FolkMADS May - June 2008 Newsletter

New Mexico Folk Music & Dance Society

FolkMADS Newsletter

May - June 2008 Volume 11, Issue 3

P.O. Box 40421, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196-0421

The FolkMADS Calendar and Newsletter are published bimonthly by the
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, admission is $7 for members, $8 for nonmembers. Students with ID receive half price admission and children up to 12 years of age are free. You need not come with a partner. Free instruction for beginners half an hour before the dance starts. Dances are smoke-free and alcohol-free. Children and teens are encouraged to participate if supervised by an adult.

Albuquerque Dances: 1st and 3rd Saturday contra dances, 7:30-10.30 p.m. Second Sunday Dance (English and Contra), 7:00-9:30 p.m. Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista SE (south of Lead/Coal).

Santa Fe Dances: 2nd and 4th Saturday contra dances and some 5th Saturday English Country dances, 8:00-11:00 p.m. Odd Fellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road (south of Cordova Drive on the western side of Cerrillos).

Taos Dances: 3rd Saturdays, call for details, 776-1580.

ABQ Megaband: Albuquerque Megaband practice is held the Tuesday before the 3rd Saturday dance. All acoustic musicians are welcome. Visit the Megaband page for more info and to add your email address to the listserv, or contact Bruce Thomson, 268-6003, or Jane. Practice is currently being held in the new banquet room at O'Niell's Pub on Central, just west of Washington. Last minute changes will be posted, so check the calendar for location.

Santa Fe Jam Sessions: Santa Fe Community Band practice at the ODD Fellows Hall on ODD (1^st and 3^rd) Wednesdays at 7 p.m. (contact Gary Papenhagen, 242-1104). Slow jam on the 2nd Thursday at 7 p.m. at Katherine Bueler & Gary Schiffmiller's house (995-1125). Beginning and experienced musicians all welcome.

2008 Officers/Directors

Ongoing Events

Quick Links

Membership: Rob Campbell 243-2225	Newsletter (web edition): Jane Phillips 898-2565	Newsletter (paper edition): Marisa Stanga 205-8476

To email entire board: folkmadsboard AT yahoogroups DOT com

Contact information for all board members and committee chairs can be found via the "officers/directors" link above.

Anti-spam alert: please remove the "AT" and "DOT" and replace with "@" and "." when sending email to addresses on this site. It's a minor pain to take this extra step, but this has been the most successful spam prevention option we've tried. Thanks for your understanding!

FOLKMADS Saves Trees!
NEWSLETTER GOES PAPERLESS

Beginning with our next newsletter (July-August), FolkMADS will send out email announcements with a link to
the newsletter that will be posted on our website at www.folkmads.org. What does this mean for you? Well,
if you don’t have access to a computer or email account, we will still send you a paper version of the newsletter.
However, if you are able to access email or computer, you will receive the calendar and
newsletter faster! This will also help our environment because we will significantly reduce our paper
consumption and potentially even save gas that our volunteers and the postman use working to get the
newsletter out. If you have any questions or comments regarding this, we welcome you to send them to
folkmadsboard AT yahoo DOT com.

Two Special Events on May 31st!

In Albuquerque we’ll be holding a special 5th Saturday Square Dance with Kris Jensen calling and The
Fabulous Waynerds playing. In Santa Fe, there will be Cotillion Ball and Ramble in honor of Lily Wilson’s
21st birthday! See details below!

SPECIAL 5th SATURDAY DANCE

AN EVENING OF OLD TIME SQUARE DANCING WITH
LIVE MUSIC

WHEN: MAY 31, 2008, 7:30-10:30

CALLER: KRIS JENSEN

BAND: THE FABULOUS WAYNERDS
(BRUCE THOMSON, WAYNE SHRUBSALL, LINDA ASKEW AND SCOTT MATHIS)

WHERE: HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CENTER, ABQ

DETAILS: ADMISSION: $7/$8, MEMBERS/NON-MEMBERS

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, SINGLES WELCOME

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.
Contact Rob Campbell with your current info.

MegaBand Tune of the Month: Callers & Bands – Part Two
by Bruce Thomson

In our last column we began a discussion of the collaboration between dance callers and dance bands. The principal focus was on caller-band communications: starting & stopping tunes, setting tempos, and recovering from foul ups. This time we’ll spend some time on tune selection with the overall objective of trying to identify tune characteristics that complement the dance moves and enhance the dance experience.

