Jim Besser

That's just gorgeous. Thanks for posting.

Like so many others, I'm blown away by the playing of Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne , so of course I bought the Granny's Attic tunebook, and quickly learned this old English tune, "Odd Thoughts." Cohen plays it in Dm; I did it in Em because the chording seems to work better with a mere 30 buttons. Played on a Jeffries G/D concertina. https://soundcloud.com/concertinist/odd-thoughts-oct6

Periodically I get to play with a friend who is an outstanding nyckleharpa player. The combination of Anglo and nyckleharpa can be sublime.

They did a great job, a testament to your teaching skills.

When you get to customs/immigration in the UK carrying a visible concertina case, expect questions about your plans. They will be particular interested in finding out if you have a paying gig, which would be a no-no without a work visa. It's always complicated for me, since we go to perform (Morris), but not for money. Some officials don't really understand the difference. It's not a big deal, but it's best to be prepared. It's worse going into Canada; I've had some real problems with that.

We used to wear felt bowlers, but I never found one to fit my outsized head and received an official exemption. Looking forward to seeing everybody!

Good news! I keep trying to convince Robin to come, but so far without success.

Bummed that RA won't be there. We were planning a Welsh tunes session. Always happy to celebrate felt hat day.

So who's gonna be there this weekend?

I forgot about that version; love it. Two very different approaches - the raucous pub sing version and the pretty, very arranged version. Love both. And it's cool that the Oates/Spiers version went into the Whittlesea Straw Bear tune.

The late, lamented Button Box did a superb job building a hybrid baritone with low reeds that sound reasonably quickly, and with an almost-traditional sound. I love this box, although I"m always tempted to do bass runs on the lowest buttons, which aggravates my arthritis.

Thanks, Dave. See you in a week at the Squeeze In!

It's funny, Al. Once, at an oldtime Appalachian session, I was accused of making Ragtime Annie sound like a Morris tune. I guess Morris is hard wired into my brain.

Agree. I'm very worried about our limited options for service. I've raised the issue with some younger people with instrument repair experience, but haven't gotten much of a response.

This, of course.

Bonaparte crossing the (Rhine) (Rockies), Bonaparte's (Defeat) (Retreat) (Expedition). No doubt there are even more. Actually I first learned the tune as "How'dya Do," for the Sherborne dance. And it's also the tune for Congleton Bear.

I played this years ago for a Morris side and then pretty much forgot about it, but it was a recent tune of the week on the Tunesday Tuesdays Facebook group, and it got me to wondering: how would it work on the baritone Anglo? This is the result, played on a 30 button Morse ESB C/G baritone Anglo. One take, warts and all.

And while we're on the subject: today at Foggy Bottom Morris practice, our foreman worked out a new dance to John K's tune Fair Play. We only had 3 dancers, but it looks like the dance will be pretty good when we have a full side of 6.

I've been playing his tunes for years; I brought one (Unexpected Pleasure) into the Foggy Bottom Morris repertoire, and it's become one of our signature dances. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, I took a series of six Zoom lessons with John, trying to understand how he did certain things in his concertina playing. Those lessons were enormously helpful, and had a major impact on my playing, especially for the Morris. He was a gracious and attentive teacher who listened to what I wanted and responded accordingly. And, as an aside: he liberated me from feeling terrible that I hate playing Jump at the Sun in Gm on a C/G Anglo in a harmonic style. He told me it was a bad idea; he tried it, and said that just confirmed his opinion. Like many Anglo players, I've spent time - probably too much time - trying to play things that just don't work well on an instrument that is in many ways limited. One of the lessons I took away from my time with John: it's much more gratifying to focus on music that fits the instrument; I'll leave Jump at the Sun to English concertina players, or Anglo players who prefer a single note style.

I was much taken by Sam Sweeney's fiddle version of this tune, Old Oxford - described on one Web site as an "archaic" version of the common Morris tune Old Tom of Oxford. Played on a 30 button Jeffries GD Anglo concertina. https://soundcloud.com/concertinist/old-oxford-aug18

Dancers. I've played for dancers most of my musical life. I often feel hobbled when playing without dancers to watch; my vacant stare is probably me searching in vain for the visual cues dancers provide. I do find that when I'm playing for people just sitting there, I do better if I visualize people dancing to what I'm playing.

I'm a huge fan of Morse ceilis, and the BB's Bob Snope could probably build one in his sleep. The BB repair service is still in business, and I imagine it will be for some time to come. But I'd ask one question: who did this "custom" button arrangement? If it was the BB, fine; if not, I'd be wary, since amateurs can do a lot of damage. The ceili and clover are roughly comparable instruments. I prefer the sound of the Morse, but that's a subjective question of personal taste. The clovers I've tried have a pretty comparable feel. Metal capped pointy buttons - trust me, you get used to them. It took me a few weeks to adjust to my Jeffries, which has button caps like little spears. Now it feels totally natural

VEry cool. I didn't know he played for Sherborne. That was my first Morris tradition, and I still love (and miss) the music.

I think we're all a little misled by the vast number of old accordions available for much much less money than good concertinas. As Stephen Chambers notes, high quality new accordions are pretty expensive, often selling for significantly more than even a prime Jeffries Anglo. A quick look at the Liberty Bellows Web site reveals a number of instruments in the $6000-12000 range, and that's not even a shop that specializes in professional grade instruments. Remember that for many years, until the 70s or so, accordions were mass produced in sizable factories (and often sold door to door, or though ads in popular magazines, or through the accordion studios in just about every town). A few years back I visited Castelfidardo in Italy and learned that in its heyday as accordion capital of the world, there were many thousands employed in the factories there, and that was just one town. There were hundreds of manufacturers in Europe and the US, churning out mountains of instruments A lot of those instruments survived and turn up on Ebay, Craigslist, and in stores. Many are playable - but nowhere near the quality - in sound or playability - of high quality modern instruments. I'm no expert, but for the good accordion players I know, there's very little interest in vintage instruments for that reason. Many of the best concertinists I know seek out fine Jeffries, Wheatstones or Crabbs; I don't know any top accordionists who play vintage instruments. And there are many manufacturers still mass producing low and mid range accordions. Most of them cost more than a modern entry level concertina, many for more than a good hybrid like the Morse or Edgley.

That was my thought. I played for a Northwest clog side for 15 years and used several polkas, and this could work for several of our dances - slowed down. For a cotswold side - definitely a prescription for disaster.