GregHankins Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Hi All! I have been listening to Martyn Wyndham-Read and enjoying very much the concertina playing of Iris Bishop -- not only her gift for accompaniment, but the actual sound of her concertina(s). The great Google tells me she plays mostly duet, though also some anglo. But it hasn't reveled to me, as of yet, any details about those instruments. Given that she apparently does a bit of teaching and workshopping, I'm hopeful someone here could shed a bit of light on that point. Thanks! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Greg Iris plays a Maccan Duet and Piano Accordion.I have never heard her play the Anglo but it would not surprise me if she dabbled in it. I have enjoyed listening to Iris playing for many years and in fact she rang me when she first purchased her concertina and brought it round to my house to show me and ask me what she had.She is now the foremost Duet player and if you get a chance to see her live go.I have some wonderful recordings of her that I hope to share with you all. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Yes, it's two MacCanns, one of them being quite large, and an average medium-sized PA, that I have seen and heard as played by her too - she's a wonderful musician and accompanist, and a very amiable person as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 It's about 15 years since I heard Iris playing in the band with Martyn. When on Maccann, I recall that she was using the 67 key, although I have seen her play a 58 key (faster, due to smaller volume of air). Iris does (or certainly did) play Anglo. In one of the ICA competitions, we played in the 'Folk Dance' category; Iris on Anglo, myself on Maccann. I think it's fair to say that Iris is a better Anglo player than I am a Maccann player! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHankins Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Thanks, all for those responses. Do we know whether Ms. Bishop's McCann's are Wheatstone, Jefferies, or Lachenal models? This article by Robert Gaskins seems to suggest that Lachenal was the primary (and only "official") manufacturer of the McCann. http://www.concertina.com/maccann-duet/#gaskins-which-duet But a quick search of the Buy and Sell forum here turns up as many Wheatstones. I'm curious about the provenance of Ms. Bishop’s instruments. Thanks! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemonster Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) Deplorably in view of the gobs and gobs of clips there are of that guy warbling, the only instrumental bit i could find representing Ms. Bishop was a couple minutes at the end of one clip, where Ms. Bishop plays a lovely waltz on a huge, unbelievably gorgeous maccann...much to be regretted that her playing isn't a good 50% of the airtime on these videos, would love to see her maccann and PA playing nicely represented here...perhaps there is more, but this was the only one that clued you in the clip title. starts at about 5:40 on this... [[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnlk0s82Ac8]] Edited July 18, 2014 by ceemonster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 That is a Wheatstone Aeola MacCann... probably a 67key, but it could be a 72key, which can look huge to people not used to seeing these things but is not the largest model . Thanks for finding the clip Cee! Geoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Ceemonster, I seem to recall lots of videos with Iris playing, however mainly the PA... As to just listening to her Duet playing you might - if you don't already own them - go for lots of M W-R CDs. If one is credited to "No Man's Band", she will be on it (and on some more too)... My Favourite (with some really lovely concertina playing) is "Oceans in the Sky", albeit it's not his "usual" Aussie stuff (in the manner of "As I went a-sheering...") which is great and unique anyhow! If you want some more hints I'll be happy to give them, and will look after the YT stuff too... Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 What masterful accompaniment she plays on Josefin's Waltz! Lots of movement, great chords, especially the nice changes about 7:30. Her version might even be better than Dervish's??? Nice to discover all the recent M W-R videos too, thanks! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I learned about Josefin's waltz not till her playing it on the opening night at Tenterden 2013 as an annex to a M W-R song, loved every run through it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHankins Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 What a great clip! I had seen some of the videos from that gig, but not this one. Thanks, Cee, for pointing it out. And thanks to Geoff for identifying the concertina (Lord knows, I haven't figured out what to do with all the buttons on my Rochelle; I am without doubt too old to deal with more than twice that many!) I note that Ms. Bishop has a second concertina at her feet, along with the PA, but I couldn't tell from that clip whether it's an anglo. I expect to be watching all the videos from that engagement, so perhaps it will come into play in another video. I have only discovered MWR in the past few months, and I love his selection of material, his delivery (even if it's a bit old-school in this age of Mumfords), and the really great accompaniments, most of them featuring Ms. Bishop on one or another squeezybox. Her deft but understated playing is a great model of how to use the capability of the Concertina to deliver long, moving chords as a foil for guitar and voice. It's not the only way to use the instrument with voice, of course (my other favorite being John Spiers, who offers a totally different take just as perfectly matched to a completely different type of vocal delivery and repertoire). But I think there's a lot to learn from Iris Bishop. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHankins Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 I forgot to mention, for those interested in sampling MWR (and Bishop), in addition to the YouTube videos, there are at least eight MWR albums on Spotify, as well as his two "Songlines" recordings that feature a variety of artists performing traditional songs from the UK, Australia, and the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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