Unfortunately few callers are musicians and conversely, few musicians are callers. So the two groups don’t generally speak the same language. Callers often approach the band and talk about the dance figures such as “this dance has a ‘Hey’ in A-1” or “it’s got a right handed star into a left handed enchilada” (or some other incomprehensible dance move that means nothing to me). The one exception is the balance and swing. Merri Rudd (www.merridancing.com) relies heavily on the band to help the dancers with the balance and swing. In music scored in 4/4 time the balance and swing consist of a stomp on Bar 1, Beat 1, then a kick on Bar 1 Beat 3, another stomp on Bar 2 Beat 1, and a final kick on Bar 2 Beat 3. Tunes that emphasize those beats help connect the dancers to the music. Dave Firestine from Tucson points out that you can emphasize either the first beat or the third, or vary during the dance. The chording and rhythm instruments have more influence than the melody instruments, usually by hitting the 1 and 3 beats and dropping the 2 and 4.

In contrast to dance moves, adjectives that are more helpful to the band include things like flowing, marchy, bouncy, romantic, smooth, or rowdy. Merri refers to these attributes as the “personality of a tune.” A good band should think about their tunes in these terms and have a sufficient repertoire to accommodate such requests. Some tunes can be played in two or more styles to fit the dance. For example “Blackberry Blossom” can be quite rowdy or flowing and pretty depending on the bow technique (short and choppy or long bowing style) and how it’s accompanied.

A technique that some callers use is writing the names of tunes that work well for each dance on the back of their dance cards. They can then suggest that “this dance goes well with a tune like George Booker.” I can add from personal experience, that it is very flattering when at the end of a dance the caller says “that was great, what was the name of that tune?” and then proceeds to write it on her/his card.

What about the style of music? Wendy Graham from Durango prefers a band that can offer multiple styles of music to add interest and variety to the evening. After a steady diet of nothing but southern fiddle tunes or New England hornpipes, the tunes begin to run together. Band lore from the Virginia Creepers involves Laurie Phillips’ visiting brother-in-law who asked “when are you guys going to get together and play ‘that tune’?” The band should mix things up to keep the evening interesting.

One of the most prominent ways of stirring up a dance is to play some jigs every once in a while, however there are two constraints that must be recognized. First, will the caller allow it? Some callers don’t like jigs and ask the band not to play ‘em. The second constraint is whether the band’s got a banjo; with very few exceptions banjo players hate jigs. We’ve talked before about the dangers associated with an irate banjo player. Starting a dance with a jig, then switching to a reel mid-way through turbocharges a dance. It’s a tough transition, but as the music steps up from 6 beats per measure to 8 there’s a dramatic energy boost on the dance floor.

Finally, we should mention special dances. Some callers request particular tunes such as “Levi Jackson Rag” or singing calls to tunes such as “Redwing.” One of the first topics of discussion between the caller and band in preparing for a dance should thus be “do you have any special requests?” Doc Litchman from NM has said that he likes to work with bands that can read music (i.e. are paper trained) because they can more readily accommodate a caller’s special requests. I agree.

Throughout these two columns the recurring theme has been the importance of communication between the caller and the band. A phone call or two a few weeks before a big dance goes a long way to improving an evening of dancing and music for everybody on stage and on the dance floor.

This month’s tune is Kansas City Reel, a rousing tune that works well for squares and contras that are adapted to fast, peppy tunes.

Archive of featured ABC tunes can be found here.

The Albuquerque Megaband is an open, all-volunteer, rockin' wall of sound that plays every month at the 3rd Saturday dance in ABQ.

A big thank you to all the Megaband musicians!!

The ABQ Megaband currently meets on the Tuesday before the 3rd Saturday dances, in the new banquet room at O'Neill's Pub on Central.
Check monthly calendars to verify location.

Visit the Megaband page for more info or to sign up for the Megaband listserv (for e-mail reminders of practice dates and dances).
Contacts: Bruce Thomson, 277-4729 or Jane Phillips, 898-2565.

