BROOKTONDALE NY - Wed Aug 15th 2012 at 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 $15- RSVP: please email Mike Ludgate to reserve your seats and for directions mike@cinst.org

Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/245479725564641

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

Sandra Wong and Ross Martin come together in a dynamic combination of nyckelharpa/fiddle, and guitar to explore music from all corners of the globe, including their own compositions. Sandra and Ross have been playing music together for 8 years and are now taking their duo on the road.

Reaching into their individual roots of Classical, Bluegrass, Jazz, Scandinavian, Middle-eastern, Old-time American music and more, their arrangements honor each tradition while moving into new, uncharted territory. Whether it’s old-time tunes in 7, Bach on nyckelharpa and guitar, Swedish tunes from hundreds of years ago brought into a 21st century arrangement, original compositions or simply beautifully played renditions of traditional folk melodies from around the world; Sandra and Ross create a musical playground for everyone (both musicians and listeners) to explore, play, stretch, and grow in a joyful space.

About the musicians …

Sandra Wong started her life journey in upstate New York, displaying a deep love of music at a very early age. She began studying the violin at age seven with the intention of becoming a concert violinist. This remained her sole focus for fifteen years until she discovered fiddling.and her musical world was turned upside down!

Since then, Sandra’s focus with her music has shifted from being an isolated striving for technical perfection to a focus on connecting other people and cultures through music as a way to build community and express our common humanity. Opening this door with an exploration of Irish, Old-time and Bluegrass music, her folk music journey has moved her in to her current livelihood of teaching, performing, recording and collaborating with other musicians from a diverse range of world music genres. In 1999, Sandra opened another door when she discovered a 14th century Swedish folk instrument called the nyckelharpa and fell in love. This is a 16 stringed, keyed instrument played with a bow. It had become an integral part of her work and musical expression. Sandra has toured nationally and internationally as a solo artist and in collaboration with various musicians. She has appeared at numerous festivals and concert series. Her current projects include The Sandra Wong, Dominick Leslie, Ty Burhoe Trio” as well as work as a solo artist and freelance musician collaborating with musicians in all musical genres. She has released two solo albums; “It’s About Time” in 1999, and “Joy” in 2000. She recently released two collaborative albums; “Frolic and Romp” in 2009 and “Sunny Side Up” in 2010. Sandra has recorded on a number of her contemporaries projects. This discography is available on request.

Another important aspect of Sandra’s work is education and nurturing a deep love of music and the arts in both children and adults. She teaches privately, and in group and workshop settings, and presents family and children’s concerts. Sandra also creates and personally facilitates musical study trips to different countries leading people into the heart of each country As an active member of 1% For the Planet, a percentage of all Sandra’s CD sales and proceed from concerts supports responsible projects working to create susatainability on our Planet Earth. In addition, Sandra also supports numerous other charitable organizations.

www.sandrawongmusic.com
www.myspace.com/sandrawongmusic www.facebook.com/sandrawongmusic

Guitarist Ross Martin has performed in concert halls, honky-tonks, theaters, rock clubs, living rooms, on festival stages, television programs and everywhere in between. Having grown up in the suburbs of Dallas, TX, with brief stints in East Tennessee, Ross headed West after attending the University of North Texas and earning a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies. After living for ten years in the front range area of Colorado, he relocated to the east coast and has resided in the New York City borough of Brooklyn for the past five years. His musical path has covered as much territory as his physical one. Reflecting his love of diverse genres like jazz, bluegrass, country, folk, experimental and classical music, Ross has always felt at home with fellow musicians who seek to reconcile, through their music, the incredible wealth of styles available to listeners in this global and digital age. He has toured and performed with a wide range of artists including Matt Flinner, Tony Furtado, Ron Miles, Mollie O’Brien, The Motet, Caroline Herring, Dwele, Sonya Kitchell and many others.

Along with bassist Eric Thorin, Ross has been a member of the Matt Flinner Trio for the past six years. Known in acoustic circles for his groundbreaking mandolin work, Matt, a composition major in college, developed a unique concept for the trio. His idea was for all three band members to write a tune each day while on tour and perform it that evening. After several tours, the trio picked twelve of their favorite tunes and recorded them. The result is “Music du Jour” which was released on Compass Records in April of 2009. Many more compositions have been written since and the trio is scheduled to record its second release in September of 2011.

Under his own name, Ross has one recording, “Volley” that’s available for purchase on his site and another project in the works. The new recording is produced by Matt and features Darol Anger on fiddle, Ron Miles on trumpet, Greg Garrison on bass, Dominic Lalli on sax, Matt on mandolin, Ross on electric guitar and Marc Dalio on drums. You can listen to two tracks from this project on the music page. Ross is currently performing and teaching in the New York City area as well as touring nationally and internationally with various projects. For information on upcoming projects, sign up for the email list and visit the tour page.

www.rossmartinguitar.com

Sound tracks and videos

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xhpfpgc52zjgym/01%20Squirrel%20Hunters.m4a
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ai69mrr8suufvde/03%20Icarus.m4a
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bus2okwlj2o89l3/02%20Santa%20Fe%20Slangpolska%20-%20Polonaisse.m4a
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dg4e9po50ctuy96/08%20Balkanpolska.m4a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_r-WzaXI30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlPgkxIZrNM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVchR-cGv80
http://flink.livedownloads.com/show.asp?show=6733#

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BROOKTONDALE NY - Long Time Courting - Workshop for musicians (instrumental and vocals) Sunday July 29th 2012 2:00-4:30 pm $20- at The Canaan Institute. RSVP to Mike to reserve a seat and for detailed directions mike@cinst.org

Long Time Courting will be performing for WVBR’s Bound for Glory radio show later that same evening.

Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/402306366486460/

Band website http://www.longtimecourting.com/home.html

Workshop details:

In this workshop, Long Time Courting will work with instrumentalists and vocalists to explore ensemble playing and arrangement of traditional music. Long Time Courting will teach a song/tune and use that piece as a springboard for creative exploration, diving into the different aspects of arrangement that can craft a song or tune set into a unique musical experience for the players and their audience.

We will explore groove and harmonic options that can add that extra bit of excitement to a tune set. In order to bring out the narrative structure of a song, we’ll demonstrate and experiment with the usage of harmony vocals and instrumental breaks. By looking at aspects of arrangement such as orchestration, form and harmony/melody, we’ll show participants ways in which they can shape their traditional repertoire into a unique sound that is both personal and well grounded in the tradition that they are drawing from.

This is a hands-on workshop, so participants should bring their instruments. While Long Time Courting specializes in voice, guitar, fiddle, whistle, accordion and cello, all instruments are welcome. Like instruments will be grouped together for some small “sectional” work and larger full ensemble playing will be done as well.

Long Time Courting: Bio (scroll down)

PHOTO from L to R: Valerie, Sarah, Liz, Shannon.

Take four individually accomplished traditional musicians and singers with fresh attitudes. Combine them, and you have the rich, soaring four-part vocal arrangements and high energy dance tunes that are Long Time Courting. Bringing together the talents of Sarah Blair on fiddle/vocals, Liz Simmons on guitar/vocals, Shannon Heaton on flute/vocals, and Valerie Thompson on cello/vocals, this Boston-based band shares a love of traditional Irish, Scottish and American folk music as well as contemporary material. They bring elements of these various genres to their repertoire in a way that is seamlessly innovative, inventively arranged, and skillfully rendered.

Meet Long Time Courting:

Sarah Blair “Sarah Blair is simply a great fiddler. Her combination of grit and control makes for music with drive, lift, and a compelling earthiness.” -Fiddler Magazine.

Sarah began playing Irish fiddle in Providence, Rhode Island’s thriving traditional Irish music scene. She honed her playing as a sought-after session leader in Boston and in the world of American contra dancing. With her band The Sevens and with other ensembles, Sarah has played at festivals, concerts, and dance weeks from Alaska to Quebec to Florida. Her most unusual gig was filling in for fiddler Liz Carroll for a portion of The Eagles’ singer Don Henley’s 2000 tour. In 2001, the Sevens were featured on NPR in an interview with Noah Adams. She is included in “Handy with the Stick: Fiddler Magazine’s Best of Irish fiddling,” a forthcoming book profiling top Irish fiddlers by Brendan Taaffe.

Liz Simmons “A honey-voiced singer. . .Simmons sings with winsome ease and genuine feeling.” -Dirty Linen Magazine

Liz grew up listening to her mother sing traditional songs from Ireland, Scotland, England and Appalachia, as well as the New Orleans brass music her father plays. Since then, she has developed a unique vocal and guitar style that incorporates the sounds of traditional and contemporary music. She is the lead singer of Annalivia, a string-band that fuses Celtic and Americana musical styles. Among her other performing credits are North Cregg, The Sevens, and The John Whelan Band. Her singing will be featured in the soon-to-be-released film “Time and Charges”, written and directed by Grammy and Emmy award winner Ernest Thompson.

Shannon Heaton “Shannon’s voice is the sun: remarkably light yet powerful, reminiscent of the 10,000 Maniacs’ Mary Ramsey…

Shannon’s flawless flute playing adds another layer of lightness…” -Molly Snyder, OnMilwaukee.com??Shannon is a veteran performer, having toured nationally with her husband, guitarist Matt Heaton, for over ten years. She developed her love of folk and traditional music early on, having lived in music-rich Nigeria and Thailand. It was in Chicago, IL that she discovered the local Irish music community and began learning tunes at Comhaltas and pub sessions. Since then, her keen melodic and arranging sensibilities, discerning ear, and exquisite Irish flute style has been featured with numerous Boston area ensembles.

Valerie Thompson “One of the most interesting female low end musicians isn’t technically a bass player. She is electric and acoustic cello player, Valerie Thompson.”-Bill Copeland - CTRL ALT Music

Kansas City native, Valerie grew up a classical cellist in a household filled with the music of Bach, The Beatles, The Chieftains and the blues. Entranced by dance music in her teens, she supplemented her formal studies by participating in summer folk festivals. She graduated with honors from the Berklee College of Music and is currently pursuing a masters in music in Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory. She has toured nationally and internationally with musical projects as diverse as Fluttr Effect (world infused progressive rock band,) Laura Cortese’s Acoustic Project (acoustic folk pop,) and Goli (songdriven chamber duo.) Not just an engaged performer, Valerie is an active teacher and recording session musician in the Boston area and her original music has scored independent films and plays.
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