Our July Concert

Our July concert started with David Rigby playing The Loveliest Night Of The Year, In The Good Old Summertime, Snow Waltz, Highland Cathedral and The Spinning Wheel. John Lennox played next with Those Were the Days, Padam Padam, Under The Bridge Of Paris, L’Accordeoniste and La-Vie-En Rose. Our next player Colin Ensor played The Blacksmith, At The Balalaika, Secondary Waltz, Domino, Leaving Lerwick Harbour and Down Forget Me Not Lane. It was now time for guest artists Tom and Cynthia to take to the stage, they started with a set of Jigs and Reels Teviot Brigg, Jeanie Blue en, Mrs Grace Bowie, Ayleth Tattie Pkrs and Teviot Brigg to finish the set. Next they played Veleta Waltz which I filmed and put on our website, their next tune was Bellman Polka followed by Capelia, The Old Clock Maker with sound effects from Cynthia. Their next set of tunes consisted of Cairny Mount, Dance and Sing, Bill Sutherland, and to finish the set, Kinclaven Brigg. They then played some tunes they didn’t know the name of, so they called them Swedish Polka 1 and Swedish Polka 2, these were followed by Original Boston of 1908, Emilita’s Dance and to finish the first half off they played Moonlight On The Alster. After the break, Bernard Bamber started the second half off with I Love A Lassie, A Gordon For Me, Northen Lights Of Aberdeen, My Grandfathers Clock and When I Grow Too Old To Dream. It was my turn to play so I played Whispering Hope, Sailors Hornpipe and Magic Roundabout. It was time for Tom and Cynthia to return to the stage. They started off with High school Cadets, followed by a Jimmy Shand medley of My Homeland, Highland Cradle Song and Mary Daroch, The Grasshoppers Dance. Medley Bonny Dundee, Captain White, Harvest Time and Bonny Dundee. The music continued with Zand Zand, Chiribirib, Corn Riggs, Old Bog Hole and Peat Bog. It was close to the end of the evening now so we finished the night listening to March Of The Tin Soldiers, Primrose Polka, March Lorraine and, to finish the night, The Punch and Judy Polka. This had been another fantastic night, one member, Tom Mansfield, said he would like everyone who wasn’t at the concert to know that they “dont know what they missed”, and I have to say Tom Mansfield said so.

David Batty

 

This Wednesday

This Wednesday is one of our local players nights featuring a wealth of local talent. Please bring along a friend to the concert, remember, the club is not just about a musical instrument, it is a social club based around a musical instrument, so come along on Wednesday for a great concert and for some great socialising. If you see a new visitor to the club, please go along and say hello, I am sure they will be pleased to see a friendly face.
The doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

 

New Accordion Club

The Eastbourne Accordion Club will meet at The Langham Hotel43-49 Royal ParadeEastbourne, East Sussex BN22 7A Their First meeting will be on Saturday 11th September 2010 at 1.30pm. Admission is £4.00, they will be meeting on the 2nd Saturday afternoon of the month from 1.30pm till 4.30pm there is a licensed bar and Tea & Coffee will be available.This new accordion club is being run with the cooperation of the West Sussex Accordion Club, who meet on the 4th Saturday of the month. All accordionists are welcome! For more information contact John Romero 01323 733700 Email: jr@carillonstudios.co.uk

 

Accordion International 2010

Accordion International 2010 is on from 12th-15th November at Seacroft.they have international and UK Guest Artists, Trade Displays, Workshops for Orchestras, Beginners, Jazz, Scottish, Vintage Accordions, Buskers, Free and Easy and Special. Prices from £139 For more information/To Book Telephone: Sceptre Promotions 01780 782093

 

Fylde Folk Festival

The Flyde Folk Festival is on from 3rd – 5th September 2010 Weekend Tickets £65, Saturday All Day Tickets £35, Session Tickets from only £7.50, Children under 11years FREE Children 11- 16 years half price. Tel. 01253 887693 or visit www.marinehall.co.uk

David Vernon and Dick Lee

David Vernon and Dick Lee are playing at The Edinburgh Fring Festival on 10-25 August at the Valvona & Crolla venue The entry price is £10 and £8 for Consession. Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. This year the festival is on from the 6th-30th August.

 

Eastbourne Accordion Festival

Eastbourne Accordion Festival is on from 8th – 11th October 2010 at The Langham Hotel, the cost is £210.00 per person. The Guest Artists that will be appearing are Rosemary Wright, Roman Voloshchuk, Harry Hussey and John Romero The Teachers that will be leading the workshops are Angie Lukins, Sue Bennett, Jean Hanger and Harry Hussey.

