The Four Albums Moving Me So Far in 2017

I haven't been putting a whole lot of effort into hearing new music this year.  By new I mean music being created now and put out in 2017.  However, there have been at least four albums so far this year that have broken through.

My favorite of those four is We All Break by We All Break.  Primarily a percussion album, We All Break combines traditional Haitian drumming with the avant-garde.  The band/concept of We All Break is the creation of Ches Smith, a New York city based jazz drummer.  Smith recruited Daniel Brevil and Markus Schwartz - two of his early traditional music mentors - to play the rada and petwo tanbou (Haitian drums) alongside adventurous piano player Matt Mitchell.  Ches Smith composed this music for drumset, two hand percussionists and acoustic piano.  The result is one of the best things I've heard in a long time.  I can't stop listening to it!



Another favorite this year is Norman Blake's Brushwood: Songs and Stories.  Norman is one of the most low-profile top-shelf musicians of the last 50+ years.  Now in his late 70's, this collection of 19 tracks is as good as anything he has done in his entire career.  Norman never was as flashy as his flat-picking counterparts like Tony Rice, but now in his elder years he has toned it down even more to a sage-like level of virtuosic, finger-picked minimalism.  For a reclusive, strongly Southern fellow, Blake frequently shares what might be seen as a progressive point of view, although this shouldn't come as a surprise to those that have been listening to his music over the last five decades.  The themes and subjects found on Brushwood are 100% within Blake's "Sulphur Springs" canon.  In that perennial timeline, these mini narratives are of equal value to Ginseng Sullivan, Last Train from Poor Valley, Billy Gray and Slow Train Through Georgia.

Next on my list is Salutations by Conor Oberst.  Over 50% of Salutations is a re-do of 2016's brooding solo demo Ruminations.  All ten songs from Ruminations plus seven additional ones make up Salutations, now with more polished full-band folk-rock arrangements (thanks to the Felice Brothers).  I'm more of a casual Conor Oberst fan than an ardent one, so this is the first recording of his that I have taken notice of since his 2008 self-titled gem.  This one has hooked me in pretty good though.  Taking the time to read along with the lyrics has further increased my appreciation of Salutations/Ruminations.  His use of words warrants comparisons to artistic minds of previous generations.

The only other new recording I can think of that I've been seriously grooving to is by a local Richmond, VA band called Afro-Zen Allstars.  Despite its title, Greatest Hits is the long awaited debut by this 8-piece+ that channels the psychedelic-soul sounds of 1960's/70's Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.  With horns at the forefront, Afro-Zen Allstars' tunes frequently jump out out of the gates with arresting melodies, but also have a way of settling into reflective jams - hence the "zen" part of the band name.  The all star band members are cut and pasted from several renowned RVA groups of the past and present, including Bio Ritmo, No BS! Brass, Hotel X, Rattlemouth, and more.  Sometimes it's best to start hyper-local in your search for music and then branch out from there.



I'm hoping to add more to this list as other new releases creep into perception.

The Richmond Folk Festival is a Different Kind of Music Festival

If folk music is the classic Greenwich Village image of a guy like Bob Dylan or a gal like Joan Baez singing and strumming an acoustic guitar, then I can’t really think of many Richmond Folk Festival performers over the festival’s 11 year history that meet this description.  Peter Rowan maybe.  No, when this festival says "folk" they mean something more like indigenous traditional world music.  It could be multi-generational bluegrass musicians from up in the mountains or music of the Middle East or Eastern Europe.  The kind of stuff a songcatching ethnomusicologist might bring back as field recordings after journeying to far off regions. 

So many festivals are about headliners and featuring hot new acts.  The Richmond Folk Festival is not another Lockn’ or Bonnaroo or even a Newport.  You won’t find Phil Lesh, My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Grace Potter or Dr. Dog on the bill.  Not yet anyway.  There's always hope!  The biggest name or mainstream performer that the Richmond Folk Festival has ever had, best as I can remember, might be Rosanne Cash, and yet the festival regularly draws between 150,000 to 200,000 curious people over its 3 days.

