Blues On English Concertina

[michelv]

Here's a group that uses English Concertina for acoustic blues:

myspace

[Mark Evans]

Cool indeed. The Zydeco/Cajun thing between the EC and the Accordion is great. This band seems to have successfully embraced a number of genre. "Blues" in your discription had me expecting something completely different. What a pleasant suprise.

[m3838]

I also recorded a blues on the english Concertina on my vinyl lp playing for time GVR238,Four until lateIwill try and get it onto cd and put it up on sound lantern.

 

Blues? Zydeco? In the style of Clifton Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco?

Wow, that's a lot of misrepresentations.

The accordion playing is nothing like Zydeco, and the singing is as far from Blues as it gets. Which is good, btw, I don't like Blues that much to take likeness to it as a compliment. Very nice sound from that concertina though, I take it it's a Baritone Lachenal Edeophone.

[Mark Evans]

I also recorded a blues on the english Concertina on my vinyl lp playing for time GVR238,Four until lateIwill try and get it onto cd and put it up on sound lantern.

 

Blues? Zydeco? In the style of Clifton Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco?

Wow, that's a lot of misrepresentations.

The accordion playing is nothing like Zydeco, and the singing is as far from Blues as it gets. Which is good, btw, I don't like Blues that much to take likeness to it as a compliment. Very nice sound from that concertina though, I take it it's a Baritone Lachenal Edeophone.

 

That's a strong statement Misha. I think it's how they see their own influences and I certainly heard the resonance and influence.

 

To even make the statement "The accordion playing is nothing like Zydeco" bespeaks a mighty narrow view. Were you to give a good listen to Buchwheat Zydeco's version of Hank Williams "Hey Good Looking" or the delightfully naughty "Bim Bam, Thank You Mam" it might not pass your smell test for Zydeco accordion playing. Particularlly Sir Buckwheat is an equal opportunity borrower and the genre Zydeco is so diverse I seriously see it in a culinary term "gumbo."

 

Damn, now I'm hungry. No good Creole or Cajun food to be had in these parts and I've got my heart set on a gumbo (sans ocra), a fried oyster Po' Boy and several very cold Dixie beers. Ah the misery!

[Alan Day]

Well Michelv I enjoyed the music ,the singing and the group.I liked most "Gezablis" and the arrangement you have all put together.It sounds as if you play one note at a time and no chords,but I play in a large band and with that sort of backing the concertina coming over as clear as a bell would be the way I would approach it. Not sure about the blues bit ,it sounds more like you are influenced by a number of artists and it is a mixture of that rather than being a blues or cajun band. Thanks

Al

[m3838]

To even make the statement "The accordion playing is nothing like Zydeco" bespeaks a mighty narrow view.

 

The thread is called "Blues on English Concertina".

Why not "Beethoven on English Concertina". If the shoe fits...

Check "Three of a Kind" for good Zydeco accordion with no tongue in cheek.

 

Damn, now I'm hungry. No good Creole or Cajun food

 

Hmm. Well, I would go as far (or as close) as to say that describing Cajun food as "good" would be quite a statement. It's pure poison! Take it from someone, who decided to leave the meat alone and the changes are outstanding.

 

Now, back to my blues:

"Ohh, bey-bey, Wha-h I don have no reason to complah-n?

I have mah cah, mah home, mah Whahff an' mah chahld, mah walet is no emptey.

But Ah sure lahk to wale to be cool"

[Mark Evans]

Hmm. Well, I would go as far (or as close) as to say that describing Cajun food as "good" would be quite a statement. It's pure poison! Take it from someone, who decided to leave the meat alone and the changes are outstanding.

 

Now, back to my blues:

"Ohh, bey-bey, Wha-h I don have no reason to complah-n?

I have mah cah, mah home, mah Whahff an' mah chahld, mah walet is no emptey.

