Bonne Humeur by The Etcetera String Band - A Rare Musical Discovery

I love discovering a new band, album or style of music that I know is going to become one of my favorites for a long time to come.  Nowadays, I especially also love it if that discovery is something that is going to influence how and what I play on tenor banjo.  A few weeks ago I came across a previously unheard of recording that is one of the best discoveries I've made in years. That recording is Bonne Humeur by The Etcetera String Band.

The Etcetera String Band (Kevin Sanders and Dennis Pash, with Bob Ault and Pat Ireland) was a string ragtime ensemble from Kansas City active in the 1970's, 80's and 90's. At some point their banjo-mandolin player Dennis Pash began researching early Caribbean music to see if there would be any similarities between ragtime and the music of other places where there were African slaves.  Meanwhile, guitarist Kevin Sanders had taken an interest in the similarities between ragtime and some types of Cuban and Brazilian music.

This pursuit led them to the string band music of Creole Louisiana, Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique and the Virgin Islands.  Early Caribbean dance music blended European structure and melody with African rhythm and syncopation.  Bonne Humeur is their attempt to provide a sampling of instrumental string band music from various "New World Afro-French traditions": the meringue, beguine, paseo, coonjaille and more.  It is the only recording they made like this and I don't know of any others by anyone else quite like it.

On about half the tracks they had only written sources to work from - such as a basic melody-line from old books and folios like Slave Songs of the United States and Bayou Ballads, adding accompaniment and rhythm based on what they could surmise from recordings of related music. In other cases they worked from compositions by composers in the style such as Arthur Duroseau, Lionel Belasco and Ludovic Lamonthe.  Look those guys up.  Many books and recordings are referenced in Bonne Humeur's extensive liner notes and bibliography, so I have a lot more to learn about this subject.

The album features just Kevin Sanders and Dennis Pash, but they each play a wide variety of instruments to reconstruct the sound they envisioned these early string bands as having: Sanders on guitar, banjo-uke, trumpet and percussion, and Pash on mandolins, 4 and 5 string banjos, banjo-uke, accordion, pennywhistles, mbira, drums and percussion.  What I love about Bonne Humeur is it takes the "island" sound I became fond of through Jamaican Mento and puts it in the format of instrumental AA/BB tunes, which is the kind of music I like to play.

I'm currently working with a music transcriber named Nick DiSebastian to document the Etcetera String Band's arrangements in notation and mandolin tab, so as to more accurately begin playing them on tenor banjo (unfortunately I don't quite have the ear to do this on my own, but thankfully there are folks like Nick who can do this for a reasonable rate).  So far, Nick has transcribed 6 of the tunes and I'm impressed at the accuracy of his transcriptions and at how well these tunes sit on GDAE tuned tenor banjo.  That's probably a result of Dennis Pash being a banjo-mandolinist.  The melodies are no more complex than the Irish and Appalachian music I'm used to, and require less embellishment.

Finding more music of this sort would be great, but I haven't had much luck so far.  Kevin Sanders' new band The Rhythmia does a few of these kinds of tunes on each of their two albums, and I highly recommend those.  To hear more of Dennis Pash, check out his new band The Ragtime Skedaddlers, in which he presents ragtime banjo-mandolin about as good as it can possibly be done.  The videos I've included in this post are tunes from the Bonne Humeur album featuring Etcetera String Band alumni.  I think Bonne Humeur originally came out in 1990, although, sadly, it is now out print. However, you may be able to get a copy of it by contacting Kevin Sanders directly, as I did.

Old-Time Fiddle Tune PDFs - Rich Crew's Tune Book

There are a lot of places online where you can find the sheet music notation for fiddle tunes, but one I'd like to point out is Rich Crew's Tune Book.  Rich's list represents what gets played in North Georgia, but it overlaps quite a bit with the tunes I hear people play in Central Virginia.  Each link points to a PDF file for the tune.

Dr. Richard Crew

These include:
Bull at the Wagon

Camp Meeting on the Fourth of July
Caterpillar sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine
Coleman's March
Cuffie
The Falls of Richmond
Half Past Four
Hunt the Buffalo
Icy Mountain
I'll Learn You How To Rock, Andy
Indian Ate a Woodchuck
Jeff Davis
Jimmy in the Swamp
Lost Girl
Martha Campbell
The Needle Case
Polecat Blues
Santa Anna's Retreat
Sarah Armstrong (The Old Tarheel)
Valley Forge
Walkin' Down Georgia Row

As Rich says, "the written sources are only a rough indication of what actually gets played. I have made only the most minimal indications of double-stops, and have omitted the unisons, slides, and other noises that are an essential part of the Southern fiddle tradition." 

