Dan Worrall Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Anyone know where Lee Nicholson is ? If all else fails you can email Lea Nicholson via the 'contacts' link on his website, where he sells CD copies of his old concertina album: http://www.jayls.com/jamring/index.htm There are some nice free downloads on that site, including the Libery Bell March, which I hope will find a nice home on your CD! I'm sure you have found the dozen or so Alexander Prince duet recordings, ca. 1909, available for free download from the Edison Cylinders website? I think the site was mentioned on the Forum a few months ago... http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/ Are these the oldest extant concertina recordings? Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I've edited the comment below, and re-posted under this heading. Also, Nigel Chippindale was not a bad tune writer. If you are looking to commission new Duet recordings, perhaps Ralph Jordan or Iris Bishop (or both?) could record an arrangement of one of Nigel's tunes. I've had a quick look through Nigel's book. I'm certainly no expert, but the following might lend themselves to Duet arrangements: 11 St. Martin's Street Juggling With the Pushchair Ralph's Hornpipe (Ralph should already know this one!) The Trip to the New Forest Me Mam's Marurka I've just listened to the recording of "Eric" playing Telstar; superb. Ralph Jordan on MacCann, Colin Thompson on English, with Nigel Chippindale on two Anglos (or maybe Crane Duet and Anglo - he certainly used his Piccoolo Anglo towards the end). Regards, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonmac Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Hi Alan, Everyone ... I guess I should stick my head above the parapet - (even if there is a danger of getting arrows in my hat! ) and make my small contribution to this topic. For some years now I have been the nominal “Sound Archivist” of the ICA - mainly because I was increasingly concerned that no-one was apparently collecting “archival” sounds of the concertina. As a result I have a small collection of recordings that have been passed on to me (with more promised - thank you Peter). The collection does require cataloguing! - and from listening to some of the tapes (the Mildred Stringer interview by David Ball in April 1999 for instance) there are some recording problems to be sorted out (Microphone rumble etc.). Given enough time I have always hoped to transfer the recordings onto CD and make them available to ICA members - in much the same way as we make concertina music from our library available. However, I also see no reason why the recordings shouldn’t become part of the resource for Alan to consider in his compilation task - assuming that there are no insurmountable objections from the committee or the members ... In the meantime - if anyone has interesting (or even dull!) recordings of concertina music - played on any shape or flavour of concertina - that they are willing to donate (a copy of) to the Sound Archive then I would be delighted to accept them! Kind regards Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Hallo Jon, Thanks for your offer and I would love a listen if approved by ICA. Graham and I have talked about these tapes and many others promised from other sources and Graham has made an executive decision to purchase a Company tape to CD machine for putting all these tapes on to CDs.I can then burn CD copies from the masters and also return the master tapes back to the originator with a CD copy. The rumble can be removed when we do our final mix for the English and Duet collections. I also asked Graham for a Company car, but I will not repeat his reply. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonmac Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Hallo Jon,Thanks for your offer and I would love a listen if approved by ICA. Graham and I have talked about these tapes and many others promised from other sources and Graham has made an executive decision to purchase a Company tape to CD machine for putting all these tapes on to CDs.I can then burn CD copies from the masters and also return the master tapes back to the originator with a CD copy. The rumble can be removed when we do our final mix for the English and Duet collections. I also asked Graham for a Company car, but I will not repeat his reply. Al What sort of time frame are we talking about here? I would be reluctant to "part with the tapes" before I've captured them to CD - for safety. I know it will take me a little time to do the transfers (that's the trouble with being retired - far to much work - and no excuse not to do it like "Sorry I'm in the office 9 to 5"!! On the other hand - having some sort of "deadline" to work to will actually help me by raising the priority of the project! In the meantime I will consult with the committee - most of them are probably reading this anyway! Dare I say - as a player of the English system - that I really enjoyed the Anglo International - and if you can do the same for the English/Duets I shall be delighted Kind regards Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 Hallo Jon, Thanks for your offer and I would love a listen if approved by ICA. Graham and I have talked about these tapes and many others promised from other sources and Graham has made an executive decision to purchase a Company tape to CD machine for putting all these tapes on to CDs.I can then burn CD copies from the