Our October Concert
If you missed the concert night last month then you missed out on a great night. The night was unusually quiet with less people there that at our practice night! What you missed was great playing from our own players but also a visit from Scotland of John Stuart (more later). Our October concert started with David Rigby playing Whispering Hope, Snow Waltz, The Loveliest Night Of The Year, The Wild Rover, When Irish Eyes, The Spinning Wheel and Now Is The Hour. Bill Agnew was up next, playing La Ronde, Someone To Watch over You, It Had To Be You, For Me And My Girl, Rocking, All Over The World, Hitching A Ride, Twilight Time, Only You, Never On A Sunday, Wheels, South Of The Border, Yellow Bird and Being The Beguine. Our next player was Rebecca who took to the stage and played Moon River, Home On The Range, My Wild Irish Rose and Bianca Capana. To take us up to the break we had Colin Ensor playing The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, Conquest Of Paradise, Charmaine, At The Balalaika, Try A Little Tenderness, Maigret and Sweetheart of All My Dreams. We had quite a lively break with plenty of chat happening, it was a shame to stop it. After the break we started the second half with Bernard Belshaw playing Moonlight Serenade, How Wonderful To Know, Blaze Away, Nessun Dorma, Spanish Gypsy Dance, Dambusters and Just The Way You Look Tonight. I then played Plaisir d’Amour as a duet with Rebecca, followed by Black Mask Waltz, Sailors Hornpipe and Triste Sourire on my own. Our next player was John Stuart who had travelled down from Scotland to visit the club. John spent three weeks in China performing for major corporate events with his Scottish Dance Band. This was sponsored by British Airways and the Caledonian Society, the band was flown to Beijing and Shanghai to promote Scottish traditional music. And, although his day job here is an HGV mechanic, John is equally at home in venues such as the American Embassy and meeting China’s British Ambassador. All things going well, this year the John Stuart Scottish Dance Band will be performing in China again, as well as Austria and Switzerland. The band currently has a third CD on release, entitled “Air An T-Eilean MuiLeadh.”( More details are available from John on 07720 705807). If you missed last month then you missed John playing Loro Lovat’s Lament, The Barren Rocks Of Aden, The Earl Of Mansfield, The Keel Row, Harvest Home, The Road To Dundee, Coming Through The Rye, The Duke Of Perth, The Rakes Of Mallow, Jaqueline Waltz, The Roxburgh Castle, The New High Level, Miss Jacquelyn Stuart’s Reel, Mrs Mary Printy, Scotland The Brave, Here’s To The Gordon’s, Teribus, Capbells Farewell To Redcastle, Sorrento Thought, Primrose Valley, Dr Morrisons Seven Thistles, Lord Huntly’s Cave, Cameronian Highlanders, The Wee Man From Skye and Crossing The Minch. Andrew Baker finished the night with That’s Amore, Isle Of Capri, Santa Natale, Guantanamara, Have I told You Lately That I Love You, McNamara’s Band, La Paloma and Now Is The Hour.
David Batty
This Wednesday
This Wednesday is our guest artist concert featuring Harry Hussey. As you probably know, Harry does not come with a programme, instead he asks us to choose what he plays (Anything written before 1950 preferably). The Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. If you get there early you can have a good chat with other people prior to the start of the club. If you see someone you haven’t met before then please say hello to them, they will probably be quite pleased that someone came over to speak to them. Remember, if you have an accordion, sheet music or anything accordion related to sell then our concert nights are an ideal night to bring them along and possibly make a sale. This is the last guest artist concert of 2011, I hope you can come along and support Harry.?
Jacob Join Next Month
At the time of writing it is 44 Days till Christmas and 40 days till our Christmas Do, Everyone brings some item of food to add to the Jacobs Join. people traditionally bring pork pies, sandwiches, sausages on sticks, cake or some other treat to add to the feast. We have a normal night while the food is set up on the tables at the back of the club, then we have an open stage while everyone tucks in to this food. This is also a night where you bring you’re other talents along and do a spot on stage, theres no need to worry about people listening too hard because this is also a night where people are encouraged to talk and socialise while people are playing on stage.
Piaf The Songs
Saturday 26th November 8.00pm Piaf The Songs. Eve Loiseau sings the songs of Edith Piath with Eddy Jay, accordion & Fiona Barrow, violin. Tickets: £14.00/£12.00 (concs.) Eve Loiseau’s captures the essence of the Piaf performance in this tribute to the ‘Little Sparrow’. Eddy Jay has played the accordion since he was 8. He recently toured the USA with the Tony nominated Broadway success, Brief Encounter. Eddy also toured with Yehudi Menuhin’s ‘Live Music Now’ scheme’ introducing thousands of children to the accordion. Fiona Barrow began violin at aged 7, and has travelled the world playing in a variety of unusual places. 4 Nov: BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ playing songs LIVE and talking with host Sean Rafferty.Rose Theatre, Edge Hill University St Helens Road, Ormskrik L39 4QP Box Office: 01695 584480 edgehill.ac.uk/rosetheatre Intimate venue with ample car parking
Christmas Tunes
It is now time to start learning christmas tunes or dusting off those you already know. Our Christmas concert is only 40 days away, this gives you a good 8 weeks to practice for the concert and to be accomplished should anyone ask you to play carols elsewhere.
