Highlights this year include the Family Fun Zone in De Witt Park, pony rides on State St., the new Beer Garden Sound Stage in the Ithaca Journal parking lot, and the Wine Garden in Tree Grove on the Commons that will feature a selection of regional wines and beer. On Sunday, June 3^rd the Gorges Green Expo, now in its seventh year at the Festival, will take a prominent position at the heart of the Commons. The GGE promotes green businesses and initiatives and focuses on increasing community involvement in local sustainability efforts.

The Festival will also host a Finger Lakes Luau at the Farmers Market, starting 8pm Friday, June 1^st, with a pig-roast by The Piggery and performances of Hawaiian music by Larry Real, dancing by The Official 2012 Ithaca Festival Finger Lakes Luau Hula Dance Team, fire dancing by Lyca on Fire and last but not least, the Sim Redmond Band.

Visit www.ithacafestival.org to see the updated schedule of events and read more about this year’s Ithaca Festival.

CANCELED - Paris Texas with Jesse Cobb Saturday May 12th 7:00 pm for a House Concert followed by a music jam at The Canaan Institute (Mike and Raylene’s workshop). Donation for the band $10- RSVP: please email Mike Ludgate to reserve your seats and for directions mike@cinst.org Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/223863414395085/

More events at Canaan Institute: Concerts, Workshops, Jams http://canaaninstitute.org/mn/mus_jamcann.html

Paris Texas (Bobby Henrie & Rick Manning) will be joined by mandolin master Jesse Cobb (founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters) in a house concert at the Canaan Institute. This is a house concert and will be an unplugged performance. Bobby and Rick play an energetic mix of bluegrass with western and string swing music. They are pleased to be joined by Jesse Cobb, a great mandolin player who recently moved to Southern Ontario, near Niagara Falls with his wife and family. Check out some of Jesse’s you tube mando duets with Frank Solivan for a real treat.

Jesse Cobb - Jesse has been playing the mandolin since around age 12 and has recorded on a long list of albums while living in Nashville, as well as being a founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters. He has shared the stage with mandolin heroes like Sam Bush, Dawg, Mike Marshall, Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile and many others. With The Dusters, Jesse received a Grammy nomination in 2010 for his song Magic #9. He has also recorded on a Grammy winning project with Jim Lauderdale in 2008. Jesse has taught music camps and workshops at festivals throughout the country including, Rockygrass Academy, Wintergrass, Grass Valley, Grand Targhee, and many others. He is currently at work on a mandolin improvisation course based on his own learning process. Jesse is also involved in a few new musical adventures and is working on material for his debut solo album coming later this year.

Rick Manning - Rick is the founder of the new and exceedingly popular “Winter Village Bluegrass Festival” in Ithaca NY, now approaching it’s 3rd year. Rick and Bobby played for years together in Cornerstone, one of Ithaca’s favorite bluegrass and acoustic country bands of the 90s.

Bobby Henrie - Bobby is best known his rockabilly and swing playing in Bobby Henrie and the Goners and Tres Swing. Rick Manning (fiddle) and Bobby played for years together in Cornerstone, one of Ithaca’s favorite bluegrass and acoustic country bands of the 90s.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Jesse+Cobb+mandolin
https://www.facebook.com/mandocobby
http://www.myspace.com/jessecobb
http://www.myspace.com/bobbyhenrieandthegoners
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cornerstone-p42681
http://wintervillagebluegrass.org/performers.php

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Schedule http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusic/viewtopic.php?p=4738#4738

Nearly 12 hours of music-making and dance bliss featuring the wildly playful, inventive contra band Tunescape(Tim Ball on fiddle, Rachel Bell on accordion, Nadine Dyskant on flute, Jodi Austin on keyboard, and Peter Blue on percussion and nyckelharpa), who merge traditional and modern grooves with verve. Celebrated Pittsburgh caller Ron Buchanan will dish up his creatively sequenced choreography for contras and mind-bending, peppy squares. The Uphill Battle Boys (Tom Owens, Dan Palmer, Jim Riedy, Bruce Brown, and guest Laura Taylor) will keep the squares on the beat with hot old-time tunes, and August Wheat (Eileen Nicholson, Tom Hodgson, and special guest) will provide flowing music for contras, waltzes, and an English Country dance, smoothly called by Pamela Goddard. Adding to the fun, particularly in the ever-popular contra medley, will be local callers Casey Carr, Katy Heine, and Nancy Spero. For instrumentalists, Mike Ludgate will be coordinating on-going jam sessions (including “waltz jam sandwiches” noon to 1 pm) and Tunescape will lead a musicians’ workshop (3-4 pm). Potluck supper 6:15-7:15 pm. Silent auction with a wide array of items and services. A chance to gather with old friends and make new ones.