masters and also return the master tapes back to the originator with a CD copy. The rumble can be removed when we do our final mix for the English and Duet collections. I also asked Graham for a Company car, but I will not repeat his reply. Al What sort of time frame are we talking about here? I would be reluctant to "part with the tapes" before I've captured them to CD - for safety. I know it will take me a little time to do the transfers (that's the trouble with being retired - far to much work - and no excuse not to do it like "Sorry I'm in the office 9 to 5"!! On the other hand - having some sort of "deadline" to work to will actually help me by raising the priority of the project! In the meantime I will consult with the committee - most of them are probably reading this anyway! Dare I say - as a player of the English system - that I really enjoyed the Anglo International - and if you can do the same for the English/Duets I shall be delighted Kind regards Jon End of April Please Graham and I are hoping it will be as good and certainly we are quite excited at our initial results and responses from some of the Worlds best players.Together with exciting Archive material it looks as though it is going to be as good ,but I doubt if it will be better than Anglo. With luck at the end of this project ICA will have most of their early recordings from the start of their meetings to the present day.I will have hours of listening to do however. I may not be the same at the end of all this. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Gentlemen, Back when I was still doing my radio show, I did one for the Wheatstone bicentennial (some of you may recall). One tradition I could not find any recorded material for was the Salvation Army and similar ways of playing hymns and sacred music. Lots of players over the years, but I've heard of few recordings. Such material, if found and restored, would be of great interest to me. Ken Ken,following on from your posting I have received some archive recordings from Peter Trimming.In all 15 cassettes.One of these cassettes features The Plymouth Salvation Army Band recorded by Peter at The Taunton and Somerset Festival 1986.They play a selection of tunes amongst them what sounds like "Glory" and "How Great Thou Art".They both need a bit of work by Graham but I will be very surprised if they are not included in English International.Unless someone tells me they were all playing Duets. What a wonderful rich sound and typical S.A arrangements. Great find and many thanks to Peter Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Ken,following on from your posting I have received some archive recordings from Peter Trimming.In all 15 cassettes.One of these cassettes features The Plymouth Salvation Army Band recorded by Peter at The Taunton and Somerset Festival 1986.They play a selection of tunes amongst them what sounds like "Glory" and "How Great Thou Art".They both need a bit of work by Graham but I will be very surprised if they are not included in English International.Unless someone tells me they were all playing Duets.What a wonderful rich sound and typical S.A arrangements. Great find and many thanks to Peter Al That's great Al, thanks for letting us know. One of these days I will get back into radio (I have an offer locally) but work is severe right now so new projects must wait until the end of the semester at least. Will keep our ears peeled for each project from you gentlemen! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Higham Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 (edited) Hey Al! I've got an old, poor quality, amateur recording of a guy playing 'A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square'. Oh, hang on. On reflection I think he was playing an Anglo. Oh well..... Glad to hear that Iris Bishop is on the short-list. Being out-of-it for so long I haven't a clue who's who but, just by chance, I happened to meet her a few months ago at Martyn Whyndam-Read's place in France. I'd been told to bring my concertina and, boy, was it embarrassing to realise how much I'd forgotten and how much I need to practice! But Iris was great and kept on at me to play another tune so that she could play along with me and cover up my mistakes. What a nice lady. What a cracking musician! All power to your elbow for the new projects Al. My order's on its way for the Anglo International CD. I've only just discovered it (and this forum) through the track that was played on the Mike Harding show. Cheers, Dave. Edited March 16, 2006 by Dave Higham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonmac Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hey Al!I've got an old, poor quality, amateur recording of a guy playing 'A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square'. Oh, hang on. On reflection I think he was playing an Anglo. Oh well..... Glad to hear that Iris Bishop is on the short-list. Being out-of-it for so long I haven't a clue who's who but, just by chance, I happened to meet her a few months ago at Martyn Whyndam-Read's place in France. I'd been told to bring my concertina and, boy, was it embarrassing to realise how much I'd forgotten and how much I need to practice! But Iris was great and kept on at me to play another tune so that she could play along with me and cover up my mistakes. What a nice lady. What a cracking musician! All power to your elbow for the new projects Al. My order's on its way for the Anglo