So why do so many people come to a downtown festival featuring a bunch of obscure artists playing weird traditional music that most of us have never even heard or heard of?  Because that’s a very Richmond thing to do, it turns out. Eleven years ago when the festival started, Richmond was just on the cusp of embracing the arts, food and other things enlightened, but a sense of ennui and procrastination still lingered.  It was a complete surprise that so many people showed up and embraced this event from the very first year and it has stayed that way ever since, although it is no longer a surprise.  It's an annual ritual now.  Yay Richmond!

Myself, like a lot of others it seems, have learned to treat the Richmond Folk Festival with a great deal of respect and gratitude; a mature approach that tries to put the music first, and maybe partying second.  Where else can you stumble upon a tent where thousands of people are silently watching an Indian tabla player with rapt attention?  Or have your choice between seeing Native American Smoke Dancers or DJ Grandmaster Flash?  The cool thing is you can find yourself in any of these situations with a cup of craft beer because it is sold throughout the fest and you can take it to any stage and all over the grounds. That helps.

It's not so easy to pigeon-hole the Richmond Folk Festival crowd.  It's not just progressive white folks.  The festival also attracts many African-Americans as well as people from all sorts of different backgrounds and ethnicities, as it should.  If you want diversity – gender, age, race, families, culture – The Richmond Folk Festival brings it. Being walking distance from the thriving campus of VCU, the festival also pulls in a strong college contingent.  

Yep, I’m pretty psyched that we continue to have this festival and that all kinds of people go and support it.  Where would I like to see it evolve?  If possible, I'd love to see it continue to expand the definition of folk music by featuring more artists on the cutting edge or fringes of "traditions" and/or people who are pushing things farther instead of just those who represent retrogrades.  For example, how come they never got Ornette Coleman before he passed away, or Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, or the Sahara Desert rock band Tinariwen, or Bela Fleck, or Kind Sunny Ade, or modern acts with folk roots like The Decemberists or Gillian Welch?  In other words, there is room for both Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis, but more Miles please.  We shall see.

Guitar Legend Bill Frisell will be at the Richmond Jazz Festival on Sunday August 10, 2014!

Bill Frisell

I'm getting psyched about seeing one of my all-time favorite musicians, Bill Frisell, at the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont this weekend!  Bill will be performing with his Beautiful Dreamers trio (Eyvind Kang - viola and Rudy Royston - drums) on the MWV stage at 4:30pm on Sunday 8/10.  Click here for the full Jazz Festival lineup and set times.

Guitarist Bill Frisell's sound has been described by Jazz Times as "instantly identifiable".  Jazz Times goes on to say that his "tone is overwhelmed with reverb and delay, and he's developed the tic of bending the neck after striking a note or chord, in an effort to move those pitches into an unattainable perfect tuning.  Complementing those serene, liquid tone colors is his physical attack, wherein economy is paramount and looping devices are constantly tweaked for purposes of orchestration and atmosphere rather than theatrics."

This one-off performance in Richmond precedes a 5-day stint next week at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in Kilkenny Ireland, where it looks like Bill will sit-in with a wide variety of artists and projects, including a performance of Terry Riley's In C and a set with Irish traditional musicians Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill!  I would love to hear both of those.

Beautiful Dreamers trio

I've only seen Bill once before back in 2008 during his Disfarmer tour, so needless to say I've been geeking out in anticipation by reading interviews and watching videos.  Speaking of interviews, here's a really good interview with Bill Frisell done by his friend, banjoist Danny Barnes, and here's one where Bill interviews one of his own guitar heroes, Jim Hall.

Frisell seems to thrive in unusual, improvisational settings with all sorts of different musicians.  I'm particularly fond of the music made during this February 29th, 2004 performance at the Barbican Theater in London, where he played with Malian musician Djelimady Tounkara.  Here are some videos from that concert:

Bill Frisell seems to be a little outside the smooth jazz and funk that the Richmond Jazz Festival normally features, but then again Bill's going to be a little "outside" of any lineup he is part of.  Perhaps his presence will bring some increased awareness to an already successful and vibrant jazz festival.

The 2013 Richmond Folk Festival - A Saturday Itinerary

The Richmond Folk Festival is a huge annual, free event for the City of Richmond, with around 200,000 people attending each year, requiring lots of walking and navigating through thick crowds of people, but where else can you hear the variety of music that this festival assembles? 

