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Theme Of The Month, July 2015: Unlikely Concertina Music


Jim Besser

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Wikipedia tells me that Eydie Gormé's hit was in '63. So by the time I was in full adolescent-tribal mode (musically speaking) a few years later, it had probably migrated to lush orchestral arrangements on the dreaded WMNI--which is how I remember it.

 

So I'd have pigeonholed it as unacceptable Music of the Older Generation, which it certainly wasn't. I felt the same way, as a kid, about the actual Brazilian music that was in vogue in the early '60s: Jobim and Gilberto and all that. Now, of course, I love the real Brazilian stuff. Eydie Gormé, not so much.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

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Wikipedia tells me that Eydie Gormé's hit was in '63. So by the time I was in full adolescent-tribal mode (musically speaking) a few years later, it had probably migrated to lush orchestral arrangements on the dreaded WMNI--which is how I remember it.

 

So I'd have pigeonholed it as unacceptable Music of the Older Generation, which it certainly wasn't. I felt the same way, as a kid, about the actual Brazilian music that was in vogue in the early '60s: Jobim and Gilberto and all that. Now, of course, I love the real Brazilian stuff. Eydie Gormé, not so much.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

It was a funny time - there was a lot of crossover. Some singers like Edie Gorme were popular on the teen-focused rock stations, but then became wildly popular with our parents, which of course made them totally unacceptable to us. Bobby Darrin is another example. And even Andy Williams; I can't get used to losing you was a popular song on the teen-focused stations in the very early 60s, but by the late 60s he was firmly entrenched in the Muzak sector.

 

Blame in on the Bossa Nova wasn't a very good song, a cheap attempt to capitalize on the Bossa Nova craze.

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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

Very nice playing Wolf. Sensitive and nice musical shapes. Where did you find the Patzold a scripting? I'm well aware the it might not be J. S. but never saw it assigned to someone else.

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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

 

 

Very classy.

 

For some reason I've had a hard time loading Soundcloud in recent days. Since nobody else has reported trouble, I'm assuming it's a problem on my end, or my ISPs.

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This seemed pretty unlikely when I first thought of doing it, but I kind of like the way it worked:

 

http://youtu.be/WdsvQvo89D0

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

Very nice. We actually played this at a jam at my house just last week, with a couple of concertinas, banjos, flutes and fiddles.

 

40 buttons really give you a lot more chording options for this kind of tune.

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This is from about... 5 years ago? At least? The Foo Fighter's 'Walking After You' by Dave Grohl.

 

https://app.box.com/wendywalkingafteru

 

It's not very good, but... I can't take the time to do it over, right now.

 

I do like this song but I think the Foo Fighters (much loved by my daughter, Rainy) do a WAY better job! ha ha.

 

And here's wishing that Dave Grohl's broken leg continues to heal well.

 

I'm probably the only concertina solo of this one... but you never know!

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40 buttons really give you a lot more chording options for this kind of tune.

Thanks, Jim.

 

The extra buttons are indeed great for chording, but for what it's worth, this particular tune makes scant use of them. I did play a push Bb in the C#dim chord, but one could leave it out (or, in the Jeffries 30-button layout, play it on the draw). I took advantage of the C drone on the draw to play a Bb9 chord, but I could also have played the C, albeit a bit awkwardly, an octave higher on the G row.

 

Otherwise, I think the only chord where I couldn't have dispensed with a 40-button fingering option was the plain vanilla G7, which I played several times on the push, taking advantage of one or another reverse F natural. But of course that chord is easy enough to play, in whatever inversion, on the draw. So 30 buttons should be plenty to duplicate the arrangement.

 

(If--Groucho voice here--that's your idea of a good time.)

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

Edited by Bob Michel
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This seemed pretty unlikely when I first thought of doing it, but I kind of like the way it worked:

 

http://youtu.be/WdsvQvo89D0

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

Bob, altough not being happy with every single chord myself this is nevertheless a pretty cool rendition as for me, highlighted by very fine vocals!

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Chuck and Jim, thank you so much for listening and your affirmative comments!

 

Jim, Soundcloud is known (or notorious) having its issues from time to time, but I didn't experience an extended downtime during the last weeks, however lots of trouble accessing the pages via my iPhone... Good you could make it in the end...

 

Chuck, I don't seem to recall my primary source for the information about the author and can't verify my ascription, but I was of the impression that naming Petzold here was pretty much common these days (as f.i. Wikipedia has it this way)...

 

However, Bach seemed to like this Minuet, and for a reason, as it is so well-structured and charming as for me. IMO it should still have the Bach name to it anyways because it holds its place among his smaller works - similar to that early "Haydn" quartett which had really opened my ears for his music albeit included in his publication (was it opus 3?) from another man's (most likely) writing back then...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Serendipitously I have been working on a cover of Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York" on Jeffries duet, complete with comically misheard lyrics. I'll try and get it done within the necessary timeframe...

Edited by StuartEstell
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Serendipitously I have been working on a cover of Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York" on Jeffries duet, complete with comically misheard lyrics. I'll try and get it done within the necessary timeframe...

 

We will wait with bated breath!

 

Should be fun.

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  • 2 weeks later...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/Ga_Camp_Meeting_besser.MP3

 

I guess this is an unlikely concertina tune - it's been recorded by lots of dixieland jazz bands, but also blues greats like the Rev. Gary Davis, jug bands and marching bands. There's a cracking good oldtime version on the CD "A Henry Reed Reunion" by a group that includes concertinist Bertram Levy, but he's playing banjo, not concertina.

 

At a Georgia Camp Meeting was written in 1897 by Kerry Mills, who wrote lots of ragtime tunes and cakewalks. I play another of his tunes, Whistling Rufus.

 

According to Wikipedia, he was also the composer of Redwing, which I always assumed was traditional, but - according to Wiki - was adapted by Mills from a Robert Schumann piano composition. Who knew? And who knew that it was sung in three different movies by John Wayne?

 

I had a hard time with the intro and the end of the A part.

 

Played on a Morse C/G hybrid Anglo.

 

Suggestions for how to improve this tune welcome!

Edited by Jim Besser
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Well that's really lovely Jim, quite succesful as it is to my ears, and reminding me at Jeff's "Whisling Rufus" video. Maybe just the last theme could benefit from more sophisticated rhythm, but I'm not sure and will come back to this matter after repeated listening...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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