me to join him to play I Won't Forget You. Colin left the stage and I then played Plaisir D'Amour and Triste Sourire before inviting Robert back to continue with his second half with Neopolitan Tarantella by Frosini followed by She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor, I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts and I'm Henry The Eighth. It was then on to some Italian pieces, That's Amore, Carnival Of Venice, Rigoletto and many others. We sang Edelweiss and Are You Lonesome Tonight then Robert played Bel Viso. Back to the song sheets we sang Don't Dilly Dally, Side By Side, You Made Me Love You, Shine On Harvest Moon, It's A Sin To Tell A Lie, You Are My Sunshine, Bye Bye Blackbird (While Bob and Shirley danced across the floor), A Man And A Woman, Bicycle Made For Two, Bless Em All, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, Down At The Old Bull And Bush, My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean. After The Godfather Theme, Theme From Love Story, Skaters Waltz, Who Do You Think Your Kidding Mr Hitler, Run Rabbit Run, The White Cliffs Of Dover, It's A Long Way To Tipperary, Aufwiedersehen, Pack Up Your Troubles and Well Meet Again, Land Of Hope And Glory, and Goodbye From The White Horse Inn. After his encore piece Radetsky March we finally finished. It had been a great night of singalong entertainment and we will make sure we get Robert back again at the club again in the not too distant future.
David Batty

 

John Leslie Accordion Tuition Week


At St Audries Bay Holiday Club - Somerset, 28th March to 1st April 2005. The tuition will be organised by John Leslie and his team of Accordion Teachers, each taking groups and individual classes. Half-Board is £185 The next two opportunities this year will be The Summer Accordion Week from Sat 16th - Sat 23rd July 2005 and The Folk/Accordion Week from Sat 3rd - Sat 10th September 2005.Contact Mary Randle Telephone 01984 632515

 

Galanti 120 Bass For Sale

White Galanti 120 Bass accordion for sale. Excellent condition, lovely sound. This is a reluctant sale, the accordion comes with a case for £400. Telephone Kathleen Dawber on 01942 498952.

 

This Wednesday

Once again we have a local players concert. This is a great night of entertainment from our own locals playing a wide variety and styles of music. Hopefully we can allocate a reasonable amount of time for the buskers as that part of the night always seems to go down well. Players please remember to bring your accordions. December was our Christmas party night so this Wednesday will be our first local players night since October. William Langton said he is going to be at the club on Wednesday so I am looking forward to him doing a spot on stage. During the breaks, please go and say 'Hello' to someone you don't know. Doors open at 7.30pm so make sure you turn up early for a good seat. I will see you there David Batty

 

Wyre International Accordion Festival

The next Wyre International Accordion Festival is being held at The Marine Hall, The Esplanade, Fleetwood on Saturday the 26th of March from 9am to 7.30pm. This is a day of competitions where you can either take part in the accordion competitions, or you can go along to watch the competitors playing their best pieces. As well as the competitions, there will be a trade show throughout the day and a concert after the presentations at around 6pm to 7.30. The last date for entries for the competitions is the 12th of March, contact Gina Contact Gina at 01253 822046 or 778764 for more details or to request an entry form. There are categories called Late Starters which means amateur adults. Who is up for entering in one or two of these categories for a bit of fun? I have entered twice back in 1998 or 1999, it was a good experience. You get to play your chosen piece of music, then later you get a report from the adjudicators telling you where you went wrong. They are usually kind in their remarks but constructive criticism is most welcome to a player, especially when the criticism comes from someone who knows what they are talking about. I'm not really competitive when it comes to playing but if I have someone to compete against then I will go in for this myself. Who is up for it? Even if you're not interested in competing, this is a good day out, you can watch accordion playing, browse the trade stalls, have a bite to eat in the cafe and visit Fleetwood shops and market, all in one day. Telephone Gina for more details and let me know at the club on Wednesday if your willing to join in the competition.

 

Mavis Bennett (Tom's Mum)

Mavis Bennett was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties, she is expecting to be home next week but the doctors have not yet had a consultation with her for this to be confirmed. We hope to see her back at the club soon.