Alash Tuvan Throat Singers

This year there’s music from West Africa, throat singing from Siberia/Mongolia, Afro-Caribbean Garifuna music of Honduras, French-Canadian Québécois, Peruvian dance music, Cajun, Vietnamese and Newfoundland traditional music, Texas Swing, Portuguese Fado, Jamaican Reggae, Latin Jazz, a New Orleans brass band, Chicago blues, Gospel and much, much more.  Not to mention the numerous performers demonstrating our own Appalachian bluegrass and oldtime music.

The Dardanelles

The festival takes place over three days – Friday, Saturday and Sunday; October 11, 12 and 13 – but the proposed itinerary below focuses only on the Saturday schedule.  If you’re just going to go one day, Saturday is probably your best bet, if you can handle the massive throngs of folkies.  Note to those who don't like walking long distances quickly:  this itinerary focuses on performers first and logistics second, preferring to skip from stage to stage as needed rather than staying put in one place to watch whomever might be at that stage.

One could start Saturday at the biggest stage of them all – the Altria stage – for The Dardanelles, a trad ensemble from St. John’s, Newfoundland performing at noon.  When I visited Newfoundland in 2011, I noticed similarities to Irish traditional music, so it’ll be nice to see a group like this perform in a festival setting before a large crowd. 

Stooges Brass Band

Immediately following The Dardenelles, it might be worth sticking around the Altria stage for the following act, Abdoulaye Diabate and Super Mande at 1pm, who will present West African Griot music on kora, balafon, percussion and flute.  Although, first it may be tempting to head over to the MWV stage at 12:45pm for the Tuvan throat singing group called Alash. 

At 2pm there’s an accordion workshop at the Union First Market Bank/University of Richmond stage that looks compelling, but there's also the Stooges Brass Band at 2pm on the Community Foundation Stage.  At 3pm there will be a chance to hear the Knicely Family Band at the Virginia Folklife stage.  I’m a long-time fan of Danny Knicely through his work with Magraw Gap, James Leva and more, but I’ve never seen him with his family band. 

Yves Lambert Trio

The most interesting group performing at 4pm might be the Québécois act Yves Lambert Trio at the Union First Market Bank/University of Richmond stage. Québécois is a style of accordion and fiddle music from Montreal, Quebec, Canada that combines French and Celtic influences.  At 5pm it'll be hard to decide between Cheick Hamala Diabate on the Virginia Folklife stage or The Prusinowski Trio (Polish mazurkas and polkas) at the Community Foundation Stage.  I may choose Cheick Hamala Diabate because he has performed with Bela Fleck and plays both the n’goni (a stringed West African instrument that predates the banjo) and the American 5-string banjo.

Cheick Hamala Diabate (banjo)

Reggae legend Don Carlos plays from 5:30 to 6:30 in the Dance Pavilion, so due to the overlapping times you may have to join his set in progress.  After Don Carlos it might be best to catch your breath by staying put at the Dance Pavilion for the Latin Jazz group the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, who performs at 7pm.

Don Carlos

Finally, you can close out the Saturday schedule by seeing Aurelio Martinez at 8pm at the Community Foundation stage.  Considering my recent interest in Caribbean music, I’m hoping to learn more about Garifuna – a music from the Caribbean coasts of Belize and Honduras that Aurelio Martinez plays a modernized version of. 

Aurelio Martinez

That is just one itinerary for one day.  Several great performers, who will also be playing this same day, have been omitted.  Anyone could go and see an entirely different assortment of acts and still have a great time.  It may be worth coming back on Sunday to catch some of the ones you missed.  For a complete Richmond Folk Festival listing and schedule see here and here.

Traditional Music in Richmond and Ashland, Virginia

Traditional Fiddle Tunes Sound Better Than They Sound!

