Your Top Ten Concertina Cds

[Peter Brook]

I have trawled through previous posts and not found anything quite like this topic, so here goes!

 

I have been playing concertina properly for just over a year. I have a couple of CDs (Boxing Clever, Brass Monkey, Morris On, Last Night's Fun, Mary MacNamara)and have been to Concertinas at Whitney once. In that time I have played mainly morris tunes, a few english dance tunes, a little irish, some carolan and the odd classical piece (trumpet tunes mainly). I enjoy a broad spectrum of music but would like to broaden it some more, therefore I am asking you all...

 

Which ten CDs (artist and recording) featuring concertina in either solo or band setting give you the most pleasure, or inspire you the most?

 

thanks,

 

Peter

[stuart estell]

Which ten CDs (artist and recording) featuring concertina in either solo or band setting give you the most pleasure, or inspire you the most?

Alistair Anderson's collaboration with Annie Whitehead, "Airplay", is my favourite record with a concertina on it, I think. It's a really lovely work.

[Richard Morse]

Dave Townsend's Portrait of a Concertina is probably my favorite concertina recording. Truly amazing performances of folk to jazz to classical pieces.

 

Unfortunately this recording is no longer in print. Saydisk has the "rights" to it and won't put out another release unless they have a minimum order of many hundreds of copies. Dave is willing to put up a lot and so are we at the Button Box, but we're still hundreds shy....

[Michael Reid]

My very favorite CD in any genre over the past year-and-a-half: Micheal O'Raghallaigh's The Nervous Man.

[Chris Timson]

Plain Capers by John Kirkpatrick would be my number one commercial recording, followed very closely by the William Kimber compilation Absolutely Classic and Anglo In The Dark by Harry Scurfield. But the recordings I listen to most and which make me want to get up and play are unfortunately not available commercially.

 

I regularly record sessions at Chippenham and Sidmouth folk festivals on my minidisk recorder and turn them into CDs for my own use and pleasure, though I have sent some people on this list copies of the one I did at Chippenham 2 years ago. They bring back the session and the joy of playing wonderfully. (Sometimes it can go wrong though; when I got my recording home from Chippenham this year I found I had inadvertently placed the mike by a thrash metal mandolin player, and that was all you could hear )

 

Chris

[Jim Besser]

Plain Capers, as noted previously.

 

Grand Picnic: interesting contra dance band with a great concertina (Jody Kruskal)

 

Round Pond Relics: LP only, Tom Kruskal on Anglo, Jim Morrison on fiddle. Also "Over the Water," a CD with the same players. Heavily Morris, but with interesting other things.

 

Wild Asparagus: contra dance band with English concertina.

 

JOhn Williams "Steam." My favorite Irish concertina CD.

 

Noel Hill: anything by.

 

Jacqueline McCarthy "The Hidden Note." This CD is really growing on me.

 

Old Sod Band: contra dance band with great English.

[sourdoh]

I don't have ten CDs featuring concertina (yet) so I'll just mention one. A recent purchase that I find myself enjoying more each time I play it is Black Boxes by Sarah Graves. A nice mix of tunes and songs, including a fun set of The Concertina Reel and Another Concertina Reel.

 

-Keith

 

Edited to correct my spelling.

Edited June 7, 2004 by sourdoh

[Jack Zuraw]

My most used concertina recording, aside from mini-disks made in week-long Jacqueline McCarthy and Noel Hill classes is Tommy McCarthy's Sporting Nell. With uillean piping and tin whistling punctuating tunes on a C/G and A/E Jeffries it is anything but dry.

 

Jack

[BruceB]

My top ten (or so) concertina CD's are mostly English players.

 

Dave Townsend's Portrait of a Concertina is the recording that made me want to play concertina in the first place. It's an amazing recording, it seems almost impossible that anyone can play an English like that.

 

The Big Day In and Simon Thoumire Three are both wonderful. I've played these recordings more than any other concertina CD's. Simon is my favorite concertina player, any system.

 

The English Connection by John Nixon is another favorite. Tons of great stuff on it, with Wave, Estrellita & The Shadow of your smile among my favorite cuts. I've listened to this one tons too.

 

Simple Gifts, Other Places, Other Times, with Rachel Hall on English Concertina is really good.

