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