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Will Atkinson (musician)
Will Atkinson (31 January 1908 – 30 July 2003) was a noted traditional musician from northern Northumberland. He started off as a player of the English diatonic accordion, but was best known as a harmonica or ''moothie'' player. His playing was distinguished by a very clear sense of rhythm, with a definite lilt. He was a major figure in Northumbrian music. He was also the composer of several tunes that have entered the tradition and are played at gatherings and sessions. Biography Atkinson was born in Crookham, Northumberland in 1908. He worked as a shepherd and as a rabbit-catcher until his retirement, also working at times maintaining road signs. From his youth, until the end of his long life, he was very active and influential in traditional music circles, on both sides of the Border. He had twin sons, of whom George, who died in 1987 aged 53, was also a musician, a noted Northumbrian piper.Obituary, Northumbrian Pipers' Society Magazine, vol. 8, 1987. Will died on 30 Jul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on three sides; by the Scottish Borders region to the north, County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The fourth side is the North Sea, with a stretch of coastline to the east. A predominantly rural county with a landscape of moorland and farmland, a large area is part of Northumberland National Park. The area has been the site of a number of historic battles with Scotland. Name The name of Northumberland is recorded as ''norð hẏmbra land'' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, meaning "the land north of the Humber". The name of the kingdom of ''Northumbria'' derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the people south of the Humber Estuary. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diatonic Accordion
A melodeon or diatonic button accordion is a member of the free-reed aerophone family of musical instruments. It is a type of button accordion on which the melody-side keyboard contains one or more rows of buttons, with each row producing the notes of a single diatonic scale. The buttons on the bass-side keyboard are most commonly arranged in pairs, with one button of a pair sounding the fundamental of a chord and the other the corresponding major triad (or, sometimes, a minor triad). Diatonic button accordions are popular in many countries, and used mainly for playing popular music and traditional folk music, and modern offshoots of these genres. Nomenclature Various terms for the diatonic button accordion are used in different parts of the English-speaking world. * In Britain and Australia, the term ''melodeon'' is commonly used, regardless of whether the instrument has one, two, or three rows of melody buttons. * In Ireland, ''melodeon'' ( ga, mileoidean or ''an bosca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth (lips and tongue) to direct air into or out of one (or more) holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound. Reeds are tuned to individual pitches. Tuning may involve changing a reed’s length ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Of Northumbria
Here Northumbria is defined as Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. According to 'World Music: The Rough Guide', "nowhere is the English living tradition more in evidence than the border lands of Northumbria, the one part of England to rival the counties of the west of Ireland for a rich unbroken tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipes (a form of bagpipes unique to North East England) and also a strong fiddle tradition in the region that was already well established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions (and vice versa), particularly southern Scotland and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants. Local musical forms and styles Northumbria shares with southern Scotland the long history of border ballads, such as 'The Ballad of Chevy Chase'. It is also known for local dances, namely rapper dancing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crookham, Northumberland
Crookham is a village on the River Till in Northumberland, in England. It is situated approximately to the east of Coldstream and northwest of Wooler. It has three farms, Crookham Sandyford, Crookham Eastfield, and Crookham Westfield. Recorded as "Crucum" in 1244, the village name derived from the Old English for "Settlement at the Bend" (of the River Till). History The poet Robert Story was educated for some time at Crookham. The Till Valley Archaeological Society holds meetings and events in Crookham Village Hall. The Society's aim is to promote the archaeology, heritage, and history of the Till Valley. Its members take part as volunteers in archaeological excavations and field walking in north Northumberland, most notably on or around the site of the Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willy Taylor (musician)
Willy Taylor (5 January 1916 – 2 November 2000) was a fiddler from Northumberland, England. He performed with Joe Hutton and Will Atkinson as the Shepherds. Music career He was born at Lilburn Tower near Wooler. When he was a boy, he learned the fiddle. He lost the first finger of his left hand while preparing food for sheep, and he temporarily switched to melodeon before returning to the fiddle. For most of his life, he was a shepherd in the Cheviot Hills. He composed melodies in his head on the way home after a day of herding sheep. He attributed his musical style in part to the time he spent with Geordie Armstrong, a shepherd who was also a fiddler. He walked miles through hilly country to perform at dances and festivals in nearby villages. He won competitions at Northumbrian Gatherings in the early 1950s, and he was recorded by Peter Kennedy for the BBC in 1954, playing both fiddle and