Alex West

My apologies; when it comes to quality, we're in the realm of opinions. I may not be best placed to make clear comparisons and everyone will have their own opinion as to what makes the besy sound and what is the best concertina or best period for a particular maker. However, there is at least a historical distinction to be made between the concertinas which C Jeffries made himself, those which the Brothers made and the ones which were made for him by others. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but if C Jeffries didn't actually make this (or have it made in his workshop under his supervision), then it can't be one of his best. Other people - and Geoff Crabb is probably one of them - will be better placed to judge whether a Crabb/Jeffries is of similar quality to one of the later Jeffries Still seems a lot of money! Alex

Whilst agreeing with Rhomylly that the starting price seemed high for a complete rescue job, the market sets the price. Here are a couple of pictures which the vendor sent me taken thrugh the holes in the bellows. There's going to be a lot of work needed to the reeds, let alone the action and the bellows. Also, this doesn't seem to be a Jeffries from the top drawer; although it has the C Jeffries maker stamp, it appears to be from the era when John Crabb was making them and before he made his own (according to the history articles on this site. The case is certainly not a Jeffries case. I'm not suggesting the vendor is misrepresenting - he makes it clear that he's not an expert, so caveat emptor. It's more slightly worrying that one of the questioners of the Japanese Jeffries tries to suggest that it is one of the best that money can buy and could be Kimber's concertina - a ludicrous suggestion. I do wonder who will get the job of restoring the English Jeffries, what he'll try to sell it for after restoration, how it will play and how it will be described then The selling price certainly seems well out of line compared with the genuinely top of the range lovely Wheatstone 46 key McCann Duet which went for £1260 something a couple of weeks ago. Alex

According to the Horniman Ledgers, it's an 8 sided 67 key Duet (were they all McCanntype fingering?) of type 39 - the best quality - made in 1911. Sounds like a very nice instrument Alex West

We live on a farm and when practising outside in the summer, (a morris jig with my wife dancing), we noticed after a while that all the cows were lined up against the fence watching and paying quite close attendance. I tried testing them later by waiting until they were at the end of the field, then started to play. Sure enough, after about 30 seconds, they came running up to the gate to see and hear what was going on. Obviously wasn't the wife's dancing then! The best audience I've ever had except they didn't clap much and didn't leave anything worthwhile in the hat afterwards. Alex West

Chris It's really difficult to tell subjectively whether the side fretting makes any difference. My Dipper's a small G/D (5 5/8" across the flats) and the G row is an octave higher than a "normal" Jeffries G/D. This, plus the Dipper reeds means that the sound is extremely bright, piercing and loud. So much so that my wife and cat find it difficult to be in the same room when I play. I've never noticed the G row being muffled - again perhaps because the instrument is so bright anyway. On the other hand, in a very subjective test this morning, I couldn't really discern much muffling on my other boxes either - maybe that's my ears though. Maybe this topic is going somewhat off the thread? Perhaps a more technical person will open a new thread? Alex West

Sorry about this, you must think I'm just teasing. I haven't got broadband at home and the file crashed after less than a third had made it to the post. If any of you are still with me, I'll try again from work when I can get the mp3 onto a memory stick Alex

Here goes again with the MP3 of Christmas Tree (Kris Kringle) Alex West

OK, I'll try again

In reply to Mark, I've got a Dipper with similar fretted sides. This is Dipper No 104 and is very much a special Alex West

You'll find a version of Kris Kringle on "A People's Carol", an LP published by Leader in 1973 as an anthology of songs sung at Christmas in pubs around the Sheffield and North Derbyshire area - a tradition which continues to this day. 04 Christmas Tree.mp3 If I've figured out how to attach properly, you'll find the MP3 here. I actually got this LP as part of my fee for the recording of "Bees on Horseback" - the first Flowers and Frolics record (The rest of the fee was another LP from Neil Wayne's "remaindered" box) Alex West

Does anyone remember the name of the Scottish March tune played by the bands as Chris Patten (last UK Governor of Hong Kong) handed over Hong Kong to the Chinese? I remember it got a lot of coverage at the time and was being played as he left on the ship (Brittania?) It was described as his favourite tune and was certainly a nice one. Alex West

I've obtained the following additional information from Sothebys. Not completely helpful, but better than nothing. I've also asked them to find out what teh "home" keys are. "Lot 309: A thirty-two button Anglo-German concertina by C. Jeffries, London, circa 1900 bellows a little rubbed, buttons have a tendency to stick, hand straps are not original and one is broken Pitch: A = approx 440Hz Lot 312: A thirty button Anglo-German system concertin by C. Jeffries, London, circa 1900 syphoning extensicely, light rubbing, left strap a replacement, both strap screw replaced by modern Philips screws but the original are in the case. Case lid and handle detached Lot 313: A thirty button Anglo-German system concertin by C. Jeffries, London, circa 1900 leatherwork rubbed, f sharp/g sharp button syphoning, metalwork slight corroded, straps replaced Pitch: approx 435Hz." All the spelling and grammar mistakes are Sothebys' own Alex West

Sorry! Just realised that although Will Duke was with the Albion Dance Band, he left before "The Prospect Before Us" Sorry Will! Alex

Having gone back to the original post, I’ll try to confine myself to some simple observations. I’m sure others will comment further on style, but it’s such a minefield! In the early days of Flowers and Frolics (ROger Digby was the concertina player, I was the tuba player), there seemed to be endless debate (around us, rather than in the band itself) about whether a tune was or sounded English. Essentially it’s a sterile debate because tunes migrated so much anyway. The English style has been influenced heavily by dance music, whether for Morris, step dancing or for social dancing and the English native dance styles tend to be less fluid or more rhythmic than the Irish styles which others in the posting have noted. One characteristic mentioned by numerous observers is that the musician plays "behind" the beat, giving a lift to the dancers’ feet. In bands, this is perhaps more obvious as the rhythm section can be so far behind the beat that the off beat is emphasised rather than the on beat (on one memorable occasion, after quaffing large amounts of champagne, we were somewhat into next week). This anacrucis gives the music a type of bounce which is not always evident in chromatic style fiddle, piano-accordion and Irish anglo playing. If you’re looking for full left hand chords? John Kirkpatrick – too many records to mention here. Website is www.johnkirkpatrick.co.uk John Watcham – recorded with the Albion Morris, on "Son of Morris On" and as accompanist to Shirley Collins on a number of her records. New CD out "Still dancing after all these years" Haven’t heard it yet. John Rodd – recorded with the Albion Dance Band ("The Prospect Before Us", Kickin up the Sawdust", "Son of Morris On") and also accompanied Shirley Collins on "Amaranth" (on the Harvest label). Now semi-resident in Toronto but not playing much. Very much in the English style but more at the Scan Tester end – ie less full chords? Tony Engle - Recorded with Oak and with Shirley Collins ("For as many as will" on the Topic label) Not playing concertina at all now. I’ve got his old Dipper. Will Duke – Recorded with The Albion Dance Band ("The Prospect Before Us") and with Dan Quinn ("The Wild Boys" and "Scanned" both available from Hebe Music www.quinn.unisonplus.net). Will plays regularly with Dan and both play occasionally with myself and Roger Digby who frequently accompanies Bob Davenport. Mel Dean – sadly no longer with us but recorded with the Old Swan Band "Old Swan Brand" I refuse to pigeonhole Roger as he’s a pal. Alex West