At today’s meeting, we had eleven members plus one visitor – David Butcher, who had met Helen & Phil at Cohen’s recent concert. He plays keyboards but was interested in the Concertina & was invited to our meetings. He first came when we played last month in the Bar downstairs for World Concertina Day – welcome David.
Chris Marriott brought his newly-purchased McCann Duet – good luck with that Chris! In today’s ‘before lunch’ session, Carolyn led us in the following tunes: - ‘Oom-pah-pah’ - ‘Lambeth Walk’ - ‘Leicester Square Rag’ (New – arranged by Carolyn) - ‘Domino’ (New – arranged by Carolyn) - ‘When I’m 64’ (New – arranged by Carolyn) For our ‘after lunch’ session, as it had been pointed out by Helen that today was St. Patricks’ Day, Graham brought copies of the following Irish tunes: - ‘The One-Horned Sheep’ (arr: F J Ball) - ‘Turn Hill’ (a ‘Fling’) - ‘Waltz for Cathy’ (composed & arranged by Tim Collins) - Polka Set: ‘Aidan Coffey’s’; ‘Macgillycuddy’s’; ‘The Cobbler’ & ‘Peg Ryan’s - ‘O’Carolan’s Concerto’ (arr: Robin Garside) Graham noted upcoming guests booked for the rest of 2024: April – Nick Barber June – Alex Wade October – Dave Ball And we were reminded that September’s meeting will see us joined by NECP.
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Today at our YCC meeting, Sunday 18th February, we had ten members who played in the World Concertina Day gig in the bar downstairs: Adrian, Rhona, Jackie, Helen, Phil, Carolyn, Chris Nelson, Steve, Russ & Graham.
We played 11 pieces and Russ sang three songs which got the audience joining in . Our pieces were: 1. Oom Pah Pah (Carolyn's arrangement) 2. Chico's Love Song (Steve's arrangement) 3. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Steve's arrangement) 4. Lambeth Walk (Carolyn's arrangement) 5. Dwell Not With Me (Carolyn's arrangement) 6. Larpool Hall (Steve's arrangement of Jon Willis's tune) 7. Old Jock's Dance (Steve's arrangement of Jon Willis's tune) 8. Only You (Carolyn's arrangement) 9. Yorkshire Concertina Club Rag (John Willis's own arrangement of his own tune) 10.Liberty Bell March (from YCC Tunebook) 11. Nelly the Elephant (from YCC Tunebook) Better late…..
On February 19th Yorkshire Concertina Club emerged from the rehearsal room in the Corner House in Moortown, Leeds, to perform for an audience of club members downstairs in the bar. We had originally intended to move our regular third Sunday meeting back to 5th, to coincide with World Concertina Day, but for some inexplicable reason, it was felt that a major football match took precedence. Under the direction of our bandmaster, Carolyn Wade, we played a wide variety of music, starting with Let the Bands Play (arranged by Carolyn) via La Marseillaise and a few pieces from our club song book, including Butterflies in the rain and Swaledale by John Willis, a founding member of the club. We finished with Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy. In between the instrumental numbers, Russ Etherington sang two music hall songs, accompanying himself on the concertina, to the general acclaim and satisfaction of the audience. The photo below was taken by Graham Heffernan, with Russ standing at the end. YCC members on the day: Jackie Ellis Russ Etherington Helen Graham Phil Graham (anglo) Steve Griffiths Graham Heffernan Adrain Jackson Chris Nelson Ruth Stoker Carolyn Wade Steve Griffiths October’s meeting of the Yorkshire Concertina Club brought another treat in the form of Rob Say and his newly acquired Rook’s Manuscript.
Rob took us through a lovely selection of tunes from the Northeast. After spending time looking at the Cheviot Rant, Cawledge Burn Rant, as well as the more familiar Morpeth Rant and his own tune Corsenside Hall, we looked at various marches and hornpipes. The March of the Grahams in amongst those, for our very own ‘Grahams’, Helen and Phil! His enthusiasm for the music and the style of playing from the region was infectious and we all have some new ideas on how to approach and bring the tunes to life. Rob has been researching the life and works of John Rook from his diaries and a photocopy of the manuscript. The hardback book, “The John Rook Manuscript: The Life of John Rook 1806-1872 & A Full Transcription of his Manuscript”, is the result of this work and he has also produced a smaller book with the collection of music in the manuscript, “The Music of John Rook: Player's Manuscript”. Following publication of this, the actual manuscript has come to light, and it was an absolute privilege to be able to see the beautifully penned work with the illustrations and annotations from John Rook himself. A huge thanks to Rob Say for an interesting, informative and extremely enjoyable afternoon. Sixteen concertina players from YCC and NECP joined the annual joint gathering, this year hosted by the YCC in Leeds on 18th September.
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