bandstand

I own an old cassette tape with the recording descibed below, of the two tunes from the Edison Bell 1929 recording. But I've just found it is damp., mouldy and unplayable because stored in a silly place. Aaaaaaargh! A posh-accented male voice introduced the actual recordings ..."an actual canary accompanying...." But web search found the extract about it below. I also remember seeing a photo and article about Betty Ackroyd ... somewhere....? Can anyone help? ______________________________________ from "The Field Recorder #78 March 8th 2012, extract from research by Chery Tipp "...music hall act in Britain was The Auklands and Little Tweet. Little Tweet was dubbed the ‘Canary Caruso’ in light of his vocal virtuosity and skill, and the Auklands toured the music hall circuit from 1924 onwards. The singing canary would accompany Betty Aukland on the concertina and proved to be such an entertaining act that a record of Little Tweet performing ‘Bells of St Mary’s’ and Londonderry Air’ with the Auklands was released by Edison Bell in 1929. This feathered performer became quite the celebrity and was used in marketing campaigns to endorse products such as Capern’s bird food. "

Hawkwood Concertina Band Weekend, January 2012 extracts from review by Dave Ball of his first January HWD w’end Hawkwood College sits before a curved backdrop of hills looking out over Stroud to the upper Severn estuary, much like a stage above a vast auditorium. That feeling of being on stage permeated the whole Hawkwood weekend and made it an entirely appropriate venue for a concertina band to rehearse and perform in..... Organised, as ever, by Jenny Cox, and with conductors Steve Ellis, of Redland Wind Band and principal cornet of City of Bristol Brass Band, and Dave Townsend (crucial force in the Concertina Band Revival), this established weekend has an enviable pedigree..... Steve Ellis is a wonderful conductor - severe when required, quietly humorous and hugely experienced. He brought a wealth of brass band experience to bear on our massed concertina sound and, while our lack of discipline was sometimes a trial, he put up with the more eccentric behaviour of the English Concertinist and licked us into shape with almost infinite patience. Our musical achievements of the weekend owed an enormous amount to his quick skill, empathy and experience. The whirlwind that is Jenny Cox, fully supported by husband Peter, as ever masterminded the weekend. Last, but not least, I must mention the other band members. For their enthusiasm and skill, for all that individual practicing before the weekend, and for their ability as a band to respond successfully (most of the time!) to the demands of the baton. We couldn't have done it without ourselves, and that was one of the most satisfying elements of the whole weekend..... Other highlights included: the full company of friendly concertina fanatics, the mouth-watering food, which with the Hall and its Staff deserves a full paragraph of eulogies, and the comfortable accommodation - for me in the stable block. The grounds early on a frosty January morning wreathed in tendrils of mist were breathtaking. What else? Evenings of mixed session playing, impromptu solos, jigsaw manufacture and socialising with drinks in the Hall Library. This is a review filled with superlatives, but honestly that's what it was, a superlative weekend. Dave Ball February 2012 extracts compiled and posted by Bandstand

The next dedicated Concertina Band Weekend is at Hawkwood College, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England 25 - 27th January 2013. It will be led by Steve Ellis and Dave Townsend, and organised by myself, as usual. Tickets are limited, and it's likely to fill up and grow a waiting list. But I'll hold open a couple of places for new-to-Hawkwood people until the beginning of January. If you are interested in joining a big band of piccolo, treble, tenor, baritone and bass concertinas,and you're an experienced player used to working with a conductor, and comfortable working from single-line part music in a range keys, I'd like to hear from you. Google "concertinaband hawkwood rhosymedre" and "concertinaband hawkwood death or glory" to hear clips of the January 2011 band. Please look at www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk and ask then to forward your email address to me if you would like me to send you details of the January 2013 Hawkwood Concertina Band. For our "Marches and Tunes" CD, music from the 16th - 21st century see www.concertinaband.org.uk best wishes to all concertina musicians reading this. Bandstand

Rhosymedre is a Welsh Hymn tune, transformed into a lovely Organ Prelude by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It works beautifully as a concertina band piece. We really enjoyed it last January at Hawkwood. 36 people used English-system concertinas (trebles, tenor-trebles, baritones, basses) and one musician played Anglo concertina. This track is a single unedited take using just one microphone. You will realise how helpful and clear our conductor is. You will enjoy the visuals too! Bandstand.