Richmond, VA seems like a likely place for the nexus of old-time fiddle music and Irish trad.  It's not far from the mountains of Appalachia - a few hours drive to many of the major old-time festivals, such as Clifftop, Galax, Rockbridge and Mt. Airy, where hillbilly music thrives.  Richmond is also a fairly large, urban environment with Washington DC just 2 hours up I-95 North.  Another 40 miles gets you to Baltimore, then beyond that is Philadelphia, New York and Boston.  Celtic traditional music is strong all along this Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region.  Richmond also has its own annual Folk Festival taking place over 3 days each October with attendance around 200,000, making it the biggest folk festival in the country...even bigger than the national one!

Richmond, Virginia

The Richmond Folk Festival certainly hasn't hurt the participation in folk music by regular folks at a local level, and the fiddle music of Appalachia as well as the traditional jigs and reels of Ireland are now very well represented here.  The best examples being the Sunday afternoon old-time jam at Cary St. Cafe near Carytown and the 2nd and 4th Wednesday Irish Session at Rosie Connolly's in the city's Shockoe Bottom district. When combined the music covered between Cary St. and Rosie's is exactly the kind of stuff I want to be playing.  Strangely, (or not surprisingly?), only a couple other folkies besides me attend both of these meetups.  It seems most traditional and roots musicians, while aware of both the Celtic and Appalachian traditions, are either/or.

The reasons a person might voice for not liking Irish or Old-Time music are also the reasons for liking them:  Old-time with its crooked, repetitive, stand-alone tunes, open-tunings, regional quirks, and syncopation.  Irish with its multiple time signatures (4/4, 6/8, 9/8) and tune types (jig, reel, hornpipe, slide), noteyness, tendency toward "unusual" tonal centers like E-dorian, and tune sets of constantly changing keys.  These characteristics are what make each of them great, and what makes them an either/or for the majority of players.

I came to both styles of music at the same time, as a complete outsider, with no family connection, no personal history, and no familiarity with either idiom.  As a result I like both musics almost equally and see more similarities than differences.  I would consider both to be musically complete - containing all the melody and rhythm required when played by a solo instrument, but also conducive to an ensemble format where 20+ players can all play together.

The Blue Ridge Mountains - just west of Charlottesville, VA

Irish and Old-Time each come from aural traditions where you learn by ear and play by heart, forgoing classical training and scales and exercises in favor of simply learning the tunes.  There really aren't any other music communities happening in Richmond where large groups of amateur musicians get together simply for fun to play instrumental folk music in unison without taking "breaks" or solos.  Not blues, not jazz, not bluegrass, not acoustic guitar jams, not ukulele clubs.  Nope - in that respect Old-time and Irish are pretty similar...and valuable.

I cherish both the Cary Street Old-time jam and the Irish session at Rosie's as places to hear each type of music in a pure form from experienced musicians.  Cary St. is like a mini festival jam, where you get to go into a hypnotic, zen-like state for 3+ hours in a Deadhead bar on a Sunday afternoon while the music passes right through you at breakneck speeds.  Meanwhile, the Rosie's session takes place in Richmond's best and most authentic Irish pub, where the craic and the Guinness both flow freely.  Mad amounts of tunes come and go during the course of an evening.  As an ancillary member and newcomer to each of these gatherings, at this point I observe as much as I participate, although with each passing week I hope to understand more.

Call me naive, but I enjoy taking the music that I'm hearing at both of these sessions and introducing it to Ashland, the small town about 15 miles north of Richmond where I live, as part of the Ashland Old-Time Jam and Irish Session, 10am-1pm every 1st and 3rd Saturday in the listening room of Ashland Coffee and Tea, which I helped start earlier this year and continue to host.  I wish I had a better name for this friendly hootenanny.  The terms "Irish" and "Old-Time" seem so narrow and cliche.  Maybe Trad Festival Jam is another way of naming it.  It's that sound you hear at 11pm while walking the grounds of the Rockbrige Mountain Music Festival, combined with energy of the Tuesday night session at Brogan's Pub in Ennis (County Clare) Ireland.  That's what we're searching for and hoping to emulate.

Ashland, Virginia

Anyway, you can think of Ashland as an old-time jam that includes tunes in 6/8 time, and/or as an Irish session where individual tunes are played multiple times through.  The way I see it, both styles cover the tonal center/modes/keys of D, G and A pretty well.  It's not that much to ask of musicians from one tradition or another to come together and open their (beginner's) mind all over again.  Old-time might venture into C while Irish might venture into Eminor and other places.  I play tenor banjo/tenor guitar and I don't re-tune out of standard GDAE tuning, so in that way I suppose I lean slightly Celtic although I find old-time to be a little easier to pick up, for some reason.  Half and half.

