Hi Everyone. I hope you are well and enjoying the summer. Especially Hurricane Bertha! July Clubnite At the July clubnite we had the pleasure of welcoming Julie Best, who travelled down from Cumbria with husband, Ian. Seven years ago she appeared at Audley with Jean Corrighan but this time she played solo. To get the evening going we first listened to a few of our members. Wilf Bailey and Geoff Capewell played together to start us off. They began with Dark Island, followed by Come Back to Sorrento and the Francis Wright Waltz. Graham Hughes (left) followed with Serenade and La Matinata and finally Norman Brown played Highland Cathedral. Julie then began her first set with Triumph March which she said she had performed in her childhood. She went on to play Under the Bridges of Paris, 12 th Street Rag and a favourite tune of mine from Evita called On this Night of a Thousand Stars. Ranchero Argentina followed then Frosini’s Cubanola and an amazing Cuckoo Waltz. I thought that this was the best version I had ever heard and went home and listened to Julie playing it on YouTube and noticed that I was the 301,761 st hit for this video – not bad. Actually I was going to ask her if she was playing it in C as that is the key that cuckoos actually sing their song in I believe......but I forgot. Julie soon settled and made good contact with the audience with her humorous repartee and anecdotes and, after some Irish Waltzes and Will Starr’s Blue Bird Polka, she ended the first set with the wonderful Magic Fingers by Charles Camilleri to much applause. After the break Joan Bamford got up and played Blaze Away and Colonel Bogey, playing without music, as usual. Julie began the second half with Dancing Fingers, a polka, and then went on to play O Sole Mio and Come Back to Sorrento. Other numbers were American Patrol, The Flying Scotsman, Piccadilly Bar and she finished off with Brahms Hungarian Dance No.5. The audience demanded an encore and Julie ended with Danielle Pauly’s Ballad Matinale. It had been a wonderful night and we hope that Julie returns sooner next time North Staffs Accordion Club Newsletter August 2014 N No o 4 4 4 4 5 5 The North Staffs Accordion Club welcomes all accordion enthusiasts playing or non-playing. We hold a ‘Clubnite’ at Holditch Miner’s Welfare Club, Chesterton at 8 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month where entertainment is provided by club members or guest artists. The venue also hosts a band rehearsal all other Tuesdays and a beginners’ class every Monday at 7.30 pm and a class for schoolchildren on Mondays 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Phone 01782 823668. September Clubnite September 16th 7.30pm A.G.M followed by group playing invited players & entry for members Music from the Films Members’ Night featuring August 19th 8.00pm 2.00 £
Transcript
Hi Everyone. I hope you are well and enjoying the summer.
Especially Hurricane Bertha!
July Clubnite At the July clubnite we had the pleasure of welcoming Julie Best, who travelled down from Cumbria with husband, Ian. Seven years ago she appeared at Audley with Jean Corrighan but this time she played solo. To get the evening going we first listened to a few of our members. Wilf Bailey and
Geoff Capewell played together to start us off. They began with Dark Island, followed by Come Back to Sorrento and the Francis Wright Waltz. Graham Hughes (left) followed with Serenade and La Matinata and finally Norman Brown played Highland Cathedral.
Julie then began her first set with Triumph March which she said she had performed in her childhood. She went on to play Under the Bridges of Paris, 12th Street Rag and a favourite tune of mine from Evita called On this Night of a Thousand Stars. Ranchero Argentina followed then Frosini’s
Cubanola and an amazing Cuckoo Waltz. I thought that this was the best version I had ever heard and went home and listened to Julie playing it on YouTube and noticed that I was the 301,761st hit for this video – not bad. Actually I was going to ask her if she was playing it in C as that is the key that cuckoos actually sing their song in I believe......but I forgot.
Julie soon settled and made good contact with the audience with her humorous repartee and anecdotes and, after some Irish Waltzes and Will Starr’s Blue Bird
Polka, she ended the first set with the wonderful Magic Fingers by Charles Camilleri to much applause.
