New Mexico Folk Music & Dance Society

FolkMADS Newsletter

September-October 2009 Volume 12, Issue 5

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, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Odd Fellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road (south of Cordova Drive on the west side of Cerrillos). Take the train! Here's how.

Taos Dances: 3rd Saturdays, call for details, 575-776-1580.

ABQ Megaband: Albuquerque Megaband practice is usually 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. Contact Bruce Thomson, 268-6003, or email Jane. We've been meeting at O'Niell's Pub lately, but it's always wise to check the current calendar to confirm the date and location.

Santa Fe Community Band: Santa Fe Community Band holds 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.

2009 Officers/Directors

Ongoing Events

Quick Links

To email entire Board: folkmadsboardATyahoogroupsDOTcom	Membership: Tricia Love 620-2943	Newsletter: Jane Phillips 898-2565
Contact information for all board members and committee chairs can be found via the "officers/directors" link above.

About this newsletter: Additions are made to the online version of our newsletter as information becomes available to us, and so may be different in content from the print version. The format and look of this version will differ, as well. To cover all of our bases, we offer the option of printing the mailed paper version for those who prefer that. Click here for the printable PDF.

2009 Fall Harvest Camp (aka BOO! Camp)

October 30 – November 1, 2009
Hummingbird Music Camp, Jemez Springs, NM

Sponsored by the New Mexico Folk Music & Dance Society

Richard Wilson & Will McDonald Calling

Music by Second Nature featuring Michael Blackwell & Guests

Join us . . .
for a weekend of fun at the 10th incarnation of BOO Camp. Camp starts with registration on Friday afternoon (October 30) at 4:30pm in Harmony Hall (North Campus) and ends with a farewell dance Sunday afternoon.

Location: Hummingbird Music Camp in the Jemez Mountains four miles north of Jemez Springs on state highway NM4. The camp elevation is 6,800 feet with nighttime temperatures in the mid to low 40s. We will dance in the North Campus and dine at the main dining hall. For more information about Hummingbird Music Camp visit www.hummingbirdmusiccamp.org.

See all the details and registration form here.

Help wanted: Have any amusing dance anecdotes to share with your FolkMADS community? Photos to share from events? Short fiction pieces about the lives of your favorite callers or sound guys? Contact your friendly, neighborhood newsletter editor to discuss fun new content ideas for our mailed and online newsletters.

Megaband Tune of the Month
Bruce Thomson

Gilles Apap

About 10 years ago a neighbor gave me a CD of gypsy music titled “Gilles Apap and the Transylvania Mountain Boys” (SK 62374). I don’t know much about this genre, but the music and musicianship are fabulous and the CD has spent a lot of time in my CD player. Through my close friend and banjo virtuoso Wayne Shrubsall (aka Moby Adobe) I’ve been hanging out with Peter Feldmann (www.bluegrasswest.com), a first class musician & folklorist from Santa Barbara, CA. Imagine my astonishment when heading east from El Paso, TX towards the middle of nowhere Peter’s cell phone rings and he starts a conversation with Gilles about fiddling and old time tunes. It turns out they’re old buddies and neighbors, and that Gilles is a great aficionado and player of traditional music. Gilles was born in Algiers to French parents, raised in France and started gaining international recognition by winning European classical violin competitions. He eventually came to the U.S. as concertmaster of the Santa Barbara symphony. He now makes his living touring the world as a violin soloist. But he’s not content playing music by dead composers and loves traditional music. Further, he refuses to be constrained by one style of music so in addition to the Gypsy genre he’s recorded bluegrass, old timey, and even the chicken scratch music of southern Arizona.This summer Wayne & I drove out to Santa Barbara (121 ªF as we passed through Needles, CA) and spent some time with Peter. Gilles was off touring so we didn’t get to visit, but Peter gave me a copy of Gilles’ recent release “Gilles Apap – Friends” (GKJ 00107). It’s got 22 tracks ranging from Bluegrass, traditional and contemporary old timey, Cajun, and Tohono O’odham (Purple Lillies). Gilles’ friends on the CD include some of the best musicians that southern California has to offer, and also New Mexicans Ken Keppler and Jeanie McLerie. (Aside – Wayne & I met Ken’s sister and report that she’s as nice and normal as can be). Though he’s got talent and technique oozing from every pore, Gilles clearly understands and plays each style as though he’d played it all his life. It’s a superb CD and I recommend it highly).Chinquapin Hunting is played on the CD by Gilles and the Growling Old Geezers (Jim Mueller, Amber Roullard Mueller, and James Bolton). It’s attributed to Norman Edmonds of Hillsville, VA. A fun tune but it’s crooked and can’t be played for dances.

ABC Notation

X:278
T:Chinquapin Hunting
S:Gilles Apap - Friends (GKJ 00107)
N:Transcribed by Bruce Thomson
R:Reel
M:2/4
L:1/8
K:A
|:"A"e3e|"D"fec2|"A"e3e|"D"fecd|"A"e3e|"D"fefg|"A"abaf|"E"efed|"A"cBA2:|
|:"A"a3a|a2g2|"D"f3f|f4|"A"a3a|fgaf|"E"efed|"A"cBA2:|
[|"D"f3e|fec2|"E"B3B|B4|"D"fefg|f2fg|"E"efed|"A"cBA2|
"D"f3e|fec2|"E"B3B|B4|"D"fefg|a2af|"E"efed|"A"cBA2|]

Archive of featured ABC tunes can be found here.

If you don't already have an ABC player, here's a great site with lots of information about ABC notation
and links to freeware and shareware software you can download.

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.
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

Have you moved?
Changed phone numbers? Changed your e-mail address?
Keep FolkMADS up to date. Contact membership coordinator Tricia Love with your current info.

Did you know that you can now renew your membership for three years at a time?
It’s super convenient, and a little cheaper that way, too! See membership form.

Anti-spam alert: please remove the "AT" and "DOT" and replace with "@" and "." when using the email 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 Main Page Newsletter archive