But Ah sure lahk to wale to be cool"

 

You sir are admirable for fosaking meat. Not I a hillbilly barbarian. No doubt it will kill me, but I pray to be caught unaware at deaths approach with a libation in one hand and the afore mentioned Po' Boy in the other. I had to settle this evening for calamari and an IPA. Not an exceptable alternate. No appreciation for Cajun and Creole cuisine? That along with your distaste for the Blue leads me to believe you may be a barbarian as well . At least we can agree on Bach and Rostorpovich.

[Dirge]

Hmm. Well, I would go as far (or as close) as to say that describing Cajun food as "good" would be quite a statement. It's pure poison! Take it from someone, who decided to leave the meat alone and the changes are outstanding.

 

Now, back to my blues:

"Ohh, bey-bey, Wha-h I don have no reason to complah-n?

I have mah cah, mah home, mah Whahff an' mah chahld, mah walet is no emptey.

But Ah sure lahk to wale to be cool"

 

You sir are admirable for fosaking meat. Not I a hillbilly barbarian. No doubt it will kill me, but I pray to be caught unaware at deaths approach with a libation in one hand and the afore mentioned Po' Boy in the other. I had to settle this evening for calamari and an IPA. Not an exceptable alternate. No appreciation for Cajun and Creole cuisine? That along with your distaste for the Blue leads me to believe you may be a barbarian as well . At least we can agree on Bach and Rostorpovich.

 

Well you can admire him for being a vegetarian but I most certainly don't; it's like admiring the willpower of someone who cuts his own foot off. On the assumption that Misha is neither so impoverished that he is forced into vegetarianism, nor thus constrained by religion, I am amazed to find that so fierce a disputant is following these flakey doctrines. Normally I would diagnose over-exposure to Beatrix Potter at this point. Do they have her books in Russia?

 

So there, signed David 'Dirge' Gardiner, (Cambridge* graduate biologist, before anyone starts trying to tell me about 'the herbivore human gut', the 'fish that feel no pain', the 'cows that produce milk without calving', etc etc....)

 

(I don't mind people being vegetarian, I just have no time for any claims to moral superiority.)

 

I fancy lamb chops for tea. All this probably makes me also a barbarian in some eyes, I suppose. Should we form a club? Invade Italy or something?

[Chris Drinkwater]

So there, signed David 'Dirge' Gardiner, (Cambridge* graduate biologist, before anyone starts trying to tell me about 'the herbivore human gut.')

 

 

Hmmm. So how did you go from being a biologist to a builder, David?

 

Chris (life-long vegetarian)

[Dirge]

OH years of hard work finally paid off!

[m3838]

No appreciation for Cajun and Creole cuisine? That along with your distaste for the Blue leads me to believe you may be a barbarian as well . At least we can agree on Bach and Rostorpovich.

Don't take me so easily, Mark.

I like many (not all, admittedly) ingenuine forms of musican expressions. But I don't like emulation of those. One can fool me with some distant and unfamiliar forms, but not always and only for a short time. Blues, been extremely popular in vast territories of former USSR and it's satellites, makes me laugh. I have some sizeable collection (much to dismay of my wife, who puts up with me for no reason) of early blues, the real one.

I was disappointed when Muddy Waters (was it him?) said: "I don't have blues, I sing them". Awful! I like those unamplified wailers, screaming at the top of their lungs to be heard, playing unaccompanied guitar or harmonica. I just feel like I'm one of them.

Blues, sang by overfed, thickly voiced professional, is disgusting. He makes a living by milking the fashion of the misery.

 

Well you can admire him for being a vegetarian but I most certainly don't

Don't take me so easily, Dirge.

I am not a vegitarian. My daughter suffers from eczema, and I was trying the diets on myself. I found that by gradually (!) diminishing (!) meat consumption, I was able to reverse some of negative changes I noticed in me, while doctors' pills were helping on diminishing scale.

Humans are carnivores, just look at Chimps and Baboons - what a bunch of Wolfes they are!

But to justify eating so much meat, we must live like those chimps, not sit the whole day. And by the way, meat was a rare treat among humans untill very recently.

