Postcards From the Crater: nos. 9 & 10

Postcards From the Crater no. 9: Dunning's Spring Falls (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)
Postcards From the Crater no. 10: Dug Road (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)

As promised in my last post, here are the final two pieces from my new collection. A handful of very observant mandolinists may recognize postcard no. 10, here titled "Dug Road." It appears in my Midwestern Mandolin Duos publication, arranged for two mandolins, as "Divertimento in G." Here it is presented as a solo piece in the key of C.

I'll be packing up a box of these books to take out to Valley Forge this week for the CMSA convention. I hope to leave a few of them behind in the hands of friendly mandolin, mandola and mandocello players. If you are at convention stop by and take a look.

Postcards From the Crater: nos. 5 & 7

Postcards From the Crater no. 5: Pines West (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)
Postcards From the Crater no. 7: Lower Palisades (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)

My plan is to make recordings of all 10 of these Postcards available before the Classical Mandolin Society of America annual convention convenes outside of Philadelphia next week. I will have copies of my new Postcards From the Crater book for sale there and I want to be able to point to these recordings when people ask where they can hear how the pieces might sound. I intend to post the final 2 Postcards early next week before I head out to Valley Forge.

I will have plenty of copies of the book with me at the convention, even a few copies in alto clef for CGDA mandola players and bass clef for mandocellists. (Octave mandolin/mandola players can always just play from the standard treble clef edition.) Hopefully I won't be bringing as many copies home as I take with me. Did I mention that the new book will cost a mere $10?

The photo above was taken a few years ago while walking on the stretch of road I consider the "lower palisades", a little earlier in the Fall.

Postcards From the Crater: nos: 3 & 4

Postcards From the Crater no. 3: Phelps Park Bandshell (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)
Postcards From the Crater no. 4: Twin Springs Meadow (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)

Here are two more recordings of Postcards from the new book. I played these, along with the other eight, at Java John's on Tuesday night. Here's the setlist from that gig:

Java John’s solo mandolin, October 18, 2016

Set 1

1. Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa (Goodin) / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Divertimento II for solo mandolin

3. Postcards From the Crater no. 1: Twin Bridges

4. Deer Track, June 9, 2013 / Hogwart’s Express / Highlandville, May 2004

5. Postcards From the Crater no. 2: Butterfly Prairie

6. Telemann: Menuets 1728 – no. 4 & 14 (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)

7. St. Louis Railyard

8. Postcards From the Crater no. 3: Phelps Park Bandshell

9. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Capsicum

10. Postcards From the Crater no. 4: Twin Springs Meadow

11. Alice’s Garden

12. Postcards From the Crater no. 5: Pines West

                                                           Set 2

1. Postcards From the Crater no. 6: Ice Cave Road

2. Sauli: Partita for Mandolin III (Filippo Sauli, c. 1710)

3. Postcards From the Crater no. 7: Lower Palisades

3. Bach: Bourees I & II, 3^rd Cello Suite (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)

4. Postcards From the Crater no. 8: The Mighty Oak

5. Deer Track October 2002

6. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Ambrosia

7. Postcards From the Crater no. 9: Dunning’s Spring Falls

8. Telemann: Menuets 1728 – no. 1 & 2

9. Postcards From the Crater no. 10: Dug Road

Thanks to everyone who came out to JJ's to hear the music, whether intentionally or not.

Postcards From the Crater: nos. 1 & 2

Postcards From the Crater no. 1: Twin Bridges (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)
Postcards From the Crater no. 2: Butterfly Prairie (pt. 1 mp3) (pt. 2 mp3) (pt. 3 mp3)

Here is a second installment of Postcards sound recordings. I hope to post the remaining 6 by the end of the month.

As stated in my previous post, these are short pieces modeled after James Oswald's 18th century divertimentos for "guittar" and titled after some of my favorite places here in the Decorah area.

The photo above was taken in July 2015 while walking our dog in what is officially known as the Community Prairie and Butterfly Garden.

I'll be playing all ten of these Postcards tomorrow night at Java John's Coffee House, along with music by James Oswald and others, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Drop by if you would like to hear some solo mandolin music.

Postcards from the Crater previews

Postcards from the Crater no. 8: The Mighty Oak (1st pt. mp3) (2nd pt. mp3) (3rd pt. mp3)
Postcards from the Crater no. 6: Ice Cave Road (1st pt. mp3) (2nd pt. mp3) (3rd pt. mp3)

Early in 2016 I started writing short pieces modeled after the Divertimentos that James Oswald composed and published in the 1750s in London. At this point I have nine of these pieces that I like well enough to share, each with three short movements.

