Life Imitates Joke

Me: My car got broken into!
j: did they take anything?
Me: Doesn't look like it. There wasn't really anything of value. Well, the vibraphone was in the back.
j: did they leave another vibraphone?

The Globe Misleads

Minstrels mired in Market melee

This article, on the front page of Boston.com Thursday morning, gives the badly mistaken impression that performers at Faneuil Hall are battling free-for-all for performance space. Entirely untrue. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace is privately managed, and we street performers are on a roster that is by audition only. We play only according to our schedule. Just yesterday, I was checked for ID by Marketplace security (who didn't recognize us b/c we're new there), to verify we were part of the sanctioned performer roster.

The picture accompanying the article is of one of the sanctioned performers, whom, I surmise did not have to engage in a melee to play that day.

The article is based on some performers jockeying for position at one single spot, Sam Adams Plaza, which borders on Faneuil Hall Marketplace and is unregulated. The article gives the impression that this is happening all over. "Nowhere is the jockeying or acrimony so intense as it is on the cobbled plazas of Faneuil Hall". Huh? No jockeying, no acrimony yesterday. Just happy listeners putting dollars in our accordion case.

Furthermore, the article subtly tries to throw Stephen Baird under the bus. Stephen is the tireless street performers' advocate who brought suit against the City of Boston & had street performer regulations thrown out. Those regulations did not apply to Faneuil Hall, anyway. I applaud Stephen's work & have told him so before.

The Globe goes looking for a melee, and finds one. But it's not happening here.

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Hmm, now I have to update our PR materials.

We were back playing at Faneuil Hall yesterday. I got quite proficient at sneaking the tune of "Happy Birthday" into just about any reel. Back home for our traditional birthday dinner - blueberry pancakes with bananas.

At Jonathan's birthday party, we were both surprised with a cake fashioned with an Apple Crisp photo on it.

Circle

Speaking of playing mallets in high school, Jonathan asked if I remembered any of the parts I played in marching band. One percussion feature we did was "Hoedown". Hoedown was a piece by Aaron Copland, based on American barn dance music. Emerson Lake & Palmer did a cover of it, which raised it back into the consciousness of the 80's.

Funny that when I got the vibes this time around, I started playing folk dance music on it. So here's the circle -

I play folk dance vibes, learned mallets in marching band, where we did an adaptation of an ELP cover of a Copland composition inspired by folk dance music.

(edit, 8/31/05- The official Apple Crisp Musicologist clarifies: Hoedown is part of "Rodeo,", and not a piece in its own right.)

World Made Smaller by Making Music.

Been wanting to get this story down-

It was the last day of summer vacation last year, and we spent it playing in Harvard Square. We played in our favorite spot - the triangular island across from REI. I always enjoy running into people we know when we're out playing - it happens fairly often. That afternoon, it was Debby Knight. She had been driving through Harvard Square, and heard the reel, "Lady of the Lake" in the air (an advantage of the vibes' sound carrying so much). She had places to go, but was determined find out who was playing contra music out in Harvard square. She managed to find a parking spot several blocks away & followed the music back to us. Debby is a contra dance pianist whose playing I enjoy very much. We all said Hello, Jonathan & I played a couple tunes for her, and she continued on her way.

The next day, Jonathan started 6th grade at a new school. He came home & was excited to tell me about the new place. His biggest surprise - Debby teaches at his school! Although he had just met her the day before, it was so welcoming for him to see a familiar face, let alone someone who knew about contra music.

Since then, Debby has been another great ally for Jonathan, and has hooked him up with gigs in Carlisle, at their school, and at last Saturday's dance in Concord.

A Week at Pinewoods

Canoes at Pinewoods
(click any of these pictures for larger version)

When I heard that Apple Crisp was taking a trip to Pinewoods music camp, I did not know what it would be like. Also, I had never been to sleep away camp before, making the trip into a totally new experience. Before we left, I felt nervous and uncertain. I should have been preparing to have the time of my life.

When we arrived, we were shown to our cabins by a girl named Megan and given a tour of the camp. Although the camp is stationed in Massachusetts, it is isolated from highways, cities, and any source of distracting noise. To add to my surprise, my friend named Eli was staying in the same cabin as I was, along with another boy named Adrian.


Bunkmates playing cards

My dad stayed in a different cabin by the name of Little Hundsdon, which was stationed near the parking lot. We spent the first day looking around the campus of the camp, and went to bed wondering what we would do the next day.

