My Music Links
My tune book and CDs are available
here.
Compilation CDs that feature one of my contra dance bands.
Anglo International
- put out by Roots Records in England, includes two kickin’
Squeezology tracks. This is a 3 CD set highlighting the
amazing virtuosity and variety of Anglo concertina players
around the world.
Contra Roots and Branches
- a collection of dance bands from the contra world. Grand
Picnic has one track on this fine compilation CD.
Other peoples CDs featuring my concertina playing.
Jump! When the Trumpets Blow
- by fiddler Sam Zygmuntowicz. From dawn to the late night
party: a southern fiddle suite.
Welcome in the Spring / Morris and Sword
Dances for Children
- by Paul Kerlee. Book and CD.
Sun on Snow
- by Barbara Benary. New world Records says, “Among the
many composers who have drawn inspiration from the music of
Indonesia, the one whose outlook became most pervaded by
the structure of gamelan music may be Barbara Benary,
cofounder and guiding spirit of New York’s Gamelan Son of
Lion”. I play various gamelan keyboards, suling (Indonesian
recorder) and yes, concertina on the title track, “Sun on
Snow”. Through out the album Benary combines Indonesian and
western instruments, traditions, timbres and tunings, The
result is inventive, beautiful and
mysterious.
Links to other bands I play in that feature my
compositions.
Bending the Gending
- Gamelan Son of Lion. New music by 11 New York composers
for Indonesian Gamelan orchestra, including my piece
“Halloween”.
New Gamelan/New York
- Gamelan Son of Lion. 7 pieces in various contemporary
styles played by Gamelan Son of Lion, including my
“Brighton Beach” for gamelan and two suling.
The Pick of the Litter
- Music For Homemade Instruments. “If you could imagine
Sumatran, gamelan, Spike Jones, mixed with Harry Partch on
industrial and household recycled materials, you'll
probably really enjoy these new compositions for ensemble
of absolutely unique instruments”, Includes my arrangement
of Melvina Reynolds’ song “Morningtown Ride”.
Links to projects on which I play and sing.
The opera, Birth of George by David Simons
& Lisa Karrer
- "The bipolar shape of the narrative is reflected
musically with outlandish vocal lines, disjointed
harmonies, surreal instrumental juxtapositions, and a
kitchen sink full of sampled sounds...they sing
cartoon-like vaudeville tunes with frenzied climaxes spiked
with strange waltzes, tangos, and circus music...this
quirky meditation on consciousness, reality, and death
seems enigmatic, much like life itself".
Reviewer: RN, NewMusicBox, July 2003
Prismatic Hearing by David
Simons
- "David Simmons is a composer/performer who combines
percussion, theremin, digital electronics, and World Music
in strikingly original compositions that defy
classification. Prismatic Hearing presents the full range
of his work, and is fascinating compendium of experimental
pieces, both acoustic and electric."
Wayang Esther
- (vhs) 2 hour opera performance by Gamelan Son of Lion, in
English of Barbara Benary's music-theatre piece with
dhalang Barbara Pollitt and Joko Susilo at Here Performing
Arts Center, February 2001. Based on the Megillah, or
telling of the biblical book of Esther, using traditional
wayang purwa puppets.
Karna: A Shadow Puppet Opera
- (vhs) Gamelan Son of Lion, 30 minute excerpts in English
from 1994 performance of Barbara Benary's opera, with
dhalang Barbara Pollitt at LaMama ETC theatre, New York
City. A traditional story based on the life of Karna, an
anti-hero of the Mahabharata.
Concertina Sites
Concertina.net
- Paul Schwartz and Ken Coles maintain this premier site
for the concertina community. Forums, events listings,
tunes, articles, buy and sell, much more.
The Concertina Library
- a digital reference collection for concertinas, including
documents for the study of English, Anglo, and Duet
concertinas: history, instruction books, sheet music,
patents, technical papers, rare periodicals. Developed by
Robert Gaskin.
Concertina FAQ
- maintained by Chris Timson. A wealth of concertina lore
and information.