Maigret Theme CD Released
The BBC TV series ‘Maigret’, starring Rupert Davies as the fictional French detective, was hugely popular in the 1960s. One of the most memorable features of the show was its catchy theme plus incidental music, played by accordionist Reg Hogarth with orchestral accompaniment. The Maigret theme, written by Ron Grainer, became a piece that many British accordionists would be frequently requested to play, even many years after the TV show ended. Reg Hogarth is also remembered by many for his years with the Mantovani Orchestra. An LP of the theme music from ‘Maigret’ plus numerous other TV and film themes written by Australian-born composer and pianist Ron Grainer (1922-81), recorded by Decca, has been released on CD by Dutton Vocalion. Titled ‘Ron Grainer & His Orchestra – The Maigret Theme & Other Film and TV Themes Singles’, the first half of the CD contains the original Maigret recordings, issued for the first time in stereo. The Maigret tracks include: The Maigret Theme, Bistro, Night Prowl, Petit Louis, Arlette, Golden Fleece, Getaway, Along the Boulevards, Lost Memory, Poker Face, Ginette, Thieves’ Den, Midnight in Montmartre, The Maigret Theme (reprise). The remaining tracks are other film and TV themes written by the prolific Ron Grainer. For further information email: info@duttonvocalion.co.uk
The World Accordion To Phil
The Show “The World Accordion to phil” we told you about earlier in the year has been nominated for the “Trad Music in Media” award in the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. You can view nominations and vote for who you think should win by visiting www.scottishcultureonline.com/tradmendous-shortlist-announced-for-mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards/ voting closes on the 18th November.
Vintage Accordions Book
A new book, ‘Vintage Accordions’, available from November 1st, is an all-colour pictorial history of the accordion, in its various forms, from the early 19th Century onwards up to the present time. There are 300 pictures plus information and some articles. This book is a limited edition, A4 sized, 60 pages, and in hardback. It costs £10 plus £2 postage and packing for UK from Rob Howard, 42 Avondale Rd, Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire SK3 9NY, UK. Overseas postage and packing is £4 to the EU countries and £7 postage and packing to all other parts of the world. British Pounds cheques only due to high UK bank charges. Paypal accepted. The Author Rob Howard, is renowned for his series of books titled An A to Z of the Accordion and Related Instruments, Volume 1 through Volume 5. These are available online at Rob Howard. For purchasing the book “Vintage Accordions” or for further information, email: robaccord5@hotmail.com
2012 Membership
We have no plans to increase the membership fee, it will stay at £5 for the year, this gets you this newsletter and a £1 discount on admission on concert nights. You can pay your membership on the door anytime from now until January. Please let your friends or family know about us, as you know they are welcome to come along even if they are not musical, around 50% of club members are not muscians so they don’t need to worry about not being a musician when they come along. The club is a social club based around a musical instrument. While other clubs are closing lets see if we can do the opposite, promote Leyland Accordion Club and increase our membership. We have had some fantastic artists at the club this year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have supported our guest artist nights and our local players concerts.
Black Diamond Accordion Launch
Black Diamond Accordions are a new accordion brand that are officially launching at the Accordion Internationl Festival this weekend or the weekend just gone depending on when you are reading this. Black Diamond Accordions are affordable instruments, that are made in the oldest-established accordion factory in China, but use the finest quality hand-made Italian reeds. They currently have a range of 4 Piano Accordions and 1 Button Accordion starting at a price of £499 and upwards www.blackdiamondaccordions.com
Accordionists Wanted
This year Sue Ryder – Cuerden Hall, a local charity, is holding a special Christmas Fair which is ‘Around Europe at Christmas’, this is on 27th November 2011. They will be inviting the community & Local schools to visit the event and discover how other countries in Europe celebrate Christmas. The event will also offer lots of gift and craft stalls, hot food, Santa’s grotto and much more. The event is being organised by ‘Friends of Sue Ryder’ who are a support group helping raise funds for Cuerden Hall. They are passionate about delivering an event for all their residents and families to enjoy while raising funds to continue providing valuable care and support to local people of South ribble and Chorley.If you are interested and would like to help (or would like more details) please contact us at Cuerden Hall – the Fundraising Team on 01772 698145 or contact me by email: ishill@btinternet.com Preston. To have any accordions playing at this Event would enhance the experience they want to create. The Residents and the visitors would be thrilled to hear your music being played in the courtyard or around the Event. If you think you can play for an afternoon or even half an hour then please contact Sue Ryder and offer your services. This is not a concert, you will just be playing for passing visitors, so why not give it a go?