I also see the Ashland session as kind of like the minor leagues of jamming.  A welcoming training ground, if you will.  While Cary St. and Rosie's are both open jams and excellent places to familiarize yourself with the nuances of the pure drop, there is a certain level of competence that's expected of the participants.  In Ashland I recognize that not all 5-string banjo players are Bela Fleck or Ken Perlman who can churn out jigs with ease, and also that not all flute players are well versed in obscure Kentucky and West Virginia tunes.  Neither am I for that matter.  But we make it work, and do so with a casual, anything goes type atmosphere:  mixing and matching, favoring repertory over style, but still treating these tunes with sensitivity they deserve.

Richmond Folk Festival Itinerary - October 12-14, 2012

Official Poster - 2012 Richmond Folk Festival

The Richmond Folk Festival is by far my favorite event of the year.  I usually go all three days if I can.  This year’s lineup looks to be great, as always.  In past years I’ve hiked all over the crowded, sprawling grounds paying little attention to the logistics of getting from one stage to the next in an effort to see as much as possible.  This year I’m hoping to streamline that a little bit by creating an itinerary that takes heed of stage locations and minimizes the crossing back and forth over the bridge and walkway to Brown’s Island.

So, to start with, on Friday night I plan to just park myself at the Altria stage for all three of the acts on the main stage that evening and not bother with trying to see anything else.  This will include Irish-American fiddler Liz Carroll who is playing with the Cape Breton fiddler/pianist Troy MacGillivray at 6:30pm, Cuban band Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro at 7:30, and the Morrocan Gnawa music of Hassan Hakmoun at 8:30pm.  I’m not sure what Gnawa is like but it’s described as being a spiritual, trance-like, groove music from West Africa.  Should be interesting.  That’ll do it for Friday.

View of the Altria Stage - Richmond Folk Festival

On Saturday 10/13, I’ll start the day off at noon by returning to the Altria stage for the traditional New Orleans jazz of Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band, before moving on to a second helping of Liz Carroll and Troy MacGillivray at 1pm on the tiny Union First Market Stage.  I’ll then remain north of the rivah for the Blue Ridge guitar picking of Wayne Henderson - 2pm, RTD Folklife stage - before crossing over to Brown’s Island for Iraqi oud player Rahim AlHaj on the MWV stage.  After Rahim, I’ll stay right there at the MWV stage for the World Fiddle Traditions workshop, featuring the fiddlers and/or players of fiddle-like instruments from several of the bands at the festival. 

At 5:15pm it will be time to head back over to the RTF Folklife Stage for bluegrass mandolin legend Jesse McReynolds, before checking out Delta Blues band Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks at 6pm on the Community Foundation stage.  At 7pm, I do not want to miss Ti-Coca et Wanga-Nègès, who play rural Haitian music with accordion and banjo in the band - also on the Community Foundation stage.  I’ll close out Saturday evening with another accordion act on the Community Foundation Stage:  Forró Pé de Serra All Stars, who play forró dance music from Northeast Brazil.  David Byrne once described forró as "a mixture of ska with polka in overdrive".

On Sunday, I’ll be at the Community Idea Stations booth near the Altria stage until 3pm (come by and say hello), but I should be done in plenty of time to make it to Banjo Journey: From Africa to America at 3:30pm on the MWV stage.  After the banjo workshop, I’m going to make the long trek back across the river and up the hill to the Genworth Family Stage to see my buds The Hot Seats make their Richmond Folk Festival debut at 4:15pm.  If I have anything left after that, I’ll try and see a little bit of Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys at 5:30pm on the Community Foundation stage before heading home.

Richmond Folk Festival Map of the festival site

Even with such a detailed schedule, I’m still missing more than half of the artists who will be performing.  For the full list of performers, click here.  Don't forget there’s great food vendors as well and you can walk pretty much anywhere with a beer!  And oh yeah, this festival is free, as in no ticket cost.  That's a pretty good deal.