See www.hands4dancers.org for details (including member/nonmember prices for afternoon, evening, or both) and registration form. Newcomers are always welcome; each dance is taught and the steps are simple, with friendly experienced dancers to assist beginners. Please bring clean, soft-soled shoes to protect the floor, and plate/cutlery and a dish to share if you are joining us for the potluck supper. Some housing is available for out-of-town dancers; call 607-539-3174 for more information.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

WORKSHOP: 3-5 pm, Willard Straight Hall

Music Room (Room 411), Cornell University

CONCERT: 8 pm, 165 McGraw Hall,

Central Ave., Cornell Arts Quad, Cornell University

Widely considered the premier old-time fiddler of his generation (by fellow virtuoso fiddlers including Alasdair Fraser, Jay Ungar, and Darol Anger, and by audiences worldwide), this Grammy-nominated musician is also outstanding on guitar, banjo, and vocals. Bruce Molsky is most closely identified with Appalachian music (Darol Anger calls him its “Rembrandt”), but over two decades he’s also absorbed and transmuted traditional music from many cultures—Celtic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, Delta blues—into his unique sound. He has “a mystical awareness of how to bring out the new in something that is old,” says composer Mark O’Connor, who credits Molsky’s spirit and drive as the inspiration for O’Connor’s remarkable String Quartet No. 3 and Concerto for Violin, Cello and Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps Molsky’s greatest influence is as a teacher. “Young people realize this is a guy who’s tapped into the real deep emotional wellsprings of this music. Young people are very hungry for something real. Bruce has that in spades,” writes Matt Glaser, director of the American Roots Program at Boston’s Berklee College, where Molsky is on the faculty this semester.

Bronx-born, Molsky encountered blues and jazz as a teen, but credits Cornell University with his introduction to old-time music. In his twenties, he moved to Virginia and began to learn from traditional players like Tommy Jarrell of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, for whom music was integrated into daily life as work, play, and an expression of regional culture. At age 40, in the thick of his career as a mechanical engineer, Bruce Molsky decided he did not want to wait until retirement to make music full-time. With full blessings from his wife, Audrey, he took a year off in 1997 to explore his passion and never looked back. We are all blessed by that choice.

Molsky’s approach to performing is without pretension: “I talk to an audience the way I talk to people in my house; and I play for them just like we’re all in the living room together. I want to present myself as who I am; and this music as what it is.” The songs he writes depict the strengths and hardships of communities, as in Peg and Awl, in which shoemakers lose their jobs to automation. An April 20, 2011 headline from Bloomberg News humorously shorthands Molsky: “Bronx Fiddle Master Designed Drainage System, Made Ronstadt Cry.” Peg and Awl made her weep, admits Linda Ronstadt, because of the honesty in Molsky’s singing: “It’s pared back to only the essential architecture of emotion.”

Whether performing solo or with a vast list of friends (including Mike Seeger, Liz Carroll & John Doyle, Dirk Powell, Kevin Burke, Mick Moloney, Bill Frisell, Donal Lunny, Darol Anger, Nikola Parov, Rens van der Zalm, Rafe Stefanini, Michael Doucet, Andy Irvine, Aly Bain, and Ale Möller), he’s a warm, compelling musician, equally at home on world tours, at Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and backporch house concerts and jams. He’s made at least 16 recordings, including 6 solo, some with Big Hoedown, Mozaik, Fiddlers 4, and others, and some instructional. He’s in high demand as a teacher at Ashokan, Mark O’Connor’s camps (where he’s taught every year since 1990), and Berklee. To celebrate Bruce Molsky’s return to his alma mater, the Cornell Folk Song Society is sponsoring both a fiddle workshop and concert.

Concert Tickets: Ithaca Guitar Works, GreenStar, Autumn Leaves Bookstore, Bound for Glory, and online at www.cornellfolksong.org/. $15 advance/$17 door; $3 rebate at the door for CFSS members, seniors, and teens; children 12 & under free. Cornell students $10 advance/$12 at door. [Discount for workshop participants, see below.] Info: 607-351-1845 or website. We anticipate a sell-out, so get tickets early.

