Jim Besser Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 (edited) Yes, there was once an active classical tradition on concertina, and there are still a few musicians around who focus on jazz and popular music on our little squeezeboxes.But by and large, concertinas are associated with various forms of traditional music, and I’d venture to say that a big majority of c.net participants fall into that category.This month’s challenge: record and post the kind of tune or song you might play, provoking a listener to exclaim “wow, I never expected to hear that on a concertina!”For some of you, this will be easy - just go to your regular playlist and pick a tune.For many of us, though, it will involve a little digging, learning and brain stretching. Maybe it'll be your favorite Abba song, or a Sousa march, or the melody of your favorite aria. Or maybe unleash the inner surf concertinist in you and do some Jan and Dean. I'm wondering if we'll get a concertina rendition of Take Five. (Attention Randy Stein).Let’s have some fun and see what turns up! Edited July 1, 2015 by Jim Besser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hi Jim,nice idea, and funnily coínciding with the currently chosen TOTM... I will have to muse about a new contribution, for the time being I repost Let It Be Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hi Jim, nice idea, and funnily coínciding with the currently chosen TOTM... I will have to muse about a new contribution, for the time being I repost Let It Be Best wishes - Wolf Funny you should say that - I recognized the coincidence just before reading your posting. So this month we'll really be delving into the world of unlikely concertina music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Maybe it'll be ... a Sousa march.... Maybe "unlikely" to some folks, but not to me... not after hearing Mike Hebbert. Of course, there are many folks who don't even know that there's more than one kind of concertina. And by the way, Sousa's band popularized American Patrol -- if it wasn't already popular -- long before Swing existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Maybe it'll be ... a Sousa march.... Maybe "unlikely" to some folks, but not to me... not after hearing Mike Hebbert. Of course, there are many folks who don't even know that there's more than one kind of concertina. And by the way, Sousa's band popularized American Patrol -- if it wasn't already popular -- long before Swing existed. Yes, I know. And many YouTube videos wrongly attribute composition of the tune to Sousa, so pervasive was the influence of his band's version. It's generational; people of a certain age no doubt saw American Patrol as a Sousa-like march; their children probably associated it most closely with Glenn Miller. Maybe now we're back to origins, since mostly it seems to get played by marching bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Like Wolf, for now I will repost one I did a year or so ago. Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1, originally for piano (and originally in F minor, I do it in D minor). Hopefully I'll come up with something else by the end of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tootler Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I've plenty of material from the wind band I belong to so I'm sure I can find something. Meantime, Also here's one from last year. Thomas Campion: "Never Weather Beaten Saile" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Michel Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hmmmm. I have some close associates who wouldn't miss the chance to observe here that "unlikely concertina music" is a tautology... But we know what's meant. For me the concertina mainstream has always been Irish trad, and probably the chief pleasure of participating in this forum is seeing and hearing--and learning--so many other ways of using an Anglo. In that spirit, here's a bit of genre mixing. While I still play plenty of traditional (and original) stuff, my recent preoccupation has been early Tin Pan Alley songs, from roughly the period 1908-1920. Mostly I accompany these on stringed instruments, but the concertina is starting to claim a role for itself. Which makes sense when you think of it, since in those years it had more currency than it does now, and hadn't yet been pigeonholed as a "folk" instrument. I stumbled on this title a few months back, and knew that I wouldn't rest until I found the sheet music. Since the song involves harassing a fiddler, it seems particularly well suited to concertina. http://youtu.be/VHChYF7l67A Bob Michel Near Philly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I stumbled on this title a few months back, and knew that I wouldn't rest until I found the sheet music. Since the song involves harassing a fiddler, it seems particularly well suited to concertina. http://youtu.be/VHChYF7l67A Bob Michel Near Philly That is totally cool. Glad you stumbled on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 So here's my first more or less new contribution for this month, two tunes I had recorded separately in the past but use to play paired as a set: Menuett - Ländler The main reason for re-recording the tunes was my renewed view upon the first one after having learnt more about the Minuet, both in terms of music and dancing... I succeeded only partly with emphasising this pattern, but at least it's partly hearable to my ears... About the - well-known - pieces please go for the information on my SC page if you like... Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Stein Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 This is a re-post from last year. One of the more unusual pieces I arranged for unaccompanied EC. https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/round-midnight-by-thelonius rss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 This is a re-post from last year. One of the more unusual pieces I arranged for unaccompanied EC. https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/round-midnight-by-thelonius rss Lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Another repost (but I am working up something completely new and totally unexpected on concertina). From a Squeezer's rehearsal: Autumn Leaves, complete with typical rehearsal errors. Me on G/D Jeffries Anglo Randy Stein on Wheatstone English Gus Voorhees on D/G melodeon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Another repost (but I am working up something completely new and totally unexpected on concertina). From a Squeezer's rehearsal: Autumn Leaves, complete with typical rehearsal errors. Me on G/D Jeffries Anglo Randy Stein on Wheatstone English Gus Voorhees on D/G melodeon. Glorious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 Who said concertinists can't be ridiculous? I don't know why this tune has been rattling around in my head, but there you have it: about as unlikely a concertina tune as one can imagine. I suppose I could clean it up and improve the arrangement, but it's probably not worth the effort. Can you identify it? Hint: think Edie Gorme. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/ThOTMJuly2015_1.MP3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laitch Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Michel Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Can you identify it? Well, it's "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," of course. One of a vast library of such tunes lodged in my head from those endless childhood hours when the living room Philco was set to the horrifying Easy Listening station my mother favored, rather than the rock 'n' roll station we switched to as soon as both my parents were out of the house. Thanks for the earworm... Bob Michel Near Philly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) Can you identify it? Well, it's "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," of course. One of a vast library of such tunes lodged in my head from those endless childhood hours when the living room Philco was set to the horrifying Easy Listening station my mother favored, rather than the rock 'n' roll station we switched to as soon as both my parents were out of the house. Thanks for the earworm... Bob Michel Near Philly I must be older than you - when I was young and listening to a Philco, it was the rock stations that played Blame it on the Bossa Nova. Along with such gems as the Marcel's unforgettable Blue Moon, which I also tried as a concertina piece - doo wop concertina, so to speak. I'll accept your thanks now for not recording that. Here's the original. Edited July 6, 2015 by Jim Besser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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