After the break Joan Bamford got up and played Blaze Away and Colonel Bogey, playing without music, as usual.
Julie began the second half with Dancing Fingers, a polka, and then went on to play O Sole Mio and Come Back to Sorrento. Other numbers were American Patrol, The Flying Scotsman, Piccadilly Bar and she finished off with Brahms Hungarian Dance No.5. The audience demanded an encore and Julie ended with Danielle Pauly’s Ballad Matinale. It had been a wonderful night and we hope that Julie returns sooner next time
TThhee NNoorr tthh SSttaaff ffss AAccccoorr ddiioonn CClluubb welcomes all accordion enthusiasts playing or non-playing.
We hold a ‘Clubnite’ at Holditch Miner’s Welfare Cl ub, Chesterton at 8 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month
where entertainment is provided by club members or guest artists. The venue also hosts a band rehearsal all other Tuesdays
and a beginners’ class every Monday at 7.30 pm and a class for schoolchildren on Mondays 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Phone 01782 823668.
September Clubnite
September 16th 7.30pmA.G.M
followed by group playing
invited players&
entry for members
Music from the
Films
Members’ Night featuring
August 19th8.00pm
2.00£
August Clubnite Don’t forget that the August clubnite will be a theme night – ‘Music from the Films’ . The challenge is to play at least one piece of music that has been featured in a film. All players are welcome.
The Forthcoming AGM The 2014 Annual General Meeting will be held on the September clubnite. We will be seeking nominations for committee membership. If you would like to nominate a member for committee membership or any of the officer positions, please put his or her name forward either by letter or email (addresses on the back of any newsletter) or to any of the current committee members, by or on the August clubnite, making sure that the person nominated is prepared to do the job.
The committee usually meets at the Holditch between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. once a month, on the 4th Tuesday of the month. We are after people with new ideas who enjoy working as part of a team. Failure to come up with new names will mean that you will be stuck with the same ‘old lot’! Who are the ‘old lot’? – Names are on the back of each newsletter and mug shots are on our website.
How I Came to Play the Accordion By Tony Britton
Having survived the war years in London, my parents moved to Watford where I was born, the youngest of five. My father had a good education, including studying ancient Greek! However, he never settled to city life and in 1950, when I was four, he bought a small farm near Tregaron in mid Wales. Those early years were also a case of surviving, living in fairly primitive conditions with no running water and no electricity, but, the ‘hills were alive with the sound of music’!
Music was an important part of school and church life in Wales, and I enjoyed singing in the school choir, including a few solos as a boy soprano! Much of our music was learnt using the tonic sol-fah, which I still think is a good system for playing in any key.
I have fond memories of my school years and joined in with all the activities including rugby, sports days and school trips and a little snogging on the back seat of the bus with Sian. I must have done OK in school which included a spell as head boy; mind you the main contenders for the role had been caught smoking behind the bicycle sheds.
My first musical instrument was a rusty mouth-organ at the age of nine given to me by my brother. After mastering the blow-suck-blow-suck-blow-suck-suck-blow sequence of notes, there was no stopping me. When I was fifteen, for some unknown reason, I acquired a catalogue from Bell Accordions and the glossy pictures of all those pearlescent instruments made a real
impression and I became the proud owner of a 48 bass red accordion. My only claim to musical fame is winning the school eisteddfod instrumental section playing ‘Santa Lucia’.
I studied pure maths (very boring) at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, well known at the time for its RAG weeks where we terrorised the locals into parting with their money. One stunt we pulled off, which got into the national news, was smuggling a painting into the National Gallery in London, hanging it for a few days and then intentionally getting caught while stealing it. Much to my amazement, a company, ICL, based in Stoke-on-Trent, came to Aberystwyth and offered me a job as a computer test programmer working from their office in Nelson Place, Newcastle.
Although I kept my accordion over the years, my music took a back seat to work and family, until around 1987 when a gentleman by the name of Steve Hughes, who also worked for ICL, said, “Why don’t you come along to the accordion club?” and the rest is history. Under the baton of George Karklins and alongside Dennis Wakefield I slowly got to grips with being in the band. It wasn’t long before I was roped onto the committee and when George became ill I did a stint as the band conductor before handing over to Len Forster. Probably, I was the only band member who could be spared!