Hammer No More the Fingers Returns to the Annual Daniel

Hammer No More the Fingers - photo by Allison Springer

It's Hammer time!  Hammer No More the Fingers returns to the Annual Daniel this Saturday, August 24 - site of some of their most inspired performances and receptive audiences.  This time it might be a little different, because lately it seems like the Hammer thing has been put on the backburner while the band members pursue solo musical endeavors.

HMNtF bassist Duncan Webster has been turning his attention to acoustic guitar in a stripped down, plaintive duo with cellist Leah Gibson called Prypyat.  Guitarist Joe Hall has just released an excellent album Blanko Basnet and has been playing shows under that name with a band consisting of Brad Cook (Megafaun), Matt Peterson (Canine Heart Sounds) and Hammer bandmate Jeff Stickley on drums.  Meanwhile, Jeff Stickley has returned to his first love - Americana music - by flatpicking guitar in an all star pick-up bluegrass band called Mason's Apron.

Exploring these other styles of music and formats has got to be a healthy diversion for these guys, allowing them to bring in new skills and understanding when they re-convene as Hammer No More the Fingers. I'm looking forward to seeing how this expanded know-how might be fulfilled when Hammer plays this Saturday on familiar turf.

However, one thing that's so great about the Annual Daniel is the line between performer and spectator, between entertainer and the entertained, is so blurred that there's no pressure to "perform" in the traditional sense.  It's this freedom that allows artists to flourish in that environment.  Tara Mills and Yankee Dixie and Supatight are also scheduled to be at the A.D.

Hammer No More the Fingers - "Vodka Grasshopper" and "The Visitor" - Shakori Hills 10/9/11

  

Why Tenor Banjo?

Ten reasons why you might want to consider playing the tenor banjo.

#1 - Banjo sound
It is a banjo after all!  It exudes that banjo sound that we all love.

#2 - Versatility
The tenor banjo is most prominently used in Irish traditional music and early jazz, but is also found in Klezmer music, Jamaican Mento, Scandinavian music, pre-WWII American stringbands, jugbands and more.

#3 - One octave lower than a mandolin/fiddle.
The way I tune it is, at least - GDAE.  This means that mandolin music and/or fiddle tunes fit well under the fingers.

#4 - Tuned in 5ths
The tuning in intervals of 5ths is a very intuitive, symmetrical tuning.  Patterns are easily recognizable and repeatable.  None of those pesky 4th, 3rd and back to 4th intervals like on a ukulele.

#5 - You use a pick
 You get to use a guitar pick to pluck the strings, not something as unnatural as a bow or as blistering as your own skin, or picks on the ends of your fingers like a bluegrass banjo player.

#6 - It's got 4 strings
Yeah, a guitar has six strings. But you've only got 4 fingers.  Something doesn't add up there.  4-strings equals one finger per string.  Makes sense.

#7 - Scale Length
The shorter scale banjo mandolin is too shrill and unplayable.  The longer scale plectrum banjo is too much of a stretch.  The tenor banjo is just right!

#8 - You don't have to re-tune for each key
Wanna play a tune in D while we're in the key of A?  You won't hear any complaints from a tenor banjo player.  He/she is ready for any key, even Bb!

#9 - Melody  maker

The tenor banjo makes playing melodies a breeze.  Are you able to hum or whistle a nursery rhyme?  Then you can easily pick out the melody on tenor banjo.  It's got rhythm too, just ask any Dixieland banjo player.

#10 - Obscurity
You won't be just another guitar player or fiddler.  You're free to play whatever you want, however you want.  And when people assume that your banjo has five strings and tell you that they love bluegrass, or say that they understand that banjo is one of the hardest instruments, you can confuse or regale them by saying that your banjo only has 4 strings and it's actually more like playing mandolin than the banjo they are thinking of.

Joe Hall is Blanko Basnet

Musician Joe Hall

Joe Hall, the guitarist for the Durham, NC based rock band Hammer No More the Fingers, has released an album under the name Blanko Basnet.  Hall wrote and composed all of the lyrics and music for the album and acts as bandleader.  My initial response to Blanko Basnet was a positive one.  It is more atmospheric than his work with HNMTF, somewhat reminiscent of the band Porcupine Tree if anyone remembers them.  It would go well with a cup of mushroom tea.

