My First Jazz Gig With The Whiteley Midi-concertina.

[John Nixon]

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This is my first attempt at writing a submission to .net and being less computer literate than your average member, please take that into account.

I was booked to play with a group of musicians at "The Horseshoe " jazz pub on December 14th and the line up was Guitar, Multi reeds(Alto/Tenor/Baritone saxes plus Clarinet,), Bass Guitar ,Drums and myself playing Baritone Aeola(amplified) and Midi Treble Concertina.thru the same amp.

The only Guy I had met before, some years ago before my Eye/Blood problems , was the Bass Guitarist.

As is normal for this kind of gig, no dots were to be seen, and very soon the "sound" jelled and we were away.

The small Midi quickly drew a good deal of attention (and applause) and with the easy means of changing the chosen voice , the Vibes,Clarinet & Flute sounds were added to the front line.

The ease of playing the Midi Treble was aided by the complete facility as with the normal E.C. that is - the Bellows operated in exactly the same way, the volume was provided and sustained in just the same manner as the reeded Aeola. This was a tonic to me and, even better, it was good that I had invited Roy Whiteley and his wife to be present to enjoy the success of his work on the Midi.

The packed house gave the band an ovation after we had finished the program and there will be further gigs in the new year. This was my return to live Jazz after a break of some years, and , apart from the Midi success, I wa pleased that I was able ( I will be 80 next month ) to sustain a satisfactory standard in that environment with some excellent musicians.

My only regret is that no recordings were made . Perhaps next time.

For the record, I live in Congleton Cheshre, U.K. and the Horseshoe is in a tiny village of Lawton Heath End

which is only about 6-miles SW of Congeton. JOHN NIXON.

[Alan Day]

ont=Times New Roman]

This is my first attempt at writing a submission to .net and being less computer literate than your average member, please take that into account.

I was booked to play with a group of musicians at "The Horseshoe " jazz pub on December 14th and the line up was Guitar, Multi reeds(Alto/Tenor/Baritone saxes plus Clarinet,), Bass Guitar ,Drums and myself playing Baritone Aeola(amplified) and Midi Treble Concertina.thru the same amp.

The only Guy I had met before, some years ago before my Eye/Blood problems , was the Bass Guitarist.

As is normal for this kind of gig, no dots were to be seen, and very soon the "sound" jelled and we were away.

The small Midi quickly drew a good deal of attention (and applause) and with the easy means of changing the chosen voice , the Vibes,Clarinet & Flute sounds were added to the front line.

The ease of playing the Midi Treble was aided by the complete facility as with the normal E.C. that is - the Bellows operated in exactly the same way, the volume was provided and sustained in just the same manner as the reeded Aeola. This was a tonic to me and, even better, it was good that I had invited Roy Whiteley and his wife to be present to enjoy the success of his work on the Midi.

The packed house gave the band an ovation after we had finished the program and there will be further gigs in the new year. This was my return to live Jazz after a break of some years, and , apart from the Midi success, I wa pleased that I was able ( I will be 80 next month ) to sustain a satisfactory standard in that environment with some excellent musicians.

My only regret is that no recordings were made . Perhaps next time.

For the record, I live in Congleton Cheshre, U.K. and the Horseshoe is in a tiny village of Lawton Heath End

which is only about 6-miles SW of Congeton. JOHN NIXON.

 

Firstly John how pleased I am that you are back on the road after your long illness,the last time we spoke you were looking forward to this Gig, but was not sure you would make it.Well done and I am very pleased you had such a great evening.

By coincedence I have been listening to your CD " All that Jazz " this week.

You are back on stage where you belong.

Al

[Peter Stephenson]

Hi John.

Drop me an e-mail next time you play The Horseshoe, its not far from Buxton.

I'd love to hear you play.

 

All the best

 

Pete Stephenson

[Chris Timson]

Glad to hear you are having fun with your Whiteley conversion. My Whiteley/Lachenal MIDI anglo is giving me a lot of fun too. I expect you've found, as I have, that Roy is very good to work with.

