Tunes : Fiddle Club of the World

Mélodie de la semaine pour les Mai 14, 2012

How ’bout a Cajun waltz?

Varise Conner (1906-1994) should be better known than he is. He quit playing for dances in the 1930s in favor of more intimate sessions with friends, like Lionel Leleux. The first album dedicated to his music was not issued until ten years after his death. And what a dandy it is! The CD is made from field recordings by folklorist Barry Ancelet in the 1970s.

(click to enlarge)

This lovely waltz was recorded in 1938 by J.B. Fusilier & his Merrymakers, a band that at one time included Varise Conner. This is one of two tunes that Fusilier named for his wives. The other is the better known Chère Bassette.

Chère-Bouclette by Varise Conner of Lake Arthur, Louisiana, circa 1975

X:20
T:Chère Bouclette
M:3/4
L:1/8
S:Varise Connor of Lake Arthur, Louisiana
K:G
g2g2 |: e4 ec | Gce2 e2 | A3B AF | DFAd fa |
f3g fe | dcBF AF |1 G4 G2 | DGBd gB :|2 G3 GBd |:
ggdg ba | (3gag dg ba | bafd Ad | ffdf ag |
(3fgf df ag | fedc BA |1 BAG GBd :|2 G4 G2 | DGBd gB ||

Fiddle Club is proud to have brought some great Cajun fiddling to your ears. In our inaugural season of 2008, our lineup of featured guests included Will & Holly Whedbee of the Chicago Cajun Aces. (Click their name to hear some of the tunes.) Will was a first teacher of our featured guest for the next Fiddle Club of the World meeting.

Dorian Gehring, Cajun
Sunday, May 20 – 6:30p
Room E324 – Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln)

Single meeting dues is $15: register here

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

-Paul Tyler, convener
(Did you find the second tune linked on this post? Besides the Whedbee tunes?)

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | May 17, 2012 | Comments (0)

мелодія тижня в травні 7, 2012

Tune of the Week for May 7, 2012

I got to dance to Wally Heppner when he represented the Ukrainian community of Alberta, Canada at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall in Washington D.C. in 2006. The band at that event was called Zabava, and besides the fiddling of Mr. Heppner, it featured a tsymbaly, or hammered dulcimer.

That same core of fiddle and dulcimer is heard in this Tune of the Week, by the Radomsky Trio from Alberta, with Metro Radomsky on fiddle and Metro Lastiwka on tsymbaly. This 1952 recording was just recently posted by my old friend Paul Gifford, whose website devoted to northern old-time music just went online. Check it out: Paul Gifford’s Collection of Old-Time Fiddling, Dulcimer Playing and Songs from Michigan and the Great-Lakes Region. (The Radomsky Trio can be found under Dulcimer / Ethnic Dulcimers.)

Two-step from a 1952 Stinson recording of the Radomsky Trio

Used with permission from Paul Gifford, who supplied this link for more on Metro Radomsky and Ukrainian-Canadian old-time.

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | May 10, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tune of the Week for April 30, 2012

Tune histories are funny things, especially because different names are often given to the same tune, while, at other times, different tunes are given the same name. And often, some tunes seem to slip through the years without any name attached. Little Billy Wilson is a case in point. I think. Are we talking about the same tune?

Check out what the Traditional Tune Archive has to say about Little Billy Wilson. It names Billy Wilson, as recorded in 1926 by Uncle Jimmie Thompson, the first fiddler on the Grand Ole Opry, as the ultimate source for the tune as played today. Lynn “Chirps” Smith, formerly of Grayslake, Illinois, now living on the other side of the Cheddar Curtain in Wisconsin, can play the tune Uncle Jimmie’s way (as well as anybody can that I know.) But this recent recording by him mostly follows the common contemporary setting of the tune.