Old Time Jams and Irish Sessions in Central Virginia

I live near Richmond, VA and fortunately there are many old-time jams and Irish sessions supported by a close-knit and very encouraging traditional music community.  Here are a few of the gatherings that take place on a regular basis.

Ashland Old Time Jam and Irish Session

Celebrating the music of Appalachia, Ireland and beyond, every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 10am to 1pm at Ashland Coffee and Tea, 100 N. Railroad Ave., Ashland, VA 23005!  I co-host with multi-instrumentalist and music instructor Jake Moore.  Think of it as an old-time jam that also plays Irish tunes!  Open to all, from novice to purty good.  Join the Facebook group.  Questions? Contact me.  For more information read this.

Irish Sessions

Rosie Connolly’s Seisiun – Long running Irish session in Richmond’s historic Shockoe Bottom.  Rosie Connolly’s is what I would consider an authentic Irish pub and this jam attracts some seasoned Celtic musicians.  Meets the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays from 8-11pm or so.  RosieConnolly’s Pub and Restaurant – 1548A East Main Street, Richmond, VA.  Rosies’s faces the 17^th Street Farmers Market.  Next to Havana 59.

Rosie Connolly's seisiun

Blue and Grey Brewery Session - Fredericksburg.  This is a lively jam/performance consisting of pub songs (Star of the County Down, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey in the Jar, Tell Me Ma, etc.) and trad tunes like Lilting Banshee, The Butterfly, Rights of Man, and so on. This group is very friendly, social and casual. Musicians set up in the middle of Blue and Grey's Lee's Retreat brewpub and the restaurant's patrons seems to really enjoy the music.  1st Fridays from about 7:30 to 10:30pm, and the occasional Wednesday. 3300 Dill Smith Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22408 in the Bowman Center across from the local fair grounds. About an hour north of Richmond, but only 40-45 minutes from Ashland!

Hiram Haines Celtic Session - Players and listeners of all levels are invited to this session where Celtic tunes of all kinds are played the second Saturday of each month at Hiram Haines Literary Coffee House in Petersburg.  Begins at 7 p.m. and lasts until... pretty late! This session strives to stay as close as possible to the traditional sessions you might enjoy in local pubs in Ireland, but also gives players who do not have a lot of "session experience" an opportunity to learn. For more information, visit the Facebook group called Hiram Haines Celtic Session.  Second Saturdays, 7 p.m. Hiram Haines Literary Coffee House, 12 Bank Street, Petersburg, VA.

Old Time Jams

Cary St. Cafe - This is the place to learn old-time music in Richmond.  A strictly "play-by-ear" environment where some of Richmond's best traditional musicians gather every Sunday.  Cary St. Cafe is a cool Deadhead bar with some of the best pub grub in town.  Newbies are advised to sit in the back row, play quietly, and try to grab a few notes as they fly by.  Every Sunday from 2-5pm.  Cary Street Café – 2631 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA.

Tripp and Jenny from the Cary St. jam

Jahnke Road - This super-sized jam seemingly has all the regional music covered - bluegrass, gospel, country...but old-time fiddlers, clawhammer banjoists and dulcimer players gather in an upstairs room to run through tunebook favorites in the venerable keys of D, G and A.  The second Tuesday of every month.  Jahnke Road Baptist Church, 6023 Jahnke Road, Richmond, VA.  Players are expected to make a small (optional) donation to a collection plate.

Rockwood Park - Attended mostly same group of folkies who are at the Jahnke Rd. old time jam.  This is held in a large room at a nature park and some people just come to listen.  The 4th Tuesday of the month from 7 - 9:30pm at The Nature Center at Chesterfield County’s Rockwood Park - 3401 Courthouse Road, Richmond, VA.

Ukulele Jam

River City Ukulele Society - These ukers works out of a songbook of about 40 classic songs.  The time is spent learning and practicing these songs with the goal of developing a repertoire that everyone will know and play in the same key.  Every 1st and 3rd Tuesday from 7 to 8:30pm at Sam Ash Music, 9110 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA.

For a complete list of jams in Central VA, please see Jim Mahone's Roots and Traditional Music Calendar.