Leyland Accordion Club Newsletter - March 2011

Published: Thu, 03/10/11

Leyland Accordion Club
Newsletter 161 - March 2011 

Welcome to this newsletter detailing our club activities along with other news we feel is of interest to our members and site visitors. Please tell your accordion friends about our newsletter, they can subscribe to it by visiting www.accordionclub.co.uk, then filling the form in at the top of the page.




Our February Concert
 
At our February concert David Rigby played Snow Waltz, The Loveliest Night Of The Year, The Good Old Summertime, Whispering Hope, Dark Island, The Spinning Wheel and After The Ball Was Over. After that great opening we continued with Bernard Belshaw playing You Made Me Love You, Thunderbirds Are Go, Funiculi Funicula, Overhead The Moon Is Shining, Nessun Dorma, Face The Music And Dance, Bonnie And Clyde, Blaze Away, Moonlight Serenade, Jealousy and Blue Tango. Our next player was Albert Draper who had surprised us by bringing his accordion to the club, it was a nice surprise and we enjoyed Albert playing I Love You Because, O Sole Mio, Amazing Grace, He'll Have To Go and Lily Marlene. Our next player was Colin Ensor, Colin Played The Blacksmith, There Must Be A Way, Island Of Dreams, Leaving Lerwick Harbour and Sweetheart Of All My Dreams. Andrew Baker then took to the stage, he started with Hey Jude and then continued with Come Back To Sorrento and Kiss Me Honey Honey. To take us up to the break Bernard Bamber played Yellow Rose Of Texas, Marching To Georgia, Camptown Races, Swannee River, Polly Wolly Doodle, Bobby Shaftoe, Blaydon Races, McNamarras Band, All The Nice Girls and Broke The Bank at Monte Carlo. After the break we started the second half with Sara Daly playing Oh How We Danced, Dark Eyes, Hava Nagila, Waltz Of The Little Girl, Come By The Hills and Karabushka. Our next player Rebecca Parker played Home On The Range, My Wild Irish Rose and Moon River, Rebecca was followed by Ann Parker playing Snow Waltz, Beautiful Days and Bel Viso. To finish the night I then played Now Is The Hour. This had been another great local players concert and as you can see, we heard some great tunes courtesy of the above players.

David Batty




This Wednesday
 
This Wednesday is our guest Artist Concet Night with Walter Perrie with Tom Cowing. As you know, Walter nights are guaranteed to be a good night, so make sure you dont miss this concert. Walter is travelling to the club from Wales and Tom will be travelling all the way from Hexham in Northumberland, so please come along and support them. Please Remember to bring any friends or family to this entertaining night. The Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. Make sure you get there early for two reasons, one is that you get a good seat, the other reason is that you get to chat to 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. The social side of the club is something I know people enjoy. See you there.
Players don't forget your accordion. 




Accordion In Kids Programmes
 
Pet Alien Nickelodeon (604) Sunday 13th March 2011 3:15, 25 minutes long Sounds of Doom; Darkness. Tommy is forced to take accordion lessons in 'Sounds Of Doom', while in 'Darkness', Dinko doesn't want his best friend to be afraid of the dark - so he turns out all the lights in town. Peppa Pig Five (105) Monday 7th March 2011 08:15 5 minutes long Musical Instruments. Animated series about a lovable little pig. Mummy and Daddy Pig find an old box in the attic. It is full of musical instruments. Mummy plays the violin, Daddy plays the accordion, and Peppa bangs the drum. But no-one is able to get a note out of the French horn. Then George has a go - what a loud sound from such a tiny piggy!




Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain
 
Aly Bain, the best known and most significant fiddle player in the Celtic tradition and Phil Cunningham, a world famous accordion player and composer, have been touring together since 1988 to packed concert halls. They recorded their first album "The Pearl" in 1994 and since then have recorded several CDs and toured throughout the world on numerous occasions. Location: The Platform, Marine Road Central
Morecambe, LA4 4DB Date(s): 09/04/2011 Times(s): 8:00PM onwards Cost: Adults £14, Concessions £13 Event Contact: Box Office 01524 582803 or www.seetickets.com




How It's Made
 
How It's Made is on Discovery Science (sky 524) on Friday 25th March 2011 at 23:30. On this 30 minute long programme we learn what it takes to manufacture accordions, pineapples and artificial joints.
How Stuff's Made is on Discovery Science (sky 524) on Sat 26th March 2011 00:00 Can a metal clip save a life? Why do you need a racecar driver to make a racecar seat? What goes in an accordion to make its sound? Can you make a sock from one strand of yarn?




