New Mexico Folk Music & Dance Society
FolkMADS Calendar and Notes
January - February 2003 Volume 6, Issue 1
P.O. Box 40421, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196-0421
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New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society, a nonprofit organization. |
New Mexico Folk Music & Dance Society
FolkMADS Calendar and Notes
January - February 2003 Volume 6, Issue 1
P.O. Box 40421, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196-0421
|
New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society, a nonprofit organization. |
FolkMADS sponsors Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos contra dances, concerts, camps, and other special events. "Contra" dances include contras, squares, mixers, and couple dances. Unless noted on the calendar otherwise, admission is $5 for members, $6 for nonmembers, $3 for children. You need not come with a partner. Free instruction for beginners starts at 7:30 p.m. Most dances begin at 8 p.m. and are smoke-free and alcohol-free. Children and teens are encouraged to participate if supervised by an adult.
Albuquerque
Dances 1st and 3rd
Saturdays.
Heights
Community Center, 823
Buena Vista SE, Albuquerque.
Occasionally dances are held at
the Lloyd
Shaw Dance Center; watch
the calendar for details.
The Lloyd
Shaw Dance Center is
located at 5506 Coal SE in Albuquerque (2 blocks south of Central and
2 blocks east of San Mateo).
Santa Fe Dances 2nd and 4th Saturdays. Odd Fellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road (south of Cordova Drive on the western side of Cerrillos).
Megaband Practices All musicians welcome. Albuquerque Megaband practice is held at the Blue Dragon Coffee House, 1517 Girard NE,Albuquerque, the Tuesday before the 3rd Saturday dance. Bruce Thomson, 268-6003, or email Jane Phillips to be added to the listserv.
Acoustic Jam 7 p.m. before the Albuquerque dances. All acoustic musicians are welcome and all types of music are played. Call Jay Cutts for more information, 281-0684.
Calling All Contra Callers
Want to try your hand at calling contra dances? Merri Rudd is hosting a four to six week callers class in 2003, one afternoon or evening a week, to teach basic calling skills. The class would cover rhythm, teaching, timing, calling to the music, and programming an evening dance. The class would end with an open mike Albuquerque dance, where students could show off their new skills. Live and recorded music would be used during class sessions. Merri wants to know how many folks would be interested in such a class. Students of all ages welcome. Email her or call her at 268-3318, if you are interested.
2003 FolkMADness Music and Dance Camp Info HERE
click here for registration form
Have you moved?
Changed phone numbers?
Changed your e-mail address?
Keep FolkMADS up to date so
you'll continue to receive the newsletter and we can contact you.
Call John Arthur, 831-8096.
As a child in the 1920s,
my father square danced at community parties in his home in
rural New York state. Later he introduced my mother to
square dancing, and they taught old-time square dances to
children at summer camps in the 1940s. I was first
introduced to old-time square dancing and New England contra
dancing at the Farm and Wilderness camps in Vermont at age
9. After eight full summers at these camps, these
traditional dances and their music became a integral part of
my person, and I have been dancing ever since. Becky is one of the core
callers for the Tucson
Friends of Traditional
Music (TFTM)
contra dances and was the primary caller for TFTM's weekly
week-night dances, held from 1993 through 1997. She has been
a dance organizer for TFTM since 1992 and served as Dance
Committee Chairperson from 1992 to 1995. Currently she is
Managing Director of TFTM. This will be Becky's
first appearance in Albuquerque. Let's welcome her with a
big turnout!
MegaBand Tune of the Moment: Polecat Blues
by Bruce Thomson
The old timey repertoire includes a number of bluesy tunes. In contrast to the familiar 12 bar songs from the southern black blues singers, bluesy fiddle tunes are usually pretty lively and have a catchy melody. The principal characteristics of fiddle tune blues include their accentuated change from the 1 to the 4 chord (i.e., D to G) in which you just can't help but put in a 7th chord, by incorporating lots of syncopation in the melody, and by sticking in lots of slides from one note to the next. Bill Cummings (outstanding fiddler from Flagstaff) was in town before Thanksgiving and played Polecat Blues. I found it also on a CD by the Freight Hoppers ("Waiting on the Gravy Train", Rounder11661-0433-2) who attribute it to Tommy Magness. Transcribing this tune gave me fits because:
1) the darn thing is a little crooked - there's 25 2-beat measures (or 12.5 4-beat measures) in the first half, and 2) there's no way to capture the syncopation or slides with written music.
