Defra

Good thinking Geoff and well done for seeing something positive in what is a very grim day.

As someone who has no chance of coming to NESI, I'd love it if you could post videos of any of these new arrangements if ever you get chance. Thanks, Dean

It bears a passing resemblance to the Mélodina made by Accordéons du Marais not far from where I live. http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=16906&hl=st%E9phane&do=findComment&comment=160473 I wonder if there's any connection? Possible given the Québec-France link.

Really enjoyed this, especially as I'm struggling with my own version at the moment. Lots to learn here. The EC played in this style seems to be really well suited to these jazzy pieces. Since the demise of TOTM, such postings are really useful, please keep them coming! Dean

Amazing work. I particularly love the fretwork - you've got two very lucky kids.

I'd try asking the man himself (and while you're on the site I'd recommend signing up for his excellent monthly newsletter) http://simonthoumire.com/contact/ Good luck, Dean

Thanks for mentioning those transcriptions Jody. That jogged a memory about an old thread that contains a link to the scanned copies of the Matusewich transcriptions and some recordings forum members had made: http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9195&hl=manuscript The OP may find them usual and I'm certainly going to have another go at some of the easier pieces.

Just heard something pretty amazing on Simon Thoumire's newsletter - an EC & bodhran duet, featuring himself and his son Charlie. The bodhran playing's great (understated!) and amazingly works really well with Simon's fantastic playing. Never heard anyone else like him. http://simonthoumire.com/the-earls-chair/

Now sold and a donation has been made to Cnet.

Looks like a lot of fun, Steve. But you, as I presume the sole English concertina player (?), looked rather lonely on the outside of the circle at first! Cheers Dean

Love it! We need more of this type of "political incorrectness" during these sad times. The concertina sounds great along with the whole band. Thanks for cheering up my morning.

The concertina is now sold pending payment. Once the sale goes through around the end of the month, I'll make a contribution to Cnet.

Sounds beautiful. Really like your choice of tunes too. What happens to these lovely instruments you restore? Do they stay in your collection or do you have a music store, online or physical? Not that I'm looking to buy - the euro's slump against the dollar has put an end to my transatlantic shopping!

Despite my previous post about not going any lower I've decided to cut my losses as I don't believe in keeping an instrument that's not getting played. Now re-posted on Ebay France. 4 days to go and 1 bid at €1,200, which may or may not be genuine, so here's a chance to get a bargain for anyone wanting to try out the Hayden system on a quality instrument : http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Concertina-Peacock-Hayden-Duet-/322036109190?hash=item4afad90f86:g:ebkAAOSwPc9W0A47 Thanks for looking, Dean

Breathtaking stuff Simon. Hope to get to see you live one day, definitely if you return to Parthenay. Many thanks. Dean

Many thanks for this Mike. I'm just about to launch into my first full repadding and revalving operation this week, so you couldn't have timed it better. Cheers, Dean

I've been trying to sell my Peacock Hayden duet through this site for some time to no avail. I can't afford to drop the price any lower so I've decided to make it available for a trade. I'm looking for a good wooden-ended vintage English concertina - preferably a baritone but I would consider a treble and would be willing to add some money to the deal for the right instrument. The instrument remains available for sale at €1,500 if anyone is interested. Here's the text of my original ad : I'm selling my Peacock Hayden Duet concertina by Concertina Connection with 42 buttons + air that I only recently acquired second-hand from another forum member who also didn't stick with the duet system so played it only lightly. It's in great unblemished shape with a matt black finish and excellent 6-fold Wakker bellows that haven't yet been played in. Domed and bushed metal buttons. Serial no. 090, made when there were 3 versions of the Peacock - Standard, Special and Custom. Now I believe there are only 2 models available. This is an accordion-reeded hybrid duet but I find that it comes the closest to a "concertina" type sound of other hybrids I have played. Lovely tone and good volume. It is lightweight and has a very responsive and smooth action. It comes with the original, good quality hard case. So why am I selling? Well, I've been well and truly bitten by the concertina bug (or concertina acquisition syndrome) and have been trying out different systems, but living where I do means buying unseen. I've simply come to the conclusion that I'm more suited to the English system! Plenty of photos available, just PM me. Thanks for reading, Dean

OK, here's the final reduction: €1,500. That's as low as I can afford to go so there'll be no further reductions. Cheers, Dean

Red cow music in York have an Albion advertised at £1,400 http://www.redcowmusic.co.uk/concertinas Not a bad price. Dean

Lovely arrangement and a beautiful tone you're getting out of that concertina. A great selection of tunes you've posted this month, many thanks.

New price: €1,600. This is a real bargain for anyone interested in a Peacock concertina in excellent condition (and even more so for anyone outside the Eurozone given the very weak euro). The only reason it hasn't already sold is that I live in France and have been unable to post on the UK and US versions of ebay because I have never sold anything else on ebay. I had it on French Ebay for a while but there are very few people in France interested in such an instrument. I pulled it from there but still have it on a more popular French selling site - www.leboncoin.fr I'm losing big money at this price but I don't believe in hanging onto instruments that aren't getting played enough and am chalking the duet system up to an interesting learning experience that didn't quite suit me. Cheers, Dean

Gorgeous - what progress you've made!

Another lovely piece. I'm really enjoying this jazzy start to the new year on Cnet.

What an amazing way to hear the EC played and a great recording. Any plans to release an album?

Still available in 2016!