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Book: The Portland Collection, Volume 2
The
Portland Collection: Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest, Volume 2
Reviews
The Portland Collection, Volume 2 is a continuation of the music in the first Portland Collection, and its format is identical to that of the earlier book. Volume 2 contains 322 jigs and reels from the Portland, Oregon contra dance repertoire---all music that arrived in Portland since the tunes were collected for the first book in 1994-95. Again, Irish, Scottish, Québécois, Appalachian, and New England genres are represented. The tunes are both traditional and recently composed, from local treasures to national contra dance standards. There is an extensive commentary on every tune including stories about the tunes from their composers. There are chord suggestions, a discography, a bibliography, and more. The tunes and their histories were collected from many local contra dance musicians who generously gave of their time and talent to help us expand on the music in Volume 1. How the Tunes Were Selected Once again, the tunes in this collection were drawn from the repertoires of local musicians who play regularly for contra dances in Portland, Oregon, as well as from Clyde Curley, who now lives in Bellingham, Washington, but who maintains close musical connections in Portland, playing here several times a year. We were supplied with over 470 tunes, nearly 100 more than we started with for Volume 1. In narrowing them down to the 322 that are included here, we attempted to maintain a balance among genres and key signatures, and between tunes with a classic feel and those with modern-sounding melodies and rhythms, all the while trying to reflect a true cross-section of the music played in Portland. Both “Golden Wedding Reel” and “Silver Spire,” mentioned above as tunes not played in Portland, are included in Volume 2. They have now worked their way into the repertoire here.
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