UPDATED 10 July 2008
The
piano accordion video tutor for absolute beginners from The
Music Room is going to be
re-launched on DVD sometime in the future.
All the videos have now been sold but there are still people who want
to learn to play piano accordion.
I'll keep you informed on the progress of this, or you can click on
the Music Room link on this page.
I'm still doing piano gigs in Whitby at
The Moon & Sixpence Bar & Brasserie - most Saturday & Sunday
evenings now unless.
Great location & food, and it overlooks the harbour where there's
a really good view of the old side of town, (the east side) Whitby Parish
Church and the famous 199 steps that lead up to Whitby Abbey.
The Moon + Sixpence got a mention in The Times magazine "The Knowledge"
recently.
" ....in the sleek dining room roast
rump of lamb with juniper berry crust goes down well with a smooth red
and the even smoother piano man."
Smooth.. ? surely that's not me....
There is another piano man @ the Moon.
He's called Ray & he plays jazz every Friday.
There is now a live CD from Steve Phillips & The Rough Diamonds.
It has been recorded during various Tuesday night sessions down at The
Grosvenor Hotel in Robin Hood's Bay, so we've decided to call it The
Grosvenor Sessions.
I'm playing the Roland FR7 * on most of the tracks
and a few on my trusty Roland JV80 keyboard.
Pete Morton has a "work in progress".
Pete's new album is entitled
"Casa Abierta - ten songs in different tongues"
It's a selection of songs from various places and in various languages.
Please excuse me for stating the obvious. It will be out sometime later
this year.
(see Discography page for more info.)
My Roland FR7 * is also featured on 7 tracks
of Flossie's album, and on one track on Pete's album. My Pigini "real"
accordion is on a few others, and harmonica on another one.
Most recent appearance of the FR7 was on a new Steve Tilston album which
is now out. See Discography page. Before that I was fortunate to get
the opportunity to play on a couple of tracks of Joe Longthorne's new
album which was due for release to coincide with his UK tour. I was
in a studio near Blackpool for that recording session.
The Working Party.
This is the brainchild of former "Wonderstuff" member Martin
Bell.
It was really good to be involved in this educational project &
I'm sure it will prove to be a valuable resource to lots of aspiring
musicians in the future.
The line-up of this band features Maartin Allcock, Troy Donockley, Chris
Leslie, Simon Mayer & myself.
The CD of the concert is now out.
It's entitled "Live at The Mill."
According to Martin (and The Working Party website) the music session
downloads are now available direct from The
Working Party.
The FR7 * is a 120 bass, full size instrument.
There are over 30 different accordion types plus orchestral instruments
within this very impressive bit of kit. It looks like an accordion,
sounds like one, plays like one, but doesn't have any reeds.
I use it all the time with Steve Phillips & The Rough Diamonds.
No feedback problems, enough volume to compete with drums, bass &
guitars.
It has now had an upgrade to it's software.
Operating system version 2 has now been installed which enables orchestral
sounds to be played on the bass chord buttons.
For example you can have saxophone on the treble side, and orchestral
string bass on on the bass side plus sax section playing chords. Really
good in band situations. There was a feature on the FR7 and others in
the FR virtual accordion series in a back edition of fRoots.
< A REMINDER NOT TO MISS >
Pete
Morton, Roger Wilson &
Chris Parkinson trio
Alistair Russell &
Chris Parkinson,
"The Sultans Of Squeeze" a duo
with John Kirkpatrick.
Now,--- the mention of me being on stage at a very early age
- (see Biography page) It was at Haslingden Public Hall, Rossendale,
Lancashire, during February 1956 in a production of the pantomime Jack
And The Beanstalk. I was dressed in a cowboy suit that I got for Christmas
a few weeks earlier.
All my relatives were suffering intense levels of stress at the time.
Me? No, not at all, I don't think a kid of five (almost 6 ) in 1956
got stress, that was just for the old people. There is a small photo
of me on the front of the Parky CD, 2nd one up, left hand side. In fact,
all the pics are of me at various stages of musical development right
through from 1955 up to about 1997. The photos were all saved by my
mother including a few press cuttings. The CD design was by my old chum
Bryan Ledgard.
I played a radio hit of the day"The Man From Laramie" &
maybe the "Irish Washer Woman" too on
a Hohner harmonica that was also a Christmas present
along with the cowboy suit.
Snappy dresser or what?
A Beer In Albania.
This is for all the people who enjoy a cold beer in a hot climate.
Cheers!
I do have a few more beer pics to add to this one but it is taking a
long time to get round to adding them to the page.
< TOP >