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Duet International Update


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Just to give you an update on this project.

Duet has been held back due to the late release of English International and the economic situation. I have still been busy however ,with help from others and a bit of detective work new players unknown to most of you have been found. The time span has enabled newish players to improve to such an extent that they are now sending in superb recordings. Three sets of recordings have landed on my doormat within the last couple of weeks,so we are moving slowly in the right direction, The delay means that we should be up to date with most known players,but the door is still open for more players. If you are a Duet player and have a few party pieces please do no hesitate to contact me (in confidence). If you are not sure let me decide for you,judged against other recordings we have in. If you know of an excellent player please let me have their name,it is no good after the release of the collection to ask why certain players were not included, so please check with me that your favourite is included. I do not publish the full details of the players in the collection until the final layout has been decided,it would not be fair to those we have left out, so the information will be in confidence.

One player has informed me that he cannot record until February so we are trying to get all recordings in by then,but there has to be flexibility to ensure all the best players are included.

The collection is tinged with sadness,with the loss of Nick Robertshaw and Harry Litherland (I have not had this confirmed however),it is hoped that they can still be included by using archives or their playing. Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news. Martin Windham-Reed has agreed to do a recording with Iris Bishop,who will also be doing some solo, or base accompanied recordings. Tom Bliss ,before he retired, has also done us some recordings ,so a couple of scoops there. I still have doubts that we shall get to three CDs on this one ,but it will follow the same format as Anglo and English. Any help from you all would be appreciated, particularly archive recordings.

Al

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Just to give you an update on this project.

Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news.

 

Hi Al.

Hadn't heard the news about Tim. Fingers crossed for a full recovery from me. We started playing Duets at roughly the same time in South London back in the 70's. One of the best players around, and a thoroughly decent man. Please pass on my best wishes to him and his family. Would love to play "Duelling Springtimes" again with him one day.

Regards Ralphie

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Just to give you an update on this project.

Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news.

 

Hi Al.

Hadn't heard the news about Tim. Fingers crossed for a full recovery from me. We started playing Duets at roughly the same time in South London back in the 70's. One of the best players around, and a thoroughly decent man. Please pass on my best wishes to him and his family. Would love to play "Duelling Springtimes" again with him one day.

Regards Ralphie

I have seen Tim since his heart attack down at Lewes Folk Club and he was in great form ,so no need to worry at this stage.

Al

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The collection is tinged with sadness,with the loss of Nick Robertshaw and Harry Litherland (I have not had this confirmed however),it is hoped that they can still be included by using archives or their playing. Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news. Martin Windham-Reed has agreed to do a recording with Iris Bishop,who will also be doing some solo, or base accompanied recordings. Tom Bliss ,before he retired, has also done us some recordings ,so a couple of scoops there. I still have doubts that we shall get to three CDs on this one ,but it will follow the same format as Anglo and English. Any help from you all would be appreciated, particularly archive recordings.

 

 

Let me know what I can do to help get Nick Robertshaw on the collection. He was unique, playing with a daring and creativity that fully utilized the vast potential of the Jeffries Duet. He was an incomparable Morris player, and he had a great music hall repertoire. Any compilation of duet players will be incomplete without him. His comrades among the FOggy Bottom Morris Men will do everything we can to provide the best available recordings.

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I still feel the loss of Rich Morse (Hayden duet); if he ever recorded I hope someone found examples for you.

 

Ken

Ken, I approached Richard for some recordings before his untimely death, he did not feel at the time he was good enough, but was planning to do some recordings after my second request. Sadly he never managed it.

If there are any recordings out there of Richard playing I would be very pleased to have a listen.

Al

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The collection is tinged with sadness,with the loss of Nick Robertshaw and Harry Litherland (I have not had this confirmed however),it is hoped that they can still be included by using archives or their playing. Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news. Martin Windham-Reed has agreed to do a recording with Iris Bishop,who will also be doing some solo, or base accompanied recordings. Tom Bliss ,before he retired, has also done us some recordings ,so a couple of scoops there. I still have doubts that we shall get to three CDs on this one ,but it will follow the same format as Anglo and English. Any help from you all would be appreciated, particularly archive recordings.

 

 

Let me know what I can do to help get Nick Robertshaw on the collection. He was unique, playing with a daring and creativity that fully utilized the vast potential of the Jeffries Duet. He was an incomparable Morris player, and he had a great music hall repertoire. Any compilation of duet players will be incomplete without him. His comrades among the FOggy Bottom Morris Men will do everything we can to provide the best available recordings.

Thanks Jim and Chris for your help on Nick Robertshaw, His Wife was very keen on him being represented on this collection and I also have two very excited Emails from Nick himself saying how pleased he was to be asked and that he would make a start right away. A CD of his playing would be great Jim if you could arrange it(We will clean it up).I have heard the MP3s already and I am certain that we can do something with the recordings. I know how much this means to his Morris side and we will not let them down.If there is anything else out there Jim from his friends, I would be very interested to hear it.

Al

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As an aside.

Reading all the messages above, particularly about players who have sadly passed on. I think we should all raise a metaphoric, or real, glass to Al and his team, for providing such an excellent snapshot (well 3 so far!) of tina playing in the late 20th century (with a nod to the archive stuff too of course).

Without this sterling work, some players, who, otherwise would probably never have been recorded, (well maybe recorded, but whose work would never have been released), has been preserved and will be available to hopefully inspire future generations.

Let's face it, Unlike the guitar or, virtually any other instrument, we're not exactly flooded with Concertina CDs are we?

If "Duet Int" had been available to me in 1972, I would have sold my Morris Traveller to get hold of it!!

So hats off to Mr Day I say.

As a PS. I would urge any player to get a little hand held digi recorder, (they're cheap enough nowadays) and record themselves, Just in case, and then we wouldn't have the sad stories from people saying "Yes would love to do something for this or that project" and not being here to do so.

Anway, ramble over. Looking forward to the finished CDs.....What next? "Cheng International?!"

Ralphie

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Just to give you an update on this project.

Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news.

 

Hi Al.

Hadn't heard the news about Tim. Fingers crossed for a full recovery from me. We started playing Duets at roughly the same time in South London back in the 70's. One of the best players around, and a thoroughly decent man. Please pass on my best wishes to him and his family. Would love to play "Duelling Springtimes" again with him one day.

Regards Ralphie

 

Tim suffered his heart attack over a year ago, Ralphie, and not long afterwards, was well enough to perform at the IFC on November 20th, 2008. He and Rosie TB were both undergraduates at the University of East Anglia together in the early 1970's and got to know each other well. He's a very nice chap and all the better for promoting traditional songs and dialect from his native Dorset.

 

Chris

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Just to give you an update on this project.

Tim Laycock also suffered a heart attack but his recordings are promised, so that is good news.

 

Hi Al.

Hadn't heard the news about Tim. Fingers crossed for a full recovery from me. We started playing Duets at roughly the same time in South London back in the 70's. One of the best players around, and a thoroughly decent man. Please pass on my best wishes to him and his family. Would love to play "Duelling Springtimes" again with him one day.

Regards Ralphie

 

Tim suffered his heart attack over a year ago, Ralphie, and not long afterwards, was well enough to perform at the IFC on November 20th, 2008. He and Rosie TB were both undergraduates at the University of East Anglia together in the early 1970's and got to know each other well. He's a very nice chap and all the better for promoting traditional songs and dialect from his native Dorset.

 

Chris

 

Thanks for that....I honestly didn't hear about it...Must get out more!!! Glad to hear he's fit an d well though.

Cheers mate

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