ARCHIE FISHER IN CONCERT, Saturday, February 11, 8 pm

Hollis Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell Arts Quad

Archie Fisher is a true legend in the world of Scottish folk music for songs both traditional and his own, which are considered classics. His warm, craggy voice and simple but masterful guitar have an inimitable spirit. Raised in Glasgow, he was influenced by his father’s broad love of ballads, vaudeville, and opera and by the lyrical music of the Outer Hebrides sung by his Gaelic-speaking mother. His attitudes toward music-making and politics were in part shaped by hearing the Weavers (Seeger, Gilbert, Hays, and Hellerman, not the Scottish tweed-makers). Moving to Edinburgh in the 1960s, he formed the Fisher Family band with his parents, sisters Ray and Cilla, and Artie Tresize; they made many treasured and influential recordings on the Folk Legacy label. Archie Fisher also hosted an Edinburgh music club where he played with the likes of Bert Jansch and Robin Williamson and penned songs performed by the nascent Incredible String Band and Steeleye Span. Involved in the Fringe Fest, he went on to run the Edinburgh Folk Festival (1988-1992) and hosted the beloved Travelling Folk traditional music program for BBC Radio Scotland (1983-2010).

It is no small sign of respect that the only songs the late great Stan Rogers recorded but did not write himself were written by Archie Fisher: Witch of the Westmerlands, Final Trawl, and Dark-eyed Molly. Archie Fisher’s discography since 1965 includes seven solo recordings and many with other performers, including Off the Map (1986) with Garnet Rogers. The two share a passion for open spaces, raising horses, and creating story songs with soul. The ballads on Fisher’s 2008 CD, Windward Away, breathe the wild beauty of the Scottish Borderlands.

In the early years, Archie Fisher collaborated and produced recordings with a fine roster, including Bert Jansch, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, as well as Silly Wizard. The UK has been his regular performing turf, but since the late1980s, he has toured Canada (and rarely the States) both solo and with John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, James Keelaghan, and Garnet Rogers. Despite his many awards, including the Tradition Bearers, Scots Music Hall of Fame, and MBE bestowed by Elizabeth II, he seems happy to stay below the radar. He considers himself not a celebrity but a low-key journeyman musician, and accepts friend Christie Moore’s advice: “You’ll never be famous because everybody knows you!” Throughout a deeply respected career of making and fostering music, Archie Fisher has remained a quiet giant. Please make him welcome for the first time in Ithaca.

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.

– Margaret Shepard

Newark Valley Historical Society website:  http://nvhistory.org/

Saturday, April 2, at 8 pm

Hollis Cornell Auditorium,

Goldwin Smith Hall

East Ave/Arts Quad

Cornell University

How to describe this man to those not yet fortunate to have heard him? “Voice of the sea,” a legendary composer with staying power, collector of traditional music from many parts of the world, poet, sailor, boat-builder and artist with wood, innovative creator of the cellamba (a six-string fretted cello) and a 12-string guitar of unrivaled depth and versatility. An easy-going Downeaster whose yarns and folk ballads have entranced listeners for decades with quiet passion and droll humor. Memorable songs of real people, hard work and dreams, of living and mythical creatures. Gordon Bok is one of the giants.

The Cornell Folk Song Society’s most requested, and perhaps most beloved, performer, Gordon Bok has defined and set the standard for the new folk tradition of original works that respect and build on the old. He first gained fame as the first First Mate on Pete Seeger’s sloop Clearwater. Since then, for about a half-century, he’s performed around the globe and has recorded over 35 albums, both solo and with other outstanding musicians, including Cindy Kallet, Anne Dodson, and his legendary trio with Ann Mayo Muir and Ed Trickett. At any local livingroom folk sing, you’re sure to hear more than one Bok song, with great choruses that urge the whole gathering to voice.

No one can match Gordon Bok’s sonorous voice and masterfully understated instrumentation with 12-string and classical guitars, the cellamba, viola da gamba, and multi-keyed whistle. He was a pioneer at bringing contra dance fiddle tunes into the guitar repertoire many years before the contra renaissance, and began including South American music in his repertoire long before it became today’s dance floor craze. Many fine traditional New Zealand and Australian songs have become familiar in the States thanks to Gordon Bok. He has also worked to preserve and share the music of the Kalmyk Mongolians who settled in the States in the 1950s. But he’s not too serious to indulge in some fun, as evidenced by his membership in the Camden Trash Band and the Quasimodal Chorus, and his skill at spinning tall tales.

A resident of coastal Maine who has built and worked on boats for a significant part of his life, he has a special affinity for music of the sea, with songs and fables large and timeless as the ocean. Sandy Paton said it simply: “Gordon Bok sings of the sea with the authority of a man who has been there, and he sings of life with the zest of a man who lives it as he chooses, and loves it.”

