Our October Concert
Our October concert started with Bill Agnew who treated us to a great medley of tunes which got us all in a party mood. Our next player, Colin Ensor, played We Just Couldn’t Say Goodnight, Sands Of Kuwait, Charmaine, Sailing By, Music Maestro Please, You’ll Never Know, May You Always and Someday. David Rigby then took to the stage playing Snow Waltz, Spinning Wheel, Whispering Hope, In The Good Old Summer Time, Daisy, After The Ball Is Over, Highland Cathedral and Sailors Hornpipe Medley!!!. Bernard Bamber played Tobermoray Bay, Light Of Lochindaal, Lonely Scapa Flow, My Bonnie, Home On The Range, Que Sera Sera, Maggie and Northern Lights Of Old Aberdeen. It was now my turn to play, so I started with Cruising Down The River, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, Old Bull and Bush, My Girl’s A Yorkshire Girl, A Gordon For Me, I Belong To Glasgow, Keep Right On, American Patrol, Red White and Blue and the Houghton Weaver’s hit Blackpool Belle. Graham Driver then gave us Lovely Nancy, Much Wenlock, The Mad Moll Of The Cheshire Hunt, The Pullit, Rochdale Coconut Dance, Jaqueline Waltz, Weasels Revenge and Off To California. Our next player, Ann Parker, played Bel Viso, Yodelling Polka and Beautiful Days. Andrew Baker then took to the stage and played Beautiful Dreamer, The Leaving Of Liverpool and When I Saw Her Standing There. Bill Agnew and Bob Seed were our last players of the night, entertaining us with Roll Out The Barrel, Quando Quando, Obladi Oblada, Home On The Range, In The Mood, No Regrets, La Vie En Rose,Oh Boy, Tobermory Wedding and Scottish Soldier. Once again we had enjoyed a great night, there was plenty of chat at the end and people were saying that they were looking forward to our next concert featuring Walter Perrie, they didnt know it at the time, but it also features Tom Cowing too so it should be one great night of entertainment. Please tell your friends and support Walter and Tom this Wednesday.
David Batty
This Wednesday
This Wednesday we have a concert featuring Walter Perrie and Tom Cowing in concert. Walter said he has been practicing about 80% new material which we have never heard before so that is something to look forward to. The Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. Please let your friends know about this event and bring them along. You know we always have a great night when we have Walter as our guest artist. See you there… David Batty
Jacobs Join
Our December event will again be a Jacobs Join, this is where we all bring some cake, sandwiches, pies or some savoury or sweet things along. We put them all together and have a great feast while watching the entertainment. Get practicing your carols and party pieces for our December night which is always a great event.
The Houghton Weavers Show
The Houghton Weavers will be in their annual Folk and Brass Christmas show at the Guild Hall, Preston on Sunday 20th of December 2009. Visit www.houghtonweavers.com for booking details.
Deirdre Adamson New CD
Scottish accordionist Deirdre Adamson has just released a new solo recording ‘A Tribute to Past Masters’. This is a solo performance on which Deirdre plays the tunes composed by, or associated with, some of the legends of Scottish accordion and country dance music. The tracks include: 1) Niel Gow: ‘Athole Volunteers’, ‘Earl of Dalhousie’ 2) Angus Fitchet: ‘The Lerwick Waltz’ 3) Will Starr: ‘The Bluebird Polka’ 4) P/M Donald MacLeod: ‘Donald MacLellan of Rothesay’, ‘Dr.Ross’s 50th Welcome to The Argyllshire Gathering’ 5) Lindsay Ross: ‘The Family Pride’, ‘Malcolm Ross’, ‘Jim Kennedy’s Jig’, ‘Joe Foster’s Jig’ 6) John Huband: ‘Ma Cherie’ 7) Angus Cameron: ‘The Queen Mother’s Welcome to Glamis’, ‘Harry Scott of Friockheim’ 8) Andrew Rankine: ‘The Gleniffer Polka’ 9) J.F.Wagner: ‘Under the Double Eagle’ 10) J.Scott Skinner: ‘Farewell to Scotland’, ‘Bonnie Glenfarg’, ‘The Piper’s Weird’ 11) Felix Burns: ‘Household Brigade’ 12) Iain MacLachlan: ‘The Dark Island’ 13) Sir Jimmy Shand: ‘Windyedge Barn Dance’ 14) Alastair Hunter: ‘Auberge des Carfards’ 15) Jim Johnstone: ‘Shilling Hill’, ‘The Borestone’, ‘Miss S.J.Marshall’, ‘Billy Thom’s Reel’ 16) Pietro Frosini: ‘Bel Viso’ 17) Bobby MacLeod: ‘Alan C.Beaton of Tobermoray’, ‘John Robertson’, ‘Jean’s Reel’ 18) Jim MacLeod: ‘Heading For Home’.