 

Chris

[Eric Root]

ont=Times New Roman]

This is my first attempt at writing a submission to .net and being less computer literate than your average member, please take that into account.

I was booked to play with a group of musicians at "The Horseshoe " jazz pub on December 14th and the line up was Guitar, Multi reeds(Alto/Tenor/Baritone saxes plus Clarinet,), Bass Guitar ,Drums and myself playing Baritone Aeola(amplified) and Midi Treble Concertina.thru the same amp.

The only Guy I had met before, some years ago before my Eye/Blood problems , was the Bass Guitarist.

As is normal for this kind of gig, no dots were to be seen, and very soon the "sound" jelled and we were away.

The small Midi quickly drew a good deal of attention (and applause) and with the easy means of changing the chosen voice , the Vibes,Clarinet & Flute sounds were added to the front line.

The ease of playing the Midi Treble was aided by the complete facility as with the normal E.C. that is - the Bellows operated in exactly the same way, the volume was provided and sustained in just the same manner as the reeded Aeola. This was a tonic to me and, even better, it was good that I had invited Roy Whiteley and his wife to be present to enjoy the success of his work on the Midi.

The packed house gave the band an ovation after we had finished the program and there will be further gigs in the new year. This was my return to live Jazz after a break of some years, and , apart from the Midi success, I wa pleased that I was able ( I will be 80 next month ) to sustain a satisfactory standard in that environment with some excellent musicians.

My only regret is that no recordings were made . Perhaps next time.

For the record, I live in Congleton Cheshre, U.K. and the Horseshoe is in a tiny village of Lawton Heath End

which is only about 6-miles SW of Congeton. JOHN NIXON.

 

Thanks for the info, John. That is good to hear, that Mr. Whitely has managed to make his machine feel as good as an Aeola. It sounds like it would be a blast. Vibes would be very cool. If you feel like it, it would be interesting to hear how and on what tunes you used the MIDI.

 

Cheers,

Eric Root

[Delbert Blackketter]

My only regret is that no recordings were made . Perhaps next time.

 

John,

 

Wonderful information. I look forward to hearing the recording of your playing.

 

I am challenged to get myself out and playing after reading this.

 

Del

[John Nixon]

Hi Friends,

Thanks for your interest in this post and I will hope to arrange for recordings at the next Jazz gig . I hope I can give a brief note to our worthy .net organisers when the next date is fixed.

As regards the titles of the items played at the last gig, i'm afraid that I have now a VERY poor short term memory (this is apparently commonplace for folk of advanced age) . All I can say is that , in common with the general MAINSTREAM jazz gig,mostly the program consists of a mixture of Jazz favorits from the likes of Duke Ellington , Count Basie , etc, plus a basis of show tunes. Latin American Jazz in the form of Bossa Novas are also very popular. I don't think I would be popular with the other guys if I spent time scribling the titles during the session. Thanks again for your interest in the Jazz and also my health .

JOHN NIXON.

[Helen]

Wonderful to hear that you are out and about and having fun. John or Al, which CD? I like jazz and would love to buy the CD is that is possible.

 

Again, great to hear that you did the gig and successfully started a post!

[John Nixon]

Wonderful to hear that you are out and about and having fun. John or Al, which CD? I like jazz and would love to buy the CD is that is possible.

 

Again, great to hear that you did the gig and successfully started a post!

Hello again. I haven't any recordings from the recent Jazz gig , however, there are 2-C.D.'s available from BUTTON BOX----"The English Connection" and "Just a Little Jazz". There is plenty of jazz in each and the former one features the U.S. top Accordianist -FRANK MAROCCO. He also has many C.D.'s including his latest called "Turn Out The Stars" which features myself on several tracks. Please refer to his web--frankmarocco@aol.com Good luck--JOHN NIXON.

[Helen]

Thanks for the info on the CDs, John. I realized that you had said the recent gig was not recorded, but from the thread, I thought you had other CDs. I am looking forward to getting one or both.

 

Very nice to hear from you.