Reviews of The Portland Collection (Vol. 1), Revised Edition
David Kaynor (posted to rec.folk-dancing, June 1997)
I just have to tell you about browsing through “The Portland Collection: Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest” which I acquired in Seattle in the woozy afterglow of Folklife.
My first impressions: The cover is cheerfully engaging; the spiral binding is reassuringly beefy; and at 6 3/4″ by 8 1/2″ and nearly 3/4″ thick, it has a solid, promising heft. Then, flipping it open at random: Uncluttered, thoroughly-readable transcriptions of jigs and reels both old and new.
At the front end and back: Well-set-up text, in which the book’s creators eloquently discuss its focus, purpose, and content. Notes on the individual tunes. Appendices covering Discography, Bibliography, Mail Order Resources, a List of Tunes by Key (subdivided into reel and jigs) (who gets thanked for this nice feature?) an Alphabetical List of Titles and Alternate Titles, and ordering information and forms. Scattered throughout: Enjoyable remarks on contra dancing and its music collected from dancers at a Portland dance.
And tunes. How many? “Abe’s Retreat” is on page 17; “The Young Widow” is on page 213; and the pages in between contain either two average-length tunes or a single longer one. There are chord suggestions for each.
At $25, buying two copies hits a working musician hard, but I think we deserve to treat ourselves and our friends. And why two? Well, one copy to be open on the piano at all times, poised for great work and great play, and the other…The other copy of “The Portland Collection” is for your bathroom. I kid you not. It makes extraordinarily great bathroom reading. The moment it was published, contra dance musicians’ lavatorial libraries became incomplete without it. Increasingly dog-eared and handworn, it will prevail for months and more atop the glitziest catalogue and magazine stack you can compile, and you will see undreamed-of dimensions of satisfaction on the faces of all who emerge from cheerfully prolonged and frequent Ensconcements in a facility thus endowed.
© Copyright 1997 David Kaynor. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Kerry Blech (Victory Review, September 1997)
This mammoth 308-page, spiral-bound book accounts for years of work in notating and documenting the music that is played for contra dances down Portland, Oregon way. It runs the gamut of New England chestnuts, hot new compositions, Southern barn-burners, and a number of imports from Europe.
In addition to the clear and clean transcriptions are enjoyable commentaries on each piece by Clyde Curley, presenting the milieu in which the tunes found their ways in the repertories of Oregon’s dance musicians (and others), but also noting sources, origins and other pith and ephemera.
Ramrod for this project was Sue Songer, who must be commended for her bulldog-like tenacity in tracking down origins of tunes, especially those that were recently composed or had copyrights, as she wanted to assure that everyone should get proper credit (and royalties). Hurrah!
It’s an impressive and welcome tome, one that should prove useful to various dance scenes and in a way provides a snapshot album of several years worth of dance music in the Northwest. Next though, I’d like to see an accompanying project of audio material, for style is one thing that is not well-indicated by transcription. But that’s another project. Meanwhile, enjoy this one.
© Copyright 1997 Victory Review. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Bob Buckingham (Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1999)
This is an important piece of work if for no other reason than that it documents the contra dance scene in the 1990’s. But with more than three hundred tunes, it is much more than that. This is one of the best throughout collections of fiddle tunes to come across this desk in a long time. It focuses on one aspect of fiddling and guides the user in what constitutes a good contra dance tune. There are copious notes, alternate versions, and the message that these are the skeletons of these tunes is brought to the fore. This collection of tunes is described as a bed of flowers, each ready to be picked and played and enjoyed.
The tunes are in a lead sheet format, complete with chords. They are easy to read with no bowing noted. For folk fiddling, one must find one’s own path. Regional and personal styles determine something so unique. The authors are wise in knowing this truth.
The spiral binding, the compact size and the thorough attention to detail make this an important collection. The wealth of diversity in the tunes makes this an essential for the reading fiddler. Marry this book with a good book of waltzes and you will have the beginning of a solid library.
© Copyright 1999 Fiddler Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Brian Peters (Folkroots), April, 2002
Contra is a North American style of social dancing not dissimilar to what goes on at “ceilidhs” in England. The dances are walked, many of the moves are the same, but the set runs the length of the room and you are likely to finish the night having danced with everyone there. Having experienced it from both sides of the orchestra pit, I can tell you it’s a lot of fun. Contra originated in New England and utilised music from that area, chiefly reels and jigs from the Anglo-Celtic and French traditions. These days the form has become popular across the breadth of the country – witness this publication from Oregon – and the repertoire is eclectic, drawing on American old-time tunes as well as music played in Quebec, Ireland and Cape Breton. Bands are usually fiddle-based, often with piano supplying the rhythm.
“The Portland Collection” is a clearly laid-out, ring-bound book containing an extremely generous 318 tunes in the repertoire of Songer and Curley’s band, ranging from Playford to Southern mountain fiddle tunes (some crackers here), with fine compositions by the likes of Bertram Levy, Jay Ungar and Marcel Messervier. Although some of the ground is well-trodden (100 Pipers, Jamie Allen, Mason’s Apron), the unfamiliar greatly outnumber the old chestnuts, and superb melodies like “Two Wide Nickels” or Rodney Miller’s “Asher” demand exploration. The authors also provide lengthy notes on the tunes and hints on how they should be played for contra. “The Portland Collection” is already the Bible for several American contradance bands I’ve met. For British musicians with a non-purist approach to repertoire it contains rich pickings and is excellent value.
Even better news is that a CD containing 36 of the tunes is also available and it’s a splendid recording in its own right. With George Penk leading the line on high-class fiddle, and accompanied by the two authors on piano and mandolin or banjo, it provides an object listen in how to play dance music with lift and rhythm, and subtle, unpretentious arrangements. It’s also supremely listenable, and has established squatter’s rights on my player. The book is available in some of the specialist outlets; to order book or CD direct, go to www.theportlandcollection.com.