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!