Our April Concert
Our April Concert started with Ann Parker playing Yodelling Polka, Glamour Girl and Dancing Fingers. Our next player Colin Ensor played Secondary Waltz, Pigalle, The Town That I Loved, Kate Martins Waltz, That Lovely Weekend and Charmaine. Bernard Bamber took to the stage next and gave us You Are My Sunshine, Down by The Riverside, When The Saints, Lassie From Lancashire, I belong To Glasgow, In My Liverpool home, Wild Colonial Boy, Margie and Happy Wanderer. Jean Southern was next on the stage playing O Sole Mio, La Paloma, My Florence, Carte Postale, Style Musette and Espagne. We had a nice social atmosphere during the break with plenty of chat going on. After the break we started the second part of the evening with John Robinson doing a great job of making his debut at the club playing I’m a Rambler, The Carnival Is Over, Hello Mary Lou and Wooden Heart. After John we then had Tony Mason also making his debut on his first visit to the club. Tony played Drunken Sailor, Captain Pugwash, Sailors Hornpipe. Delilah, Domino, Sporting Life Blue and Those Were The Days. As if two players making their debut was not enough we then had Michael Grime also making his debut! This was also Michael’s first visit to the club, Michael played Gin Gan Gooly, Coming Round the Mountain, Lord Of The Dance, Blackpool Belle, Crest Of A Wave and O Sole Mio. I have to say well done to all three players making their debut tonight, they did an excellent job of entertaining us and I know we all look forward to following their progress at the club in future. Our next player was Bill Agnew playing Alpine Slopes, Every Beat Of My Heart, Tulips From Amsterdam, Quando Quando, Rockin All Over The World, Dark Town Strutters Ball and Sweet Georgia Brown. Sara Daly then had the difficult job of following Bill. Sara played Yes Sir That’s My Baby, Hello Dolly, What Can The Matter Be, Mr Sandman and Take Me Back To The Ball Game. Graham Driver then showed us how a melodeon should be played as he entertained us with Weasel’s Revenge, Three Jolly Sheepskins and Jacqueline Waltz. To make sure I put in a token appearance I then grabbed a book of tunes and chose to play What A Friend We Have In Jesus, next time I will make sure I play it from memory. I was followed by Andrew Baker playing Living Doll, Let It Be, Singing The Blues and Never On A Sunday. It was getting close to the end of the night and time for the return of Bill Agnew along with Bob Seed on drums, the pair played Suspicious Mind, Begin The Beguine, Blue Tango, Yellow Bird, Red River Valley, Blueberry Hill and Someone To Watch Over You. Our next player Rebecca Parker played Bianca Capana before leaving the stage for Bernard Belshaw to finish the night playing Just The Way You Look Tonight, Strangers In The Paradise, Don’t Know Why, And I love Her, Nessun Dorma, Funiculi Funicula, Overhead the Moon Is shining, Ave Maria and Blaze Away. This had been a great concert and a great social event thanks to all who attended.
David Batty
This Wednesday
This Wednesday is a guest artist night featuring Rosemary Wright from Leicester. Rosemary last played for us in November 2006. I know that you are going to find some great pieces of music played on Wednesday from Rosemary. Last time she was here she played a good selection of pieces from accordion standards to classical to novelty pieces. There is an accordion festival on at the same time as the club but I am sure we will have a decent turnout for Rosemary. Please Remember to bring any friends or family to this entertaining night. Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. Make sure you get there early for a good seat and a good chat with others before the concert starts. See you there.
Olympic Torch Relay
The official route for the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay will see the Olympic Torch pass through Preston on the morning of June 23rd. As part of the London 2012 Olympics, a huge dance event will celebrate the participatory nature of the Olympic Games. In addition to many fun and entertaining events and activities taking place, the day will involve performances by professional and amateur dance companies along with mass participation from community groups and members of the public who wish to take part. For more information nearer to the time visit www.prestonguild2012.com
Riversway Festival
The annual Riversway Festival is on the 21st until the 22th July, There will be a range of activities and stalls over the weekend at Preston Docks for more information visit www.prestonriverswayfestival.co.uk or Telephone 01772 253731
Accordion Radio
We have been busy revamping and moving the Radio Station, We have moved servers making it far easier for you to listen, all you have to do is visit www.accordionradio.co.uk the radio will start playing automatically. This is a big improvement from the service we were with before, a few years ago they changed their system in a way that you had to sign up for an account to listen to the station, We have been told by people that they found it difficult to use and because of that we decided to move servers and make it easier to use. Now we have greater control and it’s simpler for people to use the station. We still have more work to do on the aesthetics of the site but the all the mechanics of running the station are in place and working great. Over the next few months you will see improvements to the look of the site, We will also be adding more tracks to the station.