Get This Newsletter in your Email Inbox
Did you know that you can get this newsletter delivered to you in your email inbox every month? It will probably arrive before the paper version! You can sign up by visiting www.accordionclub.co.uk and typing your name and email address in the boxes in the top right hand corner of the website. Once you have entered your details in there you will need to click on the confirmation link in the email that will arrive in your inbox. When you have done this you will then receive the newsletter as an email every month. We send out the newsletters in the post, then we write an online email version and send that out before the paper ones have arrived. Get your friends to subscribe…
Accordionist Christmas Gift
Looking for a christmas present for an accordionist? ‘An A to the Z of the Accordion, Volume 4’ is the latest in a long running series of books dedicated to the accordion and its players. Some of the entries in Volume 4 are extensions of topics covered in the earlier books, presenting additional aspects and information. Volume 4 follows the usual formula of biographies and articles, with the players and topics representing different genres and eras, including the present time. This book includes several extended articles, with excellent and contrasting contributions from some guest writers. For example, in ‘International Stars of the Accordion’, the book contains a review of present day accordion ‘greats’ such as Carl Fortina, Alexander Dmitriev, Dick Contino, Peter Soave, Art Van Damme, Frank Marocco, and others. Tony Compton has written a brilliant article, ‘Don Destefano Remembered’, recalling his lessons and long term relationship with one of the great accordion professionals of the pre- and post-war years. Caroline Hunt, owner of a large collection of antique accordions, tells about the accordion museum she founded last year in the Scottish Highlands. Frances O’Rourke, an accomplished dance accordionist based in Manchester, gives her thoughts in ‘Irish Traditional Playing’. Ingrid Gould, from Birmingham, writes on the topic of ‘The accordion with other instruments’.’ Getting to grips with the Roland Virtual Accordion’ is my account of discovering what the Roland FR7 has to offer, written from the perspective of one who is keen to learn but not technically minded. I began playing the FR7 in September, and the article tells of my early progress in figuring out what this amazing digital instrument has to offer. Other lengthy articles include ‘Accordion in Retrospect’, ‘The Anglo-Italian Connection’, ‘The Jazz Accordionists’, and ‘The Double Acts’. These are largely historical type articles, with the latter looking at the careers of Foster & Allen, The Alexander Brothers, Jack Emblow/Tony Compton, The Bon Accords, Aly Bain/Phil Cunningham, and ‘The Sultans of Squeeze’ – John Kirkpatrick/Chris Parkinson. Also included are some superb evergreen musical articles: ‘The Serious Performer’, by Douglas Ward, ‘Playing From Piano Music’ and ‘Tips for Practising and Playing Solos’, by Gerald Crossman, ‘Memorising’, by Conway Graves, and ‘Scales in the Balance’, by Ken Hacking. These articles have all previously appeared in accordion magazines, and the intention here is to make them available for present day readers to appreciate. Those particularly interested in diatonic accordions are well catered for with an extended, in-depth article, ‘Diatonic Musings’, in which George Garside discusses the merits of the various ‘push/pull’ button accordions, and ‘Shand Morino’, by enthusiast Roy Magna – tracing the history of this iconic instrument. The biographies include Elaine Beecham, the D’Ambrosio family, the D’Arcy family, Eddy Jay, Roger Letley, Owen Murray, Martin O’Connor, Sean Quinn, Donal Ring, Pete Shutler (of Yetties fame), Romano Viazzani, Douglas Ward, harmonica wizard Brendan Power, and yesteryear names Billy Reid, Emilio, T.W. Thurban, Leslie Law, Don and Rico Destefano. Ron Hodgson writes at length about his own long running involvement with the accordion, as does leading Scottish bandleader James Coutts. A biographical article about Valentino, one of the accordion world’s most colourful, yet enigmatic, performers is partially told in his own words. There are also extensive tribute articles to Emile Vacher, the founder of French musette, Scotland’s Will Starr, and Ireland’s Dermot O’Brien – all legends in their respective spheres and eras. ‘An A to the Z of the Accordion, Volume 4’ took a great deal of effort and research to put together, and will hopefully entertain its readers for some time to come. To order the book you can telephone Rob Howard on 0161 480 8858.