Jim Besser

>By coincidence, Jerry, the owner of O'Regans, is having a small > christmas party for the musicians on the 15th So where's O'Regan's, and what time do the festivities start? Better recalibrate my packing so I can bring a box! See you Weds., if I don't get too lost.

> My dad,who is 80 this year, still has an active country dance band , > The Perfect Cure, in w And do they play the tune with that name? One of my favorites!

>Enough notes to spend several months practicing. Wow. That guy must have nimble fingers. We've been playing it in Am/F around here; I found a version in Dm that's a little easier on the C/G, but the local folks have all learned the former, so I guess I'm stuck with it. An intriguing concertina exercise.

>traditional ITM - maybe we could give Chocolate Rabbit a go and if > I put my thinking cap on I might be able to learn Limey Pete by then Cool. Guess I'll bring my concertina. And I have Limey nailed; played it at a big event recently to an audience that seemed to like it a lot (hear that, Alan?)

Having a blast with these on the 30 key C/G anglo: Tiko-Tiko, a Brazilian rumba, I think, although I've also heard it on klezmer records. William Taylor's Tabletop Hornpipe in Gm. A challenge for me, but fun.

Thanks. I'll be in Montreal on Weds, Dec. 15, and part of Thursday. Don't know about the Irish session. I consider myself on the advanced side of intermediate, but I'm not an Irish player, so the advanced Irish session might not work.

I'll be spending a few days in Quebec City and Montreal next month; wondering if there are any playing opportunities, and also suggestions for places to hear good music.

>sand dance as well. IS that something you do at the beach? Actually, we like the name because it sounded like a law firm.

>Oh and by the way, Hi to everyone. This is my first post One of my occasional bands is called "Squeezer, Geezer and Kerr." I'm not the geezer, although technically I qualify.

>Who have I missed. A politician uses only hot air in the bellows.

In the Nov. 15 New Yorker (not online), this cartoon: A band with 4 nerdy looking guys --2 accordions and a big concertina, plus drums. THe caption: "To be perfectly honest, Pete,I'm not sure it's Clear Channel that's been holding us back." (for non-US folks: Clear Channel is the big media company that has a huge influence on what gets played on the radio nationwide).

> but I haven't yet found a version with chromatic runs The hazards of quick replies. Nonetheless, a fairly difficult tune, especially at dance speed.

>are there tunes that are just not suitable for the concertina Suitable? Don't know about that, but there are many that are challenging. On my C/G, I have trouble with some fast A tunes with chromatic runs (the contra dance tune "Good for the Tongue" is a good example). But, as Jim L said, working out alternative approaches to the tune often overcomes those hurdles, and is good for the soul, as well. But it's certainly harder picking them up on the fly. I agree that many Em tunes like Cooley's can be hard, but they're hardly unsuitable to the instrument; they just take more time to work out. Of course, you could always get a capo....

>I hesitate to post it, but I think it's in one of the volumes of > "The Waltz Book." Volume 1. And as you say, Far Away is great fun to play. For some interesting rhythmic challenge, I also suggest Larry Unger's "Two Rivers," a gorgeous waltz with some interesting twists.

>Have you considered changing your "vocational" name Many times. And especially, my vocational phone number.

>You can always create a new account with a different name >and start using that. But we enjoy knowing who you are, Jim Well, I like knowing who I am, too. But it occurred to me it might be wise to separate my avocational presence on the Web from my vocational one, so to speak. But it's not a big deal, and not worth confusing people here who now know me.

I'm wondering if this is possible.

>Some of the presenters love the sound of their own voice, > or are they just cutting costs on royalties? In the case of Washington's sadly deficient folk music show, it's that the host feels a misguided need to serve as an audio directory of folk music activities in the area. A huge part of each show is her reading -- slowly -- long lists of who's playing where for every night of the week. Now, apparently in response to complaints, she plays music in the background as she drones on -- which, to my way of thinking, is even worse. Put the info on a Web site, lady, and let us hear music!

>Let me add my vote for WKSU folk alley, since it was buried in SP's post. A good folk outlet. Too many singer-songwriters for me, but that's an individual preference, and on balance it's a pretty good mix, considering different tastes. Grassy Hill Radio and WUMB, both available through the radio section of I-Tunes, are also pretty good. Folk music isn't profitable, and even our "pubic" radio stations are essentially commercial (one of our public stations that we've supported for years with our contributions took off much of the acoustic music because they said they could increase their "market share." If that's not commercial, I don't know what is. We no longer donate to them). >As Jim mentioned WETA in Washington, D.C. is the best local folk > programming in that area. WAS. The host talks more and more; you can listen for LONG stretches and not hear a single note. I began listening to her in 1976, but gave up a few years back because of her endless yapping. It's supposed to be folk music, not folk talk.

>I think that we get a raw deal and apart from the very > occasional folk featured programms You're not alone, Al. Here in Washington, we have one local folk program on public radio -- and mostly, all the host does is talk. We also get a nationally syndicated public radio program on "roots music" that's heavily talk. We used to have 3 hours of bluegrass every afternoon, but that was replaced by... talk radio. You can go for months without hearing a concertina on the Washington, DC airwaves.

>It can be difficult to judge speed of playing, for example, if you are playing >'for yourself Learning Morris tunes without learning them to the dances is deadly. You can't get the correct speed, the variations in speed to suit different parts of the dance, the idiosyncrasies in phrasing, without working with the dancers. A musician trying to learn Orange in Bloom without watching the dancers is in for a rude shock when dancers enter the picture. Every side, even within traditions, does it differently; speed and phrasing vary widely. THat said, I frequently hear that you can't be a decent Morris musician without being a dancer. As a non-dancer, I disagree, but nondancers DO have to work much harder to learn the dances and learn how to make the music fit.

>The tunes are different because the style of the dance in each village > is different, if you do what is becoming more and more common and > play a "one size fits all" tune for different villages dances the whole dance becomes Not only that: tunes get modified as they're passed down within a tradition. I learned Trunkles from pervious musicians with my side; later, I learned that it differs somewhat from other versions to accomodate differences in the dance. Other tunes have been changed just because some musician didn't like a particular phrase, changed it, and that's the way it got handed down. We play "I'll Go and Enlist" with a B part that's unlike any I've seen collected. Have no idea where it came from, but our folks have been dancing to it for decades, and don't want it changed. The folk process at work.

>Is this the same as "Stingo, oyle of barley"? What tradition do you > dance this in? Looks like a different tune, and it's done in Sherborne. A nice looking dance, but the dancers say it is really hard on their older bodies.

>What? Not to the tune of that old (late 1950's?) song about the > Nash Rambler and the Cadillac?! I actually played that once at practice ("beep beep, beep beep, the nash went beep beep beep). The dancers were mystified ; they are all a little younger and shockingly ignorant.

We do Sherborne and Ilmington. Orange in Blue (or bloom, depending on where you got it) Haste to the Wedding. Champions. I'll Go and Enlist Howdya Do. A dance called GLory, which we used to do to The Gobby-O, but now do to Alan Day's Chocolate Rabbit. A dance called Nash Rambler, which we do to the Engish dance tune The Jockey The aforementioned Trunkles. Saturday Night The Old Woman Tossed Up Cuckoo's Nest Constant Billy Nina's Frolic (to a tune I wrote by that name) Bedlam Boys Juice of Barley, to an English country dance tune, I believe. Young Collins THat's all I can remember without my notes. I do all these solo; mostly transposed to C, to maximize chording and volume on a CG.