melodeon. He was a founding member of the Border Strathspey and Reel Society, based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northumbrian Smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Northumberland have had an official piper for over 250 years. The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded in 1928, to encourage the playing of the instrument and its music; Although there were so few players at times during the last century that some feared the tradition would die out, there are many players and makers of the instrument nowadays, and the Society has played a large role in this revival. In more recent times the Mayor of Gateshead and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle have both established a tradition of appointing official Northumbrian pipers. In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: "It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Armstrong (piper)
Jack Armstrong (May 16, 1904 – September 6, 1978) was a performer on the Northumbrian smallpipes. Born in Wideopen, North Tyneside, five miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1904. He and his father, both coal miners, worked at Dinnington colliery, but Jack managed to get a job as a chauffeur shortly after World War I. In 1926 Jack married, and he was living at Skipton in North Yorkshire when he taught himself to play the pipes. His style, influenced by his father's playing, was steady and controlled; he favoured slow airs, which he played on a set of pipes with a rich, resonant tone. This style was in strong contrast to the faster, more virtuosic playing of Tom Clough and his followers, exemplified by Jack's friend and contemporary, Billy Pigg. His repertoire consisted largely of simple dance tunes and slow airs, from Northumberland and elsewhere, the latter often being given local titles. He also composed some tunes in traditional style, some of which are still played. In an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Adler
Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. During his later career, he collaborated with Sting, Elton John, Kate Bush and Cerys Matthews. Early life Adler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Adler. They were a Jewish family. He graduated from Baltimore City College high school. He taught himself harmonica, which he called a mouth organ. He played professionally at 14. In 1927, he won a contest sponsored by the ''Baltimore Sun'', playing a Beethoven minuet, and a year later he ran away from home to New York. After being referred by Rudy Vallée, Adler got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of orchestra leader Paul Ash, who placed Adler in a vaudeville act as "a ragged urchin, playing for pennies".''Current Biography 1944'', pp. 3–5 Career From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoff Heslop
Geoff Heslop (born 3 June 1947 in Northumberland, England) is an English record producer and musician. Career After training as a recording engineer, Geoff turned to record production, producing albums for the Rubber Records label in Newcastle upon Tyne. He went on to set up the Black Crow Records label, the Coquetdale Music Publishing company (with Kathryn Tickell) and Redesdale Studios (with singer Dick Gaughan. In the 1990s he put together a 2nd publishing company with his songwriter wife Brenda Heslop named Ribbon Road Music and issued 5 albums. He now owns and runs Shipyard Studios with his daughter Jill and produces music by himself and others on their Shipyard label. Records produced by Geoff Heslop 1970s ;1972 * ''Don't Panic'' ( Pete Scott) * ''His Round'' (Tony Capstick and Hedgehog Pie) ;1973 *''Very Good Time'' (Derek Brimstone) ;1974 *''Life of a Man'' (The Buskers) *''Punch and Judy Man'' (Tony Capstick) *''There Was This Bloke'' (Mike Harding, Tony Capstick, Bill B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Hutton (piper)
Joe Hutton (August 16, 1923 – July 17, 1995) was a Northumbrian smallpipe player and fiddler. Life and career Hutton was born in Halton Lea Gate, near Haltwhistle in the west of Northumberland. Like his father, Jake, he was a shepherd, and a musician - he started on the fiddle, but took up the Northumbrian smallpipes after hearing P.J. Liddell and G.G. Armstrong playing at a concert in 1936. He started on a James Reid set from Halton Lea Gate, refurbished by G.G. Armstrong, a noted piper from Hexham, and he took lessons in the instrument from Armstrong. He made rapid progress, and won a competition as a novice, the following year. Armstrong made him a new set of pipes in January 1938, and Joe was photographed, standing at the left, with other competitors at the Bellingham Show piping competition in 1938. He continued to play the fiddle at dances during the war years, but he continued piping, upgrading to a 17-keyed chanter, again by Armstrong, in 1943. In 1950 he began pipin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. Music career Early life Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, then in Staffordshire, to parents who originated from Northumberland and who moved back there with the family when Kathryn was seven. Her paternal grandfather played accordion, fiddle, and organ. Her father, Mike Tickell, sang and her mother played the concertina. Her first instrument was piano when she was six. A year later, she picked up a set of Northumbrian smallpipes brought home by her father, who intended them for someone else. Frustrated by fiddle and piano, she learned that the pipes rewarded her effort. She was inspired by older musicians such as Willy Taylor, Will Atkinson, Joe Hutton, and Billy Pigg. Performing and recording At thirteen, she had gained a reputation from performing in festivals and winning pipe contests. When she was seventeen, she released her first album, ''On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