The ten to twelve year olds had two mandatory classes during the day. One was right after breakfast, and one was at two-thirty in the afternoon. Other than that, I had freedom to attend the activities that I wished and to spend some time with my dad, who led a workshop on drumming in the camp house. After a filling breakfast of eggs, fruit and oatmeal, Eli and I sprinted to the dance hall Newbiggen to start learning some bacca pipes steps. We soon learned that dancing bacca pipes consisted of laying two clay pipes (we didn't use clay for fear of breaking them) in an X-shape in front of us. Then, the instructer Sarah, taught us how to tap, hop, jump and step around the pipes in a series of movements that were amazing to see. I am surprised that I learned what I did from that class. It became one of my favorite activities in the whole day.


Dancing the Bacca Pipes

After this, the camp met on the steps of the camp house for crackers and juice. This is where I met up with my dad every day. After this we either swam, played for a callers work shop led by Sue Rosen, or explored a different type of activity. Later in the day, after lunch, Eli and Adrian always went to an ice cream making class. One day I came along, although some salt water got in our ice cream making it nasty to taste. We had to be sure to be on time for a storytelling class after this, so we ran there after the class was finished. There we learned some songs, and heard some funny stories from a comedian named Jackson Gillman, who entertained the camp greatly at morning and evening gatherings. From that point on in the day, Apple Crisp explored the camp together, taking a recorder class, or simply jamming in the camphouse. The last day of camp, I got a chance to make and walk on stilts with my Dad's friend as the instructor. That, I must admit was scary at first, but then I got the hang of it. When I got off the stilts, I felt like a midget.


Up on Stilts

Besides the extrordinary daily life of the camp, we got chances to some other exciting things. One of them was that the vibes could be heard at the dance every night. Some nights, I was allowed to play too, and I enjoyed the chance, since there were some talented fiddlers there.


Playing with the contra band

Another, was to take a private piano lesson with Bruce Rosen, who gave me some great pointers on contra piano. I had never met him in person, but he turned out to be a fun person to learn piano from.


a lesson with Bruce

Pinewoods was a fantastic experience. We met some great people, did things that we had never done before, and most importantly spent lots of time together doing the things that we like to do best. I would definately recommend Pinewoods to people who love contradancing, music and trying fascinating new activities.

A Dessert by any other name...

There seem to be a number of Contra Dance bands named after food - Wild Asparagus, Flying Garbanzos, Run & Onions, etc. We wanted to pick a name to follow that convention. Our second choice was "Vanilla Beans". I still think it's a good band name, so if anyone out there wants it, it's yours.

Some Classical Piano

Jonathan and I learned a Brahms Waltz for 4 hands, which we played at his classical recital in June.

Brahms Waltz, Opus 39, No. 15
(Jonathan's playing the primo, I'm on secondo)

We played this at a camp gathering at Pinewoods, and people actually waltzed!

When we perform, people often ask if I am his teacher. I am not; the credit for his style and technique goes to the incredible Ginny Latts. I try to coach Jonathan and complement her instruction, but it'd be foolish to leave his complete musical education in my hands. Ginny is the best musical director for kids I've ever seen. She gets her students to think as real artists. It was a pleasure being instructed by her, experiencing first hand how she can bring ideas of expression out of a piece that we didn't know were there.

After a session with Ginny, Jonathan once said to me "we should try to use those same ideas [about being expressive] when we play contra music"

Jonathan Playing at the Scout House Saturday

Jonathan will be joining "Emily Troll and Friends" to play the contra dance at the Concord Scout House this Saturday evening at 8pm.

Thanks to Emily for inviting Jonathan on this gig. Emily comes from the amazing Troll/Wright family, who are some of the first people we ever played contra music with. Parents Victor & Nell, and younger sister Phoebe are all contra musicians. We've learned some of our favorite tunes, such as Fairy Dance and Morrison's Jig, from them. And Victor has shared many contra piano tips with Jonathan.

One thing I've really appreciated about the folk music community is that other musicians have been so welcoming to us. Whether it's helping us find gigs, teaching us new tunes, or jamming, there's a real spirit of cooperation here that I haven't seen in other music circles.

From Drum Corps to Folk

We went to the Drum Corps International semi-finals show at Gillette stadium Friday night. I can't think of a music form more removed from our folk dance music. Such pomp, drama, and magnitude. We loved it - we were in awe of the musicianship, the precision, and the long dedication it took to get there. Jonathan had never seen anything like it before. It took me back to my marching band days, where I first started playing mallet percussion.


(click picture for larger version)
When we played out at Faneuil Hall yesterday (2 rain delays, just like the Red Sox), I kept looking out the corner of my eye for someone overtly associated with a drum corps. Nothing like having a hundred of the hottest mallet players in the country visiting Boston to make me real self-conscious :-) We had some of our biggest-ever crowds, when it wasn't raining. And while it was raining, we threw a tarp over the instruments and sat under the eaves taking turns playing accordion. I may be able to play Sunday River Waltz someday, but Jonathan is still the expert there.

Mad thanks to the Boston Chipyard for keeping us well-stocked in our favorite snacks. We want to play in front of their shop from now on.