REPORT
ON THE SPRING MEETING OF THE
LONDON LIGHT MUSIC GROUP
Sunday May 10th 2015
(click picture to
enlarge)
The third
bi-annual meeting of the London
Light Music Meetings Group took
place on a warm, sunny day, the
75th anniversary of VE day, on
which all manner of other
attractions were taking place in
London, but a substantial number
of people chose to enjoy the
pleasures of Light Music at the
Lancaster Hall Hotel and also to
meet, chat and have the chance to
purchase a wide range of CDs.
After opening
– appropriately – with
Eric Coates' Dambusters’
March in a robust performance
conducted by Sir Adrian Boult,
Tony Clayden introduced an
old friend of the Robert Farnon
Society, Albert Killman –
who presented a tribute to the
late David Ades, whose passing in
February has greatly saddened all
who knew him. He had been a major
force behind the RFS for several
decades, editing what was
probably the best musical
magazine (Journal Into Melody)
that anyone will ever encounter.
Telling us of David’s
massive contribution to the world
of Light Music, Albert spoke of
his 'behind the scenes'
negotiations with record
companies, resulting in
much-neglected repertoire being
made available to the listening
public once again; his
stewardship of the amazing
'Guild' series, for which he
collaborated with Alan Bunting
– and not forgetting his
considerable contributions to
broadcast radio over the years.
Albert
interspersed his talk with some
of David's favourite records, the
first of which was Angela
Morley's tribute to Robert Farnon,
A Canadian in Mayfair. Next
we listened to David Ades talking
with Brian Kay on the latter's
long running radio series 'Brian
Kay's Light Programme'. The
remaining items in this sequence
of David's favourites were The
Lady Barbara Theme (Farnon)
from 'Captain Horatio
Hornblower', Rose of Bel Air (David
Rose) and Clive Richardson's Mannequin
Melody. We are especially
grateful to Albert for his
contribution to our event.
In the last few
months we have lost several
people associated with 'our kind
of music', so Chris Money came on
stage to give a tribute to the
late John Fox, well remembered
for his many broadcasts and
recordings with the John Fox
orchestra and singers, in
addition to his work with the BBC
Radio Orchestra. From 'John Fox
Presents' we heard John introduce
I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All.
This was followed by Voyage of
a Lifetime, Waltz for Joy, which
John dedicated to his former
wife, the late Joy Devon. Chris
concluded with Cosmos
Adventure from 'Earth and
Fire'.
To conclude the
first section of the programme
Tony played us some tracks from a
few of the latest CDs (abridged
in some cases due to lack of
time). Firstly we heard Werner
Muller's lively arrangement
of Hora Staccato followed
by Never on Sunday from
the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra
– both newly released by
Vocalion. We then turned to some
of the recent Guild issues,
beginning with The Wedding of
Mickey Mouse from the Dajos
Bela orchestra. This was followed
by an Ernest Tomlinson piece,
written under the pseudonym of
Alan Perry - Merrily Alive. Next,
we heard March Symphonique
from Richard Crean and the London
Palladium Orchestra. After
hearing Valse Magique from
the Brussels New Concert
Orchestra, it was time for our
first interval.
Part Two opened
with my 'Radio Recollections'
spot, much of which I devoted to
the music of
accordionist/composer Gerald
Crossman – a personal friend
– who sadly passed away
earlier this year at the age of
94. I started with the Gerald
Crossman Players performing their
signature tune A Night in
Montmartre and this was
followed by a charming Crossman
composition entitled Milou,
played by Fredric Cooper, with
his Tipica Orchestra, for whom
Gerald was the accordionist. He
also fulfilled that role with
Bernard Monshin's Rio Tango Band
whom we then heard playing Poverino
Mio and Nochecita - both
Crossman originals. My tribute
closed with a brilliant
arrangement by Gerald of Sur
La Pont D'Avignon featuring
the Gerald Crossman Players.
Another radio musician who died
recently was pianist Peter Martin
- musical director of the BBC
West of England Players from
1960-1965. We just had time to
play part of Gingersnap,
written by Peter and featuring
him at the piano with that
ensemble. Incidentally, Peter
landed the job following the
personal recommendation of senior
BBC Producer Brian Willey, who
was with us in the audience!
