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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=11-Mar-2011&lang=en&s=4040
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=11-Mar-2011&lang=en&s=4040
11-Mar-2011
John Nixon (1927-2011), Cheshire – UKby Rob Howard |
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  John Nixon, one of the world’s finest concertina players, died on Saturday, March 5th, aged 84, after a long battle with anemia and heart disease.Born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1927, John Nixon played in his father’s 24 strong Bolton Concertina Band in the 1930s, and in 1940 made his first solo radio broadcast from BBC Manchester. John became a professional musician in dance bands, using English concertina, clarinet and alto saxophone, and also performed regularly in jazz clubs. John Nixon was widely acknowledged as one of the world's best concertina players, with a great feeling for playing jazz. He spent many years as a session musician, and recorded with the likes of Henry Mancini, Barbara Streisand, Paul McCartney, George Martin, Michel Legrande, and accordionists Frank Marocco, Jack Emblow, Harry Hussey, and Marcel Azzola. His playing can be heard on the soundtracks of such BBC television programmes as ‘Kidnapped’, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, and ’Allo Allo’, whilst his film credits include ‘Santa Claus the Movie’, ‘Tess’, and ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ – to name but a few. In 1984, John played on Paul McCartney’s ‘We All Stand Together’, a Number One chart hit at Christmas. He recalls that the recording session involved him using treble, baritone and bass concertinas, together with The King’s Singers, the junior choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, an orchestra conducted by George Martin, and the legendary ‘Macca’ himself. John remembers Paul McCartney exhorting The King’s Singers to make sounds like frogs, demonstrating animatedly what he wanted! On another occasion, John was in the studio, again with George Martin at the helm, playing alongside French accordionist, Marcel Azzola, recording a film score. During lunch break, with the studio otherwise empty, John and Marcel, plus a keyboard player had an impromptu jam session, playing jazz together. John afterwards wished that someone had recorded them – a lost opportunity, alas. In 2002 John Nixon was elected a Vice President of Stockport Accordion Club, and he was also well known at accordion festivals, performing and leading jazz and swing band workshops. One of his greatest pleasures was to play a couple of impromptu duets with whoever happened to be the guest artiste at Stockport AC concerts, and audiences were thus regularly treated to his magical skills on the concertina. For further information email: robaccord5@hotmail.com |