Dave Higham
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Posts posted by Dave Higham
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Not of concertinas, but of all sorts of brass instruments.
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Nothing to do with concertinas, although I do have 2 Jeffries.
I bought this drum, which was in a very sorry state, in an 'antique' shop in Sheffield 40-odd years ago. I hesitated until, examining it more closely, I found 'J. Higham, Manchester' stamped on the brass barrel. So then I had to buy it. I dont know if J. Higham was any relation.
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French national television has been showing all sorts of old newsreel footage of people celebrating on Armistice day and I’ve seen this clip a few times. You only see the concertina player for about 2 seconds but he obviously knew how to play. I could only capture a screen shot.
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The first tune I tried to play and more or less played it straight away (I did have a harmonica when I was a lad) was Shepherd's Hey. It's almost all pushing and pulling up and down the scale. Of course I was a morris man at the time.
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Just found this thread by a roundabout way. We had dinner with Emmanuel last Saturday in S.W.France and he asked me if I knew about C-net. As I haven't been around much recently I thought I'd have a look and found this thread.
For those who don't know him Emmanuel is a superb musician and, for my money, one of the best accompanists around. Here he is accompanying himself on melodeon. It's a pity he didn't use the Franglo. You can see it on the table in front of him.
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You still there Howard, or have you gone to bed and buried your head under the pillow? I'd just like to say that I'm one of the minority who agrees with your original post. I also love some Irish music but I have to say that Irish on Anglo doesn't do anything much for me.
We met briefly last year at The Royal at Dungworth in the Sunday lunchtime session. There was a very good Irish Anglo player there who left my wife totally unimpressed. But when, near the end of the session, you played a lovely Elizabethan air (I think it was Packington's Pound) she insisted I ask you what the tune was called, and asked me why I didn't play beautiful tunes like that! I owned up and told her it's because I'm not good enough.
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I'm sure it wouldn't cause a problem. I'm firmly convinced that dancers don't listen to the music most of the time anyway (and I'm a dancer and a musician). Something I want to try one day is to announce a scottiche and play a polka. I'm sure they'd all get up and try to do it!
When I came to France 20 years ago I went along to a French music session and when I'd explained what an Anglo was they said "play us a tune". So I played Princess Royal. They said "play something else, play a waltz". So I played Michael Turner's. They then said "now play us a waltz". I said "that was a waltz". They said "no, no, no, that was a mazurka", and you know, they were dead right! It's now known all over S.W.France as David's Mazurka! (I keep tellin' 'em its proper name but they can't be doing with it and, anyway, it now turns out it was part of a suite of 6 German Dances by Mozart!)
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...23/ai_n13984150
This gives a fairly good idea of what 'Father Ken' was like. If I remember rightly, he said he was torpedoed twice and on each occasion the only thing he saved was his concertina. He was a link with the past as far as the Morris is concerned. He met William Kimber of Headington Morris as a young man and William agreed to teach him to play the concertina. When William died he bequeathed his Jeffries anglo that had been presented to him (by the EFDS?) to Kenneth who, in his will, said that it should go back to Headington and the Kimber family.
He played Morris tunes with 'all the stops out'. Some said, on occasion, that if William had still been around Kenneth would have had his knuckles rapped. But that was Kenneth. Over the top at every possibly opportunity. I like to think he was a friend, and William Kimber was his friend, and Kimber's meeting Cecil Sharpe was what started the Morris revival.
There are certainly others who knew him much better than I did.
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Carrying on from the Peter Bellamy thread. Ken did sometimes dress like normal people. Well, almost normal. This was at Whitby in 1974 (my goodness, where did the time go?)
The concertina is, indeed, the Wheatstone he bought on William's recommendation. He let me play it (and William's) on several occasions and I found it rather bizarre. Although the bellows were shiny and black and looked like new (he probably polished them at the same time as his bespoke shoes) they were so flexible that the instrument felt very 'rubbery', no doubt because of the punishment they received. What became of it, I don't know.
Someone mentioned capes and vampires. It might have been the same year, at Whitby, that Ken gave a very erudite lecture on vampires, excorcism et al. Still, I suppose a rural dean has to know about that sort of thing.
In his later years he always spent Christmas with Ivor Allsop and his wife Joyce in Barnsley and made a point of coming up to see Handsworth on Boxing Day. I suppose you could say he was one of our 'fans'. Of course he was also one of the attractions of the singing in the Cross Keys afterward where the local Sheffield carols were interspersed with his renderings of the Boar's Head Carol, The 12 days of Christmas and The Holly and the Ivy......'on Chris-i-muss Day in the morn'. I even had the dubious honour of being allowed to play a duet with him once in the Cross Keys. Mind, I had just bought him a large brandy!
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I'd just like to add my thanks to Mark for a great weekend. The Dungworth sessions were 'concertina heaven' and it was nice to meet some of the C'netters in person. My mate Roger (the Frenchman) was dead chuffed too as people kept asking him to play! What really made his day was the lady who called it sexy French music played by a sexy French accordeonist!!
