Jim Besser

The quintessential English ceilidh tune! Thanks.

Sure, out me. The tune is Bonnie Kate; I started it at several NESI jams. A great English tune I learned from Robin Harrison.

A slow month here in TOTM land, eh? Here's a set of English dance tunes I learned from my big stack of John Kirkpatrick recordings. - Todley Tom, also known as the Staffordshire Hornpipe, a traditional tune collected by Cecil Sharp. - Unexpected Pleasure, a John K composition - Herefordshire Lasses Played on a 31 button C/G Anglo that started life as a Lachenal, but was reborn with Dipper mechanism and Jowaisas bellows. I've played Unexpected Pleasure for a while now, but recently reworked the fingering to smooth out some awkward bits, and am having a hard time getting it into my brain.

Thanks, Jim. I love hornpipes whatever their country of origin (especially on concertina), though the Tyneside/Northumberland ones are especially fine. James Hill has to be one of my three or four favorite (known) composers of dance tunes. Here's a little flat-key excursus from last fall. I was new to making YouTube videos and still a bit distracted by the mechanics, so the timing is a little ragged. But at least it gives an idea of how they sound on a C/G. "Ryan's Mammoth Collection" is a gold mine for this sort of tune. http://youtu.be/oQsDjA9eZHw Bob Michel Near Philly Ah, a 40 button Wheatstone. I'll have to try the Bb tune and see how it lays on a 30 button.

Fabulous playing!

Nice. To me, hornpipes are the quintessential English sound. Can't get enough of them. I"d be interested in seeing something you do in Bb. Not my strongest key on the C/G or anything else.

Usually more ECs than Anglos

Johnny Playford must be grooving in his grave to that. A nice contrast. Tootler mentioned the village music project website. One of the gems in there is the Joshua Gibbons manuscript. He was a paper-maker and musician from Lincolnshire who noted down a lot of tunes he was playing in the 1820s, quite a few of them arranged in two or three parts, amazingly, so he must have been playing with others. I posted Lady Cholmondley's Waltz for the waltz theme a while back. Here's Quick Step, from the same source (my arrangement, not Joshua's, I'm afraid). Played on 48 button Crabb Crane duet. That is a really interesting tune. Thanks! Well done.

Since offerings are a little sparse this month - I've also been something of a slacker - here's a small slice of an older clip: my ceilidh band doing a jazzed up version of Scotch Cap, from Playford's Dancing Master. Here's what we sound like. Here's what it usually sounds like. I like it both ways, but your mileage may vary.

NIce. I put Recruiting Officer on my list, thanks to the mel.net TOTM, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Indeed. So many good tunes, so many different kinds of music. And such nice people.

VEry nice. A modest pace, strong bounce - I like it. Regarding chopping - yes, as a rule it should be avoided, but in practice it's often better than the alternatives, which can include convoluted fingering.

Great version of a great tune. We play it in Frog Hammer; one of my bandmates is Welsh, but I appear incapable of learning his pronunciation.

Sure you can. If the recording were sped up (remember, this was the pre-digital days), the pitch would rise. This recording sounds just a little sharp, less than a half step, so the speed is less than 6% fast (you multiply the frequency of a note by about 1.06 to get the frequency of the note one half step higher). My guess is that Skinner and his pianist were tuned a little sharp (pitch wasn't as standard back then) and the speed is correct. Yep. You're right.

That's what necks are for. Good point about doing slow and expressive on Anglo; as a Morris, ceilidh and contra player, it's something I've always had problems with. Part of it is the character of the Anglo, but part is the bizarre fact that when I play, I see dancers in my mind. Non-dance music is always a challenge for me.

Nice. I really like the harmony in Jamie Allen the third time thru.

Whew, this one was a challenge for me, and I'm not thrilled with the result. I tried it as a brisk dance tune, but to my ear it lost much of its lyrical appeal. I tried it as a slow air, but I'm not good at slow and expressive. When I was a kid taking piano lessons, my mother would tell me I was playing 'with feeling' when I'd make facial contortions. And the minor variation was difficult for me on the G/D Anglo, fingering and chord wise. You can hear me struggle my way through that part. Not something I'd do in public. I opted for slow and not dancey. Needs lots of work. I'd love to hear what other Anglo players do with this. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/Bonnie_Lass_Besser_TOTM.MP3

Thanks. Playing regularly with Randy is a joy. We come from such totally different musical backgrounds. For me it's been mind stretching.

PS: anybody interested in the differences in sound between Jeffries and Wheatstone reeds should take a listen.

Here's a quick take from a Squeezers rehearsal last night - Randy Stein on Wheatstone English, me on Jeffries G/D Anglo. I heard the set on the new CD by Leveret, and we thought we'd try it. The first, New Anything, is from the Playford Dancing Master; the second, St. Catherine's (also My Lord Cutt’s Delight) apparently is a Northumbrian tune. Both published in the late 1600s. Far from a finished product, still playing with chords and arrangements. But OK for a first go.

Huh? I posted it before midnight, and there are 46 views so far. Is this tune banned in Denmark? http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=17997 So you did! Weird. I use the View New Content option to see what's been posted recently, and my browsers display the links color-coded as to whether or not I've already looked at them. Your announcement was marked as having been read, but I looked at it just now, and I most certainly had not seen it before. I suppose I overlooked it because it wasn't marked as new/unread, but I have no idea how it got misclassified. Anyway, now I have seen your post. Sorry for the confusion. No problem, I'm always doing things like that.

Huh? I posted it before midnight, and there are 46 views so far. Is this tune banned in Denmark? http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=17997

I should have mentioned Hardcore English - it's excellent.

One more: Big Nick playing O'Carolan's Fanny Power.

BTW, Nick's son Thomas is one of the two dancers.