Most evenings Laura and I will spend at least an hour playing some tunes and practicing together. On 4/30/13 and 5/1/13 I recorded those practice sessions using my Olympus LS-14 digital recorder. I placed the recorder on the coffee table in front of us, in between our two instruments, and recorded live with no overdubs or editing of any kind. Here are some excerpts from those recordings.
Shoes and Stockings - an oldtime tune in G that I heard on some Alan Jabbour and Bertram Levy recordings. It's also played at the Cary St. Cafe Oldtime jam. Currently one of my favorite tunes. I play tenor banjo and Laura plays baritone uke.
I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave - a great Irish jig in D (as if there aren't enough of those). Mick Moloney plays tenor banjo on it on the CD Live at Mona's. I'm playing tenor banjo and Laura is playing bodhran.
Saturday Night Breakdown - a ragtimey oldtime tune in C (aren't all fiddle tunes in C sorta ragtimey?) that I got out of the All-In-One-Jam book from Celestial Mountain Music. I play tenor guitar and Laura is playing her concert scale uke since this is in the key of C.
Paddy Has Gone to France - a short Irish reel from Brian Connolly's book "Play Tunes on the Irish Tenor Banjo". I managed to get in a few triplets! Speed this one up to 140% and it almost sounds like we know what we're doing. Laura on bodhran, and me on tenor banjo.
Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine - a hypnotic oldtime tune in the key of D, with a subtle change in the B-part as it switches from D to A. This take is sort of a merger of the Portland Play Along Selection version and Steve Kaufman's arrangement. More people need to play this one. I'm on tenor guitar and Laura plays baritone ukulele.
The Eavesdropper - Irish jig in G. This also comes from that Brian Connolly tutor. I like to pair this jig with I Buried My Wife. This recording was actually made on 4/16/13. I'm playing tenor banjo and Laura is playing bodhran.
Home with the Girls in the Morning - dark oldtime tune in Dminor. Recorded 5/1/13. I heard this tune being played at the Cary St. Cafe oldtime jam and then looked it up and learned it. Laura is playing concert scale ukulele since this is in Dminor, and I'm playing tenor guitar.
Humours of Tullycrine - Irish hornpipe/march in Aminor from County Clare. Heard this tune on a Cillian and Nial Vallely CD and had to learn it. Found a slightly different arrangement on Mel Bay's Mandolin Sessions by Michael Gregory. I play tenor banjo and Laura plays baritone uke. Recorded 4/30/13.
No comments:
Post a Comment