Accordion Forum Messages
Here are a couple of message that have been posted in our forum this month, If you wish to reply to any of them just head over to the forum at www.accordionworld.co.uk and join in.
Posted by DDL:
Hi, I have been playing for around 6 months mainly by ear trying to replicate songs and some simple ditties using chords that match treble chords or alternating basses – however i have hit a bit of a wall whilst learning la paloma – my friend who plays well who helping me has simplified it for me by just requiring a tango beat in relevant chord (c,g) – however although this has simplified it I am really struggling to maintain a simple tango beat and play melody independently – up till now I have played a bass note at same time as treble note but this is something different – feels like a wall really – maybe I cannot do this (a bit like some people cant pat head and rub stomach at same time) – sorry if this is a bit basic but maybe some one has experienced this problem. I said to my friend I need to simplify it further but he pointed out it cant be any simpler – just play a steady tango beat through out song. I felt an accomplishment initially of learning the melody off by heart (need to tweak the timing a bit) but now I am trying to put both hands together feel disheartened regards David. To post a reply visit: http://accordionworld.co.uk/index.php?topic=370.0
Posted by Ron Borich:
Hi from perth western Australia. I was hoping someone might help me. Recently purchased a scandalli super six piano accordion serial number 317/121. looks fairly old could anyone tell me date of manufacture? Also have another instrument from my childhood scandalli ser 295/24. still plays beautifully . i am 61 . Have searched the web for info on older super 6s without success , any help or direction would be gratefully received. Thanks in anticipation. Ron Borich ron.borich@iinet.net.au To post a reply visit: http://accordionworld.co.uk/index.php?topic=357.0
Tom Duncan
Tom passed away on Thursday April 26th 2012 peacefully whilst in the care of the Alexandra Nursing Home. Tom who was 88 years old was a Former Police Superintendent at Lancashire Police, In later years Tom became well known in the Accordion scene for organising annual festivals in Blackpool, Co-Founding the Accordion Profile and Founding the Wyre Accordion Club. Tom leaves behind his wife Elizabeth, 7 Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. Toms Funeral Service took place at The United Reformed Church Cleveleys on Monday May 7th at 1.30pm, this was followed by a burial in Scotland at Glenholm on Tuesday May 8th.
Stolen Accordion
A white coloured Roland FR3s V-Accordion, sold by Allodi Accordions, in London was stolen on Wednesday April 25th. This distinctive instrument, in a black bag, was in a Parcelforce van being delivered to a customer. The van was stolen in Rotherham en route to Scunthorpe and all its contents with it. The instrument’s serial number is ZX60569. If anybody has information, telephone Emilio Allodi on 0208 244 3771 or email Emili Allodi at info@accordions.co.uk
Accordion For Sale
Hohner Piano Accordion 72 Bass – Red – Gig bag – Bravo III – As new £700 (o.n.o.) 5 treble and 2 bass registers. It is as new and not been played much. It is the latest model I believe and specifications can be found on Hohner sales web sites http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?191 For further information or to arrange viewing / sound test e mail daviddeleuce@gmail.com (Peterborough)
Noticeboard Move
For a few months now we have been running a noticeboard and a forum on our website, the forum was linked to the accordionworld.co.uk domain. In this last month we have been moving the message that were posted in the Noticeboard over to Accordionworld.co.uk and merging the two together. This makes our work a little easier because we only have to maintain one forum. You don’t need to be a member of the site to post in the noticeboard section but you need to be a member to post in the rest of the site. To post a message visit www.accordionworld.co.uk, click on “Noticeboard” and then click “New Topic” then type your message, with the new forum people can now post replies underneath your original message and contact you directly from your post.
Gallowglass Ceili Band DVD
The Gallowglass Ceili Band are from Ireland and were formed in 1950. It has been said that they were the most commercially successful ceili band ever, they did their last performance in 1998 at Hotel Keadeen in Irealand and were joined by 150 Young Dancers, This DVD is the Recording of that night. The DVD runs for 107 Minutes. A selection of tunes on the DVD are: Siege Of Ennis, Out On The Ocean, The Girls Of Banbridge, Gallagher’s Frolics, Siamsa Beirle, The Bluebell Polka, The Walls Of Limerick, My Little Jimmy, Sword Colmcille, All The Way To Galway, The Veleta Waltz. This is a nice DVD to add to your collection whether you have it to learn some new tunes from it or just enjoy listening/watching this type of music, it’s a very good DVD, I have just added this dvd to my collection. It is available from Amazon at http://amzn.to/gallowglassdvd for around £8