Little Billy Wilson, Chirps Smith of Lagrange, Wisconsin

That distinctive first strain appears in many other tunes. According to Guthrie “Gus” Meade, the tune scholar who compiled the incredibly mammoth and helpful reference work, Country Music Sources, Little or plain old Billy Wilson resembles such tunes as Ace of Spade, Jack of Diamonds, Possum Up a Gumstump and Indiana Home. Of course, some of those titles also float around a bit, and have been attached to dissimilar tunes. Nearly 25 years ago, I recorded an Indiana fiddler who played that first strain in a tune he called “Old Woman, Stop Your Quarreling.” Are we talking about the same tune? I’m not sure. And that first strain can be found in two unnamed breakdowns in A, printed in the Old-Time Fiddler’s Repertory: one each in Vol 1 (#37) and Volume 2 (#14). R.P. Christeson collected both of these pieces from Bill Driver of Iberia, Missouri. Paul Gifford also learned a few unnamed breakdowns with that A strain from old-timers in Michigan.

But I think it is the second and/or third strain of Little Billy Wilson that carries some of the distinctiveness of this week’s Tune of the Week. That distinctive flavor is reflected in this unnamed tune found in a rare tunebook published in Fort Wayne, Indiana the same year that Uncle Jimmy Thompson recorded Billy Wilson. Check out old number 29 below from Charles Blee’s Ball Room and Country Dance Music: Quadrilles, Schottisches, Watlzes, Polkas and the Danish, Rye Waltz, Varsouvienna, Oxford Minuet.

(click to enlarge)

And then give a listen to this unnamed tune on hammer dulcimer, recorded by Paul Gifford in 1975 (click on Paul’s name for more traditional dulcimer playing).

[Little Billy Wilson], Paul Van Arsdale, Frewsburg, New York

The Abcs that follow are fairly generic, based on how the tune has commonly been played since the old-time music revival of the 1970s.

- Paul Tyler, convener.
NB This post has been amended to rectify various assumptions wrongfully made.

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | May 7, 2012 | Comments (1)

Tunes from Dorian Gehring

Dorian Gehring, Cajun Fiddle
Sunday, May 20, 6:30 – Room E324
Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln)

Dorian Gehring
(click to enlarge)

Fresh out of college, Dorian is always ready with his fiddle. He won top prize in the 2010 Midwest Fiddle Championship with his band, the Cajun Vagabonds.
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Dorian plans to discuss different Cajun styles and talk about the modern Cajun scene. He would also like to help Fiddle Clubbers learn how to play second or chording fiddle.

xx
Here are some tunes
Eunice Two-Step

Eunice Two-Step slow

Cherokee Waltz

Cherokee Waltz slow

$15 dues for this workshop, click here, or choose the year-long subscription option ($60 for 12 months of Fiddle Club).

All meetings will start at 7:30pm, except * May 20, which will start at 6:30.
Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln in Chicago)

Filed under: Session Tunes,Tunes by Paul | April 30, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tune of the Week for April 23, 2012

When thinking of English folk music, most folks probably picture foremost a variety of squeeze boxes–concertinas and melodeons–and with good reason. But Merry Old England did enjoy a wealth of master fiddlers, and the influence of English fiddle traditions upon American old-time music proved just as strong as that of the more celebrated “Celtic” traditions of Ireland and Scotland. This week’s tune is a tribute to the lively and driving traditional music that English folk have danced to for centuries, throughout the length and breadth of their land.

Albert Farmer
(click to enlarge)

English band pictured on Bocastle Breakdown
(click to enlarge)

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Albert Farmer, a butcher before heading off to fight in the second World War, returned home to find his shop was gone. In a career change, he added a drum to his melodeon and became a one-man band and street musician. Click this link for more of his story and the story of the bonfire as told in the Traditional Tune Archive.

And now for the tune . . .
Bonfire Tune, as played by Albert Farmer in 1964

(from a 1970s LP on the Topic Label, Bocastle Breakdown)

Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, as played by the Bismarks, circa 2000

(from the CD Hardcore English)

The Bismarks are Nina Hansell (fiddle), Gareth Kiddier (piano) and Ed Rennie (melodeon).

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | April 29, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tune of the Week for April 16, 2012

It’s a long story. Actually, two stories, for this Tune of the Week entry is in fact two separate tunes from two opposite sides of globe, two completely different peoples, and two separate, but intertwined, histories.