Old-Time Fiddle Workshop (3-5 pm): Bruce describes the afternoon as follows: “The workshop takes a hands-on approach to old-time fiddle. Tunes are taught a phrase at a time, first melody, then bowing, and then piecing things together. We’ll dig into old-time music’s unique phrasing, rhythm and syncopation, intonation, etc. The tune is the vehicle, so mostly we’ll be playing! Suggested experience level: If you’re comfortable with the instrument and have at least a small repertoire of tunes, you’ll be fine. A recorder (minidisc, hard disk, tape, 78-rpm acetate cutter or wire recorder) is highly recommended.  Since developing ear training skills is one of the workshop goals, written music will not be provided.  *No video cameras, please.*”

Workshop limited to 25 participants; please pre-register to reserve a spot (E-mail Laura Taylor at lbt1@cornell.edu). Payment at the door is fine: $15 for students, $25 for non-students. Discount price for combined workshop plus concert: $20 students, $35 non-students (an amazing deal!).

UPDATE: AS OF 18 APRIL, ONLY ABOUT 5 SPOTS LEFT IN THE WORKSHOP!

– Margaret Shepard

Central NY dancers are lucky to have two new contra dance musicians now living in the ITHACA area, both are students starting their second semesters here. Ethan Jodziewicz (bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin and feet) is studying double bass performance at Ithaca College. Ethan is from Washington state, where he often plays with his band The Retrospectacles. Andrea Katz (from Texas on playing fiddle) is a PhD candidate in applied physics at Cornell University. Andrea played in a variety of contra dance bands in the San Antonio area and has studied with Jay Ungar and David Kaynor. Both are fantastic contra dance musicians and are playing a dance with Ithaca contra musician and music promoter Michael Ludgate under the new band name Notes Inégales. This will be an exceptionally fun dance! http://www.notesinegales.org/

About the band name: “Notes Inégales” (pronounced notes inagall) contra dance band http://www.notesinegales.org/ — “In music, notes inégales (French: unequal notes) refers to a performance practice, mainly from the Baroque and Classical music eras, in which some notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short. The practice was especially prevalent in France in the 17th and 18th centuries, with appearances in other European countries at the same time; and it reappeared as the standard performance practice in the 20th century in jazz.” source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_in%C3%A9gales http://www.notesinegales.org/

Additional links …

BAND on WEB http://www.notesinegales.org/
BAND on FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/notesinegales
VIDEOS of the BAND http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Notes+Inegales
VENUE WEBSITE http://www.binghamtondance.org/
FACEBOOK EVENT https://www.facebook.com/events/334034629991184/

DIRECTIONS to this DANCE …..

GOOGLE MAPS LOCATION — http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Trinity+Memorial+Church,+44+Main+Street,+Binghamton+NY&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.86519,86.572266&hq=Trinity+Memorial+Church,&hnear=44+Main+St,+Binghamton,+New+York+13905&t=m&z=16

DIRECTIONS to this DANCE — http://www.binghamtondance.org/trinity.htm Trinity Memorial Church, 44 Main Street, Binghamton NY. From the north via Interstate 81: Take exit 5 south (Route 11, also known as Front Street). At end of exit ramp turn left towards downtown Binghamton. After going under a railroad bridge, go to the third stoplight, at Main Street. There is a church with a large bell at the corner - turn right. Go to the next stoplight (Oak Street) and turn right again. Trinity Church is on the right, parking just beyond the building.

PARKING — TONS OF EASY PARKING! Please park in the parking lots next to the church.

MORE INFORMATION About Contra Dancing:

WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR FIRST DANCE Contra dancing is easy to learn. It’s so easy to learn that you don’t take lessons. Just show up at a dance and by the end of the first night you’ll have learned all the dance moves and you will be able to enjoy the next dance even more. People are friendly and welcoming to beginners. The age range is from kids to folks that have been around for a while. Both singles and doubles come to contra dances and women as well as men ask people to dance. It is usual that you change partners after every dance. You will meet people in a relaxed, pleasant, smoke and alcohol free atmosphere. The patterns of the dance can be a tad confusing at first but remember everyone had a first time and that other dancers will help you. Listen to the caller and the music and go with the flow of the dance. Some people find they get dizzy at first. Looking directly at the person you are dancing with eliminates this sensation. For many, the music is what keeps them coming back as it is exciting and lively. People come to dance, hear the music, socialize and have a good time.