Other Events

CD Release & Benefit Concert
Featuring

Brenda Romero
Caciones De Mis Patrias

and

Scott Mathis and Linda Askew
Rojo o Verde (Sandia Hots)
My Earthly Kiss (Sandia Hots)

Saturday, May 17 • 8:00 PM

New Mexico Musical Heritage Project
144 Communications and Journalism
University of New Mexico

$5.00 at the door

click here for PDF Flyer

ZoukFest 2008

June 8 - 13, 2008
More classes... More diversity... Guest Artist Andy Irvine! Class descriptions, staff, and all details are now up on the ZoukFest website:http://www.zoukfest.com/classes/http://www.zoukfest.com/staff/

The deadline for the FREE TUITION RAFFLE is midnight April 1st!!! Enter soon to be eligible for FREE TUITION (a $480 value)at this year's camp. If you register by midnight, April 1st, you will automatically be eligible for the Free Tuition Raffle.ZoukFest 2008 starts with dinner on Sunday, June 8th. Classes run Monday June 9th through Friday June 13th and our Student Concert is in the afternoon on Saturday, June 14th. Staff Performances will take place every evening, Monday-Friday from 7-9pm.In addition, we'll be hosting the 2nd Annual New Mexico Luthiers Showcase on Sunday, June 8th.

Don't forget our Instrument Raffle. Tickets are still available: http://www.zoukfest.com/raffle/

Mary Z. Cox Concert and Workshops

The Southwest Pickers are sponsoring an upcoming concert and two workshops (clawhammer banjo and mountain dulcimer) with Mary Z. Cox.

SW Pickers presents
Mary Z. Cox in Concert
Thursday, June 19, 2008 -- 7 PM
Hands Five will open
Admission at the door— $12 non members/$10 members
Covenant Presbyterian Church 9315 Candelaria NE, Albuquerque, NM

Mary Z. and guitarist husband, Bob, have entertained audiences with dulcimer and banjo concerts and workshops from coast to coast. Mary Z. and Bob enjoy introducing
students of all ages to new tunes, techniques, and the dulcimer and banjo.

Workshops to be held Friday, June 20 and Sunday, June 22. See descriptions below.

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Banjo Workshop:
NE Heights Location Friday, June 20, 2008/6:30-8:30 PM

Creeping up the Banjo Neck with Mary Z. Cox (Intermediate)

Begin to play tunes up the neck in Double C. Get your fingers used to creeping past the 5th fret without music theory or stress! We'll use this technique to learn
Sally Ann, John Stinson's #2 and Angeline. Come tuned in gCGCD. Add sparkle to your playing while having lots of fun.

Workshop $35.00

For more information, please email inquiry AT siliconheights DOT com, or call Judy at (505) 298-5589.

Friday June 20 - 8:30-9:30--stay and jam awhile with Bob and Mary Z.

Register with Judy in advance and get a $5.00 gift certificate good towards any of Mary's CDs, Books, or T-shirts for sale that evening.

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Mountain Dulcimer Workshop
Sunday, June 22, 2008 2-4PM at Apple Mountain Music

Stretching with the Mountain Dulcimer on string band Favorites/ String Band Style:
Novice/intermediate +

Learn to "stretch" your playing with easy variations on "Chickens Crowin' at Midnight" and "Angeline", then will experiment with North Alabama fiddle tune, "Step Around Johnny" in an easy string band style with fun variations. Mary Z. won two first place competitions in 2006 playing this tune--and you can learn to play it too! Please come tuned in DAD.

Workshop $35.00

For more information, please email inquiry AT siliconheights DOT com, or call Judy at (505) 298-5589.

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Mary Z. Cox, a banjoholic with 15 banjos, has been playing since she was 12, and is a two time Florida champion. She has won old time music competitions on banjo, dulcimer, and string band in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee and was chosen by Banjo Newsletter readers in 2006 as the fourth favorite clawhammer banjo player in the world. She has recorded six CDs, has written five banjo tab books, and has been published in Banjo Newsletter, Studio Magazine, and Old Time Herald. Her music has been played on BBC and National Public radio and is available on itunes worldwide.
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Mary Z. is also a dulcimaniac with 9 mountain dulcimers. She is a Florida mountain dulcimer champion, as well as the first place winner in the 2006 Uncle Dave Macon Days in Tennessee and two time dulcimer champion at the 2006 & 2007 Transylvania County (North Carolina) Old Time Music Competition. Her "Dulcimer Fandango" CD, with its string band style dulcimer remains a favorite with dulcimer and banjo enthusiasts.

You can hear Mary's music here: http://www.maryzcox.com/
and here:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=23641177

and read an interview (includes a couple of tabs and mp3's) here:
http://www.banjosessions.com/apr07/Berg.html

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