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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=06-Apr-2018&lang=es&s=14188
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=06-Apr-2018&lang=es&s=14188
06-Apr-2018
by Rob Howard
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| Jim McAlister, from Ballymoney, County Antrim, passed away peacefully on April 3rd at his home, just before his 86th birthday. He was for several decades one of the leading figures in the accordion movement in Northern Ireland, and was a fine player, club organiser, instrument retailer and an accordion technician. He paid several visits to Castelfidardo, Italy, where he trained in electronics, accordion software and manufacturing processes. Jim was a leading UK retailer for the sales of electronic accordions with many top players coming to him for their new accordions and repairs, including Dermot O'Brien, Tom Alexander, Fintan Stanley, Mick Foster and Wilcil McDowell, to name but a few. Jim was also a very good player in his own right and back in the 1960s when the legendary Will Starr did summer seasons at the holiday resort of Portrush in County Antrim it was Jim he called on to play second accordion. Jim was also involved in forming a number of Box and Fiddle clubs in County Antrim, including the present day Premier A & F Club, and it was his name and reputation that helped bring some of the big names over from Scotland. Such was the esteem that he was held in that Calum Maclean dedicated a tune 'Jim McAlister's Jig' to him in Volume One of Calum's Collection of Original Compositions. The accordion teacher Clyde Johnston recalls: “The first time I ever met Jim was at his home. He had a new Elka accordion for sale and I said the band I was teaching would buy it. I asked if a small deposit would hold it until they got the money raised and he simply replied ‘That's all right son, I trust you, just you take it with you’. On another occasion he was getting us a new bass accordion from Italy and a price had been agreed. A few months later he phoned to say it had arrived and I went to re-confirm the price with him before collecting it. ‘No’, he said, ‘That's not the price. When I went to pay the Italians the pound was strong against the lire so you can knock £100 off the price we agreed’. He was truly a giant in the accordion field and a gentleman. Jim will be greatly missed”. The entire Accordion Community throughout all of Ireland, the UK, and further afield will be deeply saddened to learn of the passing Jim McAlister, who is survived by his wife Sara and daughters Barbara, Hazel, and the late Maureen and Robert. |