North Steel and Steelettes at North Leeds Music Centre Concert

Saturday 24 March, over to Allerton CE Primary School, host to North Leeds Music Centre. We have lessons, rehearsals, then set up in the hall and our Easter/Spring concert.

We now have two beginners classes, and we put them together for the concert, starting with that old classic:

 Largo in F [all 8 bars played with variations][from the Easy Classical book], then
Whole World in his Hand [all 16 bars with variations][from the Gospel Collection], then,
 and this was awesome: I Got Shoes [also from The Gospel Collection]

Beginners and Beginner beginners were Julie, Harvey, Lola, Lucy, Debbie, Patrica, Ziggy, Charlotte, Theo, Nyal, Ginny, Darcy, with Eddie on kit.

North Steel itself was Satinder, Sylvia, Kurum, Julia, Theo again, Luke, Isha, and me, and Eddie on kit. We played Can't Smile Without You [originally by Barry Manilow, but we like our version better!], Can't Help Loving Dat Man [which was incredible, if we do say so ourselves!] and then El Condor Pasa. This was a bird, however which really fly. Well, you can't win them all.

Here's some screen shots of the video of the concert, which is so lovely [apart from the Passing Condor] that I must learn how to upload these little videos so that the players can see themselves, as they were in March 2018, because, at this rate of progress they will be some miles forward by March 2019.

Also can I mention trolleys. By this time were two - mine and Julia's. Soon they were to expand!

Finally thanks to Eddie for his drum-kit-playing, tea-bringing, cake-making, child-minding and being butt of jokes support this year. Also to his dad for the video.

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows play Leeds ArtForms Town Hall Prom

It is one of our favourites: Leeds ArtForms Schools Prom at Leeds Town Hall. We played our Music For Youth Three [Some Enchanted Evening, California Girls, Living on a Prayer] plus Mozart's Symphony Number 40. 

The Orchestra was playing Stars Wars as the joint number. I thought Rocket Man or Starman might fit nicely. Bex located the sheet music, I wrote Rocket Man out, did a preliminary arrangement, gave it to Kips and Ed, and they did an arrangement for our agreed joint moments.



On the day, I pretended to myself that I was conducting the Leeds Youth Orchestra, although really David Greed was doing that. Actually I was flapping my arms a bit, while concentrating like mad on the score, and hoping somehow that the players, eyes down in their pans, knew where they were, because they sure weren't looking at me. I only wrote this tune out into a Foxwood Songsheet ten days previously and the band has only played it once through at a practice back at Shire Oak.







Players were Owen, Kirsten, Annie, Ella, Isha, Kurum , Esme, Millie, Alice, Claudia. Natalie drummed. Jermaine and Chris guested. I found that, at the public performance I played all the songs on different pans from the ones I had played at the rehearsal. Great. Not.



I'll spare you how long it took to collect pans from practice school, load into van, out of van, into Town Hall, along to stage, and back and back and Control Z, and back. [did I say I would spare you?].

Sparrows at Royds Christmas Concert 2017

It didn't snow but it is dark and rainy. But into Royds School, which was very easy to find, it is warm and welcoming. Chris is already here and Emma is making teas and we can load straight from playground to hall.

Players are Owen, Kirsten [who both go to Royds], Karam, Isha, Ella, Esme [with Wanda helping her again], with guest drummer, Chris.

Emma from Royds joined us for a few carols at the beginning, then some awesome singing by other Royds students, then Sparrows played Symphony 40 and Wings of a Dove [Prince Buster of course].

pans set up waiting for players

Traditionally Royds has invited some older people from a local care home to sing carols, so just before the concert started we learnt Charlotte [Emery]'s version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. This has several bars with four chords in! And the Little Beauts managed it. Now that was a very public challenge I was proud of.

Back outside it was cold, dark and rainy, but we were done with gigs for 2017, and we did it in style!

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows at Temple Newsam

By Sunday the temperature had been plummeting to the point of widespread snow being forecast. And I was not recovered from standing on Brudenell Road in the cold and dark for two hours.




Plus I hadn't been able to do a reccy for this gig [parking- loading that kind of a thing], and we had originally agreed to do one set outside!

So on Sunday [December 10] I went over early to Temple Newsam; the staff carpark gate was being opened. Finding the organisers was easy; they were amenable to anything I suggested; we could do both sets inside; there was a green room in this fabulous old building with tea bags and urn; I could bring the van right to the door.

In Temple Newsam heaven.

The players were Kirsten, Annie, Owen, Karam, Isha, Ella, Esme, Alice and myself. We were joined in the second half by Wanda and Vicky. The two latter were being generally helpful in the first, Wanda was supporting our newest Sparrow; Vicky generally putting things in alphabetical order.

