Brand new DVD 'From Miner to Maestro, Jimmy Shand the Man' The only video to show Jimmy Shand close up keyboard action on a variety of boxes plus Shand family videos etc & several of his compositions being played by other bands.
available from Jimmy Shand Junior 01337 828452 or www.jimmyshand.com
Book. 100 plus Original compositions By Sir Jimmy Shand MBE from Jimmy Junior as above.
I got this DVD for my birthday recently. It's worth having just for the section showing Jimmy Shand playing a variety of melodeons and accordions. He plays two old single rows; a 1920s "International" 2-row (19 treble, 4 spoon basses) as used by Peter Wyper (and featured in
Stephen Chamber's History of Irish Button Boxes), playing "The Blackthorn Stick"; a Hohner Erica (all these melodeons played with thumbstrap); the original 1939 Hohner Shand Morino; a 3-row Hohner Gola, which I had seen pictured but never heard before; and what we have come to regard as the "traditional" Hohner Shand Morino. To hear Jimmy Shand play his first-ever composition, "Lunan Bay", on the first-ever Shand Morino, would "bring a tear tae a gless e'e". This section, filmed in 1986 when he was 78, hasn't "benefitted" from a modern producer who can't hold the same camera shot for more than 2 seconds. As a result, you can see and hear, among others, "Memories of Willie Snaith" played from start to finish, by the composer, and see every keystroke. It's like having a masterclass from the maestro right there in your living room.
Of course, there's much more on the DVD than this - vintage film footage, interviews, and lots of Jimmy Shand music played by several bands. A "must" for any Jimmy Shand fan.
George also mentions the book "100 Compositions" by Jimmy Shand. This is Volume 2. Volume 1, published several years ago, is "44 Compositions", and features most of his better-known tunes. The tunes in volume 2 are, for the most part, less frequently encountered. Jimmy Shand Jnr has done a great service to Scottish accordion music by publishing these two books of his father's compositions. If you only buy one, I'd suggest volume 1. Of course, I have both, and have already discovered some gems in volume 2.