International Concertina
Association
- a UK site with concertina information. The ICA publishes
the Papers of the Concertina Association (PICA), an annual
peer-reviewed journal including articles on all aspects of
the concertina: the development and history of the
instrument; its sociology, iconography, repertories, and
performance practices; biographies of concertinists; etc.
It also includes reviews of books and CDs, as well as notes
about important concertina-related events.
Folk Music Research Sites
The Mudcat Cafe
- if you are looking for discussions about folk song
lyrics, the best forums are here.
Fiddlers Companion
- Andrew Kuntz has put together an amazing site with
information about tunes and songs.
Folk Music Index
- a bibliography of recorded tunes and songs, compiled by
Jane Keefer.
Traditional Music Library
- Rod’s collection.
Streaming Music Sites
Sugar in the Gourd: Old-Time
Music
- John Salmon’s streaming music site is the best of it’s
kind, with a great mix of old and new
recordings.
Honking Duck
- listen to Jim Reidy's collection of old 78's.
Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry
Reed Collection
- performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Recorded
by folklorist Alan Jabbour in 1966-67, when Reed was over
eighty years old. Browse for a vast selection of other
interesting collections at The Library of Congress,
American Memory.
The Whalesong Project
- Sharing the songs of Hawaii's whales with the world, live
over the Internet, during the islands' humpback whale
season (November to June) at www.whalesong.net If the
whales are quiet today, you can listen to the archives.
New Sounds
- my all time favorite radio show hosted by John Schaefer
on WNYC New York Public Radio 93.9 FM. An unpredictable and
eclectic mix of the new and the old, obscure ethnic niches,
the hip downtown art scene, microtonalists, Buddhist monks,
and more, more, more. Every show has a theme, this link
will let you hear hundreds of
archived shows.
Music and Sound Video Favorites
Grand Picnic at a dance
- my goodness, do I really look like that?
16 Horsepower-American Wheeze
- Rock band 16 Horsepower plays this selection live from
their CD, Sackcloth 'n' Ashes, featuring David Eugene
Edwards' impassioned playing on the Chemnitzer
concertina.
Rollerblade bottle tune guy
- with mallets on his skates, he rolls past tuned bottles
to play the famous theme from Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G
minor.
Horn Guy
- he wears a suit covered in bicycle horns and plays
classical and folk excerpts for an adoring French audience.
Teaspoon Slide Guitar
- Hannes Coetzee, an aloe tapper and self-taught musician
from Herbertsdale in the Klein Karoo (Westerrn Cape, South
Africa) plays slide guitar with a teaspoon held in his
mouth. Amazing! From Karoo Kitaar Blues -- The Documentary,
a Key Films and Banjo Records Production, presented by
David Kramer.
Jake Shimabukuro plays "While My Guitar
Gently Weeps"
- A virtuoso performance on the uke.
Hyperactive - Lasse Gjertsen
- fast paced video editing creates a dynamic performance of
mouth music.
Nora the Piano-Playing Cat
- featuring Nora the cat, playing the piano. She's
three-years-old, and started playing on her own at about
age one. She plays even when no one else is in the room,
but her favorite thing is to play duets with practicing
piano students.
Acoustic Levitation Chamber
- Shows you the power of sound. This is an acoustic
levitation chamber designed and built in 1987 as a
micro-gravity experiment for NASA related subject
matter.
Argument to Beethoven's 5th
-
Sid, Nanette and Beethoven on live TV. Brilliant and
funny!
The Reverend Pi 357
-
Conceptual artist Tom Dukich has put together a bunch of
interesting pieces for
view.
My favorite is his sonification of the number pi to 357
places, with visuals.
The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra
-
footage of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra during shopping,
preparations and some clips of one of their live shows.
Square Dancing Tractors
- need I say more?
Irish jigs on the Nintendo DS
- a young fellow named
PJ has gotten quite good at Irish Jigs on his hand held
gaming device using the Daigasso Band Brothers game. Here
he plays, The Lark on the Strand / Killavil Jig /
Jim Ward's / Geese in the Bog.
Great Events, Festivals and Friends
The Eisteddfod
-
yearly NYC folk festival
The Folk Music Society of New
York
-
Traditional Music is Alive and Well in New York