Actually, quite a few well-known
people come to our shows. On this
occasion we were pleased to
welcome former BBC Radio
weatherman, Bob Prichard and the
distinguished singer Sheila
Southern (widow of pianist Derek
Cox), whom many will associate
with Lew Stone and his band. I
particularly recall her lovely
interpretation of Cyril Watters' White
Wedding. We were delighted
that the virtuoso harmonica
player Sigmund Groven – one
of the world’s leading
exponents of the instrument
– was once again able to
make the journey from his home in
Norway to be with us. It is also
appropriate to mention that we
have a number of loyal 'regulars'
who travel long distances –
including from Cheshire,
Lancashire and South Wales –
to support our events.
Tony then played
us Richard Addinsell's Warsaw
Concerto, played by the Ron
Goodwin Orchestra, as a tribute
to Roy Douglas, who has died at
the age of 107. Why Douglas?
Because he had a much bigger hand
in writing the piece than
Addinsell, although the latter
became famous as its composer,
and amassed a considerable
fortune from the royalties ! It
also marked the anniversary of
Ron Goodwin’s 90th
birthday this year.
It was then the
turn of David Mardon to present a
feature on Walter Collins, a
composer and orchestra leader who
broadcast regularly in the 1930s,
was appointed Musical Director of
the De La Warr Pavilion at
Bexhill, Sussex, and made a
considerable contribution to the
Paxton Mood-Music Library. The
compositions played were: The
Persistent Serenader, Strings in
the Mood, March Tranquil, and
Cumberland Green.
Tony then reminded
us that in October, the
well-known conductor and chairman
of the Light Music Society, Gavin
Sutherland, will be our special
guest. Looking to next May, we
shall be welcoming Shelley van
Loen and the Palm Court Strings
who will be playing some live
music for us. This was a cue to
play an excerpt from one of
Shelley's CDs - her signature
tune Nights of Gladness. This
was followed by Cantilena
by Ernest Tomlinson, and Dizzy
Fingers from a yet-to-be
released Vocalion CD of some
'Semprini Serenade' transcription
recordings made in the 1960s by
the BBC for worldwide
broadcast. From a
forthcoming Guild CD, Tony then
played Cubamba from the
Monty Kelly orchestra and Night
and Day in an ingenious
arrangement by the well-known
pianist Peter Nero. Part Two
concluded with Love, sung
by Tony Bennett, from an album
made many years ago when he was
accompanied by Bob Farnon and his
Orchestra. We then invited John
Fox's widow Perpetua to draw the
raffle, after which we adjourned
for a short interval.
When we returned,
our special guests were on stage
and we were treated to seventy
five minutes of exquisitely
played Light Music from Simply
Saxes, four superb
semi-professional performers who
worthily maintain the standards
of the erstwhile London Saxophone
Quartet. Each of the musicians
took turns to announce the items
played, which were as follows:
Entry of the
Gladiators (Fucik)
Jumping Bean (Robert
Farnon)
Scherzino (Moszkowski)
Chanson de
Matin (Elgar)
Berceuse from
the 'Dolly Suite' (Faure)
Nola (Felix
Ardnt)
Pavane (Morton
Gould)
Jazz Legato (Leroy
Anderson)
Jealousy (Joseph
Gade)
Amporita Roca (Texidor)
The
Boulevardier (Frederic
Curzon)
Tango in D (Albeniz)
Song without
words (From Suite in F)
by Gustav Holst
Teddy Bears
Picnic (John Bratton)
and as an encore-
Mister Sandman (Pat
Ballard)
The day's
proceedings now having been
concluded, Tony thanked the
quartet and the presenters for
their contributions and bade us
farewell until our October event,
when we hope to see old friends
and new, for what promises to be
another very enjoyable afternoon
of quality Light Music.
Brian Reynolds
The next
LLMMG meeting will take place at
the Lancaster Hall Hotel on
Sunday October 11th 2015 –
All are welcome, please tell your
friends !
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