G for Gordy (mp3) (pdf)
The annual Burning Bright holiday concert occurred last Saturday at the Decorah United Methodist Church. Two performances of lovely and unusual seasonal music were presented by a wonderfully talented cast of local musicians under the direction of Kathy Reed-Maxfield and Otter Dreaming. Erik Sessions and I are usually invited to perform a set of tunes and this year we played a medley of two tunes that have appeared in this blog, Harvest Stomp and Raccoon in the Bird Feeder.
During the 2006 Burning Bright concert Erik and I, along with our friend Beth Rotto on piano, played a new waltz of mine that I titled "G for Gordy." The recording here is from that concert. Both the tune and the performance are dedicated to the memory of our friend Gordy MacMasters who passed away in 2006. I won't pretend to give Gordy his due here but there wasn't a nicer guy in the world and I suspect that no one has ever played the saw with more emotion than he did. The tune's title comes from Gordy's habit of calling out the key of a tune. "C for Charlie" he'd say with that big smile.
This entry will be the last one for 2007 and I plan on taking a few weeks off before starting to post in 2008. More tunes to come...
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