Music from the
Films
Members’ Night featuring
August 19th8.00pm
2.00£
By this time, I was hooked on the accordion movement and, being inspired by the weekend festivals run by Malcolm Gee and the ‘Accordions for Kids’ activities of Betty Pollard, I started the North Staffs Accordion Lessons & Junior Band. We outgrew my dining room and when the club moved to the Holditch in around 1992, we became the forerunner of the Monday night group. We had our successes, getting a number of the children and adults through their initial accordion exams, including Tom Lynch. The Junior Band played at numerous old folk’s homes, summer fayres and club nights.
In the photos you’ll see a few familiar faces including Peter Burton (he is pictured left on the back row, third from the left). One of our initiatives was to present an annual award called the ‘George Award’, seen here (in the above picture) being won by the Burgess Family for their outstanding contributions to our activities.
Then I went missing for 20 years and Peter Burton took on the Monday group. My work took me all over the country including a 10 year spell in Leeds where I attended evening classes at the Leeds College of Music and got my Grade 5 on clarinet and in music theory with the ABRSM.
My accordion was too big to carry around but stayed at home waiting until my retirement and return to the North Staffs Accordion Club, thanks to Steve’s and Mike Richards’s annual calls to ask me when I was returning! I’m now in catch up mode in the band, committee and ‘Young Players’ activities, and enjoying every minute of it. Gosh, is that the time? I had better get back to the practising.
Julie in the Spot light
Julie Best has been described by Rob Howard as one of the best accordionists in the country and we were fortunate to have her as a guest at our July clubnite. As usual we got a bit extra for the money by
persuading her to contribute to our ‘In the Spotlight’ series of articles.
Do you come from a musical background?
My parents both played the piano, mum better than dad who was also a keen singer. His version of the Blaydon Races has been heard by many. My brother also sings, plays guitar and drums in local rock bands.
Have you done the competition circuits?
I did the competition circuits gaining 3rd place twice in the advanced uk championship and winning the UK Premier duets three times with Jean Corrighan
Tell us a bit about Ron Hodgson, and the influence he had on your playing.
Ron Hodgson was my teacher from the age of 12, he was a perfectionist who took me through my exams to LBCA standard, as a bonus he also conducted the Ronmar Orchestra which I went on to lead. This was a fantastic experience and I do miss it now.
What is the accordion scene like now in your area?
Carlisle is close to the Scottish Border and this is reflected in the local music scene. We do have a local accordion club with members of diverse tastes. Aside from that I do play at local concerts and events where people always comment on the variation of music you can perform on accordion.
Tell us a bit about the instruments you have had and now have.
I learned on Hohner Ariettas of varying sizes, then played a Hohner Morino. When I started work (in a bank) I purchased a Bugari for £1500 and applied for a bank staff personal loan. The manager called me into his office for me to explain what I really wanted the money for as an accordion could not possibly cost that much. I now have a Borsini with midi fitted.
Who is your favourite composer?
Eric Clapton
Who is your favourite musician and what kind of music do you listen to?
SPOT
Eric Clapton, a man who has stood the test of time!
What is the funniest thing that has happened to you with your accordion?
My stool was a 21st birthday present. I think it came from a Hohner showroom but was never marketed so it may be the only one is existence. It has been left in venues, on streets beside my car and even in a field full of cattle following a gig in a village hall. The base has fallen off many times causing bruised toes to the kind people who offer to carry it for me.
What practice routine do you adopt, how often do you introduce new pieces and how do you select them? What do you think is the longest you’ve worked on a piece before being happy enough to perform it?
Practice is determined by time available. I try to keep a programme ready for performance but constantly try to learn something new. This is usually something I have heard or a piece recommended to me. I think the longest I have spent on a piece was nearly 1 year when I chose to play Dance of the Comedians for my LBCA practical examination.