In 1981–while living in Bloomington, Indiana–I was invited to a friend’s house for an intimate session of tunes and folklorist chat with Bobby Fulcher, a banjo-player and park ranger (actually, a cultural conservation officer) for Tennessee State Parks. Bobby had spent years researching the rich old-time music tradition of the Cumberland Plateau that stretched back to the pioneering 1920s recordings of the banjo and fiddle team of Richard Burnett and Leonard Rutherford. That duo from Monticello, Kentucky had a huge impact on music of players from the region, such as Clyde Davenport and the Troxell brothers, Ralph and Clyde. But many locals held that the best fiddler around had been Cuje Bertram, an African-American who had long since moved North.

Burnett & Rutherford
(click to enlarge)

Daniel Decatur Emmett
(click to enlarge)

After much searching, Bobby had finally located the Bertram family in Indianapolis. That was the reason for Bobby’s visit to Bloomington. It was a stopover the night before his long anticipated meeting with Cuje Bertram. The next day Bobby had an extensive interview with Mr. Bertram about his life and music. Sadly, the octogenarian could no longer play. But the family allowed Bobby to duplicate a home recording from 1970 that contained a couple dozen tunes.

That tape was not intended for commercial consumption, but a European record company issued it anyway, without permission from the Bertram Family or Bobby Fulcher. This, of course, is just another sad chapter in an old story of the commercial co-opting of minority cultural for the gain or advancement of others. I came into possession of a copy of those home recordings, but until I can obtain permission from Bobby Fulcher or the descendents of Cuje Bertram, I will not post the recording here. However, one of the traditional songs that Mr. Bertram played and sang is of continuing interest. His Big Cat, Little Cat is a version of a song recorded by Uncle Dave Macon in 1927.

The Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm Uncle Dave Macon & his Fruit Jar Drinkers

The melodies of the two settings are very similar, though Mr. Bertram is set a step higher in the key of E, an usual key for an old-time fiddler.

The lyrics of the two performances are also similar in theme, but they differ in actual wording. A transcription of Mr. Bertram’s lyrics are here.

Then, just this week, I was introduced to a new You Tube video of an Australian band playing an old dance tune The Black Cat Piddled in the White Cat’s Eye (in a medley following the Jenny Lind Polka). The video contains a graphic that reads: “This lively Australian Bush tune was popularised from the version performed by minstrel favorite, Dan Emmett.” Daniel Decatur Emmett, a native of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, was a founding member of the Virginia Minstrels, a four-piece string band that took the theater world of New York and beyond by storm in 1843. The four minstrels were all white men who performed in black face, pretending to be African-American while co-opting Black folk expression for their own financial gain.

The history of Blackface Minstrelsy is fascinating and difficult. Much of America’s old-time music tradition passed through the maelstrom of minstrelsy and was distinctively transformed. Sufficient for our consideration is that both our Tunes of the Week have a theme of confrontation, difference, and power struggle. I’ll leave it to you for further contemplation and consideration. You may want to start with this fascinating discussion about the two songs on the Mudcat Cafe. Most contributors to that thread were not aware they were discussing two completely different melodies. If there is any common ground between the two, it resides in the life and career of Dan Emmett.

Here is notation for The Black Cat Piddled in the White Cat’s Eye. It was collected on Cape Barren Island in the Australian state of Tasmania by folklorist Rob Willis. He learned the tune from local musician Les Brown.

The Black Cat Piddled in the White Cat’s Eye by Warren Fahey’s Australian Bush Orchestra

-Paul Tyler, convener
Chicago Chapter

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | April 21, 2012 | Comments (1)

Tune of the Week for April 9, 2012

Ed Cosner & Katie Bern
Saturday, April 14, 7:30, Room E324 in Old Town School East

Katie Bern & Matt Danaher
(click to enlarge)

Katie Bern drove up to Lincoln Square from Palos Heights to enter our Midwest Fiddle Championship for several years running. (Her younger sister Kristen is still a regular entry, but Katie has missed the last few contests as she completed a degree in music education at Belmont University in Nashville.) In 2006, Katie placed fourth in the Fiddle Team division in a duet with her neighbor Matt Danaher. They came back the next year and took 2nd place.