 

I recently listened to the tunes on Mary MacNamara's website and loved them. The next CD's I buy will a couple of hers.

 

From Boxing Clever I was most impressed by Harry Scurfield. I loved how he did Over the Waves. I need to get Anglo In The Dark.

 

I've never heard any Duet recordings that I really liked. All the Duet stuff on Boxing Clever doesn't excite me at all. Are there any recordings out there that are easily available, like at The Button Box? I think the lack of excellent Duet recordings is really holding the system back as there are lots of great Anglo & English Cd's. I've heard Duet players at the Squeeze-in that were wonderful. David Cornell & Nick Robertshaw were great fun to hear live. Is there a reason why the Duet systems aren't well represented on recordings?

 

bruce boysen

[btice]

I appreciate the list. Now to hit the "net" and see what I can find. I know there's no straight concertina music cd's to be had in town. Plenty of Cajun and Tex-Mex, but that's as close as you're going to get.

 

Ben

[Chris Timson]

    I've never heard any Duet recordings that I really liked. All the Duet stuff on Boxing Clever doesn't excite me at all. Are there any recordings out there that are easily available, like at The Button Box? I think the lack of excellent Duet recordings is really holding the system back as there are lots of great Anglo & English Cd's. I've heard Duet players at the Squeeze-in that were wonderful. David Cornell & Nick Robertshaw were great fun to hear live. Is there a reason why the Duet systems aren't well represented on recordings?

Anything by Tim Laycock or his group the New Scorpion Band. He plays Crane duet wonderfully (IMHO his Boxing Clever cuts are not his best). I think the problem is there just aren't that many duet players around.

 

Chris

Edited June 7, 2004 by Chris Timson

[Daniel Bradbury]

I don't know if it is on CD, but Bertram Levy's and Frank Farrell's "Sageflower Suite" is just a lovely realized piece of music.

 

Other nice ones I like listening to include:

 

Noel Hill's recordings,

Callan Bridge - the Vallely Brothers,

Clare Concertinas - Tommy Mac Mahon and Bernard O'Sullivan

Jackie Daly - Music from Sliabh Luchara

Jackie Daly and Kevin Burke - Eavesdropper

Both of the Rosbif recordings with C-net Alan Day

Both of the GIGCB recordings (again with Alan on concertina)

and many others too numerous to remember

[Robin Madge]

I find I get the greatest inspiration from non-concertina recordings. It's great fun trying out material that you have heard on other instruments, finding what works and what doesn't and inventing alternatives.

 

Try Blowzabella, Le Gop, Hendrix, The Beatles, whatever you like. Sometimes it is the most unlikely track that will suddenly work for you.

 

Robin Madge

[jmyersgoucheredu]

Don't forget Chris Droney's The Fertile Rock!

 

Jeff Myers

[JimLucas]

Don't forget Chris Droney's The Fertile Rock!

Had a few of those in my fields. They seemed to multiply like rabbits.

[Peter Brook]

Thank you for your suggestions - I'll compile a list and see where I can locate them.

 

As an aside - I notice that there are some CD's advertised on this site which are for sale through amazon.com. Does anyone know if amazon in the US will deliver to a UK address?

 

thanks,

 

Peter

[Jay Lamsa]

For EC and vocals, I enjoy David Coffin a lot. And Louis Killen.

 

Jay

 

Oh - and to hear some well played anglo, Frank Edgley has put out some books of Irisih melodies with CDs - excellent! On the recordings he first plays them slowly, then at speed.

 

Edited by JCL to add the Irish melodies

Edited June 9, 2004 by Jay Lamsa

[Daniel Hersh]

Dave Townsend's Portrait of a Concertina CD seems to back in print! I recently picked up a copy from Amazon UK and it's in the online Saydisc catalogue. It's a great recording.

 

Daniel

 

Dave Townsend's Portrait of a Concertina is probably my favorite concertina recording. Truly amazing performances of folk to jazz to classical pieces.

 

Unfortunately this recording is no longer in print. Saydisk has the "rights" to it and won't put out another release unless they have a minimum order of many hundreds of copies. Dave is willing to put up a lot and so are we at the Button Box, but we're still hundreds shy....