|
|
|
We hope that you are still keeping well and enjoyed watching some of the videos in the last newsletter.
We are carrying on with the write ups from the beginning of the club, this is the write up from the second meeting of the club on the 10th December 1997 .
“ After the great success of our opening night and the flood of people who called to tell me how much they had enjoyed the club and the guest artist Steve Roxton, I had to look forward to our first night without a guest artist! I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would not be the only one there with an accordion, I would have
had to learn how to stretch half a dozen tunes across three hours. I was not to be disappointed, we had FOURTEEN players keeping us entertained providing non stop music throughout the evening.
The evening started with Richard Eastham playing a few numbers before bursting in to song. This was followed by Ken Tracy with his "Swiss Miss", Andrew Harrison, Tom Bennett, Helen Berta with a nice version of Plasir D'Amour followed by Jay and Jeff Ward from Blackpool playing us up to the break with Jeff on the accordion and Jay
playing the keyboard, Jay and Jeff play at Fleetwood Freeport - if you visit there you may be lucky and catch them at it. After the break, we were entertained by Graham Howard, Keith, Agnes and Jackie Sagar, more from Helen Berta, Jay and Jeff and a tune from myself. Walter Perrie played a couple of Scottish Reels before the break and at the very end of the night he played another couple of tunes before I had to call time and try and end the evening, - this was slightly difficult as no one
seemed to want to go home. I had to be strict about finishing at 11pm as some people had taxi's booked, baby-sitters waiting for them, or work the next morning. When I got home I was ready for another evening as soon as possible, I did not want to wait a month. I have survived though and I am looking forward to our next meeting this Wednesday 14th January 1998 when we have Walter Perrie from Preston and Tom Cowing from Hexam in concert. Remember that even though we have a guest artist every
alternate month, we still have two half hour sessions allocated to local players on those nights so remember to bring your accordions along. We all look forward to hearing amateur and professional players together. Quite a few people have rung me and asked if I can re-book Steve Roxton before he returns in November, The problem is that Steve lives in Jersey and works every night playing the accordion, however Steve will be playing at the Accordion Festival here in Lancashire on 26th - 30th
March, I took advantage of this and I persuaded him to delay returning to Jersey for two days, so that he can play for us, I have therefore booked a special night on 1st April a week before our 8th April club night where Steve will be the guest artist, we will still have the 8th April night as normal. The Accordion Festival is now only ten weeks away and I am looking forward to four days of accordion music/workshops/trade stalls/etc. The festival is held at Pontins at Lytham on 26th -30th March
, and anyone who would like further details of the festival can ring 0990 331199. If you are going to the festival could you let me know, I then have an idea of who to look out for at the festival and who to save seats for at the concerts. I arrive at the club about 7pm to start setting up. If you arrive between 7pm and 8pm then it is nice to hear people having a practice before the crowds arrive. Thanks to all the players who play during the breaks and before the club starts, you are an
essential part of the nice atmosphere that exists at the club. In the last newsletter I mentioned a young lady who played during the break but I did not know her name, I can now tell you that it was Hazel Haddon, keep up the good work Hazel. I held back on a membership fee until the new year and have worked out that I can keep it down to £3 per year per person, membership is per calendar year, running from January to December. Membership fees can be paid on any club night, the advantage of being
a member is that you will pay a lower admission fee than non members, you will receive the club newsletter every month, be informed of any special offers before non members and when possible I will offer discounts on any events we organise such as the club Christmas dinner. When we have a guest artist appearing the admission will be £2 for members and £2.50 for non members, on the months where we do not have a guest artist, the admission will be £1 for members and £1.50 for non members. The
admission may have to be increased when large costs are incurred in obtaining certain artists but I will consult with you if this is likely to occur. I look forward to meeting you all again on 14th January 1998”
David Batty
Hopefully that was an interesting blast from the past, now to move up to date with some items to keep you entertained during the lockdown.
|
|
|
A documentary called Accordions Rising is now available on Amazon Prime. This is a bit of an arty look at the accordion. The program features a documentary style with interviews with several players, mainly from America. It wasn’t my cup of tea but if you have Amazon Prime then it might be interesting to you. The accordion on the
right (that is part of the documentary ) is a modified one with custom made Perspex parts, its contains led’s that light up accordion. If you have Amazon Prime then you can watch the program for free, but I personally wouldn’t pay to watch it.
|
|
|
|
Weltmeister Accordion Concerts
|
On the Internet, Weltmeister are hosting an hour long concert each Wednesday night at 7pm German Time (6pm BST) , They broadcast live at this time but you can watch the concert later on their YouTube channel if you are busy at the time of broadcast
They started these concerts on the 6th May, this concert featured Emir Vildic of Germany, Reza Hassani of Iran, Antje Hirsch of Germany and Wendy McNeill from Spain! Which you can watch on the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPg8i61Ea4
Week 2 concert featured Duet Prospekt- Russia, Kajetan Klak – Poland, Jessica Adkins – United States, Julia Petrovich – Belarus and Joao Veiga – Portugal. You can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PeuTKSCT7Y
Next Wednesday you can watch the 3rd concert live at 6pm on their Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3I2RRLRVh_HuXP9sNlhNg
|
|
|
|
Live Concerts on Facebook
|
Accordion Babes have arranged for some accordion artists to perform live concerts on facebook, if you don’t catch the live concerts you can watch the live videos at a later date.
On Friday 15th May they started their concerts at 9pm BST going through to 1am BST.
This concert featured Renee de la Prade - accordion, singing, stompbox and guitar. Based in Hamburg, Germany, Jet Black Pearl - funky jazzy rhythm-heavy original music with accordion, vocals, beatbox and other surprises, Mike Danner - Let this Portland, Oregon musician dazzle you with sweet jazz chops and tin
pan alley flair, Breezy Bellows featuring Anand Joseph - Soft, sweet, groovy minor key accordion music, Breezy is a masterful mood maker from the San Francisco Bay Area, California, Calvaleigh Rasmussen - lively, cozy folk songs from Renaissance times up until the present with lots of ancient dance music. Berkeley, California and Rob Reich - of Oakland, CA, known for his swing and gypsy-jazz accordion chops but also his klezmer music and so much
more.
You can find the links to the videos on their facebook page, where you will also find an event listing details of the next Friday concerts that will contain a list of artists times and links to the videos.
https://www.facebook.com/Accordion-Babes-128066897203923
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hopefully the above links in this newsletter keep you entertained this month while you can’t get to the club.
David Batty
Ps. If you normally come to the Priory Club at Leyland, expect a second email from me by Monday!
|
|
|
|
|