WHAT TO WEAR? Wear smooth soled shoes and comfortable light weight clothing. Some halls require non-street shoes so make sure the soles of shoes aren’t bringing grit onto the dance floor. Most people bring a bottle of drinking water. Contra dancing is joyous so it’s important that you bring a smile. Adapted from http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/music.html

http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/music.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance
http://tedcrane.com/DanceDB/DisplayDance.com/US_NY_ITH_TCCD
http://hands4dancers.org/
http://www.syracusecountrydancers.org/
http://www.binghamtondance.org/
http://www.thedancegypsy.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTtEOaruqr4
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128273050
http://www.oshanigans.org
http://www.notesinegales.org

NPR: Youth Flock To Contra Dancing — Contra dancing has been around since the 1700s. If you don’t know it — it’s kind of like square dancing but with long lines of dancers. The dance is having a renaissance around the country thanks to a thriving youth scene and incredibly lively acoustic music. Article by Marika Partridge on All Things Considered NPR July 2nd 2010 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128273050

About the MUSICIANS:

Michael Ludgate - Mandolin, fiddle, Irish tenor banjo, and manager for two popular trios:  O’Shanigans http://www.oshanigans.org and Notes Inégales http://www.notesinegales.org/ contra dance bands. Michael comes from a long local line of Ithaca musicians. His grandfather Morris “Moe” Harper was a local jazz clarinet and tenor saxophone player in the Ithaca area in the 1940’s through the 1960’s Moe’s wife Ina, played violin in a more classical style. Mike’s mother Roberta played flute and piano and was popular around town as a piano accompanist for a variety of musical tasks. Mike remembers vividly the multiple barbershop quartets training in the living room as a child with coaching from his mom. This was the beginning of Michael’s musical education. He always tinkers with the keys of any keyboard he walks by, but never took a lesson - he says he wishes he did. He started on trombone in 4th grade at the public schools in Dryden NY .. taking some private lessons from some of his grandfather’s jazz friends, Woody Peters and Ned Dunham along the way. When his sister took up flute, he just couldn’t resist noodling with woodwinds and started playing scales and simple tunes on flute and saxophone and clarinet.

This instrumental distraction continues today; Michael picked up his grandmother’s violin as an adult in his mid-forties and taught himself to read treble clef with help from a Suzuki book. Then his spouse took pity on him (or the rest of the family?) and offered to pay for lessons. He took lessons on violin from IC Masters violinist Rebecca Anne Geiger Hamlen for three years and at that same time started hosting the weekly Wednesday fiddle and contra tune jam from his home. He also plays rudimentary guitar; thanks to Phil Shapiro’s guitar class! Mike has studied Irish tenor banjo, influenced by Harry Lawless of Traonach. He learned the basics of playing fiddle tunes for contra dancers from Ted Crane and Pamela Goddard’s many open band opportunities. He has also been influenced Ethan Jodziewicz - photograph by Sarah Lockwoodgreatly by David Kaynor. Michael started the Upstate NY area’s only waltz band a few years ago - this is an open band that plays once per month at the Bethel Grove Contra dances.  He also co-started and continues to run, the “Jam Tent” at the Ithaca Festival. Most recently Michael has developed a passion for mandolin which he plays mostly melodically in a Celtic style with some New England, bluegrass and old-time influence with thanks to David Surette, Phil Banaszak, Tod Sukontarak and Tom Quigley to name a few. Michael loves and supports the open bands and open acoustic jams around the Ithaca area and attends many of them when time permits. Michael continues to host a weekly contra tune jam (open jam) at his home in Brooktondale NY. Recently Michael has been performing with the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble (CMEMME) where he is studing Armenian, Turkish and other Middle Eastern fiddle styles under Harold Hagopian and previously Atakan Sari. Michael is also on the teaching staff at HOTAfest for the 2nd year in a row and will be on staff as a jam leader at Folk College in 2012. When not playing mandolin or fiddle, Michael is busy promoting local and area folk music events. Mike on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/michael.ludgate

Ethan Jodziewicz - Ethan plays guitar in Notes Inégales http://www.notesinegales.org/ and bass in The Retrospectacles http://theretrospectacles.org. Ethan began his study of the double bass at age seven on a cello which was retrofitted with bass strings. Since then he has pursued music of styles ranging from symphonic repertoire to jazz to folk traditions. Ethan has attended several prestigious summer festivals including Interlochen Arts Camp, Le Domaine Forget Académie and the Wabass Institute. While growing up in Olympia, Washington, he received his early training from Jordan Anderson in Seattle. He also held a position with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra and kept a private studio of 8+ bass students. Ethan currently lives in Ithaca, New York where he studies double bass with Nicholas Walker at Ithaca College School of Music. (Photo of Ethan - photograph by Sarah Lockwood)

Andrea Katz - Andrea plays fiddle and viola in Notes Inégales http://www.notesinegales.org/.

