July 2007

This tune popped into my fingers a few months ago and I immediately recognized it as a morris tune. Dance tunes always fit the movement of the dancers, and as I played Lilies of the Valley it reminded me of my first years in New York City dancing with the Greenwich Village Morris Men and playing all those great Fieldtown and Bledington tunes. I learned to watch the dancers and make my tempo and articulation match their movements. These were good lessons that I learned with the help of Paul Friedman who still plays for the Greenwich Men.

So I asked Paul to play Lilies with me last week and as we played, we imagined the surge and falling back of a morris side and let the rhythm and accent of the music get in sync with our internal dancers. I’m curious what you make of this tune. Is there a village tradition that it seems to fit best to? Let me know.


UPDATE: Since I posted this back in 2007 the Greenwich Men have disbanded. But... the Foggy Bottom Morris Men from D.C. who are still going strong have devised a dance to this tune that they call "Willows".