The album consists of 11 different tracks, but sounds more like one complete whole – a psychedelic symphony – with the different songs serving as sections or movements within the full piece. Hall uses his vocals to great effect – not just to sing or express the lyrics, but as a musical instrument on equal footing with the rhythm, melody and percussion instruments that it intersects with.  The music shifts and fluctuates throughout, but the timbre of Hall’s voice remains a constant, creating a dichotomy between change and permanence. 

Blakno Basnet album cover

One of my favorite moments on the album comes on track five Father, where it feels like Hall has temporarily passed on the baton to a band of robots that takes everything over for a few moments, before relinquishing their grasp on the music.  

I’m pleased to see Joe Hall’s artistic vision take front and center with Blanko Basnet, and hope that it will allow him to pursue a more prominent role in Hammer, and/or inspire him to continue down this creative path in his solo career.  Below is a video for the song Layabout.

Review: Cracker Acoustic Duo at Ashland Coffee and Tea

So, I saw the Cracker acoustic duo again the other night at Ashland Coffee and Tea – AKA David Lowery and Johnny Hickman of the band Cracker.  I saw them there 2 or 3 years ago as well.  Both shows were great, although I think I liked the first time better simply because of the novelty of it.

Cracker (Johnny Hickman and David Lowery L to R) on 8/16/13

I’m not really even a Cracker fan.  I was barely aware of their radio hits in the 90’s (Low, Teen Angst [What the World Needs Now], Get Off This and Euro-Trash Girl).  I was a Leftover Salmon fan, so when Leftover collaborated with Cracker on what was sort of like a Cracker’s greatest hits album (Oh Cracker Where Art Thou), I got that CD and it remains one of my all-time favorites.  But that’s pretty much the extent of my Cracker listening.  I have listened to some Camper Van Beethoven though!

I don’t really have any association or history with the versions of the songs that Cracker recorded on their actual albums; if it wasn’t on that Leftover Salmon album I am probably not familiar with the song at all.  Basically, my main impression of Cracker and their songs is from what I’ve been exposed to in these two live performances in a very small room, which I suspect is different than the experience of most Cracker fans who owned their early albums like Cracker and Kerosene Hat and/or who have been there for multiple decades. 

Because of this, it seems sort of weird that I would have liked the two shows so much.  Stripped down to just the two of them on stage, without any apparent baggage of their past rock n’ roll life or fame, my experience was just of a couple dudes ready to deliver some really great songs.  David Lowery’s cynical lyrics are deceptively wise - I like where he's coming from, and Johnny Hickman’s guitar playing is remarkably good, even if it is a little show-offish for my typical taste.

David Lowery and Johnny Hickman of Cracker

I guess the point I’m trying to make is these could have been any two guys up there on stage, giving their songs a shot.  The fact that these guys happen to be relatively famous rock stars who were playing in front of sell out crowds both times, doesn’t really change the fact that they still had to prove their worth on the spot to me, a guy unfamiliar with their work, same as two unknowns playing for a few bucks at the bar across the street would have had to do. 

From the instant I first saw them I could tell these guys were pros, which made me want to go back the next time they played this local venue, even though I never got around to listening to any Cracker albums in between.  I can't remember if they did Loser last time - the Garcia/Hunter song that Jerry performed in the Grateful Dead - but they did it this time as the 3rd song out and it was awesome!

The Annual Daniel is this weekend!

The Annual Daniel

Some friends of mine have a nice little spot in Draper,VA along where the New River turns into Claytor Lake, and each year they host a party/unofficial music festival called The Annual Daniel.  This year’s celebration has been pushed back to late August due to all the rain and flooding they’ve been having.

Three bands will play on Saturday, August 24, 2013.  One hundred percent of your cash donation of $10, $20 or more will go toward these artists:

Tara Mills and Yankee Dixie - blending folk, bluegrass and Americana.

Supatight - funk with elements of reggae, soul, jazz, and comedic country.

Hammer No More the Fingers - an insanely good, unique rock trio with a dynamic live show.  HNMTF has played the A.D. multiple times.

Hammer No More the Fingers

The Annual Daniel is like a house concert gone wild!  Friends, family and friends-to-be bring food and drink to share, set up camp on the property, and hang out for a night or two.  The more the merrier, however if you plan on attending please carpool since parking space is limited.  1751 Shulls Lane (AKA River Rat Drive), Draper, VA 24324.  Good luck finding your way there!