Fiddle (Phil) - Former New York State fiddle champion Phil Banaszak’s self-taught style is based on bluegrass, Celtic and old-time fiddling. He has played professionally for over 30 years and has taught fiddling for nearly 20 years. His workshops usually take on a life of their own based on the needs and questions of the group, and in the past they have focused on the mechanics of playing the fiddle for different levels, music theory, learning new tunes and more. Phil is an inductee into the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame, and he also sings, plays the guitar (a little) and the mandolin with The Canal Street String Band.

New York State fiddle/dance tunes (Dave) - For all melody instruments. Join Dave Ruch for a special session on lesser-known fiddle and dance tunes from the repertoires of NYS old-time fiddlers. This is a hands-on workshop for all instrumental musicians interested in adding some authentic New York State fiddle tunes to their playing. Tunes will be taught by ear in the old style, with the instructor playing one phrase at a time (on mandolin) until the group is ready to move on to the next. Sheet music will also be provided, but let’s see how far we can get without it! Other questions that will be addressed by Dave include:
* Is there a New York State “sound”?
* How did the traditional music played in this area differ from what was played in the American south, and in New England?
* Who were/are the Tommy Jarrells and Henry Reeds of this area, the tradition bearers who kept (and keep) the old fiddle music alive and passed it down through the generations?

The approximate plan for the afternoon is this:

1) Starting promptly at 2:00 pm - a mixed session for everyone, Phil & I introduce ourselves, play a tune or two, then break off into two areas.

2) Phil leads his fiddle workshop, Dave will lead a NYS Tunes workshop in separate room, (He’ll teach the tunes on mandolin, but this will be for all melody players, he will teach at least two and maybe three or more tunes depending on speed of class), for maybe 60-75 minutes

3) break/mingle/refreshments …

4) the two groups come back together, bowing issues and other fiddle related questions from Dave’s session can be addressed with Phil, we can then break off again or stay together depending on flow, people’s interests, etc

Schedule:

7:00 pm Waltz Jam: open band: come dance or play!
8:00 pm Contras with O’Shanigans until 11:00 pm:

O’Shanigans is Tim Ball on fiddle, Mike Ludgate on mandolin and Phil Robinson on guitar.

BAND http://www.oshanigans.org/
VENUE http://tedcrane.com/DanceDB/DisplayDance.com?key=US_NY_ITH_TCCD
VENUE’S POSTER http://canaaninstitute.org/photos/TCCD_Insert_current.pdf
BAND’S EVENT POSTER http://canaaninstitute.org/docs/Oshanigans_current_poster.pdf
FACEBOOK EVENT https://www.facebook.com/events/254135064676513/

DIRECTIONS to this DANCE — http://tedcrane.com/DanceDB/DisplayVenue.com?key=US_NY_ITH_BG Bethel Grove Community Center 1825 Slaterville Road (NYS Rt.79) (from Ithaca take State Street east to Rt. 79, about four miles from the Ithaca Commons; a few hundred yards past the Bible Church)

Google Maps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode&q=1825+Slaterville+Rd%2C+Ithaca%2C+NY+14850&sll=42.41161%2C-76.29505&sspn=0.008523%2C0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq&hnear=1825+Slaterville+Rd%2C+Ithaca%2C+Tompkins%2C+New+York+14850&ll=42.40552%2C-76.432515&spn=0.034097%2C0.077162&z=14