 

Phil Kelsall Gala Concert


Blackpool accordionist Ken Astin, who was our guest artist in July, will be appearing at the Tower Ballroom on Sunday 8th May. Ken will be one of Phil Kelsall's guest artists appearing in this year's Gala Concert. He will be playing Solo and together with Phil on the Mighty Wurlitzer, a combination that has only been done once before and not to be missed. This year's Gala Concert is to celebrate three landmarks. Phil's 30th year as resident organist at the Tower Ballroom, VE Day, celebrating 60yrs since the end of the 2nd World War and the fact that the Mighty Wurlitzer is 70yrs old. Other Guest Artists include Grant Peters (Singing Sensation) and Xylophone Duo the 'Holloways'. Accordion/Organ and dancing enthusiasts may be interested in having a weekend break at Blackpool, as on Saturday evening, holders of Gala Tickets will get reduced admission to the Tower Ballroom for an evening of dancing, (always a nostalgic thing to do when in Blackpool). Tickets for the Sunday night Gala are available from the Blackpool Tower Booking Office, priced from £9 to £12.50 depending where you want to sit. To book Tel: 01253 292029 or E-mail: AlisonPilling@leisure-parcs.co.uk

 

48 Bass Accordion For Sale

Edmund Hamer is selling a 48 bass accordion. This is an unwanted Christmas present, Edmund cannot play due to illness. The accordion comes with carrying case and an accordion tutor. The cost was £199 new at Christmas and Edmund will accept £135 or very near offer. Telephone 07981 452219 or email edmund.hamer@btinternet.com

Cake With Jely Bean Mystery

In the last newsletter I asked if anyone knew where the cake with jelly beans on top of it came from. It was a cake brought by someone to our Christmas party in December. Mike Ellis would like to find the person who supplied the cake, or if they wish to remain anonymous then all he needs is the name of the shop where he can go and buy a similar product. So far, nobody has admitted to bringing it or even hinted where Mike can go and buy such an item. I have further information from Mike that it was a sponge cake decorated with jelly beans. If you have any information or you see such a cake in a shop, please contact us at the club or email jellybeanenquiry@accordionclub.co.uk and I will pass the information on.

Our Website

Our internet website has had 75565 vistors as at 12th of February 2005, that's 933 visitors to the main page of our website since last month. It's amazing how many people come to our site directly from a search engine straight to one of our newsletters. Someone on the Internet looking for a song title, a person or anything you have ever seen mentioned in these newsletters is usually given one of our web pages as a source of that information. I have added the new wrap around photograph of the club to the website now. It means that visitors to the club won't be saying , "It looks nothing like it does on the Internet"! Our new site www.accordionfestival.co.uk is now getting lots of visitors looking for a list of forthcoming festivals in the UK. Shortly the site will give a 'number of days' countdown to each festival as soon as I get a moment to write the code to do it.

Scandalli Scott Wood Model c1935.


From the pen of Colin Ensor >> I thought you might like to see what early pre-war piano accordions were like. The first one was introduced into this country by jazz pianist George Scott Wood in 1927 and this triggered off the nationwide craze for the instrument, which prompted Italian maker Scandalli to name a curved keyboard one after him, this is a mid-thirties example of that model. It was brought into the Wyre club a few months back in a builder's tool bag, looking as though it had been rescued from a skip, where it might have been kinder to leave it. But there was something about it - it had obviously been an attractive-looking, good quality instrument in its day and it seemed a shame to see it scrapped or broken up, so I was tempted to see if perhaps there were a few more tunes left in it.Although it's not finished yet (they rarely are), I've managed to sort out most of the problems and it is now actually playable. It came as a 116 bass model but fortunately three of the missing buttons and sliders were rattling about inside so I only had one to make and inside the bass end case twelve reeds were missing which I've managed to replace. On the treble side there was one broken key and one of the reed blocks inside was cracked, allowing air to reach a wrong reed. So, apart from some work on the bellows, it's up and running again but it seems to want to play mainly the old tunes! It's a 4 voice with just one wrist coupler giving a choice of 3 or 4 sets of reeds.These nostalgic oldies are not as good as today's sophisticated instruments, but they do have a certain charm and bring us a different sound from yesteryear. It's got a fine set of reeds with a sort of organ tone, is in remarkably good tune for its age and is quite nice to play (despite the very narrow black notes) but whether it's good to listen to is another matter. Be warned - I'll play it at you on Wednesday - mind you don't get crushed in the rush to the bar! Colin Ensor

 

 

 

Return to Leyland Accordion Club main page

 

Learn the skill of Touch Typing with Touch Typist.