Gordon Bok was last in Ithaca five years ago. His concert is likely to sell out; buy tickets in advance or arrive early to avoid disappointment! Tickets: Ludgate Farms, Ithaca Guitar Works, GreenStar, Autumn Leaves Bookstore, and online at www.cornellfolksong.org/. $15 advance/$17 door; $3 rebate for members, seniors, teens; children 12 & under free. Students $10/$12. Info: 607-279-2027 or website.
–Margaret Shepard

Experience a January thaw at the Sixth Annual “Dance and Dessert Potluck” hosted by Hands Four Dancers of Ithaca, Saturday, 16 January, Women’s Community Building in Ithaca (100 W. Seneca St., opposite Dewitt Mall). Contra dancing, 7:30-10:30 pm, is followed by a fabulous dessert potluck and schottisches, hambos, and waltzes, 10:30-11:30 pm. Step lively and you just might balance your caloric intake and output! Music is by the witty, high-energy Contradictions: Laurie Hart on fiddle, Rick Manning on fiddle and mandolin, Tom Hodgson on guitar, Dave Davies on bass, and the sparkling Vikki Armstrong calling. Their irresistible fiddle harmonies and imaginative, hot rhythms will drive the cold winter away, at least for one night. Having performed together for a decade, they’re revered for tight playing; nary a contradictory note. Their peppy mix of Appalachian and Irish jigs and reels, bluegrass, driving French Canadian tunes, lilting Swedish couple dances, 1930s and Texas swing, and sophisticated tango-waltzes from Venezuela has brought joy to dancers from the Saratoga Dance Flurry, the Brattleboro Dawn Dance, and Ashokan, to the Finger Lakes!

Beginners are welcome, with a workshop at 7:15 to teach the simple steps. No need to bring a partner, but please bring clean, soft-soled shoes and something yummy to share for the grand dessert finale. Hot beverages will be provided. This celebration is a great time to bask in the warmth of our dance community.

Admission: $8 for HFDI members, $10 for nonmembers. For more information, call 607-539-3174 or visit www.hands4dancers.org.

– Margaret Shepard

Contra Dance with CROWFOOT and George Marshall - Saturday, 31 October, 4-6 pm; 8-11 pm; potluck 6:30 pm at Beverly Martin School, 302 W. Buffalo St., Ithaca

Hands Four Dancers is thrilled to host suave Pioneer Valley caller George Marshall and the multinational, multi-layered band Crowfoot, which has been heating up dance floors and concert stages across the land, including the recent Brattleboro Dawn Dance. Adam Broome (from rural England), on guitar, cittern, and vocals, draws inspiration from diverse wells: Renaissance to reggae. Jaige Trudel on fiddle, cello, and vocals shows her classical-Celtic-Appalachian roots in sweet, fiery playing. Canadian Nicholas Williams (flutes, accordion, piano, vocals) is a scholar of world music, from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Québec, to North India. Crowfoot, which melds traditional and original tunes, is known for euphoric groove music, infectious energy, and superb, tight-ensemble instrumentals and vocals.

There’s a 4-6 pm session for experienced dancers, a 6:30 pm potluck supper, and a session 8-11 pm for all dancers. Newcomers are welcome; a beginner’s workshop at 7:30 pm will cover the simple steps and each dance is taught. No need to bring a partner, but please bring clean, soft-soled shoes. Admission for whole event (4-11 pm): $12 members/$15 nonmembers; afternoon only: $6/$8; evening only: $9/$12. Info: 607-539-3174 or http://hands4dancers.org

Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen
Saturday, October 24, 8:00 pm
165 McGraw Hall, Cornell Arts Quad

Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen are accomplished singers, composers, and formidable multi-instrumentalists (guitar, flute, tin whistle, fiddle, mountain dulcimer, melodeon, and concertina) with remarkable solo careers. As a duo, they’re beautifully matched on songs and tunes that span traditional Irish, Scandinavian, Renaissance, Appalachian, old-time, and contemporary music.

Cindy Kallet’s understated skill, intelligence, passion, and droll humor inform the songs that have evolved from her New England life as shanty-singer, clam-shucker, naturalist, parent, and perceptive world-watcher. She is both realist and dreamer, a gentle protester and comic. Her mesmerizing alto, like the voice of her friend and collaborator Gordon Bok, has a sea-washed honesty. Her music is deep and intricate, clear and soulful. Scott Alarik of the Boston Globe calls her “one of folk music’s most respected songwriters… provocative, heartwise, and original… and a brilliant guitarist.”

On flute and tin whistle, Grey Larsen has been dazzling listeners since his years with Malcolm Dalglish, Pete Sutherland, and Martin Simpson in the group Metamora. Oberlin-trained, he plays with authenticity and beauty rather than pretention. He has revived the earlier, wilder Irish style of “crooked tunes” with extra beats. Fiddle virtuoso Seamus Connolly of Ireland says it is “refreshing to hear a true understanding of the soul of traditional Irish music in the playing of an American-born musician.”

For those who make music, Kallet has a songbook and Larsen has written the acclaimed Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle, dubbed by the Chieftains’ Matt Molloy as required reading “for anybody interested in getting it right.”

Tickets: $15 advance/$17 door; $3 rebate for members, seniors, teens. Cornell students $10/$12. Children 12 and under free. Tickets at Ludgate’s, Ithaca Guitar Works, GreenStar, Small World Music, Bound for Glory, online < http://www.cornellfolksong.org/>. Info: website or 607-279-2027.

–Margaret Shepard