From the dancers and callers about O’Shanigans — “That was a delightful contra dance last night in Fayetteville … I truly enjoyed the many subtleties of your musical arrangements. And when Nils Fredland joined in on his trombone, it was polyphonic heaven … ” , “Ithaca’s best contra dance band”, “O’Shanigans rock(s)”, ” … such a fun group of people, and the band was awesome … ” , “What a great dance! Nils called some fun and interesting dances, the band was delightful! The place was packed…” , “you guys really GET the dance thing”, “wow …. WOW! That was inceredible!”, “you guys are so much fun to dance to!”, ”O’Shanigans is Ithaca’s hottest new contra dance band.”, “Tim Ball, Mike Ludgate, and Phil Robinson play with energy and style. It’s party time!” “I was happy to see and hear your band play, it was great! The music was the best I’ve heard at a contra for sure. It really got everyone grooving and elicited hooting and hollering … YEAH!” “The O’Shanigans rocked the hall tonight! You guys sure know how to throw a party!” “I was really glad to get to dance to your music- that was tons of fun!!” “Super dance on Friday! You guys were peppy, and there were some imaginative arrangements that made familiar tunes sound fresh. Hooray for the O’Shanigans!” “It was invigorating music, great company and fun caller!” “Do play for us again!” “It was fun dancing and even more so to the tunes of O’Shanigans!” “It was great!” “Mike, you and Phil and Tim were SOLID! I had a blast and my daughter had fun too! Thanks for playing, and thanks to Ray for the goodies!” “We’ve heard great stuff about you guys: We’d love to have you play at our dance!” “Wow! I have not seen that kind of energy at the Friday Dance in long time, you guys were great!” “That was they most amazing medley … was there something Middle Eastern in there?” “You guys were way out there like in Hungary or somewhere? … then you brought it back home with that old-time tune … the best version of that I have ever heard!” “The band was absolutely wonderful last night!”

More information About Contra Dancing:

http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/music.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance
http://tedcrane.com/DanceDB/DisplayDance.com/US_NY_ITH_TCCD
http://hands4dancers.org/
http://www.syracusecountrydancers.org/
http://contra.binghamtondance.org/contra_calendar.htm
http://www.thedancegypsy.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTtEOaruqr4
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128273050

NPR: Youth Flock To Contra Dancing — Contra dancing has been around since the 1700s. If you don’t know it — it’s kind of like square dancing but with long lines of dancers. The dance is having a renaissance around the country thanks to a thriving youth scene and incredibly lively acoustic music. Article by Marika Partridge on All Things Considered NPR July 2nd 2010 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128273050

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The event will be held May 25-27 at Juniata College in Huntingdon PA (near State College and Penn State) and will feature workshops, concerts, jam sessions and more, culminating in a student concert where participants can show off the skills they learned throughout the weekend. Workshops range from beginner to advanced and cover genres including blues, old time and world music.

The Folk College 2012 musical staff include:

• Atwater-Donnelly: Atwater-Donnelly performs a unique and thrilling blend of traditional American and Celtic folk music and dance, along with original songs and poetry. The highly praised husband-wife duo blends gorgeous vocals with an astonishing array of instruments including the mountain dulcimer, old-time banjo, tin whistle, guitar, limberjack, mandolin, harmonica, feet and more.
• Four Shillings Short: Four Shillings Short is part of the creative fusion that is happening in World Music today.  Blending Celtic, East Indian and American Folk music with Medieval, Renaissance and original compositions, the international duo have carved out a musical identity all their own.
• Simple Gifts: Three women plus twelve instruments equals one good time when Simple Gifts takes the stage. Drawing on an impressive variety of ethnic folk styles, th award-winning trio of Linda LIttleton, Karen Hirschon and Rachel Hall play everything from lively Irish jigs and down-home American reels to hard-driving Klezmer frailachs and haunting Gypsy melodies, spicing the mix with the distinctive rhythms of Balkan dance music, the lush sounds of Scandinavian twin fiddling, and original compositions written in a traditional style.

• The Horse Flies: A longtime favorite of critics and fans, The Horse Flies blend Americana roots with indie rock, ethnic percussion, creative songwriting, and a fierce, percolating groove. With a love of both the traditional and the modern, The Flies have consistently explored the intersection of the two to create a musical world all their own.
• The Twilite Broadcasters: The Twilite Broadcasters are the missing link between vintage country, old time, early bluegrass and rockabilly. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, the band creates traditional American music directly inspired by the likes of the Louvin Brothers and Bill Monroe.
• Tomás Lozano and Polly Ferber: Barcelona born Tomás Lozano’s music incarnates his mix of cultural roots; a history of conquest and resistance masterfully expressed through his smooth voice, the vibrant fingerwork on his guitar and the soothing droning of his hurdy-gurdy. He will be joined by Polly Ferber, a percussionist, music educator, performer, and recording artist who specializes in hand percussion from the Middle East, the Balkans, Spanish Andalusia, and North Africa.