Jimmy Shand Whistling Rufus CD
 
'Whistling Rufus' is the title of a new CD release featuring classic tracks recorded by the legendary Jimmy Shand & His Band in the 1950s and early 60s. These tracks have been digitally enhanced, and the sound quality is excellent. The 21 tracks include 'Whistling Rufus', 'Balintore Fisherman Polka', 'Quarry Knowe Waltz', 'The Call o' the Pipes', 'Robertson's Rant', 'The Angus Reel', 'Happy Hours Polka', 'The Flowers of Edinburgh', 'Bridge of Nairn Strathspey', 'The Whistler and his Dog', 'Primrose Polka', 'Shufflin' Samuel', 'The Punch Bowl Reel'. For further information email: info@concordemusic.com




The World Accordion To Phil
 
Scots accordionist Phil Cunningham embarks on a global adventure to discover how the humble squeezebox has conquered the world. He uncovers the instrument's exotic roots in China, visits an Italian town devoted to making the instrument and is delighted to encounter an orchestra made up almost entirely of accordions. Great music performances prove why 'The Stomach Steinway' has been embraced the world over. The Programme is 1 of 4, starting on Wednesday 9th March at 8pm On BBC Two Scotland, Each programme is an hour long, It looks like it's going to be a great TV series. The only way you'll get to watch it is if you have Sky, BBC Two Scotland is on Channel 990, If you don't have sky then you can watch it online on the BBC Iplayer soon after it has been shown on TV.




Eastbourne by Steve Roxton
 
Having been invited to play at a prestigious accordion event in 2009 in the Normandy town of Avranches, featuring the cream of French accordionist including such names as Jean Dauvin, Jean-Marc Torchy and the King of French accordion himself Andre Verchuren, I thought it was time to show our close neighbours that we too have a lively accordion scene. Thanks to John Romero, I was invited to the Winter Accordion Festival at Eastbourne with my long time friend Jean Dauvin former World and European champion accordionist, and "Bal Musette" orchestra leader and his wife Therese. They were accompanied by Jean-Pierre Marie (biographer and website manager of the Andre Verchuren site) and his wife Marie-Claire . With most of them not speaking any English I had a full time job as interpreter. I had the un-enviable task of giving the opening concert of the festival. It's a double edged sword. It needs to be without any hitch, sufficiently varied in programme material and good enough to impress an audience, some of whom are themselves fine accordionists. Thankfully, from congratulatory comments following my performance, I got the festival off to a good start. Headlining the festival were, Pearl Fawcett-Adriano, Jean Dauvin, Gary Blair and myself, with the participation of Harry Hussey, Roman Voloschuk and the festival organiser John Romero. It was then time for my friend Jean Dauvin to give his first concert. Playing a reedless "Musitech" continental chromatic, he started off playing snippets of well known pieces which demonstrate the rich and very true to life digital sounds these latest instruments can produce. Particularly impressive are the trumpet, clarinet and saxophone sounds. When utilising these sounds it is always a must to ensure that you stay strictly within the range that the real instrument can achieve, otherwise the effect is lost. Moving on to French bal musette he demonstrated his highly technical skill on the instrument. Despite using only faltering English the audience soon warmed to his enjoyable performance and that of his wife Therese who sang a couple of Piaf numbers as only the French can. The evening continued with Pearl Adriano, who has returned to the concert stage, after a prolonged illness. Her performance was as good as ever, all credit to the work she must have put in following a long enforced break from playing. To finish off the evening Harry Hussey took to the stage to play whatever was asked of him. Everyone knows his style and both Harry's and the audiences favourites came one after another. Saturday morning in the trade show I found myself a little space by Rob Beecroft's stand and started off with a few accordion favourites. I was soon joined by Jean Dauvin, Jean Hanger and Rosemary Wright, which attracted quite a crowd. Very often it's the impromptu happenings at festivals which are so much fun. The Saturday evening concert started off with a spot from John Romero utilising the latest Roland expander which is still in the prototype stage. After the Saturday concert when Roman Voloschuk was doing the late night spot in the bar. I couldn't resist jumping up to sing "Dark Eyes" in Russian while he translated. However on the lines How I Love You, I Will Kiss You I speedily moved a good few yards away. His comedy and great voice made an enjoyable late night show. The Sunday evening concert was opened by Gary Blair demonstrating his great skill and speed. All too soon the weekend was gone but from his first arrival, Jean-Pierre Marie took several hundred photos and hours of video of the event which in time will be edited into a DVD. Our French friends were highly impressed with the festival and the quality of playing by professionals and amateurs alike. So with a fond au-revoir I took them to the ferry port of Newhaven then Maggie & I set off on our long drive home with yet more happy memories of the accordion fraternity and Many Thanks to John & Jackie Romero for another great Festival.




Contact Details
 

Leyland Accordion Club is a club based in Leyland Lancashire England.

 

We have our concerts at

 

The Priory Club

Broadfield Drive

Leyland

Lancashire

England

PR25 1QN

 

Our postal address is

 

Leyland Accordion Club

39 Wray Crescent

Ulnes Walton

Leyland

Lancashire

England

PR26 8NH

 

You can find our website at www.accordionclub.co.uk

 

Buy CD's from our shop at www.accordionshop.com

 

Find out about UK festivals at www.accordionfestival.co.uk

Join out Accordionist Forum www.accordionworld.co.uk

 

Listen to accordion music at www.accordionradio.co.uk

 

Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/accordionclub

 

Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/accordionclub

 

 

All the best...

 

David Batty      ...

Leyland Accordion Club









david@accordionclub.co.uk