Apparently it [the room] had been rammed in the morning. Thankfully it wasn't in the afternoon and there was just enough room for the band, the parents, the organisers and a few strays overstaying the morningfest.





It had been a long and stressful weekend: three gigs, three separate bands, plus the YAMSEN: SpeciallyMusic Town Hall concert on Wednesday, and then another one at Royds coming on Tuesday that makes five gigs in seven days - just thinking about it makes me feel faint!]; massive snow warnings. 


But it was great! The Sparrows sight-read their way through one seasonal song after another. How Kirsten and Owen got their way through the first line of Magic Moments I'll never know, but they did! Woohoo!

[Now who are these characters let loose with my camera!]

North Steel and North Steelettes play North Steel Music Centre Concert

We were at Allerton CE School where the music centre is based. We are inside and it is warm. We were on last and we followed Amy's lovely violins and also the adult singers [these made Georgia cry].

After three years at the music centre, we now have more beginners than pans. And we are outgrowing our room [which point I make regularly to Mark!].

This year we have also been able to include some Foxcubs [in the shape of James, Lola and Maya], and the concert we have an average of two parents/carers per cub.

The North Steelettes are Niall, Harvey, Lola, Darcy [only there for the rehearsal], James, Lola, Maya, Theo, Julie, Lucy, Ginny [also only at rehearsal], supported by Satinder. They play African Noel [wouldn't be a Christmas concert without a beginners' class playing it]  and Au Clair de la Lune.




North Steel took on We Three Kings, which according to Jackie [Luke's mum], was a massive raise on last year's standards, and then Kylie's entirely unseasonal Can't Get you Out of my Head.

We were me Sylvia, Satinder, Kurum, Ella, Julia, Luke, Isha and Theo, and I really enjoyed the challenge of playing both songs myself and was really proud of North Steel.

PS: They were allowed to wear antlers or Christmas hats as long as no one tried to invited me to do the same! Lol!

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows at The Cooperative's Awards Evening

The Bridge, a venue space built on the site of the former Agnes Stewart School,

is the just the best space that I have seen in a while. Parking and loading in was a breeze. The hall was uncomplicated and unpretentious. Users could make of it what they wanted.

And it here that the Cooperative Academy is holding its Awards Evening. The Coop pannistes have already agreed to play for the event, but with the addition of the other Sparrows, Ronita and Ellie are reunited with them and are thus to play all the top tunes: Hold My hand, Symphony 40, Wings of a Dove, plus a couple more

The beginners play Wavin Flag. Natalie drummed. Bex and I played as well. Even Satinder [a Sparrows parent and member of North Steel] jumped in and sight-read a tune or two. Other Sparrows were Isha, Karam and Ella.

Sharleen has unswervingly supported the reintroduction of steel pans to her school. And here she put them, metaphorically again, centre-stage.

me and Nadia

Always good to see Nadia, good friend to me and mine from City days.

Rest of the Best play Springwell June 2017

We started this tour in March but didn't have the full complement for the Thursday, so now in June is that Thursday.

The Rest of the Best is a band as important for the benefits it offers its players as the pleasure and education that it offers its audiences. We formed in the educational year 1996 to 7, in Diane's and my first year working for the Leeds Music Service, and have varied in size from 5 to maybe 15 [now 15 was a bit of a luxury!].

Our raison d'etre is documented in earlier blogs.

On this particular Thursday at the end of June [always one of a music teacher's busiest months!] we were on the small side. Bart the drummer was teaching till 9.10, and then again at 11. He just had time to do our 9.30 gig at the first Springwell site. He found the venue, parked his car in the carpark, parked his wheelchair outside the school front door, and sprinted down on his crutches from door to concert area, no time to consider that the clutch on the hihat was in fact a piece of blutak! Miracle worker!




We were today Bart kit], me [steelpans, bass guitar, vocals, kit], Diane [keyboards, accordion, ocarina, recorder] Julia [flute, piccolo], Joanna [saxophone, clarinet, kit, vocals, well anything really] and Cathy [saxophone, guitar, vocals]

persuaded a staff member up to dance

Maggie had brought her trumpet. Now that was a very nice surprise. We always love it when the school music teacher can join us for a tune or two on the "stage". And Maggie played a quality trumpet! Sadly we couldn't persuade to join us for the next school. Here I played drum kit really badly, not deliberately, but my skills in this area have declined rather than improved. But here we did discover that Joanna could most certainly cut it on a kit!


Obviously, for reasons of child protection,  we can't show you our audiences at these two schools, and for all you know we may have playing to ourselves. In fact  . . . . . .