The weekend will also feature teacher training for the Mark O’Connor method of fiddle playing. This intensive workshop is designed for music teachers interested in learning O’Connor’s unique method of fiddle instruction.

Folk College is hosted by Simple Gifts nd sponsored by the Huntingdon County PA Arts Council. Those who register before April 1 can take advantage of a $200 “early bird” pricing; the cost is $235 after April 1. Meals and lodging in Juniata College residence halls are also available for additional fees.

Folk College 2012 will be held May 25-27 at Juniata College in Huntingdon PA. For more information, visit folkcollege.com or contact the Huntingdon County Arts Council at 814-643-6220.

BLUES GUITAR WORKSHOP

2:30-4:30 pm

Ground-floor Commons Room,

Flora Rose House,

Cornell’s West Campus Dorm Complex

CONCERT

7:30 pm, 165 McGraw Hall,

Cornell Arts Quad,

with Jun-Kyo Seo (Jumba) opening

As a youth, Andy Cohen was nurtured on piano, cornet, and Dixieland jazz records, but when, at age 16, he met Rev. Gary Davis, “his course was set.” He got himself to the “source” to learn directly from the old musicians. His many blues friends and profound influences also include Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band, Skip James, Washington Phillips, John Hurt, and Brownie McGee. Andy Cohen’s mission, over 50 years of making music, is to preserve and carry forward the style and spirit of these masters. He gladly mentors younger musicians who want to play authentic blues. Raised in Massachusetts, he’s really “a Southern boy at heart” who lives in Memphis when he isn’t on the road with his big Washburn and sweet dolceola. He lays down mean and fiery blues from Memphis and beyond, playful ragtime, and soul-felt spirituals and gospel. He’s a virtuoso on guitar and his singing is joyful and unrestrained. Andy Cohen is widely considered one of the finest living performers of African American blues from the Southeast, 1900-1950. A grand raconteur, he can expound with authority, fervor, and energetic humor on blues, the dolceola, and any number of musicological and anthropological topics. He’s a born teacher and self-described “guitar-picking fool.”

The concert starts early, with Cornell sophomore Jun-Kyo Seo (Jumba), president of the Cornell Folk Song Society, opening at 7:30 pm. He’ll show his mettle with blues and ragtime tunes in the style of southern blues guitarists from the early half of the twentieth century. His passion for the genres makes for mighty fine playing. It’s been 8 years since Andy did a gig for Cornell Folk Song Society, so you don’t want to miss him, or the chance to hear some solid young talent.

Concert tickets: Ithaca Guitar Works, GreenStar, Autumn Leaves Bookstore, Bound for Glory, and online at www.cornellfolksong.org/. $15 advance/$17 door; $3 rebate for members, seniors, teens; children 12 & under free. Cornell students $10/$12. Info: 607-279-2027 or website.

WORKSHOP (2:30-4:30 pm): Old pro Andy Cohen will give instruction in blues guitar in the Commons Room of Flora Rose House, West Campus Dorms, Cornell. This workshop is not to be missed by those who want to hone their chops while having a rollicking and mind-stretching good time. Here’s Andy’s description: “I call it ‘Cohen’s Law’, which is really the explicated consequences of striking the root of the chord with your thumb on the one beat. I will walk the guitarists through five pieces: Come Let Us March, Louis Collins, Freight Train, Rev. Davis’s Candyman, and Rev. Davis’s Buck Dance, progressively tricking the picking thumb into doing more and more, within the thumb-on-the-root-on-the-one framework.”

Limited to 12 participants, so pre-register, if possible, to reserve a spot (E-mail Jumba <js2276@cornell.edu> or Margaret <mbs19@cornell.edu>). Payment at the door is acceptable (students $10/non-students $25). There’s a discount price for attending both workshop and concert: students $15/ others $35.

– Margaret Shepard

PETE SEEGER’S BLACKLIST-ERA LIVE ALBUM ‘THE COMPLETE BOWDOIN COLLEGE CONCERT, 1960’ OUT APRIL 17 FROM SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS -

After being blacklisted during the Red Scare of the 1950s, folk song revivalist, civil rights advocate, and social activist Pete Seeger began performing unannounced “community concerts” at schools, camps and community centers. Seeger considers these performances to be some of his most important work. On April 17, 2012, Smithsonian Folkways will release ‘The Complete Bowdoin College Concert, 1960,’ recorded live on campus at the Brunswick, ME, school in 1960.