This is a Provisional Programme for the festival –

Friday 8th Oct 2.00 Arrival and check in, 3.00 Welcome cup of tea or coffee, 4.00 Harry Hussey, 5.45 Welcome Party with John and Jackie, 6.00 Dinner, 8.00 Rosemary Wright, 8.30 Interval, 8.45 Concert Hall, 9.30 Interval, 9.45 Concert Hall, 10.30 Guest Busking session led by John Romero, 11.15 Late Night with Roman Voloshchuk.

Saturday 9th Oct 8.00 – 9.30 Breakfast, 9.00 Seminar – Jean Hanger – Orchestra, 10.15 Seminar – Angie Lukins – Folk, 11.30 Seminar – Sue Bennett – Orchestra, 1.00 Lunchtime – Roman Voloshchuk, 2.00 Guests Concert – Hosted by John Romero, 4.00 Complimentary cup of tea or coffee, 6.00 Dinner, 8.00 Harry Hussey, 8.30 Rosemary Wright, 9.00 Interval, 9.15 Concert Hall, 10.00 Concert Hall, 11.30 Late Night with Harry Hussey.

Sunday 10th Oct 8.00 – 9.30 Breakfast, 9.00 Seminar – Jean Hanger – Orchestra, 10.15 Seminar – Angie Lukins – Folk, 11.30 Seminar – Sue Bennett – Orchestra, 1.00 Lunchtime – Roman Voloshchuk, 2.00 Orchestra and Seminar Concert – Hosted by John Romero, 3.00 Harry and Guests – hosted by Harry Hussey, 4.00 Complimentary cup of tea or coffee, 6.00 Dinner, 8.00 Sue Bennett, 8.30 Rosemary Wright, 9.00 Interval, 9.15 Concert Hall, 9.45 Interval, 10.00 Charity Raffle, 10.30 Harry Hussey, 10.45 Party time Pro Jam Session, 11.30 Party time Guest Jam Session.

Monday 11th Oct 8.00 – 9.30 Breakfast.

For more information/To book contact John Romero on 01323 733700

 

Steve Roxton Bollywood Star

Last Friday, between a gig on Thursday night and another on Saturday in Northumberland, Steve Roxton, was invited to the Globalrootz studio in Harrow, North London, by Bollywood Music & Film producer, Kiran Thakrar and his partner Anu Shukla who is a singer and artistic director. With no preconceived idea Steve arrived at the studio to find out what was required of him. Steve had been booked to do session work following an email he received from Kiran who also writes music and films video clips for insertion into Bollywood films. Kiran had seen Steve’s work on You Tube and his web-site at www.steveroxton.co.uk , and was highly impressed with the musicianship and dexterity demonstrated on “Under Paris Skies” and “March des Accordionist Lyonnaise”. On a new track for her CD Anu wanted the beautiful sound of French accordion to accompany her new song which was a very emotional ballad. With nothing more than a drum track to start with, Steve was asked to put down moody riffs in G Minor and the associated chord sequences, in French style. When this was completed, the vocal track pre recorded by Anu was played back for Steve to provide a counter melody. Whilst instant accompaniment to unfamiliar western music has never presented any problem to Steve , this complicated task was not a ‘walk in the park’. Indian music has the habit of producing notes that are half way between any of the notes we have on the keyboard, this means that one octave comprises of almost double the amount of sounds it does on a normal keyboard. Added to this, that the lyrics are in a completely foreign language, and you have some idea of the task in hand. However, after a couple of hours some very satisfactory results were obtained, and as a result, a further recording session next month will see the completion of the music. Anu has indicated that she would also like steve to appear in the video of the song. It will be very interesting to see what costume she has in mind for him to wear! They have both requested that Steve appear with the ‘Bolly wood Pandits’ at certain events in the future. The Bollywood Pandits were seen recently on the TV with comedian Bill Bailey when Kiran appeared with his 11 piece band at London’s Wembley Arena. Steves foray in to this kind of music is an interesting contrast to his normal repertoire. You can find steve playing on his YouTube channel on the Internet at www.youtube.com/accroxsta

 

Live Broadcast

I recently set up a live broadcast from my living room, this was of myself playing the accordion while the tv picture and audio went out live over the Internet. I broadcast this, and in a short time it was noticed by several accordion players, and also by non players, who started typing messages to me (possibly to check that it was a live broadcast). I was testing this capability for possibly broadcasting live in the future on special occasions such as when visited by some of the fantastic players that we know, we can then give a live concert over the Internet and share our music with a wider audience. Steve Roxton (mentioned above) has started using this system and he now broadcasts weekly from his house. Watch out for more musicians following suit and taking the plunge to broadcast live on the web. I tested this system out at the last practice night where I broadcast two hours of the night out as a test. I can also broadcast live video and audio from my mobile phone in excellent quality, so this is truly a mobile solution to being seen more people and gaining more publicity. I can also show the video live on our website to any site visitor.