I've been playing them before or after Oswald's own pieces during my solo mandolin coffee house gigs this year and now my plan is to turn them into a small book that I intend to have available at the Classical Mandolin Society of America annual convention in Valley Forge, early next month.

I recorded a couple of these this morning and I'm posting them here as a start towards recording them all before the book is published. Musicians often ask if there are sound files to go with my books and I haven't usually taken the time (and it does take me some time to create acceptable recordings) to do that.

Postcards from the Crater is the working title for the collection. This is a breakthrough for me because creating titles is a constant problem and I was quite pleased when this popped into my mind. A couple of years ago we learned that our little town sits on top of a meteorite crater, you can read more about it here.

Using the Crater as a way to gather the pieces under one meteoric umbrella allows me to think about titles for each individual divertimento. I still have a couple of weeks before I have to finalize those titles so for this blog I will use the numbers that I currently have for them.

So here are recordings of Postcards no. 8 and no. 6. I should mention that all of these pieces will be easy to intermediate in their difficulty and they should equally fun to play on the fiddle. See what you think.....

Maple Syrup Cow / Summer Kitchen Waffle Time

Maple Syrup Cow / Summer Kitchen Waffle Time (mp3) (Maple pdf) (Waffle pdf)

Two recently composed dance tunes with a breakfast theme, played a little below dance tempo, with a few more mistakes than usual.

August was a great month for music. I was lucky enough to play for contra dances every Saturday night: twice at Tapestry, once at the Seed Savers barn and once for hundreds of brand new First Year students at Luther College. In addition I was honored to play at a country wedding and enjoyed another of my monthly solo mandolin gigs at Java John's.

The first tune was finished early in the summer and the second was written the morning after Nordic Fest ended. A number of my musician friends already have this tune with the title "July 31, 2016." It's current title came to me after a tasty meal during a recent visit to Door County, WI. (See photo above)

Speaking of Java John's, here's my setlist from Wed., August 24 (the night after the 8 inch rainfall in Decorah, which delivered our second 500 year flood in less than 10 years):

Java John’s solo mandolin, August 24, 2016

Set 1

1. Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa (Goodin) / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Ambrosia

3. Blake: Bright Days (Norman Blake, 1938- )

4. Playford Tunes: George’s Maggot / Chestnut (from the Dancing Master, 1651-1728)

5. O’Carolan : Hewlett / Carolan’s Concerto (Turlough O’Carolan, 1670-1738)

6. St. Louis Railyard

7. Telemann: Menuets 1728 – no. 17 & 15 (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)

8. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Capsicum

9. O’Carolan: Lament / Morgan Megan

10. Unbelievable

                                                           Set 2

1. August Deer Tracks: August 18, 2002; August 2002; August 31, 2009

2. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Arbutus

3. The North Georgia Hills

4. English Guittar music: Andante (F.T. Schumann) / Allegro (R. Straube) / Minuet (R. Bremner) / Allegretto (E. Light)

5. Playford Tunes: The Happy Marriage / The Last New Vagaries

6. August 2, 2013 / August 7, 2016

7. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Candy-Tuft

8. O’Carolan: Carolan’s Draught / Planxty George Brabazon, no. 2

9. Telemann: Menuets 1728 – no. 3 & 4

10. Maple Syrup Cow / Summer Kitchen Waffle Time

As you can see I gave the Italian composers a rest and focused mostly on music from the British Isles; Oswald, O'Carolan and tunes from the Playford collections. My next scheduled Java John's date is Wednesday, Sept. 21. Drop in if you feel like it. I haven't thought too much about the musical menu beyond wanting to play some more of the Oswald "Airs for the Seasons."

Before September 21 I have a couple of dances to play with Foot-Notes, including a special fundraiser for repair of the Highlandville Schoolhouse. If you can't make it to this event please consider a donation to this most worthy cause. I also am looking forward to joining Pat's Propellers at the Squirrel Moon Contra and Square Dance Weekend, Sept. 16-18. Who knows, today's tunes might make an appearance there.

  

Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa

Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa (mp3) (pdf)

Dave Swarbrick left this world on June 3, 2016 (a few hours before Muhammed Ali) and I wrote this tune in response later that same day. I've been listening to his music since around 1970, starting with Fairport Convention, then going back to those incredible records with Martin Carthy and on into his later work. I can't claim to have heard everything he ever recorded but I never heard anything from him that wasn't inspiring.