This is the earliest complete Seeger concert recording available and the only available complete “community concert” recording. The live album features 35 tracks on two discs including two songs — “Al Smith Holds the Bottle” and “I Had a Dream” — unavailable on any other Seeger recording.

Listen to “Penny’s Farm.” (http://snd.sc/y68Fpw)

Listen to “Hieland Laddie” (http://snd.sc/AmvGQ5)

‘The Complete Bowdoin College Concert,’ produced and annotated by GRAMMY Award-winning Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place from a pristine recording of the 1960 event by the staff at WBOR FM, captures Seeger’s breathtaking show for a rapturous audience that audibly hangs on his every note and word. In a notably ironic twist, Seeger’s blacklisted status resulted in him communicating directly to the young audiences authorities were possibly trying to shelter.

“…the only thing that could make me any happier is to know a lot of you take these words and spread them around the world wherever you go.”

– Pete Seeger’s commentary from ‘The Complete Bowdoin College Concert’

Seeger’s college concerts capture not only his finest twelve-string guitar and banjo performances, but also his ability to share and celebrate folk music with a community of young intellectuals eager to create change in the face of political strife. Seeger’s charisma shines as he introduces each song with candor and humor, encouraging the audience to join him for a wide array of traditional, topical and international music pieces during a revolutionary time in American history.

Pete Seeger is a recipient of The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993), The National Medal of Arts (1994), the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Honor (1994) and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1996). In 2008 he was honored with a GRAMMY Award for best traditional album for ‘At 89,’ and he earned The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his commitment to peace and social justice as a musician, songwriter, activist, and environmentalist. He has also been suggested as a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Seeger will celebrate his 93^rd birthday on May 3^rd, 2012 and he continues to compose and perform folk music as well as advocate for social change. In January, 2009, he was seen singing “This Land Is Your Land” before hundreds of thousands on the Lincoln Memorial steps during the pre-inauguration concert before Barack Obama became President of the United States. Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, released 49 albums by Pete Seeger, and Smithsonian Folkways has released seven more. It’s the largest collection of Seeger’s work.

The Complete Bowdoin College Concert, 1960

Disc 1:

1. Goofing Off Suite-Opening Theme (Pete Seeger)

2. Penny’s Farm

3. He Lies in the American Land (Andrew Kovaly/Pete Seeger)

4. Deep Blue Sea

5. Hieland Laddie

6. Oh, Riley

7. Banjo Medley: Cripple Creek/Old Joe Clark/Old Dan Tucker

8. Summertime (George and Ira Gershwin)

9. D-Day Dodgers (Hamish Henderson)

10. Quiz Show  (Ernie Mars)

11. Al Smith Holds the Bottle

12. What a Friend We Have in Congress  (Ernie Mars)

13. Living in the Country (Pete Seeger)

14. Water Is Wide

15. Bells of Rhymney (Pete Seeger/Idris Davies)

16. Goodnight Irene (Lead Belly)

17. Intermission

Disc 2:

18. Big Rock Candy Mountain (Harry McClintock)

19. I Had a Dream (Big Bill Broonzy)

20. Oh, What a Beautiful City

21. In the Sweet Bye and Bye/Preacher and the Slave (Joe Hill)

22. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream (Ed McCurdy)

23. Medley: Colorado Trail/Spanish Is the Loving Tongue/From Here on Up/Texas Girls/We Pity Our Bosses Five/The Scabs Crawl In/Swarthmore Girls

24. Open the Door Softly/Road to Athay/Why Do Scotsmen?

25. Hold Up Your Petticoat/Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (Pete Seeger)/Step By Step/Joe Hill’s Last Will (Joe Hill)

26. Vive La Quince Brigada

27. Suliram (Indonesian Lullaby)

28. Wimoweh (The Weavers)

29. Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

30. Commentary

31. Bourgeois Blues (Lead Belly)

32. Black Girl (Lead Belly)/ Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (The Weavers)

33. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena

34. Worried Man Blues (A.P. Carter)

35. Conclusion

About Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States, dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound.

Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials, Smithsonian Folkways seeks to strengthen people’s engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others. This mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document “people’s music,” spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world.

The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.

http://folkways.si.edu
http://shorefire.com/clients/folkways/

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