As the start of President Mike Hay’s chosen theme of music, York Rotary were very privileged to have a talk by Alan Morrison covering his life in big bands, during which he performed three numbers (see below).
Alan started playing in 1966. His instrument was the cornet and he has played in brass bands for 57 years. When asked why he played the cornet he said it was because that was chosen for him by his father. Alan explained that when you become the first cornet player you are effectively the band leader.
In 1980 Alan auditioned for and joined the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, and he stayed with them until 1994 following the colliery closure in 1993. With the Grimethorpe band Alan toured the world, giving approximately sixty concerts every year. A few weeks after joining the Grimethorpe band Alan spent eight weeks undertaking underground mining training to get his underground working ticket so that for being in the band he would be paid the same rate of pay as miners. Apparently the miners hated the band members, but the village community worshipped the band members.
After his time with the Grimethorpe band Alan worked as a professional musician until he retired in 2017. More recently Alan has joined the Hammonds band.
In the course of his talk, Alan performed three pieces:
· “Things”
· “You raise me up”
· “My Way”
Extracts from the three pieces are in the video below.
In answering questions Alan gave a fantastic demonstration of the technique known as “triple tonguing”, that demonstrated his exceptional skill with the instrument.
It was a great privilege to hear Alan’s talk and musical performances.
David Fotheringham
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