This week’s tune of the week (submitted just in the nick of time) was played by Katie and Matt in the Championship finals in 2007 on the main stage at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival. “Poor Muriel” was composed by local bluegrass and jazz guitarist John Parrott.

[Click the arrow to hear only Poor Muriel. Click the blue title to hear the whole medley, along with Katie's introduction of the tune, in which she mentions their teacher. He, of course, was Ed Cosner. BTW you can right-click the blue title to download and save the link, meaning the mp3.]

Poor Muriel-St. Anne’s Reel

More info about Katie’s visit to Fiddle Club — and more tunes! — is posted below.

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | April 14, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tune of the Week for April 2, 2012

Frank Hall
(click to enlarge)

Emmett Lundy
(click to enlarge)

Frank Hall, my good friend and fellow Hoosier-in-exile, visited a while back from Ireland, where he has lived for the past decade. Our session served as the maiden voyage for my then brand new Zoom digital recorder, which has since been a real work horse for Fiddle Club of the World. Here is a tune from that October 2007 session in my living room. Frank played one that was first recorded by the great Emmett Lundy of Galax, Virginia. Compare the versions below. Obviously the same tune, but quite different treatments.

Also, compare the photos above. Both men are quite dapper and accomplished. Frank, however, has recently become a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. Sláinte (to your health), Buddy!

Piney Wood Gal by Frank Hall (2007), with Lena Olsen, banjo

Piney Wood Girl by Emmett Lundy (1925), with E.V. Stoneman, harmonica

BTW Frank Hall has an open invitation to be a featured guest at the Fiddle Club of the World any time he flies in to O’Hare from Dublin.

Filed under: Tune of the Week,Tunes by Paul | April 12, 2012 | Comments (0)

Time for some Bluegrass

Ed Cosner & Katie Bern
Saturday, April 14, 7:30, Room E324 in Old Town School East
Transplanted southerner Ed Cosner has been introducing scores of younger fiddlers in northwest Indiana to the sounds of bluegrass. Katie Bern, a past winner in our Midwest Fiddle Championship, was one of his finest students.

Some tunes from the teacher, Mr. Cosner . . .
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Dreamer’s Waltz

And one from Katie, the student . . .
Festival Rag

$15 dues for this meeting, click here, or choose the year-long subscription option ($60 for 12 months of Fiddle Club).

Filed under: Meeting Schedule,Tunes by Paul | March 31, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tune of the Week for March 26, 2012

I’m a little late posting this weeks TofW. Sorry about that. Sometimes life in the fiddle-industrial complex gets hectic. But my mind is back home in Indiana, so I think it’s time for a Lotus Dickey tune.

Lotus Dickey, Paul Tyler, John Bealle, Teri Klassen
(click to enlarge)

Little Bess

X:13
T:Little Bess
M:C|
L:1/8
S:Lotus Dickey from Poindexter Ainsworth
K:D
D2f2 fgfe | d2F2 A3F | E2AB cBAc | d2F2 A3+EA+ |
+D2A2+fe fgfe | d2F2 A3+FA+ | +E2A2+AB cBAc | +F4d4+ +F4d4+ :|
K:A
e4 e3f | e2c2 +c4e4+ | B4 g2eg | aeae c’3c’ |
e4 e3f | e2+ce++ce+ +c4e4+ | B2ef gefg |1 +c4a4+ +c2a2+z2 :|2 +c3a3+z =+B3g3+z ||

Mélodie de la semaine pour les Mai 14, 2012

мелодія тижня в травні 7, 2012

Tune of the Week for April 30, 2012

Tunes from Dorian Gehring

Tune of the Week for April 23, 2012

Tune of the Week for April 16, 2012

Tune of the Week for April 9, 2012

Tune of the Week for April 2, 2012

Time for some Bluegrass

Tune of the Week for March 26, 2012

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