Lakeman

Hi Eric -I have available a mint-condition, 55-button Wheatstone Crane duet with brass reeds- but it is nickel-plated ( metal) ended, rather than wooden ends. Still interested? Want more details ? Contact me direct on geoffreylakeman@btinternet.com

Hi again Simon - that should have read ( made in 1953, not 63. Geoff

Hi Simon -Re. your search for a Crane duet concertina. I have the following available, £1,600 ( sterling) plus any package/postage. A vintage Wheatstone Crane/ Triumph duet, 67 years old- but in almost mint condition. A page from the Wheatstone ledgers, now kept by London's Horniman Museum, show the conertinas was finished on May 8, 1963.It has 55 buttons,has nickel-played (metal) ends and six-fold bellows. It is in modern concert pitch.I bought this concertina via concertina.net interest and eBay from a seller in the USA. He inherited the machine from his aunt who moved to the USA from the UK in the early fifties.She either took the newly-made concertina with her when she emigrated or, perhaps, had it made and sent over soon after. It has clearly had very little playing/wear in its lifetime, has been kept in its original case and obviously been cherished. This jnstrument has brass reeds and a mellow-tone, particularly good for song accompaniment. With more "playing-in" it could be used for tunes/ dance music.I've used it,. in particular, for moody, slow jazz songs. Geoff Lakeman. For more private info/ contact my email is geoffreylakeman@btinternet.com

Hi all, I'm the English guy who performed on Crane duet at the NE Squeeze-in.Sorry I have been too busy recently to post any messages. Kind remarks made to me at the Squeeze-in encouraged me to think I may be able to arrange a mini tour for my jazz/folk trio, Speakeasy to the N. East of the USA in March/April.We would need at least half a dozen gigs paying 250 to 300 dollars each to help cover our costs - or as many as we can fit in over a 2-week period.My two fellow musicians have not been to the USA before so it would be a big thrill for them to see it and play with American musicians.(They are, incidentally v. talented guys and have a big repeprtoire of folk and other music as well as the 20's/ 3o's -style jazz we play in Speakeasy. Can anyone advise me how to post attachments on this site? I have a poster pic of the trio, plus an information sheet and - of particular interest to 'tina players - MP 3- type files taken from a five-track CD demo we have. Can anyone help arrange gigs, put us in touch with promoters/ arts centres, music groups/ coffee houses, music shops....whatever?Especially anyone particularly interested in concertina ( used in jazz and folk), guitar and fiddle (Steve Potter is a good Irish-style player) If anyone can help I can send the above package as an e-mail to them, or even post a package, including the CD. We are thinking of Mass. Connect. New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhodes I, even New York State- whoever will have us! Certainly , I fouind the Boston and west Mass. areas very musical and would love to perform there. Let the music keep your spirits high. Geoff Lakeman ( lakers@cix,co.uk)

This is my third attempt to post a message, so here goes. There was an old squeezer from Devon Who set out to find Squeezebox Heaven Though they called him insane, With his Crane, on a plane, He went anyway.... And Boy, did he have a good time! Here I am, back in my Dartmoor village of Buckland Monachorum ( it means in old latin, village of the monks, cos there was an ancient Cistercian Abbey here) and behind the sturdy, granite walls of my 400 yr-old cottage after an exhausting 8,000-mile round trip to the North East Squeeze-in. I can't quite believe I have been to Massachusetts and back . Firstly, thanks to all those of you making kind comments about my playing on this website.I don't want this to send too much like an advert...but.My trio Speakeasy has recently made a five-track demo CD . I gave a copy to Doug at the Button Box . If we could put a small tour of gigs together , just enough to cover out costs , we'd love to play the USA. Can anybody help?I can send band biog plus copy of demo etc. I could even post it as an e-mail and get one of my computer-friendly sons to help me turn the CD into an MP3-type file. Richard Morse, Craig, Doug, Mario etc all deserve a medal for organising such an event . No wonder there is such a burgeoning interest in the concertina in the USA with enthusiasts like that about. The Saturday concert was a kaleidoscope of music styles and presentation - Italian folk tunes, southern-style Cajun , French-Canadaian Quebecois , crazy jazz accordion, tunes on novelty clown concertinas, Rachel's great Shetland and Irish tunes on English , plus other fantastic players spewing out the Irish stuff on anglos, Ken Sweeney's nautical and naughty song about a mermaid which I must steal, a 20 -piece concertina band, a 10 yr-old boy and his grandad playing a Fats Waller number on melodeons.......and stonking music for the dance afterwards The workshops were great, especially the one on paying by ear. It has made me think more deeply about the way I approach my music on the tina. Dave Barnet's playing of classcal music on the Hayden duet was impressive . Likewise, Kurt Braun's four-part harmony Bach on his Crane duet was classy stuff. It was great to play with another Crane - we are a bit like an endangered species. And who were the two coloured guys on the porch playing that fanastic, stomping stuff ? One with a two-row diatonic and the other beating out a rythmn on what looked like a piece of railroad track . It sounded like a cross between Cajun and south African township music . I blinked and they were gone- did I dream it? They say music is an international language - I think we proved that this weekend. And, to take up on what Dave wrote, it was a big thrill for me to play some of that 2o's and 30's Tin Pan Alley stuff in the big US of A . I hear that the famous Tanglewood is just down the road -but for me the place to be seen and heard is Bucksteep Manor . My only disappointment- and people kept telling me this- was not meeting and playing with Dave Cornell, who ironically, is apparently on his way over to hold workshops at Witney ( which I can't make.) Does he read this site? Can someone send him a message. Perhaps he can dash down here after for a brief visit to me. Thanks again to everyone for making me so welcome. Let the music keep your spirits high Geoff Lakeman

Richard's vivd description has got me all fired-up.I am already packing for my epic 6,000 mile round-trip to the BIG SQUEEZE-IN. Anybody else from the UK going? Thinking of you all in the US of A on Sep 11 anniversary.Goodnes knows what security they will put me through at London and Boston airports. My concertinas always raise a few eyebrows in the X-ray machines. Geoff Lakeman, Plymouth, UK.

Hi, at short notice I am crossing the Atlantic to attend the Northeast Squeeze in.I am a Crane duet player ( folk plus specialising in songs of the 1920's and 30's)I may be kicking around Boston on the Thursday before the Squeeze-in...also the Monday after .. Does anyone know of any folk/ acoustic music sessions happening in or around Boston at that time.Also - although I can hire a car - any chance of a lift from Boston to the Squeeze-in on Fri, Sep 17 .Would it be easy to do it by public transport ?Any other duet players out there who are going.I know of at least one other Crane enthusiast.