Phil Ham?

[Alan Day]

I have just been reading John Watcham`s concertina playing details and amongst other things he mentions is that he was influenced by Phil Ham.I must admit to the fact that I have never heard of this player.Graham Bradshaw however remembers him well and during the making of our Anglo project tried to remember his name,now sadly too late for his inclusion, unless a recording drops out of the sky in a few days.Phil was renowned for his playing of classical music on the Anglo and I just wondered if any of you remember his playing and if he is still alive.

Sadly these are the type of players Roger Digby was reffering to in his recent posting.

Al

[malcolm clapp]

Last I heard of Phil, and some years ago now, he had an association with the Newcastle Morris Men. I have a copy of a practice tape he made for them, playing a mixed bag of morris tunes, expertly of course. Not sure whether he actually played out with them.

 

I must admit that I was surprised that he wasn't going to be on the new CD project. Maybe you should already be planning "Son of...",

 

 

Looking forward to the CD's release (or escape).

 

Malcolm

Edited May 21, 2005 by malcolm clapp

[Alan Day]

Thanks for the info Malcolm,

Many of these fine concertina players of the past are so difficult to find.The amount of detective work that I have had to do has been a suprising feature of this project.The players we have are from many parts of the World which for me makes it so interesting, but I know that I have probably missed many players that should have been included.Certain UK players have had to be included and then my search for other interesting styles of playing and music have taken me Worldwide from there.So some fantastic players here have not been included for making the project too UK top heavy and the fact they have not been included was not for any personal reasons, or that I did not think their playing was not good enough.

Phil Ham would have been interesting for his playing of classical music ,which is why Graham and I initially talked about him, but sadly Graham could not remember his name until it was mentioned this week.We have covered this aspect however on the collection.In my defence there will be players on this collection that most of you will not have heard of and I will be interested in your comments on those.

"Son of" ? Graham and I need a rest,it may be "Grandfather of".

Al

[Helen]

Hi Al,

 

You need no defense. It's wonderful that you took on this project, long and difficult as it has been.

 

There are always ways to improve a project or a writing, but if you don't stop at some point, it never gets out there.

 

At least that is the advice a writer gave at a writers' conference some years ago and I think that it applies here.

 

I think that I speak for all of us, thanks so much for doing this.

 

Helen

[Helen]

Okay, rereading my post, I realize that it may sound like I think Al's project will need some improvement, but that he should send it out anyway.

 

That is not what I meant. What I meant was that Al could always find one more *must include* player and never be able to stop.

 

Whew.

[Alan Day]

Thanks Helen,I knew what you meant.

We are putting it all to bed at the end of this week.Poor Graham has been burning the midnight oil.We are just hoping that we can get all the recordings on to the three CDs.I shall know in the morning.

It has been a roller coaster ride for us both and we are still sweating on the final recording.This last week it has been very much a fine tune and listen to the late recordings.If we need any more recordings we have them ,I am more concerned about the ones we may have to take out.I love them all.

I am still interested to find out about Phil Hamm however,not for this project, but these wonderful players cannot be forgotten.John Watcham has been an example of this and you will get a chance to see if you agree with me when we let this project ascape in Julyand you hear his fantastic medley of Morris tunes.

I apologise to all of you who may be fed up with me rambling on about all this my bit is now done,I now sit and wait and wonder.

Al

[inventor]

I met Phil Ham around 1964-66 He was at that time playing Anglo for the Hammersmith Morris Men. He was a particularly fine player. At that time Hugh Rippon was the instructor, and John Kirkpatric, also a member of the club played the British Chromatic accordion. He also had a large Jeffries Duett concertina which he demonstrated. And at a Morris Ring Meeting (I think at Abington) introduced me to the musician for the Abington (traditional) Morrismen who also played a duett concertina; it was either a Maccann or Crane. I played an anglo at the time and these were my first encounters with Duett concertinas. I did hear that he was living up north but that was some years back.

 

Inventor.

[Alan Day]

Thanks for your information Inventor.Perhaps over a period of time what Graham thought was an Anglo was in fact a Duet.It would also possibly explain the Classical playing and being a Jeffries it could easily have been mistaken for an Anglo,especially by a PA player.

Al

[bigsqueezergeezer]

I don't know if this is relevant, but last weekend I was talking to an anglo player at a ring meeting in Holland. I didn't get his name but he played for Hammersmith in the 60's. He now plays for Utrecht Morrismen.

 

Derek

[Alan Day]

It is a small World but our caller Chris Shaw danced and played for Hammersmith I must ask him if he remembers Phil.

Incidentally I saw Hammersmith dance at Towersey Folk Festival where we were playing last year.Their Melodion player is superb and he dances while playing.

Al

[bigsqueezergeezer]

Off topic I know, but did you see Hammersmith dance to no music? They put the melodeon on the floor where the musician would have been and danced a Longborough Dance perfectly. I was impressed all the way to the pub.

 

Derek

[Alan Day]

Sadly no Derek,they did a floor spot in the middle of our dance and it did not include a silent section.Broadwood my old side used to do a silent stick dance for two times through without the music.Well I better correct that, it was silent apart from the sticks clashing together.

Al

[gcoover]

Reviving this old thread to happily report that Phil Ham is indeed alive and well and still playing Anglo concertina at age 91.

 

His playing back in the day influenced both John Watcham and John Kirkpatrick, among many others.

 

The ICA has some early recordings of Phil's from 1976 on their website, Malcolm Clapp in Australia has recently uncovered the old practice tape of his Morris tunes, and just a couple of years ago Phil recorded 90-minutes of tunes for family and friends that includes Geordie songs, sea shanties, madrigals, Carolan tunes and of course a few Morris tunes.

 

And yes, with all this good material to choose from, look for a book sometime next year of Phil's tunes and playing published by Rollston Press that will also include QR codes linking to his audio files. It will be a both a privilege and an honor to showcase his lifetime of contributions to harmonic-style Anglo!

 

Gary