If you were invited to appear on Desert Island Discs, give us the titles of half a dozen records you would select, and why you have chosen them.
Change the World by Eric Clapton . First dance at our wedding! Hotel California by the Eagles, I love the words Can't Take My Eyes off You by Andy Williams Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams Mr Soft by Steve Harley, a 70s classic In the Mood Tango pour Claude by Richard Galliano. I really must try and learn this.
Many thanks to Julie for this contribution to our newsletter.
Wonder Woman Rises to the Challenge A short while ago band member Helen Brown, dressed as her alter ego – Wonder Woman - did a very brave abseil to raise money for a charity. This is her account of the day.
Saturday 5th July... the sun was shining bright and the sky was blue... This was the day I was to do a charity abseil
down St Giles Church in Newcastle. Many of the North Staffs Accordion Club members had sponsored me with generous amounts of money to do the abseil... The charity concerned is Disability Solutions, based in Hartshill, which helps to break down the barriers for people with physical and mental disabilities.
After popping on my Wonder Woman outfit, I walked up what seemed like thousands of small spiral steps. Finally I was at the top of the church tower. The view across Newcastle was absolutely breathtaking. The view down to the ground
was not so appealing..... It was a long, long way down and everyone and everything looked so very small.
At this point I wanted to give all of the sponsorship money back and say "Sorry, I am not doing it!!” Two very trustworthy and reassuring marines greeted me at the top of the tower. They talked me through what I was going to do and gave me the confidence to go ahead with the abseil...
Feeling rather bare without my Wonder Woman cape (this had to be removed in case it got stuck in the ropes) I had to first put one leg over the edge of the tower. Then the other leg. The problem I had was that the first leg had nothing to rest on, so both of my legs were dangling mid air!! I had to cling on to one of the marines whilst I lowered my body to the top ridge on the church tower.
I don't want to appear big headed or over confident, but after that I just flew down, using my hands to move the rope and lower myself down!!! Before I knew it, and a couple of screams of relief later, I was at the bottom..
All in all we raised over £300 that day. I want to say a massive thank you to all of the North Staffs Accordion Club members for the sponsorship that they gave for this amazing charity that helps a wide age range of people with disabilities.
Diary
Members’Adverts
Accordion Tuition .
Pauline Hardwick Tel 01782 397248 Accordion and/or piano Stefan Andrusyschyn Tel 07958261024 Accordion and/or piano Mike Gibson Tel 01782 660865 Piano
For Sale
Hohner Atlantic IV DeLuxe accordion, black, 120 bass, 11 treble couplers, 3 bass, double octave straight tuning, highly polished metal casing, case, £500. Tel. 01543 276500 or email [email protected]
Cooperativa Super Cesare 501 piano accordion. 37 treble, 96 bass, 4 voice musette, handmade reeds, 11 treble couplers and wrist, 5 bass couplers. White mother of pearl, chest pad. One owner from new, little used. £1950. Tel Brian on 01538 382610.
President Brian Shufflebotham 01538 382610 Chairman Mike Richards 01782 642101 Treasurer Ann Millward 01782 638570
Committee Tony Britton, Helen Brown, Graham Hughes, Steve Hughes,
Every Monday 5.00pm-6.00 pm Accordion classes for young players at Holditch Every Monday 7.30 p.m. Beginners’/Improvers’ night at Holditch Tuesdays other than 3rd 8.00pm Band rehearsal at Holditch Every 3rd Tuesday of month 8.00pm
Clubnite at Holditch
Every 1st Thursday of month 1 p.m.
Solo Session, Knutton Ex-Servicemens Club
Sunday August 10th Midsummer Mayhem, Lyme Valley Parkway Tuesday August 19th Themed clubnite – Film Music Saturday September 13th Band concert at St Peter’s Church, Elworth
‘Last Night at the Proms’ Tuesday September 16th (clubnite)
A.G.M.
20th/24th October Mundesley Accordions International 2014 Tuesday October 21st (clubnite) Guest night: Malachy Cairns Tuesday December 16th (clubnite)