I was lucky to have seen him play in person twice in Bloomington, Indiana (I think, but maybe it was in Louisville), sometime in the late 70s-early 80s. Once with Martin Carthy and once with Simon Nicol. Both shows were brilliant. Recently I have been especially inspired by the collection of tunes he composed for Duncan Wood, recorded under the title Swarbtricks (2013).

I struggled with what to use for a title for this tune because I feel like his actual friends should have the right to use most of the titles I came up with: "Swarb" (I'm looking forward to that being a great tune) or "Swarbrick" or "Letter to Swarb" or "Swarb's Second Obit", etc. So, I came up with this title with an Iowa reference. It's a little ironic because the tune was actually written in Carrboro, NC, but Iowa was its intended home.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the tune. Take a little time if you can and listen to some of the real thing. There are plenty of recordings and videos to hear and watch. One of my favorites is the early recording Rags, Reels, and Airs, which also happens to feature lots of great mandolin playing.

The photo above is from a recent auction catalog where it was accompanied by this description:

An early 20th Century Gibson A1 Mandolin, previously owned by, toured, and recorded with Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention), purchased from him by the current owners late father, complete with strap, later fitted pick up (Headway - Needs pre amp) embossed strap and hard case featuring "Fairport" lettering and cloth cover. Email from "Swarb" to him in 2012, stating "If I play Mandolin with martin, fairport, anybody in fact its this one.....never recorded with any other instrument"

Box Elder Stomp, live from Java John's, 7-13-16

Box Elder Stomp (mp3) (pdf)

One more recording from my July solo mandolin night at Java John's. This one is a solo version of a tune that Contratopia recorded on our Smitten CD long ago in combination with another swing-style tune called Lucy's Stroll.

The Box Elder Stomp is a fairly straightforward blues in G. Playing it solo allows me to wander a bit, for good or ill, and I enjoyed playing the tune quite a bit that night. Special thanks goes out to the Mystery Whistler at the finish. (I think I know who you are but I don't want to reveal your identity to the world just yet.)

The sheet music presented here includes the lead sheet for both tunes. Check out the Contratopia recording for further guidance.

Thanks once again to all the folks who have been turning out for these solo mandolin gigs. I love doing them. The next one will be on Wednesday August 24, stop by if you are in Decorah that night.

Woodhaven, solo version live from Java John's

Woodhaven (mp3, solo version) (pdf)

Another live recording from Java John's last week. I played this tune as the final number of the evening. I originally posted a recording of the two part version of this piece back in July 2008 but it works fine as a solo piece also. 

The photo above was taken in August 2009 near Blanchard, Maine, not too many miles away from where this music was first written down. The recording was done with my now vintage Zoom H4 recorder using the built-in mics, direct to mp3 at 320kbps and lightly edited using an even more vintage version Sound Forge Studio.

Java John's, July 13, 2016 Solo Mandolin

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (mp3) (live from JJ's)

I had yet another great time playing solo at Java John's in Decorah last Wednesday. I'll post the setlist below. I managed to play everything on the list except that I only played the slow movement of the Majo sonata.

I recorded the gig, audience conversations and all, for the first time. It's always enlightening to hear a live recording of yourself.

I've taken the unusual step of including a recording of a tune I didn't write this time. (If only I could write a tune one-tenth as good as this one!) It's far, far from perfect but I like the feeling of it and I think some readers may enjoy it also. I'm using a lead sheet but you can tell that I'm also improvising a bit.

(Hopefully you can get past the noise of the folks in the back of the room. They meant no harm, it's not a concert venue. There were several other folks listening quite intently though.)

Java John’s solo mandolin, July 13, 2016

Set 1
1. Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa (Goodin) / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)
2. Oswald: Divertimento XI for solo mandolin
3. Scarlatti: Sonata K.90, 3. Siciliana - 4. Allegro (Domenico Scarlatti, 1685-1757)
4. French Creek Waltz
5. Sauli: Partita for Mandolin II, 1. Prelude - 2. Allemande - 3. Sarabanda (Filippo Sauli, c. 1710)
6. St. Louis Railyard
7. Telemann: Sonata no. 4 (1715), Allegro (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)
8. July 23, 2004 / July 1, 2004
9. Sauli: Partita for Mandolin II, 4. Corrente - 5. Gigue
10. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Eric Maschwitz & Manning Sherwin)