International CD. I've only just discovered it (and this forum) through the track that was played on the Mike Harding show. Cheers, Dave. She is indeed a delightful Lady ... and if you are anywhere near Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire on April 6th this year - you can see Martyn Whyndham Read - hopefully supported by Iris in the local Folk Club : see http://beerfordbury.com for details Kind regards Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I have taken this subject away from the other discussion.Graham and I have talked these projects over and we are going to investigate both subjects English and Duet. I have a few essential players to approach and a few I have discussed the projects with already.I would appreciate ideas from you all, but at this stage do not want any recordings.I have taken on board critisisms of Anglo International, but we are going to stick with the format already liked by the majority.We intend to try and make the CDs of interest to non players of the instruments and go for variety of music and approach as in Anglo International. I have taken on board some of the more interesting points raised in the other discussion. Thank you Chris for your encouragement and support. Thank you Graham for once again offering to finance these CDs, IF we can get them off the ground. I have to go in for a service next week and then I will make a start and see what we come up with. Al Alan, Make sure you include Ian Robb in your collection. Canadian content! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 Thanks Paul Please would you send me his details and the type of music he plays. Many thanks Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 (edited) Thanks PaulPlease would you send me his details and the type of music he plays. Many thanks Al Hi Alan, Here are Ian's coordinates and his web page. If you need a couple of mp3s downloaded let me know. http://www.finestkind.ca/ Out of interest, Ian's group Finest Kind will be in the UK at a couple of festivals this summer. If you get the chance to see them I would highly recommend their act. Edited March 17, 2006 by Paul Read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Atkin Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Berkeley Square.... That could easily have been me. One of the things about playing a small Jeffries duet is that half the world thinks you're playing an anglo and must be fiendishly clever. Of course in my case neither of these descriptions applies! Gav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Higham Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 No, it wasn't you Gavin. Although he didn't rise to the bait, the culprit was Alan Day himself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 Me a culprit Dave ? Probably, many would say.(Definitely Graham would say.) I do play A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square actually arranged by Iris .Sorry I missed the bait.It was originally for me to play on a newly aquired Jeffries Duet about ten years ago.After after a while I thought ,why not play this on the Anglo and I have been doing so ever since. Iris approached me when she first started playing the Duet as there were a few problems with the instrument that needed sorting out.I have watched her progress ever since.I have had the pleasure recently of listening to some old recordings of her playing.She is in my mind amongst the best Duet players I have ever heard.She combines wonderful playing skills with outstanding and innovative arrangements.She is also very good at knitting.(She is a World Authority on Knitting machine patterns).A very clever lady and living with Jim Ward a great combination. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beckett1971 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Thanks for the suggestion Ken and something which I would enjoy listening to.If anyone has any old recordings featuring The Salvation Army I would be very interested.We have been offered a tape of the playing of Harry Hatton a retired Coalminer from Lancashire and some of the original recordings from the first meetings of the ICA.We have to see if the quality of the recordings are good enough,but an exciting start.Alistair Anderson and Allan Atlas have both agreed to join the club. This is early days in a Marathon of work. Al I'd love to hear a SA recording as well as I play a Crane Duet and have only ever heard, in 30 yrs playing, one other player namely Tim Laycock. Even then it was at a club and thus could'nt actually play with him. Used to go to festivals but organisers didn't cater for Crane players and ended up being told to "go and play with Anglo players" on many occasions. I gave up Even chatting with fellow Crane players would be a first! I have a Wheatstone 48 & 55 key and a Lachenal 55 key. My favourite is the 48 key Wheatstone,it seems to be the loudest and the lightest. Incidentally I have an old 78rpm of Alexander Prince Charlestown Parade ~ did he use a Crane? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Incidentally I have an old 78rpm of Alexander Prince Charlestown Parade ~ did he use a Crane? Hi John, No, Alexander Prince used MacCann Duet. See the Vintage Cylinders Recordings recently posted by Phil, for examples of his playing: http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3691 Regards, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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