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CD: A Companion for Book One

 

George Penk, fiddle; Clyde Curley, mandolin, octave mandolin, 4-string banjo;
Susan Songer, piano; with guest musician, Creighton Lindsay, guitar

© 2000
17 tracks / 36 tunes / 62:58 total time
Cost: $15

Reviews

 

A Portland Selection: Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest (1)

"This opening tune is as good as it [contra dance music] gets." Bob Boilen on NPR’s "All Songs Considered."

Tracks are:  (click on the red links to hear audio clips)

  1. Hommage à Edmond Parizeau by Marcel Messervier (2:19)
  2. Money in Both Pockets/Campbell River Jig by Dean Kenty/Reunion Jig by Russ
    Barenburg     (3:57)
  3. Shamrocks in the Galax by Bertram Levy /Damon's Winder*/Two Wide Nickels (4:27)
  4. Round the Horn by Jay Ungar © Swinging Door Music. Sound clip used here by
    permission. (2:55)
  5. Basket of Yarn by Randy Miller/Blair Atholl/Millbrae by Ronnie Cooper (4:39)
  6. Father Kelly's (3:17)
  7. Star Above the Garter/Reverend Brothers/The Walk Home by Daniel Compton (4:35)
  8. Miss Monaghan's/Cottage in the Grove/The Mason's Apron (3:55)
  9. Liza Jane (2:23)
  10. Shoes and Stockings/Johnny Cope/Big Liza Jane (4:09)
  11. Eli Greene's Cakewalk/Little Judique (3:26)
  12. Merriweather/Sally Ann Johnson (3:38)
  13. The Black Cat Jig by Daniel Compton/Asher by Rodney Miller (2:57)
  14. Le Cultivateur/Evit Gabriel by Daniel Thonon/La Belle Catherine (4:02)
  15. Pretty Peggy (4:29)
  16. Bouchard's Hornpipe by Mike Springer/Ice on the Road by Graham Townsend/
    Sandy MacIntyre's Trip to Boston by John Campbell (3:24)
  17. Célina (3:39)

*Damon's Winder is erroneously titled Marmaduke's Hornpipe in The Portland Collection (Volume 1). 

This recording is a companion CD for the tune book, The Portland Collection: Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest (1). Musicians George Penk, Clyde Curley, and Sue Songer, have played for contra dances in Portland and throughout the Northwest for decades. On this recording, they bring the music from the pages of The Portland Collection to life with rhythms and stylings that pop out while playing for dances—nuances of music that are difficult to convey in the pages of a tune book. The tunes on the recording are a cross section of the tunes in the book and represent the different genres and sources of contra dance music. There is a mix of both traditional and recently composed tunes as well as popular standards and tunes that have not been recorded before. Most of the music on the recording is arranged in dance-type medleys and played at dance speed. However, some of the tracks are played slowly with broader variation than is possible at dances and may suggest ways of approaching the music outside a contra dance setting.

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