Set 2
1. July Deer Tracks: July 1, 2002; July 2, 2003; July 8, 2013
2. Oswald: Divertimento XII
3. Lanterns On the River
4. Sauli: Partita for Mandolin II, 6. Gavotte – 7. Menuete
5. Playford Tunes (from the Dancing Master, 1651-1728)
6. Jigs: July 2, 2013 / July 11, 2005
7. Majo: Sonata per Mandolino e basso (Gian Francesco de Majo, 1732-1770)
8. Box Elder Stomp
9. Telemann: Menuets 1730 – no. 11 & 17 (p.66-67)
10. The Rights of Man (trad.) / Gilderoy (trad.) / Grace Hay’s Delight
11. Woodhaven

Java John's Wednesday, June 15, 2016 & Johnny's Gone Fishing, Carrboro, NC, Sunday, June 5

I had a great time last night at Java John's playing solo for a special bunch of folks. Here's the setlist:

Java John’s solo mandolin, June 15, 2016

Set 1

1. Swarbrick (Goodin) / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / The Rights of Man (trad.) / Gilderoy (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Divertimento III

3. Scarlatti: Sonata K.81, 1. Grave / 2. Allegro (Domenico Scarlatti, 1685-1757)

4. June 6, 2015

5. Foot-Notes set: Orevalsen / Thore’s Schottische / Skurdalsdansen

6. Goodin: Divertimento 2016, no. 5

7. Telemann: Bouree & Passpied (1715) (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)

8. June 2014 waltz no. 3

9. J.S. Bach: Allemande, Partita II for solo violin (BWV 1004) (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)

10. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Eric Maschwitz & Manning Sherwin)

11. Unbelievable

                                                           Set 2

1. June Deer Tracks: June 13-15, June 9, June 24, June 8, 2013; June 25, 2003

2. June 2014 waltz no. 2

3. Oswald: Divertimento IX

4. Six Solos, Summer 2006 (not performed, not enough time)

5. Red Hawk Schottische / June 16, 2011

6. Scarlatti: Sonata K.89, 1. Allegro

7. June 2014 waltz no. 1

8. No Questions Asked

9. Telemann: Menuets 1728 – no. 4 & 14

10. Riding on the City of New Orleans, June 24, 2011 (jig/jig/reel)

I also had a great time playing a Sunday brunch gig at Johnny's in Carrboro back on June 5. It's a wonderful place to play and I hope to get back there sometime. Here's the setlist from that gig:

Johnny’s Gone Fishing solo mandolin, June 5, 2016

Set 1

1. Swarbrick (Goodin) / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / The Rights of Man (trad.) / Gilderoy (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Divertimento VI

3. Contratopia Waltz Set: Smitten (Goodin) /South of France (Goodin) /Ms. P’s Waltz (Erik Sessions)

5. Goodin: Divertimento 2016, no. 3

6. Foot-Notes set: Orevalsen / Thore’s Schottische / Skurdalsdansen

7. Telemann: Adagio from Sonata No. 1 (1728) / Menuet No. 46 (1728) (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767) (p.42-43)

8. June 6, 2015

9. Deer Track: June 8, 2013 (p.19)

10. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Johnny Burke & Jimmy Van Heusen)

11. Unbelievable

                                                           Set 2

1. Soldier’s Joy / Red-Haired Boy / Squirrel Hunters  (all trad.)

2. Majo: Sonata per Mandolino e basso (Gian Francesco de Majo, 1732-1770)

3. Contratopia Jig Set: Sweet Music (Sessions) / Why Ted Flies / Books and Ladders

4. Oswald: Divertimento VIII

5. Red Hawk Schottische / June 16, 2011

6. Sonata in L(ou)

7. Carolan’s Draught / Planxty George Brabazon #2 (Turlough O’Carolan, 1670-1738)

8. No Questions Asked

9. Telemann: Menuets 1730 – no. 24 & 29 (p. 68-69)

10. Deer Track: June 9, 2013 (p. 24)

11. Palmer’s House

I'll be back at Java John's on Wednesday, July 13. Drop in.

  

  

Deer Track, June 13-15, 2013

Deer Track, June 13-15, 2013 (mp3) (pdf)

As I prepared for my solo mandolin gig at Java John's tonight I dug out this previously unrecorded Deer Track piece from the summer of 2013. I was writing one almost every day, thanks to my Kickstarter friends, and this one didn't make the cut for the final recording. Since today is June 15 it seems like a good choice.

I will try and work this piece into a set of June Deer Tracks that I will play tonight at JJ's.