ABC Notation
X:24
T:Polecat Blues
R:Reel
M:2/4
L:1/8
N:Transcribed by Bruce Thomson
K:D
|:a4|a2 a2-|abag|fd3|a4|a2 a2-|abag|fd3|B4|
g2b2-|bgag|fd3|fafe|d2f2-|ffff|f2d2|(cB3)|A3B|A2BA|
cBAF|EDB,2|[F4D4]-|[FD][FD][FD][FD]|[F4D4]-|[F4D4]:|D3 D-|D2E2|F3 F-|F2G2|
A3 A-|A2B2|=c2=c2|BA3|FECF|EDD2|B,DEF|ED3|D2ED|FEDB,|
D4|ABA=c-|=cBAF|ABAF|EDB,A,|[F4D4]-|[FD][FD][F2D2]|[F4D4]-|[F4D4]||([F2D2]D2)|
([F2D2]D2)|([F2D2]D2)|[F4D4]|([F2D2]D2)|([F2D2]D2)|([F2D2]D2)|[F4D4]|B4|B4|BAdB|
AFE2|D2DF|EDB,A,|D4|ABA=c-|=cBAF|ABAF|EDB,A,|[F4D4]-|[F4D4]|]
FolkMADS thanks
The Blue Dragon Coffeehouse, 1517 Girard NE, Albuquerque, for
generously hosting the Albuquerque Megaband practices.
For more information, contact Bruce Thomson, 277-4729, or Jane
Phillips, to sign up for the Megaband listserv (automatic e-mail
reminders).
Le Loup Qui Danse
Special Concert Dance and Potluck 6-9:30 p.m. at the
Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista SE (south of
Lead/Coal) in Albuquerque. $6/$10. Bring a potluck item to
serve 10-12, your own table service and drinks. We will be
entertained and instructed by Agnès Guerry on
cornemuse and fiddle and Bruno Sabalat on accordeon. They
will teach the French dances (such as bourees, rondeaux,
scottisches, and mazurkas) that go with the original tunes
they play. Brush up on your French and check out their web
site: http://le.loup.qui.danse.free.fr/ Join us for an evening
of exuberant music and dance.
Ken Perlman and Alan Jabbour
The exciting traditional music duo of Ken Perlman and Alan Jabbour will be coming to Santa Fe and Albuquerque in the last week of February, 2003 to give two house concerts.
Ken is both a pioneer of the 5-string banjo style known as "melodic clawhammer," a master of fingerstyle guitar and an active folklorist who has spent over a decade collecting tunes and histories from Canadian traditional musicians. He is considered one of the top clawhammer players in the world, known in particular for his skillful adaptations of Celtic tunes to the style. On guitar, Ken's sparkling finger-picked renditions of traditional Celtic and Southern fiddle tunes are simply not to be missed. His most recent CD, Northern Banjo, features music primarily from Prince Edward Island and was recorded with Canadian musicians.
Alan Jabbour is one of America's foremost exponents of the style known as "old-time" or "Appalachian" fiddling. Not only is his playing spirited and lively, but his style authentically reflects in all its charm and rhythmic power the playing styles of nineteenth-century fiddlers from the Upper South in rural America. Alan is also an engaging raconteur, and a major part of his presentation consists of telling stories about both the tunes he plays, and the fiddlers he learned them from. He was a founding member of the Hollow Rock String Band, and their seminal 1968 recording has recently been reissued by County Records. He is also an internationally known folklorist and was head of the Archive of Folk Song at the Library of Congress and past president of the American Folklore Society.
Ken and Alan will be performing at house concerts in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The Albuquerque concert is sponsored by the New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society and will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. The cost is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. Call Bruce Thomson (268-6003) for reservations and directions. The Santa Fe concert will be held on Monday, February 24, 2003, 7:30 p.m. at Tribes Coffee House, 139 West San Francisco St. Admission will be $10. Call Ryan Leary (988-3407) for information.
Southwest Picker's Concert Schedule
Saturday, January 11
Chris Brashear & Peter McLaughlin. 8pm at the Outpost.
Suggested ticket price $12, SW pickers $10. www.chrisbrashear.com
Chris was the fiddle player, songwriter with Perfect Strangers at our
Festival. Peter was the guitar player, a National Flatpick
Champion.
Saturday, January 25
John Reishman & the Jaybirds. John played with the Tony Rice
Unit. 8pm at the Kimo Tickets $15 at Ticketmaster 883-7800 or Kimo
764-1700.
Friday, January 31
Stephen Bennett at the Outpost, 8pm - plays extraordinary harp
guitar and guitar. Suggested ticket price $12, SW pickers
$10.
Saturday, February 15
Robin & Linda Williams & Their Fine Group at the Outpost,
8pm. Suggested ticket price $15, SW pickers $12. www.robinandlinda.com
Saturday, March 1
John McCutcheon at the Kimo, 8pm Tickets $15 at Ticketmaster
883-7800 or the Kimo 764-1700. www.folkmusic.com
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Notice of Instrument Theft In the Taos area on December 10, 2002, the following instruments were stolen: a hand-made Susie Norris violin with a heart carved on the bridge, a hand-made Susie Norris ten-string viola-violin with a dancing couple carved on the head, and a set of five silver and rosewood penny whistles made by Chris Abell (#395). If you happen to see any of these instruments at a pawn shop, garage sale, or on the Internet, please contact Lausanne Allen, 505 737-3020.
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As participants in Dan Pearl's dance composition class during FolkMADness 2002 will recall, Yucca Bucca is a dance the class created. Dan wrote up the experience, and CDSS News published it in the November/December 2002 edition. The dance has been called a time or two at our dances; perhaps it is on its way to becoming one of our local chestnuts.
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