15 October 2011 - FWMPC fundraiser

Four members of the Session were invited to perform at a fundraising shanty evening in aid of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church , which opened with an entertaining talk on the history of sea shanties by Keith Lovell , continued with a delicious seafood supper, and ended with a good hour's-worth of shanties and sea-songs by our very own John, Bill, Barry and Greg - all on extremely fine form. The whole programme was enthusiastically received by the large (and keenly participatory) audience, and the evening's contribution to the restoration project was well into four figures.

FWMPC Sea Shanties, small talk and Sea Songs, Saturday 15th October

This will be a fun evening. Keith Lovell is hugely knowledgable about the history and origins of sea shanties and a highly entertaining speaker, too. 

Musical 'illustrations' will be provided by a small invited group of 'Coast Inn Players', and there will be an audience singalong session after the seafood supper (which is included in the ticket price, together with a glass of wine).

(If you love sea shanties, see previous post (below) for news of another local event of interest.)

The Mayor's Musical Extravaganza - Saturday, 29th October 2011

Last year, as you may remember, the Mayor of West Mersea, Cllr John May - a long-time loyal supporter of music at the Coast Inn - 'borrowed' the Session one Thursday in October,  as part of his mayoral fundraising initiative in support of two special charities close to his heart: Essex Air Ambulance and St Helena Hospice.  The event was a huge success and contributed towards the grand total of £4,500 which John presented to the two organisations earlier this year.

For 2011, John is once again harnessing some of the cream of Mersea's musical talent to raise money for his chosen charities, but this time it's being held at the MICA and will take the form of three distinct sets performed by Vocalise, the Moondance Band, and Blackwaterside (the poster says 'Coast Inn Players' but this is a misprint).

So please put it in your diary and support the Mersea Music Extravaganza on 29th October. Tickets £10, available from the MICA, or from Marion at the Coast Inn on Thursday nights.

Sea Shanties, Small Talk and Sea Songs - Saturday 15th October

Friends of West Mersea Parish Church  are holding a shanties evening in St Peter's Church Hall at 7.30 pm on Saturday, 15th October.

The Revd Keith Lovell - a renowned expert on the subject - will be giving a fascinating talk about the origins of sea shanties and songs, with amusing anecdotes and amazing facts, accompanied musical illustrations by a small group of musicians. 

Tickets are £10, available from the Church Office, and include a seafood supper.

There will be a chance to join in with some well-known shanties in a rousing singalong after the meal.

If you enjoyed Shanty Night at the Coast Inn  last month, then you'll enjoy this!

And while on the subject of the excellent fundraising work of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church, just a reminder that a good-quality DVD of the Friends' inaugural concert "All That Is Mersea" - opening with shanties sung by a group of Coast Inn Players, followed by sets by Cafe Musica, and Vocalise (led by Caroline Laver) - can be purchased for £10 at the Art Cafe or at the Coast Inn on Thursday nights (speak to Greg or Juliet).

Yet more musical diary dates following soon!

Mersea's Christmas Ceilidh 2011 - Saturday 10th December

Advance notice of this year's Mersea Christmas Ceilidh, which will be held in the MICA Centre on Saturday, 10th December, at 7.30 pm. Tickets will include a hot supper, and there will be a bar and raffle.

Fast-paced music by the Regatta Ceilidh Band (aka our very own Session musicians Liz, Sue, Tom, Ian, Gary, Adrian, Barry and Greg). Caller - who else but our very own John Leyland?

If you enjoyed taking part in or watching the dancing on the car park on Regatta Day last month, then do come along on 10th December and bring your family and friends. Children of all ages welcome. A great family night out to start off the festive season.

All profits will go towards funding next year's Song and Dance event at the West Mersea Town Regatta.

More musical dates for your diary coming soon . . . .

A letter from the RNLI to everyone who supported Shanty Night

Shanty Night Photos

I've put Shanty Night photos on their own page HERE .

And there are more, taken by Patrick Higham and Sheelagh Ross, on Flickr, HERE .

If anyone else took pics at Shanty Night I can add to the collection, do please email them to me.

Massive thanks, again, to Belinda and Tim of the Coast Inn for hosting the whole event; to the staff at the Coast Inn; to all the musicians who - as always - gave so generously of their considerable individual and collective talents; to Anthea from the lifeboat station for lending the banners and bunting; to Hattie and Iona for selling the songsheets; to Tig for coming all the way from Australia to be our official photographer and to everyone who braved the torrential downpour to come along, listen, join in, dance and contribute so many £££££s to the RNLI.

Let's do it all again next year!

Shanty Night 2011

Thanks to all the brave people who turned out to support this event despite torrential rain during the first half of the evening. Sales of the songsheets plus donations raised £300 for the RNLI.

Huge thanks to Belinda and Tim for organising the marquee and for being such perfect hosts.

Hope everyone's up for doing the whole thing all over again (only even better!) in next year's Mersea Week.

Photos here soon.