Java John's, solo mandolin, May 18, 2016

(photo courtesy of Trish Finn)

I had another fine time last night playing solo mandolin for the local cognoscenti at Java John's. Here's the list of music:

Java John's solo mandolin, May 18, 2016

Set 1

1. O’Neill’s Favorite /Old French / Morpeth Rant / Gilderoy (trad.)/Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Scarlatti: Sonata K.81, 4. Allegro (Domenico Scarlatti, 1685-1757)

3. Oswald: Divertimento II (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

4. Contratopia Waltz Set: Smitten/South of France/Ms. P’s Waltz (Erik Sessions)

5. Goodin: Divertimento 2016, no. 2

6. Foot-Notes set: Orevalsen / Thore’s Shottische / Skurdalsdansen

7. Goslings Afloat

8. Telemann: Sonata No. 1 for violin (1715), Allegro (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)

9. Deer Track May 8-9, 2012

10. Green to Brown, All Over Town / Fred Picknell’s March (Andy May)

Set 2

1. May Tunes: May 30, 2007 / May 17, 2016 / May Frost / May 15, 2015 / Highlandville, May 14, 2004  

2. Majo: Sonata per Mandolino e basso (Gian Francesco de Majo, 1732-1770)

3. Contratopia Jig Set: Sweet Music (Sessions) / Why Ted Flies / Books and Ladders

4. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Johnny Burke & Jimmy Van Heusen)

5. Oswald: Divertimento IV

6. Telemann: Menuets 1730 – no. 31 & 43

7. St. Louis Railyard

8. Deer Track May 19, 2013

9. Scarlatti Sonata K.90, 3. Siciliana & 4. Allegro

10. Palmer’s House / The Old White House

I'm scheduled to do this again on Wednesdays in June (15th) and July (13th). Stop by if you are in town. 

I'm also taking this show on the road to North Carolina soon. I'll be playing a similar mix of classical and folk music at Johnny's Gone Fishing, the great coffee shop in Carrboro, for Sunday brunch, from 11:00-1:00, on June 5.

Java John's, solo mandolin tonight, April 20, 2016

(photo courtesy of Trish Finn)

Playing solo mandolin at Java John's Coffee House here in Decorah tonight from 7:00-9:00.

Here's the preliminary setlist:

Java John's solo mandolin, April 20, 2016

Set 1

O’Neill’s Favorite /Old French / Morpeth Rant / Gilderoy

Carolan’s Concerto

Oswald Divertimento X

Goodin Divertimento 2016, no. 4

No Questions Asked

Sonata in L(ou)

Telemann Menuets

Bach Cello Suite no. 1 – Allemande / Corrente

Deer Track June 25, 2003 / Bob’s Angels / Jaunty Ted / Why Ted Flies / Books and Ladders

Set 2

St. Francis and the Wolf / St. Francis Dreaming / St. Francis and the Birds

Sauli Partita I

Six Solos, Summer 2006

Oswald Divertimento I

Telemann Menuets

Carolan’s Draught / George Brabazon #2

St. Louis Railyard

Marsch i April / Maknads Marsch

The Wedding Broom / Alice’s Garden / August 2, 2013

Deer Tracks

Woodhaven

It's a lot of fun planning these programs. I'm optimistic that I can play most of the notes involved. We'll see if there is really enough time to get all of this music played. I may need to skip a few repeats.

The nice photo above comes from Trish Finn who took lots of photos at the Call of the Loon dance weekend a week and a half ago. It's a great shot of the old Gibson approaching 90 years of age. None of the amps in the background were connected to me, they were being used by the fine folks in Wild Asparagus.

The North Georgia Hills at the Mandolin Cafe

Many thanks to Scott Tichenor at the Mandolin Cafe for the nice write-up concerning the publication of The North Georgia Hills music. Scott's contribution to the mandolin world over the last 20+ years is immeasurable.

Scott was also kind enough to run an article a few days ago announcing the publication of my new book from Mel Bay; 12 Divertimentos for Solo Mandolin by James Oswald.

It's always a good day when I find myself mentioned at the Cafe but it will be a while before I see this much attention again.

The North Georgia Hills performed by Another Mandolin Orchestra

“ … and a tote sack full of ginseng won’t pay no travelling bills.”

“The North Georgia Hills” is the title I gave to a piece that I wrote for the Atlanta Mandolin Orchestra about a year ago. I was aiming to capture something of the sound and feel of those great mandolin tunes by Norman and Nancy Blake that appeared on the Original Underground Music From The Mysterious South album around 1982.