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"After getting a pint of beer in the end of my Jeffries at Sidmouth many years ago"
I've never had beer poured into my concertina, although someone did once pour moscatel over it! (We move in different circles Al). Fortunately most of it stayed on the outside.
Then there was the occasion of the ceilidh club Christmes party when I left the concertina on the stage while some idiot did his party trick with a dartboard and a set of darts. You guessed. He missed the dartboard completely and harpooned the concertina. The dart went through one of the holes in the fretwork and stuck firmly in the wood inside!
At least I had the satisfaction of his party piece going down like a lead balloon.
Like Al says; put it in its box!
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"these are skilled craftsmen and most of them are in Europe so their prices, looking from the west side of the Atlantic are very high, but that's related to the weak USA $. They SHOULD be wealthy men, they have a great skill, they stuck to their craft through thin times and I'm very glad for them that the revival in trad music is going to feather their nests for their later years. "
Have you heard the story of the luthier who won the lottery? When asked what he would do with all the money, he said "Well, I guess I'll just go on making instruments until it runs out"!
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May I also say how shocked and saddened I am to hear of Barry's death?
I also knew Barry as a fellow musician with Lizzie Dripping and through his association with the 'Celebrated Cloggies' and City Morris. His enthusiasm for English traditional music was boundless and infectious. He was also a thoroughly nice bloke.
What makes his passing even more poignant is that I had rather lost touch with him in recent years but had been thinking I must contact him to ask if I would see him at Bradfield this summer. Such a sad loss.
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I also thought bandoneon was played only on the 'pull'. But here's Piazzola pulling and pushing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Os9G7RP2I...ted&search=
Hope this link works.
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Dunno.
Whereisit, whenisit, wottisit?
Sorry, that's a bit rude, but some of us aren't 'in the know' y'know.
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Yes Peter, to all three. I last saw Pat on Boxing-day-before-last (I think!) at Handsworth when as a very 'ex' member they let me play for the dance. I hope to see them again at Bradfield in the summer.
I joined Handsworth in 1967 or '68 (can't remember) in Harry Pitts's heyday (Harry and I were the only ones who lived in Handsworth) and danced with them until I moved to France in '87. Fond memories of singing in the Cross Keys after the dance on boxing day with Father Ken (who sometimes let me play William's concertina!)
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Peter, thanks for your reply and I sympathise with your parents. As someone who was a faithful Whitby festival-goer for 17 or 18 years, mostly just another punter buying his ticket, occasionally with Handsworth, I have to admit that I feel somewhat let down, as I'm sure they do.
There will surely be enough people going to the festival for it not to make the slightest difference to the organisers, but it's a pity. I have many happy memories of Whitby festival and they haven't been tarnished by the new organisers' lack of communication but, so far, they haven't done themselves any favours.
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I'm seriously wondering whether to give up on Whitby, much as I would like to come again after a 20-year absence. I can't really commit myself to coming from S.W.France with a motor-home and bringing 2 French people with their m-h without some sort of guarantee as to camping facilities, etc.
The telephone number quoted above leads to an answering machine which gives you about 20 seconds to gabble your message before it cuts you off. This doesn't really matter because they don't get back to you anyway. I've tried several times.
The E-mail address gives the same result. I've sent several. They don't reply.
I shall be disappointed not to come. I hope the organisation is better on the day for those who do.
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There are a lot of small circuses in France. You see posters appear, even in small villages and the next day they've arrived. They do 2 or 3 shows and disappear again. They used to sell posters as souvenirs and a friend gave me one. As you can see, although the artist didn't get it quite right, it's obviosly an Anglo or a Duet.
I know this doesn't help you with your problem ZiziAllaire but I thought it might be of interest.
By the way, I hope your pseudonym isn't in indication of your personal habits. Could be downright dangerous at this time of year where you live! I wonder if anyone else noticed. I have to admit I saw it several times before it clicked, but then it's not my mother tongue.
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I quite agree Brian. What more could anyone want? Er...sunshine perhaps? But these foreigners can be a funny lot you know. It’s probably knowing that they’re foreign that makes ‘em like that. <g>
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Thanks Peter. That makes things a bit clearer, although the season ticket might be a problem. I'd happily come for the whole week but I don't know if the French contingent will stand for it.
By the way, I'm an exiled Sheffielder too, but permanently!
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Thanks for the info. Brian. I didn't know about the new management. We're certainly planning on coming, although perhaps not for the whole week. I should be bringing a 'Franglo' player with me too.
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I haven't been to Whitby Festival for about 20 years. I went every year for about 15 years before that. I'd like to go this year so I E-mailed enquiries@whitbyfolk asking about camping facilities, particularly for motor-homes (do you have to reserve, is it within walking distance, etc?)
So far they've ignored me.
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Orl tergevver now!
"Where did you get that 'at,
Where did you get that tile?
Isn't it a lovely one?, it's just the latest style.
I would like to 'ave one just the same as that!
Where did you get...........etc, etc.
Dead easy on the Anglo.
But it's not really a beret is it? Where I come from they don't have seams. Looks good though....
Mazurka de Lanternaire - Motorway Mazurka (John Swayne)
in Concertina Videos & Music
Posted
C'est très beau! What sort of concertina?