SHANTY NIGHT - TONIGHT!

WRAP UP REALLY WARM - IT'S GOING TO BE A BIT CHILLY IN THE MARQUEE!

Shanty Night - Thursday 18th August 2011

Only two weeks to go until Shanty Night!

Resounding success though last year's was generally considered to be, this year it will be EVEN BETTER!

To avoid the space and access issues we experienced in 2010, this year's Shanty Night will be held in a marquee in the Coast Inn car park.

There will be ample space for musicians, and amplification for individual solo items, while retaining an authentic aucoustic ambience for the community-singing numbers.  Hopefully everyone who wants to join in with and listen to the music will be able to find a seat in or around the marquee from which they can enjoy the evening, and access to the bar will be easier, too.

Absolutely everyone is welcome to come along and join in.

Entry is, of course, FREE, but word-sheets will be available for £2 - all proceeds to the RNLI.

Posters and fliers will be available at the Session tonight and next Thursday - do please take some and help to publicise this special Mersea Session event.

"All That Is Mersea" dvd on sale on Thursday nights

The 90-minute dvd of the "All That Is Mersea" concert will be available to buy at the Session on Thursday nights from this week. Price £10, or £8 for people who performed in the concert. All profits to Friends of West Mersea Parish Church.

All That Is Mersea concert update

The 'All That Is Mersea' concert in aid of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church, in which session members - or the 'Coast Inn Players', as they were styled for the evening - sang a selection of rousing shanties, gets good coverage in this week's Courier, with photos by Chrissie Westgate forming the centre spread.

DVDs of the concert are now available at £10 (or at a great concessionary price for performers).

See the FWMPC website  for details or email info@fwmpc.org.uk to reserve your copy.

'The Coast Inn Players' and 'Vocalise' at the FWMPC launch concert

Photos by Chrissie and Colin Westgate.

See also the video of the event below.

If you didn't go to the launch concert, but are interested in supporting West Mersea's historic church, you can join the 'Friends' via their website  - leaflets are also available in the church porch. The initiative is all about maintaining the church as a building, for the island and its community. You don't have to be a member of the congregation, or a churchgoer, or a believer at all to join in  - it's for anyone at all who cares about protecting Mersea's architectural and aesthetic heritage for future generations. Future musical events in the fundraising campaign will be listed on the News page here.

Friends of West Mersea Parish Church Launch Concert

Here's a video of this wonderful event, which starred some of our favourite Mersea musicians - from our very own 'Coast Inn Players' singing shanties, to Vocalise, in a truly triumphant debut public performance. You'll get an idea of the eclectic array of musical talent on display - as well as the rapturous audience reception - from this brief medley. 

Altogether a superb evening's entertainment and a highly effective way to launch this very worthwhile initiative.  More info about the aims and objectives of the 'Friends' on the FWMPC website here.

Friends of West Mersea Parish Church - launch day and evening concert

Reminder about Saturday's launch of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church - a fundraising initiative to save and restore this historic building for future generations.

Local musicians - including a group from the Coast Inn Session, as well as Vocalise -  have been invited to perform in the concert that rounds off the day's events, and the programme includes:

7.30 Coast Inn Players

7.50 Cafe Musica

8.15 Break,  Morris Dancing,  Wine 

8.45 Organ recital

9.00 Vocalise Choir

9.20 Cafe Musica

Here's the appeal's official video:



And here's a taste of Cafe Musica, aka James Weaver and Peter Banks, introduced by Steve Rice:

Mayor's Charity Presentation - Thursday 19 May

Mayor John May (newly re-elected to the council by a resoundingly large vote, and made Mayor for a second term - congratulations John!) - took over last Thursday's Session to use it as the focus for his presentation of cheques to the two charities for which he worked so hard to raise funds in his first term of office - St Helena Hospice in Colchester, and Essex Air Ambulance. 

Through his efforts and those of many willing volunteers who freely gave their time and talents in support of the Mayoral fundraising initiative  - including our own 'Mayor's Session' on 11 November last year , as well as a Ball at the MICA Centre and a lunch at the Titash Indian restaurant - a grand total of £2,250 was raised for each of the good causes. 

Representatives from the charities and other specially invited guests were present to enjoy songs and tunes requested by John and Marion and played by some of the Session's regular musicians.  The presentation of cheques and subsequent speeches were followed by a splendid buffet laid on by Belinda and her team, and another musical set rounded off the evening.

Thanks to Megan Ranson for the photos above.

More press coverage

There's a write-up of the Mayor's Session in this month's Mersea Life magazine.

Special thanks are also due to Ralph, proprietor of the Estuary Life group, for his generous donation of one of the top prizes in the Christmas Ceildih raffle.

Mayor's Fundraiser photos II

Here are photos taken by Chrissie Westgate at the Mayor's Fundraiser. More in Gallery II.

(To order high-quality prints of any of these photos, ring Chrissie on 01206 384315 - what a great Christmas present idea!)