At the 2015 CMSA convention in Austin I was honored that many of the Atlanta group (under the direction of maestro Bob Knysz), along with some special friends, chose to perform the piece during one of the open mic concerts. I shared this video with the Mandolin Cafe classical forum and on Facebook back in December. I'm posting it today to this blog because the score and parts for the piece have just been published in Germany by Joachim-Trekel-Musikverlag.

Many thanks to Maren Trekel and the folks at Trekel for making this piece available to mandolin orchestras everywhere. Here's the link to the appropriate page at the Trekel website:

http://trekel.de/de/catalogsearch/result/?q=north+georgia+hills

I hope you enjoy this performance...

Halfway Home

Halfway Home (mp3) (pdf)

Halfway Home appears in my Midwestern Mandolin Duos book but, I believe, I have never recorded for this blog until today. This recording is a version for solo mandolin and I played this tune last night during a fun 2 hour solo mandolin gig at Java John's Coffee House here in Decorah. I had a great time and I intend to do some more solo mandolin playing in the coming months.

I'm using the photo from last month's post both to illustrate the "halfway home" feeling and to remind myself in the future that here in March of 2016 all of that snow is gone and this road in Palisades Park is clear and dry.

Three Jigs, Old & New

Tight Squeeze/Tolley's Jig no. 3/Palisades (mp3) (pdf)

I played a two hour set of background music last Saturday on solo mandolin in a nice warm room with plenty of friendly people around. It was lots of fun. I put together this set of jigs for the occasion and recorded them this afternoon.

Tight Squeeze is one of my oldest tunes, from somewhere back in the 1980s, but it has never caught on with any of the groups I play with. I often play it when I'm warming up though. Tolley's Jig no. 3 was written a couple of weeks ago and started off as the middle section of a Divertimento but I decided I like it better as a separate tune. Palisades is from the Contratopia Tunebook and the band has played it dozens, if not hundreds, of times. It's fun to play solo also. It appears as part of the final track of our first CD, Hands Four.

The photo was taken two winters ago and shows the road that leads up into the Palisades Park. Suzie the dog and I were walking up this path just a couple of hours ago. Today it looks much like it did in this picture.

Divertimento no. 1, 2016

Divertimento no. 1, 2016 (mp3) (pdf)

I know our friends and relatives out East received some serious snow this past week. The photo above is from our front porch almost exactly two years ago.

I've been spending some quality time with the music of James Oswald the past couple of weeks. This often inspires me to engage in some imitation of his friendly style.

The first part of this little piece is a slightly modified version of an old tune of mine, "Jefferson Lives." The second part is pretty much the same tune played as a jig, something that Oswald would often do. Part three is related but still has its own identity. Everything falls easily on the mandolin, of course it would also be comfy on the fiddle.

Wild Blueberry Pancakes (at Stutzman's Farm)

Wild Blueberry Pancakes (mp3) (pdf)

In August of 2013 we once again visited lovely Piscataquis County, Maine and we enjoyed a great brunch at the Stutzman's Farm Stand and Bakery. Fresh wild blueberry pancakes were featured and this tune helps me remember how special they were. Along with delicious food and friendly folks we got to hear some first-rate acoustic music as well. Highly recommended if you are in the Dover-Foxcroft/Sangerville area sometime.

This marks the start of the 10th year of So Many Tunes. I know that a number of folks have enjoyed these recordings and bits of sheet music over the years and I'm always glad to hear about that. But the best part for me has been the documentary aspect.

Thanks to the simple Blogger software I have been able to assemble a long list of my own tunes, both music and audio and I frequently consult this site (and the A to Z title list) to find particular tunes or just to remind myself how something goes. Despite my professional career as a library cataloger my own intellectual property is very badly organized and this site, for nine years, has been a tremendous help. Rest assured, however, that behind this facade of organization there are large piles of music notebooks and sheet music scattered about this room and others in our house.

Right now at least I plan to keep this going for a while longer. If there are any readers of this blog who haven't explored the free music at my Mandotopia website or who haven't checked out Contratopia and my duo with Erik Sessions, I encourage you to do so. Also, if anyone would like to financially support my ongoing efforts to create and share this music there is a Paypal "donate" over on the Mandotopia site. Many thanks to all of you who have already done so.

Mainly though, I hope you enjoy the tunes. And, despite the Giant Egos and crazy forces at play in the world, have a Happy 2016!