This is a professional-quality instrument made c. 1922 in very good condition, which we've owned for many years . Reason for sale? We are playing other concertinas, including a wooden ended Wheatstone T/T. I seek to set a fair price (U.K.) for a private buyer, and would be glad of people's opinions. Thanks Jenny

January 28th - 30th 2011 Check out <www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk> course number 41 Just two or three places left.

Don't, Don't, Don't, Don't,Don't is my recommendation too. I have met three people over the years who have been given surprise concertinas. One never really, really wanted to put the hours and devotion into learning to play it, but felt guilty because of the generosity of the gift. One was given an anglo, struggled for a year or so, then realised what she needed for her personality and the music she wanted to play was an English. One was given a new Italian - type instrument, had musical background, soon realised her instrument was inferior to every single one belonging to every serious player she met, and had to buy a "proper" instrument. Our first instrument was bought from a "one off" seller. It was a very, very poor instrument. We didn't have help or advice in buying it, and later we used it as a part-payment for a good Aeola, loosing what was to us a lot of money in the process. Give her a piece of paper expressing your willingness to subsidise her purchase. make sure SHE thinks very hard about systems, devotion needed, music she'll play and what would suit her. Then ideally either go to a very well trusted dealer or an event like the Sunday Concertina Market at Concertinas at Witney UK (next one 26th September 2010),ideally with an experienced competent friend, or best of all find someone to lend her an instrument for 3 months. ps. Re-read first line of this reply! Jenny

Hi David You can now buy this CD through PayPal ...use HwdC.Band@sky.com, or via Ebay (see Adrian's post at the end of this thread) Cheers Jenny

Concertinas at Witney has been directed by Dave Townsend and run annually from 1991. It's near Oxford, U.K. I've been involved from the very beginning. This year we had lovely weather and a grand crowd of old friends and lots of new-to-me faces. On Sunday afternoon, at the workshop showcase, it was very clear how the overall standard of playing has increased dramatically. People playing a wide variety of musical styles, with care and attention to detail, exploring different techniques and enjoying making music together. Magic. The tutors all "delivered" and were all pleased with their groups: Michael Jary, Keith Kendrick, John Morgan, Emmanuel Pariselle (with his Dipper Franglo), Simon Thoumire, and of course Dave Townsend and myself (tho I could only be there on Sunday). Many people said the Saturday night concert was outstanding (even for Witney!). Concertinas at Witney is always the very last weekend in September. How about NESI being on a different weekend next year , and some of the USA concertina afficionados coming across the pond in 2010? Jenny

Now available via PAYPAL using the paypal email HwdC.Band@sky.com duplicated info removed by jenny (still a techie novice)

Band workshops at Concertinas at Witney were, as always, hugely enjoyable and worthwhile. Dave Townsend led his new band piece "Across the Western Ocean" on Saturday, cleverly arranged with two straightforward upper lines, and three more-challenging lower lines featuring glorious bass and baritone concertinas. In the workshop showcase my Sunday band played a 17th century Courante by Pezel (very elegant), and "Mr Sandman" (1954) Pat Ballard, specially arranged by Roger Bennett for concertina band (totally cheesey and great fun). Terrific buzz re. the Hawkwood Concertina Band CD. There were ten of us who played on the CD at the weekend, all of us thrilled with its success and the fact it's reaching far and wide to people we hadn't met or even heard of! Some of this is thanks to concertina.net. The rest of Concertinas at Witney was also terrific. I'll post separately about that. Tell us about NESI! Jenny sorry I've accidently stuck in two copies of my initial post about this project. How can I get them deleted?

duplicate post removed by jenny

Thanks, Pete for illumination. I'm sure this must be the explanation....sorry for the frustration, Irene. Anyone reading this thread will realise I am not a techie. Jenny

Hi Jenny ... well I've tried it again, every which way but loose, copied and pasted it exactly as per your message, and I'm still getting the message that Windows cannot find it, and querying whether the spelling is correct .... so I shall just have to do the snail mail route (which means handwritten letter ... my printer isn't working at the moment). But cheque and letter will be on the way at the weekend. Hi - I think the address given is the email address to use with Paypal rather than an internet address. If you have a Paypal account, you can go to their page and use the 'send money' tag. When you do, there will be a place to enter the email address to send the money to, and that's where you would enter HwdC.Band@sky.com. If you don't have a Paypal account, I'm not sure what you do! Pete