But try this:

Slice tomato to small pieces, slice Bell Pepper, slice half of a pickle (not those giant cucumbers from chain stores, buy in some ethnic stores), sprinkle a little of Grape seed oil (from health food store, it's different), a little salt, pepper (if you like pepper).

Steer it well. Cut yourself half of avocado. Grill piece of bread (get a nice one, not spongy piece of garbage). Pour some salt on Avocado too.

Pour yourself a cup of freshly brewed sweet Tea.

Now use your spoon to eat avocado with salad, crunchy bread with a sip of sweet black Tea. Ahh.

My daughter ate it for breakfast for 2.5 years, and it's still one of her favorites! And she is 7! That alone improved her health better than all the doctors combined.

[Dirge]

But try this:

Slice tomato to small pieces, slice Bell Pepper, slice half of a pickle (not those giant cucumbers from chain stores, buy in some ethnic stores), sprinkle a little of Grape seed oil (from health food store, it's different), a little salt, pepper (if you like pepper).

Steer it well. Cut yourself half of avocado. Grill piece of bread (get a nice one, not spongy piece of garbage). Pour some salt on Avocado too.

Pour yourself a cup of freshly brewed sweet Tea.

Now use your spoon to eat avocado with salad, crunchy bread with a sip of sweet black Tea. Ahh.

My daughter ate it for breakfast for 2.5 years, and it's still one of her favorites! And she is 7! That alone improved her health better than all the doctors combined.

Certainly shan't. Too many damned vegetables and no meat.

[m3838]

Too many damned vegetables and no meat.

 

The time will come, don't worry.

Just remember this simple remedy, when Eczema strikes.

[Dave Rogers]

thre best thing for eczema is goats milk and cutting out all dairy products

 

Assuming Dick isn't saying this tongue in cheek, it ain't that simple (like most things to do with health). Anyone considering potentially making themselves miserable (and possibly calcium-deficient) by cutting out dairy products needs to be tested first (and not by one of those dodgy internet companies) to see if they have an allergy. If not, cutting out whole food groups isn't going to help.

 

Best evidence (such as it is) on the subject can be read here:

 

http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/coch...5203/frame.html

 

 

Dave Rogers

Clinical Effectiveness Librarian by occupation (if not inclination)

[catty]

(I don't mind people being vegetarian, I just have no time for any claims to moral superiority.)

 

I fancy lamb chops for tea. All this probably makes me also a barbarian in some eyes, I suppose.

 

Well, modern factory farming IS barbarian. Hopefully, when one is enjoying meat, it derives from the bucolic pasture. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're only half right.

[michelv]

Ha. Thanks for the many replies. Blues, jazz or other non-irish or non-classical music are of my major interests: I was a bass player all my life. I've played my fair share of bluegrass, folk, jazz, gypsy swing and even old rock'n roll. A few months ago I picked up the English Concertina, and if I can play jazz or blues on it, I will not hesitate. Apart from the occasional menuets and hornpipes that is. BTW: for the last 15 years, I am playing Argentinian tango, so I certainly will try and play that on EC as well. I'm working on a website for EC and you probably will find some 'weird' tunes on it when I get it online.

[michael stutesman]

Well Michelv I enjoyed the music ,the singing and the group.I liked most "Gezablis" and the arrangement you have all put together.It sounds as if you play one note at a time and no chords,but I play in a large band and with that sort of backing the concertina coming over as clear as a bell would be the way I would approach it. Not sure about the blues bit ,it sounds more like you are influenced by a number of artists and it is a mixture of that rather than being a blues or cajun band. Thanks

Al

Gezablis was my favorite also. Does anyone know where to find the music for it?

[stella24]

Very nice! As a person fond of american old-time music, I'd say you're catching some of that flavor. Your voice has a hint of that 'high lonesome sound', makes me want to dig out some Hank Williams Sr. albums and shed a few tears...